NIH R01 · 2024
Caries resistance mechanisms in high-risk Indigenous children
PROJECT SUMMARY There is a fundamental gap in our knowledge whether natural mechanisms protect high-risk children from caries and arise from microbial interactions of commensal bacteria in the oral cavity, or from the interplay of microbiome and tooth, mediated by saliva. The long-term goal is to prevent early childhood caries (ECC) in North American Indigenous children through protective treatments that may also be applicable in the broader population. The central hypothesis, based on the research team’s strong preliminary data, is that children with and without ECC differ in one or more key drivers: i) microbially reduced acidogenicity of S. mutans, or ii) enamel and dentin properties,…
From the public funding record at NIH RePORTER. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.