Nature Vs. Nurture in Oral Health: Nurture Wins

By admin On October 31, 2012 ·

Nature vs. nurture has been a debated topic among many disciplines for a long time, but when it comes to oral health, nurture wins. The following article delves into a recent study where researchers sought to determine if the microorganisms that live in our mouths are affected more by genes or by the environment. We hope you enjoy the article, and thanks for visiting Elm Endodontics.

Environment is shown to play a much more significant role in the mouth’s microbial set up than genes.

The human mouth is a community bustling with microorganisms that live there. Little knowledge exists about what factors control which types that live there and which don’t. In a new study published in Genome Research, investigators have discovered environment has a more controlling stance on determining oral microbiota, an extremely important finding in the field of oral health.

The oral microbiome starts forming as soon as a person is born. We see a plethora of bacteria brought into our mouth during childhood and as an adult, although little knowledge is known about whether nature (genes), or nurture (environment) has a more powerful influence.

Due to differences in the oral microbiome in health and diseases such as bacteremia and endicarditis, there is a need for a better understanding of the factors that effect oral microbiota communities, in order for more efficient prevention and treatment plans.

During this study, the researchers sequenced the microbial DNA found in saliva samples of a group of twins, and then paired the DNA sequences in a database to see which types of bacteria existed in each individual.

Comparing the salivary microbiomes of identical twins with the same genetic make-up and a common environment, the scientists found that their salivary microbiomes were not notably more similar than those of fraternal twins who only share half the genes. Surprisingly, this finding points to the idea that genetic relatedness is not such an important role.

“We were also intrigued to see that the microbiota of twin pairs becomes less similar once they moved apart from each other,” added Simone Stahringer, first author of the study.

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