Meta-omics analysis of periodontal pocket microbial communities pre- and post-treatment

Periodontal disease affects the majority of adults worldwide and has been linked to numerous systemic diseases. Despite decades of research, the reasons for the substantial differences among periodontitis patients in disease incidence, progressivity and response to treatment remain poorly understood. While deep sequencing oral bacterial communities has greatly expanded our comprehension of the microbial diversity of periodontal disease and identified associations with healthy and disease states, predicting treatment outcomes remains elusive. Our results suggest that combining multiple ‘omics approaches enhances the ability to differentiate among disease states and determine differential effects of treatment, particularly with the addition of metabolomic information. Furthermore, multi-omics analysis of biofilm community instability indicated these approaches provide new tools for investigating the ecological dynamics underlying the progressive periodontal disease process.