Microbiota of early childhood caries
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Microbial profile of dental plaque in children with early childhood caries
IRAS ID
313183
Contact name
Marie Therese Hosey
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
King’s College London
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/A, N/A
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Early childhood caries (ECC) remains a major oral health problem despite being largely preventable. The oral cavity is one of the most heavily colonised sites in the human body, harbouring more than 700 bacterial species. It is now acknowledged that dental caries is a biofilm-mediated disease and a consequence of a deleterious ecological shift in the microbiota rather than being considered an infectious disease caused by a specific microorganism. The current literature lacks knowledge on the oral microbiota associated with ECC among children in the UK to the best of our knowledge. Thus, this observational, laboratory-based study aims to determine the bacterial composition of dental plaque in UK children with ECC. The estimated time to complete the proposed study is around one year. After obtaining parental informed consent, supragingival plaque samples will be collected from medically-fit paediatric patients aged below six years who have been diagnosed with ECC and attending general anaesthesia for dental treatment at Guy’s Hospital and King’s College Hospital (KCH). Control samples will be collected from matched subjects, with no caries experience or history, attending dental trauma clinics for reviews at St Thomas and King’s College Hospitals. The bacterial composition of dental plaque will be analysed using the Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS). A comprehensive and in‐depth understanding of the microbial profile and physiological characteristics of caries‐associated microbiota can help explore newer targets for disease prevention and intervention in the future.
REC name
North West - Liverpool Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/NW/0403
Date of REC Opinion
10 Jan 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion