ORAL MICROBIOME DYNAMICS AND THEIR ROLE IN DENTAL HEALTH AND DISEASE

Abstract

The oral microbiome is a complex microbial ecosystem that contributes to dental health, biofilm stability, immune regulation, and disease-associated dysbiosis. This study analyzed oral-associated microbial records from the Human Microbiome Project catalog to characterize taxonomic structure, genome-resource quality, gene-count variation, and disease-relevant microbial groups. A total of 2,915 microbial records were screened, of which 347 were identified as oral associated, representing 11.90% of the complete catalog. Oral records were predominantly bacterial, with 335 bacterial entries accounting for 96.54% of the oral subset. Genome-resource quality was high, as 317 oral records were complete, and most were classified as high-quality draft genomes. Genus-level profiling showed strong representation of Streptococcus, Prevotella, Selenomonas, Treponema, Actinomyces, Capnocytophaga, Porphyromonas, Fusobacterium, and Veillonella. Disease-relevance mapping revealed that periodontal dysbiosis-associated genera formed the strongest biological signal, followed by plaque-structuring and caries-associated taxa. Gene-count analysis suggested genomic variation among oral microorganisms, while Human Oral Microbiome Database mapping supported oral taxonomic relevance for a substantial proportion of records. The findings indicate that oral-associated catalog records provide a valuable reference framework for understanding oral microbial ecology and dental disease mechanisms. The absence of clinical disease labels, abundance profiles, and longitudinal observations limits direct causal interpretation. Future studies should integrate catalog-based profiling with clinical metagenomics, salivary biomarkers, and patient-level dental data.