Oral Microbiome Patterns of Dental Caries in Kazakhstani Adolescents

Study Purpose This dataset was generated as part of the study “Oral Microbiome Patterns of Dental Caries in Kazakhstani Adolescents”. The purpose was to investigate differences in oral microbiome composition between adolescents with dental caries and those without, and to identify taxonomic markers associated with caries and regional variations. Methodology and Study Design A cross-sectional study was conducted among 312 adolescents aged 12–15 years in Kazakhstan. Dental caries was assessed using the DMFT index according to WHO criteria. Buccal epithelium samples were collected from each participant, and DNA was extracted using ZymoBIOMICS™ kits. The V3–V4 regions of the 16S rRNA gene were sequenced on the Illumina MiSeq platform. Taxonomic classification was performed using the SILVA database, and functional predictions were carried out with PICRUSt2 against the KEGG database. (2025-09-26)