Predictive modeling of early childhood caries via spatial-temporal variations of oral microbiota

Principles for exploiting the spatial and temporal variations of microbiota for modeling chronic infections are not well established. Early Childhood Caries (ECC) is the most common disease in children and is irreversible once started; thus, its preventive intervention is crucial but usually difficult. Here we simultaneously tracked the development of microbiota at two distinct oral niches (plaque and saliva) for 34 four-year-old preschoolers over one year. During the tracked period, 10 children stayed free of caries (HHH group), 14 entered from health into cariogenesis (HCC group and HHC group), while the remaining 10 experienced caries exacerbation (CCC group).