Treatments of oral disease may change based on the fact that oral bacteria is not the same for everyone, but may have distinct characteristics based upon ethnicity. Since oral health and overall health are closely linked, adjusting oral disease treatments accordingly may alleviate the predisposition for certain diseases that are more prevalent in certain ethnicites. Read on to learn more about this fascinating study, and thanks for visiting us at Advanced Endodontics of Lakewood, OH.
The type of oral bacteria a person carries is determined more by genetics than lifestyle, one study suggests.
Every human mouth is unique. In each, a diverse microbial community thrives, in the spit, the plaque, and under the gums. The bacterial cocktail is a little different for everyone. It seems that genetics may play a large role in determining what kind of communities you’re carrying around between your teeth, though. A new study from The Ohio State University suggests that different ethnicities have distinct oral bacterial profiles, a finding that could influence the treatment of oral diseases.
Almost 400 different species were thriving in the mouths of 100 people from four different ethnic backgrounds: African American, Caucasian, Latino and Chinese. Only 2 percent of bacterial species identified were present in every individual studied. Another 8 percent of species were shared by 90 percent of the participants. Each ethnic group displayed a distinct pattern of bacteria, especially under the gums. “This suggests that the host genotype influences the microbial community to a greater extent than shared environment,” the study’s authors write.”‘Nature’ appears to win over ‘nurture’ in shaping this community.”
The researchers were able to develop an algorithm that could predict an individual’s ethnicity based on bacteria from under their gums with 62 percent accuracy. The algorithm was able to classify the bacterial communities of African American participants 100 percent of the time, but wasn’t as accurate for other ethnicities.
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