Caries
Matthew Nguyen, DDS (he/him/his)
Pediatric Dental Resident
University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California, United States
Shaneyka Yazzie, BS
Center for Indigenous Health, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Lisa Cohoe, BS
Center for Indigenous Health, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Marcia Dinis, PhD
UCLA
Laura Hammitt, MD
Center for Indigenous Health, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Shea Littlepage, MSPH
Center for Indigenous Health, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Leonela Nelson, MPH
Center for Indigenous Health, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Kristen Roessler, MD
Center for Indigenous Health, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Daniela Silva, DDS, MS
Section of Pediatric Dentistry, School of Dentistry
Catherine Sutcliffe, MS, PhD
Center for Indigenous Health, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Nini Tran, DDS, PhD
Assistant Professor
UCLA
Los Angeles, California, United States
Kimberlyn Yazzie, BS
Center for Indigenous Health, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Daniela Silva, DDS, MS
Section of Pediatric Dentistry, School of Dentistry
Nini Tran, DDS, PhD
Assistant Professor
UCLA
Los Angeles, California, United States
Purpose: Early childhood caries (ECC) is one of the most prevalent childhood diseases in the United States (US), and affects Indigenous children disproportionately. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the oral metabolome and ECC at 12 months of age among Navajo infants.
Methods: This study was nested within a randomized, controlled trial evaluating the efficacy of an educational program in reducing sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption which was conducted in the Navajo Nation. Supragingival dental plaque was collected from 12-month-old infant participants, and their metabolomes were assessed.
Results: The oral metabolomes of 48 infants (female=54%) were analyzed, including 24 in the treatment and 24 in the control groups. The mean caries experience at 12 months was 2.9±3.2 and did not differ between the two study groups. Out of the entire study’s cohort, the number of ECC-affected and ECC-free infants were 31 and 17, respectively. Metabolite relationships were analyzed via t-tests and the Benjamini-Hochberg False-Discovery Rate correction. Six-hundred twenty-nine metabolites were evaluated. Overall, differences in metabolite levels were not observed between the intervention versus control groups. However, 288 significant (P < .05) metabolites were observed between ECC-affected and ECC-free infants. The majority of ECC-associated metabolites were related to food components, carbohydrate metabolism, fatty acid metabolism, amino acid metabolism, and the arginine deiminase pathway, and included metabolites such as mannitol/sorbitol (P=3x10-4), malate (P=5x10-4), and N-acetylaspartate (P=3x10-4).
Conclusion: The metabolomic profiling of dental plaque from Navajo infants highlighted novel significant metabolic signatures associated with ECC status.