# The role of the oral microbiome in disparities in dental caries and responsiveness to caries prevention

> **NIH NIH R56** · NEW YORK UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $517,296

## Abstract

Project Summary
This project proposes to leverage innovative data collected as part of a large, ongoing, cluster randomized trial
of therapies to arrest and prevent dental caries in low-income, minority children to (1) investigate the potential
microbial determinants of oral health inequities across racial/ethnic children and (2) explore the degree of
susceptibility and responsiveness to conventional therapeutic interventions for caries. Over the past ten years,
we have conducted multiple studies on the effectiveness and feasibility of preventive treatments for dental
caries applied in pragmatic settings across the United States. In each study, an average of 30% of children
was observed to have untreated decay at baseline, a prevalence which was consistently higher amongst
minority children. Following receipt of therapeutic interventions for caries prevention and observed
longitudinally, some children stayed caries free (responders) while others experienced new incidence of tooth
decay (non-responders). This phenomenon of resistance and susceptibility to caries occurred in children with
or without prior caries experience, was found amongst children living in both fluoridated and non-fluoridated
communities, and was not related to sex or age. In total, re-occurrence of dental caries following preventive
therapies was observed in approximately 15% of children regardless of prior caries. Our intention is to study
these phenomena. We propose to collect new data from the oral microbiome in a cohort of children receiving
biannual silver diamine fluoride (SDF) for dental caries, as well as data on key confounders including dietary
intake and oral hygiene behavior. This new data will be linked to data collected from clinical examinations and
participant demographics. Children identified for this study will be participants in the referenced clinical trial.
Uncovering the role of the microbiome in health disparities could enhance our understanding of why some
populations have poorer success rates, greater severity of disease, or overall elevated disease risks compared
to others. Our primary goals are to (1) utilize microbiome sequence analysis and taxonomic assignment to
identify the potential microbiota and metabolites of caries that exist within different racial/ethnic groups with
and without untreated caries, (2) compare the distribution of these microbiota prior to and following receipt of
silver diamine fluoride to arrest and prevent caries, and (3) develop a predictive model of responsiveness to
SDF using artificial neural networks and LASSO/elastic nets. This will be the first study to longitudinally
examine the microbial determinants of innate caries susceptibility and resistance to traditional preventive
therapies. Results may improve the precision, targeting, and impact of caries prevention programs.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10241702
- **Project number:** 1R56DE028933-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** NEW YORK UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** RYAN RICHARD RUFF
- **Activity code:** R56 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $517,296
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-10 → 2023-09-09

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10241702

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10241702, The role of the oral microbiome in disparities in dental caries and responsiveness to caries prevention (1R56DE028933-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-21 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10241702. Licensed CC0.

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