Metabolome Analysis Of Dental Plaque From Early Childhood Caries

This longitudinal study aimed to explore the association between dental plaque metabolites with the progression of early childhood caries (ECC) in preschool children. 141 children aged 36 months were recruited and followed up until 48 months of age. Oral clinical examinations were conducted to record caries status according to ICDAS standards. According to the progression of dental caries, they are divided into 3 groups: caries free with non progression (FNP), caries free with progression (FCP), caries with non progression (DNP), and caries with progression (DCP). Supragingival dental plaque collected from the surfaces of primary teeth was analyzed using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. A total of 14 metabolites with varying levels were identified among the 4 groups (p<0.05). Metabolites uracil, choline, and phenylpyruvic acid had the highest content in the FCP group, while the content of metabolites in FNP was generally lower compared to the other three groups. In the pairwise comparison results, the uracil content in the FCP group was significantly higher than that in the FNP group (p=0.049), while the histamine content in the DNP group was significantly lower than that in the DCP group (p=0.026). These results may indicate that the non-progression of ECC may be related to low metabolite levels in the plaque. Discovery of these metabolites in gingival plaque provides new insights into the progression of ECC and new directions for preventing ECC progression.