Research 2016-17
Title: NEXT-GEN SEQUENCING ANALYSIS OF DENTAL BIOFILM MICROBIOME UPON GIFTS NANO CHARCOAL CLEANING
Abstract
Everybody knows cleaning the oral cavity is good for preventing dental diseases. However, many are not aware that inflammation caused by oral bacteria is linked to many other deadly diseases like cancer, diabetes, and heart diseases. The oral microbiota or microbiome community includes several thousand diverse species and can organize as biofilms especially on tooth enamel when left undisturbed through the process of oral cleaning. A biofilm develops as a dental plaque first by selective adsorption of bacteria from saliva onto the tooth surface. The biofilm contains beneficial as well as harmful bacteria that interact with each other and change their relative proportions as the dental plaque matures. These changes depend on bacterial interactions and quantitation of the total dental microbiome is important for the prevention of and/or intervention in diseases. Therefore, I conducted a study to quantify microbiome using metagenomics on 56 healthy subjects who did not do oral cleaning for a few days to allow the biofilm to develop into plaque and then used one of the cleaning methods twice a day morning and at bedtime.
l. Toothpaste Brushing + Tongue cleaning (ET)
2. Gum and tooth Inner Finger rubbing + Tongue cleaning (GIFT)
3. Nano Charcoal powder finger cleaning + Tongue cleaning (CT)
The nano charcoal powder was also tested for its abrasiveness using the Mohs scale of mineral hardness. Enamel has an index of >5 and steel is <5. Both nano charcoal and a few commercial kinds of toothpaste did not scratch the steel plate showing that nano charcoal is safe to be used as a tooth powder. However copper and dentin have a hardness index of 3 which was scratched by both nano charcoal and toothpaste. Nano charcoal has an advantage over toothpaste in its ability to adsorb bacteria. All three oral cleaning methods show many dental damaging bacterial population decreases upon oral cleaning in all three tissues. saliva. plaque. and tongue. The GIFT method looks like a practical approach for oral cleaning after every time we drink
or eat food that feeds microbial growth.
Though metagenomics studies show a change in the microbiome in all three groups. there was a "fingerprint" mode of microbiome characteristic of each individual subject. One of my hypotheses was that a higher microbial count in the oral cavity will show higher inflammatory markers as lL-6 checked in the blood using ELISA methods. Though I did see some correlating trends supporting my hypothesis. testing inflammatory markers in the oral cavity in the future will give a better understanding of inflammatory markers and oral hygiene.
Awareness Given Through This Research
Dental Awareness Camp 2017 - at a Middle School in a remote village in South India. This camp brought awareness of the importance of oral cleaning, biofilm formation & maturation, nano charcoal cleaning, and awarded students with good oral hygiene to inspire good oral health.
Forgot to take a group picture :) Sharing the beautiful pictures from the Dental Awareness Camp 2017.
