title: Pulp and plaque microbiotas of children with severe early childhood caries.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Bacterial invasion into pulps of primary teeth can lead to infection and premature tooth loss in children. This pilot study aimed to explore whether the microbiota of carious exposures of dental pulps resembles that of carious dentin or that of infected root canals.
  
  
  METHODS
  Children with severe early childhood caries were studied. Children were consented and extent of caries, plaque, and gingivitis measured. Bacteria were sampled from carious lesion biofilms and vital carious exposures of pulps, and processed by anaerobic culture. Isolates were characterized from partial sequences of the 16S rRNA gene and identified by comparison with taxa in the Human Oral Microbiome Database (http://www.HOMD.org). The microbiotas of carious lesions and dental pulps were compared using univariate and multivariate approaches.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The microbiota of cariously exposed pulps was similar in composition to that of carious lesion biofilms except that fewer species/taxa were identified from pulps. The major taxa identified belonged to the phyla Firmicutes (mainly streptococci) and Actinobacteria (mainly Actinomyces species). Actinomyces and Selenomonas species were associated with carious lesions whereas Veillonella species, particularly Veillonella dispar was associated with pulps. Other bacteria detected in pulps included Streptococcus mutans, Parascardovia denticolens, Bifidobacterium longum, and several Lactobacillus and Actinomyces species. By principal, component analysis pulp microbiotas grouped together, whereas those in caries biofilms were widely dispersed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We conclude that the microbiota of cariously exposed vital primary pulps is composed of a subset of species associated with carious lesions. Vital primary pulps had a dominant Firmicutes and Actinobacteria microbiota which contrasts with reports of endodontic infections which can harbor a gram-negative microbiota. The microbiota of exposed primary pulps may provide insight into bacterial species at the forefront of caries invasion in dentinal lesions that can invade into the pulp and the nature of species that need suppressing for successful pulp therapy.
authors: NIDCR, NIH, Bethesda MD, USA.|Department of Microbiology, The Forsyth Institute, Cambridge, MA, USA.
authors: Natalia I
authors: NI
authors: Chalmers
authors: School of Dental Medicine, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA.
authors: Kevin
authors: K
authors: Oh
authors: Goldman School of Dental Medicine, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.
authors: Christopher V
authors: CV
authors: Hughes
authors: School of Dental Medicine, Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA.
authors: Nooruddin
authors: N
authors: Pradhan
authors: Department of Microbiology, The Forsyth Institute, Cambridge, MA, USA.|Goldman School of Dental Medicine, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.
authors: Eleni
authors: E
authors: Kanasi
authors: School of Dentistry, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
authors: Ygal
authors: Y
authors: Ehrlich
authors: Department of Microbiology, The Forsyth Institute, Cambridge, MA, USA.|School of Dental Medicine, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA.
authors: Floyd E
authors: FE
authors: Dewhirst
authors: Department of Microbiology, The Forsyth Institute, Cambridge, MA, USA.|School of Dental Medicine, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA; annetanner@forsyth.org.
authors: Anne C R
authors: AC
authors: Tanner
keywords: 16S rRNA; Parascardovia; Streptococcus mutans; culture
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