{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,2]],"date-time":"2026-10-02T06:25:09Z","timestamp":1790922309319,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,10,22]],"date-time":"2024-10-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1729555200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Oral. Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title><jats:p>During development of dental caries, oral biofilms undergo changes in microbial composition and phenotypical traits. The aim of this study was to compare the acid tolerance (AT) of plaque from two groups of children: one with severe caries (CA) and one with no caries experience (CF) and to correlate this to the microbial composition and metabolic profile of the biofilms.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>Dental plaque samples from 20 children (2\u20135 years) in each group were studied. The AT was analyzed by viability assessment after exposure to an acid challenge (pH 3.5), using LIVE\/DEAD\u00ae BacLight\u2122 stain and confocal microscopy. Levels of acid tolerance (AT) were evaluated using a scoring system ranging from 1 (no\/low AT), to 5 (high\/all AT). Metabolic profiles were investigated following a 20\u2005mM glucose pulse for one hour through Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR). Microbial composition was characterized by 16S <jats:italic>r<\/jats:italic>RNA Illumina sequencing.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>The mean AT score of the CA group (4.1) was significantly higher than that of the CF group (2.6, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009&amp;lt;\u20090.05). When comparing the end-products of glucose metabolism detected after a glucose-pulse, the CA samples showed a significantly higher lactate to acetate, lactate to formate, lactate to succinate and lactate to ethanol ratio than the CF samples (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009&amp;lt;\u20090.05). The bacterial characterization of the samples revealed 25 species significantly more abundant in the CA samples, including species of <jats:italic>Streptococcus, Prevotella, Leptotrichia<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>Veillonella<\/jats:italic> (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009&amp;lt;\u20090.05)<jats:italic>.<\/jats:italic><\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title><jats:p>Our results show that AT in pooled plaque from the oral cavity of children with severe caries is increased compared to that in healthy subjects and that this can be related to differences in the metabolic activity and microbial composition of the biofilms. Thus, the overall <jats:italic>phenotype<\/jats:italic> of dental plaque appears to be a promising indicator of the caries status of individuals. However, longitudinal studies investigating how the AT changes over time in relation to caries development are needed before plaque AT could be considered as a prediction method for the development of dental caries.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/froh.2024.1475361","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,10,22]],"date-time":"2024-10-22T05:10:39Z","timestamp":1729573839000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":13,"title":["Oral biofilm composition and phenotype in caries-active and caries-free children"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"5","author":[{"given":"Gabriella","family":"Boisen","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Susanne","family":"Brog\u00e5rdh-Roth","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jessica","family":"Neilands","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alex","family":"Mira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Miguel","family":"Carda-Di\u00e9guez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Julia R.","family":"Davies","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,10,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"650","DOI":"10.1177\/0022034515573272","article-title":"Global burden of untreated caries: a systematic review and metaregression","volume":"94","author":"Kassebaum","year":"2015","journal-title":"J Dent Res"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"249","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(19)31146-8","article-title":"Oral diseases: a global public health challenge","volume":"394","author":"Peres","year":"2019","journal-title":"Lancet (London, England)"},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"280","DOI":"10.1111\/cdoe.12362","article-title":"WHO global consultation on public health intervention against early childhood caries","volume":"46","author":"Phantumvanit","year":"2018","journal-title":"Community Dent Oral Epidemiol"},{"key":"B4","unstructured":"Kramer\n              AC\n            \n          \n          On dental caries and socioeconomy in Swedish children and adolescents - Clinical and register-based studies\n          \n          2018"},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"S12","DOI":"10.1111\/jcpe.12679","article-title":"Dental biofilm: ecological interactions in health and disease","volume":"44","author":"Marsh","year":"2017","journal-title":"J Clin Periodontol. 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