Description/Abstract/Artist Statement

Research has suggested that birth order or environmental factors affect siblings' oral health status during childhood. However, more recent research suggests that the strongest predictor of children's oral health status is the mother's oral health status. This project investigated the association between the oral health status of the mother during pregnancy and bacteria (biofilms) identified in cavitated lesions (dental caries) of their children’s exfoliated primary teeth. Five consenting maternal participants anonymously donated their children's primary teeth and completed a questionnaire about their oral health status during each pregnancy. After visually identifying the exfoliated teeth with dental caries, the biofilms were disrupted using a novel method of vortexing, sonicating, and vortexing before culturing and biochemically identifying the isolated bacteria. Collectively, six different bacteria species were isolated from the siblings’ exfoliated teeth with dental caries, including one predominant genus/species. However, no direct association between maternal oral health status and the bacteria identified could be drawn because of the small sample size. Here, we establish a new method to recover bacteria (biofilm) in dental caries; however, this research requires additional maternal participants/donors to understand an association between maternal oral health status and bacteria isolated in dental caries of the child.

Presenting Author Name/s

Monica Walker, Charity Hammond

Faculty Advisor/Mentor

Angela Wilson, Denise McKinney

College Affiliation

Ellmer College of Health Sciences

Presentation Type

Poster

Disciplines

Dental Public Health and Education | Medical Microbiology

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87 - Maternal Dental Status and Caries Among Siblings

Research has suggested that birth order or environmental factors affect siblings' oral health status during childhood. However, more recent research suggests that the strongest predictor of children's oral health status is the mother's oral health status. This project investigated the association between the oral health status of the mother during pregnancy and bacteria (biofilms) identified in cavitated lesions (dental caries) of their children’s exfoliated primary teeth. Five consenting maternal participants anonymously donated their children's primary teeth and completed a questionnaire about their oral health status during each pregnancy. After visually identifying the exfoliated teeth with dental caries, the biofilms were disrupted using a novel method of vortexing, sonicating, and vortexing before culturing and biochemically identifying the isolated bacteria. Collectively, six different bacteria species were isolated from the siblings’ exfoliated teeth with dental caries, including one predominant genus/species. However, no direct association between maternal oral health status and the bacteria identified could be drawn because of the small sample size. Here, we establish a new method to recover bacteria (biofilm) in dental caries; however, this research requires additional maternal participants/donors to understand an association between maternal oral health status and bacteria isolated in dental caries of the child.