Fungal composition in saliva and plaque in children with caries: Differences and influencing factors

Abstract

Caries is a dental disease that can affect oral and psychological health and has a high incidence in children. The role of fungal flora in childhood caries has not been fully described. In this study, we aimed to investigate the fungal composition differences and the influencing factors in unstimulated saliva (S) and supragingival plaque (P) samples in childhood caries. S and P samples were collected from 63 children with caries. The ITS2 region in the fungal genome was then amplified and sequenced. Subsequently, we quantified and analyzed the fungal compositions in the samples. Cryptococcus was the most abundant genus in the S and P subgroups. The relative abundances of Cryptococcus and Wickerhamomyces significantly differed between the S and P subgroups (p ​< ​0.05). Significant differences were also observed in alpha and beta diversities between the two subgroups (p ​< ​0.05). However, no significant differences were observed between the mycobiome of the SFe and SMa subgroups or the PFe and PMa subgroups (p ​> ​0.05). Conversely, species differences were detected between the SDD and SMD subgroups (p ​< ​0.05) but not in the PDD and PPD subgroups (p ​> ​0.05). Our findings revealed significant differences in the mycobiome of unstimulated saliva and supragingival plaque. Dentition period and oral hygiene behaviors may have affected these differences.