The Oral Bacterial Microbiome of Interdental Surfaces in Adolescents According to Carious Risk

Abstract

Adolescence is closely associated with a high risk of caries. The identification of specific bacteria in an oral microniche, the interdental space of the molars, according to carious risk can facilitate the prediction of future caries and the anticipation of the progression or stabilization of caries in adolescents. A cross-sectional clinical study according to the bacteriological criteria of interdental healthy adolescents and carious risk factors—low and high—using a real-time polymerase chain reaction technique was conducted. The presence of 26 oral pathogens from the interdental microbiota of 50 adolescents aged 15 to 17 years were qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed. Bacteria known to be cariogenic (Bifidobacterium dentium, Lactobacillus spp., Rothia dentocariosa, Streptococcus cristatus, Streptococcus mutans, Streptococcus salivarius, Streptococcus sobrinus, and Streptococcus wiggsiae) did not present differences in abundance according to carious risk. Periodontal bacteria from the red complex are positively correlated with carious risk. However, only 3 bacteria—S. sobrinus, E corrodens and T. forsythia—presented a significant increase in the highest group. Estimating the risk of caries associated with bacterial factors in interdental sites of molars in adolescents contributes to the better definition of carious risk status, periodicity and intensity of diagnostic, prevention and restorative services.