MICROBIAL ANALYSIS OF DENTAL PLAQUE SPECIES IN THE SEA ISLAND GULLAH POPULATION

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. In a recent study of dental caries in Gullah type 2 diabetics, no association was found between glycemic control of diabetes and dental caries both with and without adjustment for smoking, BMI, age and sex8. As expected the mean Decayed-Missing-Filled Tooth (DMFT) scores for the Gullah population was higher than that of the NHANES white population. However, the DMFT scores for the Gullah population was also higher (17.6¿6.9) as compared to both the 1989 NHANES Blacks (12.43¿0.14) and 1999 NHANES Blacks (11.07¿0.018) 4. Higher DMFT scores in the Gullah population as compared to the NHANES Black population suggests other factors in addition to income and access to care are involved in the pathogenesis of dental disease in the this population. One factor to consider is the difference in the oral microbial flora of the Gullah population. Similar studies of known oral pathogens have been conducted on the general population 9-14, but to date no such study on the Gullah population exists in the literature. The purpose of this pilot study is to characterize the oral microbial species in the supra-gingival dental plaque of Gullah type 2 diabetics using checkerboard DNA-DNA hybridization (Forsythe Institute). A modified checkerboard panel developed to study the more gram positive cariogenic species will be used 9. The percent of individuals that have selected bacterial species present will be compared to similar studies of non-Gullah type 2 diabetics14. Information gained will illuminate potential oral pathogens unique to the Gullah population as well as generate protocols for the management of dental disease in this population.