Core Microbiota Promotes the Development of Dental Caries

Jing Chen,Jiyao Li,Lixin Kong,Lei Cheng,Biao Ren,Mingyun Li,Yanyan Chen,Xian Peng,Xuedong Zhou

doi:10.3390/app11083638

Abstract

A previous longitudinal study about using microbiome as a caries indicator has successfully predicted early childhood caries (ECC) in healthy individuals, but there is no evidence to verify the composition of core microbiota and its pathogenicity in vitro and in vivo. Biofilm acidogenicity, S. mutans count, and biofilm composition were estimated by pH evaluation, colony-forming unit, and quantitative PCR, respectively. Extracellular polysaccharide production and enamel demineralization were observed by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) and transverse microradiography (TMR), respectively. A rat caries model was established for dental caries formation in vivo, and caries lesions were quantified by Keyes Scoring. We put forward that microbiota including Veillonella parvula, Fusobacterium nucleatum, Prevotella denticola, and Leptotrichia wadei served as the predictors for ECC may be the core microbiota in ECC. This study found that the core microbiota of ECC produced limited acid, but promoted growth and acidogenic ability of S. mutans. Besides, core microbiota could help to promote the development of biofilms. Moreover, the core microbiota enhanced the enamel demineralization in vitro and increased cariogenic potential in vivo. These results proved that core microbiota could promote the development of dental caries and plays an important role in the development of ECC.

Highlights

To have a better consistency of the early childhood caries (ECC) plaque composition, we developed the core biofilm with an even amount of the selected four genus as well as the Core + S. mutans biofilm with 50% of the core microbiota and 50% of the Streptococcus mutans. quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was used for the analysis of biofilm composition
In the Core + S. mutans biofilm, S. mutans counted for 51.16%, 54.63%, and 63.86% at 24 h, 48 h, and 72 h separately, followed by V. parvula
In order to detect the influence of the core microbiota on the growth of S. mutans, we measured the count of S. mutans in the S. mutans group and in the Core + S. mutans group

Summary

Introduction

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Childhood caries (ECC) is one of the most prevalent infectious diseases affecting around half of children worldwide [1,2]. ECC has been poorly controlled in many countries and has become a serious public-health problem, especially among socially vulnerable groups [3]. A better understanding of the etiology and mechanism can help with the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and public intervention of this disease and further reduce the socioeconomic burden

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Discussion

Conclusion