Grant: Project Grant

Indigenous children face significant oral health disparities. Unfortunately, many develop Early Childhood Caries (ECC), defined as any caries experience in the primary dentition in children < 6 years of age. Many of these children will suffer from an aggressive sub-type, called severe ECC (S-ECC), which frequently requires dental surgery under general anesthesia. The oral microbiome is the major risk factor for caries. The recent joint Canadian Paediatric Society and American Academy of Pediatrics position statement on "ECC in Indigenous Communities" recommends research on the microbiology of ECC. There is a crucial need to identify all of the various risk factors including the dental mycobiome (fungi), innate immune responses to oral fungal infections, access to care, and how these interact, to understand why many Indigenous children are at greater risk for developing ECC. This led to our current hypothesis that because of limited access to oral health care, lack of clean water, food insecurity, and a lack of traditional diets, the "the dental mycobiome of Indigenous children with ECC has higher levels of virulent fungal strains and metabolites that increase their risk for caries". We aim to analyze the oral fungal metabolome and characterize the fungal strains that increase risk for ECC and healthy strains associated with caries-free children. Next, we will determine how taste signaling pathways and the oral fungi responsible for cavities talk to each other and influence caries risk. The idea behind these experiments is to understand why only some dental fungi are associated with tooth decay and the local environmental factors that might influence them. This research on the dental mycobiome associated with severe tooth decay will assist with new lines of possible tooth decay prevention strategies for young Indigenous children.