Sweet Cheeks: How Early Nutrition Affects Oral Microbiota Populations and Disease Incidence

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Total Enrollment

15 participants

Study Classification

OBSERVATIONAL

Study Start Date

2012-10-31

Study Completion Date

2016-03-31

Brief Summary

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Dietary and oral hygiene habits are known to affect oral microorganisms and disease incidence, but most research has focused on preschool aged (2-4 yr old) children. A recent experiment in our lab demonstrated a highly diverse oral microbiome in the saliva of infants without teeth (3-6 months old). These data suggest that soft tissues in the mouth serve as a reservoir for pathogens and must be considered in oral health management. The evolution of microorganisms that occurs between birth and tooth eruption has not been characterized and may have great implications as it pertains to oral disease later in life. The investigators are interested in determining how dietary changes during this time affect oral microbiota. Tongue and cheek swab samples will be collected from a small cohort of infants (n=20) at 4 time points. At the same time, a survey and 3 day feeding diary of the infant's diet will be collected. In addition, a pregnancy survey and food frequency questionnaire will be administered at the time of recruitment. Research staff will conduct a 10-minute interview at the first and last oral sample collection time. These pilot data will provide important diet-oral microbe relationships in edentulous infants, allowing us to propose and test specific hypotheses pertaining to diet, oral microbes, and disease in young children.

Detailed Description

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Dietary and oral hygiene habits are known to affect oral microorganisms and disease incidence, but most research has focused on preschool aged (2-4 yr old) children. A recent experiment in our lab demonstrated a highly diverse oral microbiome in the saliva of infants without teeth (3-6 months old). These data suggest that soft tissues in the mouth serve as a reservoir for pathogens and must be considered in oral health management. The evolution of microorganisms that occurs between birth and tooth eruption has not been characterized and may have great implications as it pertains to oral disease later in life. The investigators are interested in determining how dietary changes during this time affect oral microbiota. Here, tongue and cheek swab samples will be collected from a small cohort of infants (n=20) at 4 time points: 1) within 5 days of age; 2)2 wk after infant formula feeding begins; 3) 2 wk after solid foods offered; and 4) 2 wk after breast-feeding ceases. At the same time, a survey and 3 day feeding diary of the infant's diet will be collected. In addition, a pregnancy survey and food frequency questionnaire will be administered at the time of recruitment. Research staff will conduct a 10-minute interview at the first and last oral sample collection time. These pilot data will provide important diet-oral microbe relationships in edentulous infants, allowing us to propose and test specific hypotheses pertaining to diet, oral microbes, and disease in young children.

Conditions

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Health Behavior

Study Design

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Observational Model Type

COHORT

Study Time Perspective

PROSPECTIVE

Study Groups

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Infants

Infant born via vaginal delivery

No interventions assigned to this group

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Women must deliver vaginally a full term baby (37 weeks or later). Women must have a healthy pregnancy without medical complications. Women must breastfeed their baby for a period of time after birth (greater than 1 week), followed by introduction of formula.

Exclusion Criteria

* Women must not have smoked during their pregnancy,nor have any serious medical conditions during their pregnancy.
* Infants can not be born via cesarean section.
* In addition, the infant should not have any chronic medical conditions and not taking any regular medications.

* full term infant
* healthy infant
* initially breastfed by mother

Minimum Eligible Age

2 Days

Maximum Eligible Age

7 Months

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Responsible Party

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Responsibility Role SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

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Kelly Swanson, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

UIUC

Locations

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University of Illinois

Urbana, Illinois, United States

Site Status

Countries

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United States

Other Identifiers

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11621

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id