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Oral microbes that colonize in the mouths of humans contribute to disease susceptibility, but it is unclear if host genetic factors mediate colonization. We therefore tested the hypothesis that the levels at which oral microbes colonize in the mouth are heritable. Dental plaque biofilms were sampled from intact tooth surfaces of 118 caries-free twins. An additional 86 caries-active twins were sampled for plaque from carious lesions and intact tooth surfaces. Using a reverse capture checkerboard assay the relative abundance of 82 bacterial species was determined. An integrative computational predictive model determined microbial abundance patterns of microbial species in caries-free twins as compared to caries-active twins. Heritability estimates were calculated for the relative microbial abundance levels of the microbial species in both groups. The levels of 10 species were significantly different in healthy individuals than in caries-active individuals, including, A. defectiva, S. parasanguinis, S. mitis/oralis, S. sanguinis, S. cristatus, S. salivarius, Streptococcus sp. clone CH016, G. morbillorum and G. haemolysans. Moderate to high heritability estimates were found for these species (h(2) = 56%-80%, p < .0001). Similarity of the overall oral microbial flora was also evident in caries-free twins from multivariate distance matrix regression analysis. It appears that genetic and/or familial factors significantly contribute to the colonization of oral beneficial species in twins.

This study examined (1) orodental (OD) problems in 10-19-year-old children of substance use disorder (SUD) (n = 127) and non-SUD fathers (n = 111) and (2) the moderating effect of child's substance use (SU) involvement in the associations of paternal SUD and neglectful parenting with OD problems in the offspring. The results showed that periodontal problems differentiated between groups and the interactions between child's SU involvement and paternal SUD and neglectful parenting were respectively associated with hard/soft tissue lesions and carious lesions in the offspring, indicating that SU involvement increases risk for OD due to paternal SUD and neglectful parenting.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine heritability estimates for dental caries traits and sucrose sweetness preference., Design: Participants included 115 pairs of twins 4-7-years-old. Caries exams followed NIDCR criteria where the severity of the lesion was also determined. Twins ranked their preference for five concentrations of sucrose/grape juice solutions (0.15-1.17M) with a Face Scale. Variables submitted to analysis: (1) surface-based caries prevalence rate (SBCPR); (2) lesion severity index (LSI); (3) sucrose sweetness preference score (SSPS). Heritability analyses were performed with the SOLAR software package., Results: Heritability estimates adjusted for age and gender were: SBCPR-h(2)=64.6 (p<.00001), LSI-h(2)=61.7 (p<.00001) and SSPS-h(2)=55.2 (p<.00001). Treating SPSS as a covariate in the SBCPR and LSI models did not alter heritability estimates., Conclusions: These results suggest that variation in dental caries traits and sucrose sweetness preference have a significant genetic contribution that is mediated independently.

The purpose of this study was to provide a univariate and multivariate analysis of genomic microbial data and salivary mass-spectrometry proteomic profiles for dental caries outcomes. In order to determine potential useful biomarkers for dental caries, a multivariate classification analysis was employed to build predictive models capable of classifying microbial and salivary sample profiles with generalization performance. We used high-throughput methodologies including multiplexed microbial arrays and SELDI-TOF-MS profiling to characterize the oral flora and salivary proteome in 204 children aged 1-8 years (n = 118 caries-free, n = 86 caries-active). The population received little dental care and was deemed at high risk for childhood caries. Findings of the study indicate that models incorporating both microbial and proteomic data are superior to models of only microbial or salivary data alone. Comparison of results for the combined and independent data suggests that the combination of proteomic and microbial sources is beneficial for the classification accuracy and that combined data lead to improved predictive models for caries-active and caries-free patients. The best predictive model had a 6% test error, >92% sensitivity, and >95% specificity. These findings suggest that further characterization of the oral microflora and the salivary proteome associated with health and caries may provide clinically useful biomarkers to better predict future caries experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]