ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microbial Symbioses
This article is part of the Research TopicNutrition and Oral Microbiology: Integrative Perspectives for Improved Oral HealthView all articles
Host Sweet Preference Modulates the Salivary Microbiome and Its Divergent Associations with Plaque-Associated and Non-Plaque-Related Oral Diseases
Provisionally accepted
- 1Bengbu Medical College, Bengbu, China
- 2Lanzhou University Second Hospital, Lanzhou, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Background: Microorganisms play a critical role in the progression of oral diseases. However, it remains unclear whether the frequency of sweet consumption influences the salivary microbiota in both plaque-associated and non-plaque-related oral diseases. Methods: Based on salivary microbiome analysis, unstimulated saliva samples were collected from university students aged 17-20, including healthy controls (HC), dental caries (DC), and dental fluorosis (DF) groups, under different sweet consumption frequencies. Microbiota potentially critical in disease development were identified. Results: No significant differences in α-and β-diversity were observed among the three groups. However, distinct microbial structures at the genus and species levels were evident under different sweet consumption conditions. Under high sweet consumption, the caries group exhibited enrichment of microbiota closely associated with sugar metabolism and acid production (e.g., Streptococcus, Rothia), while Ralstonia was significantly enriched in the caries group, suggesting its potential role in high-sweet-induced caries development. Under low sweet consumption, the healthy control group showed enrichment of taxa such as Stenotrophomonas, potentially linked to ecological stability, whereas the dental fluorosis group demonstrated significant enrichment of Fastidiosipila, reflecting specific fluoride-induced selective pressure on the microbiome. This study indicates that although sweet consumption frequency did not significantly alter overall microbial diversity, it reshaped the oral microbiota structure in a disease-specific context. The caries group was more prone to developing a cariogenic microbial profile under high-sugar conditions, while the fluorosis group exhibited unique ecological adaptive characteristics
Keywords: oral microbiome, Sweet consumption frequency, Dental Caries, Dental fluorosis, Salivary
Received: 27 Oct 2025; Accepted: 21 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Li, Peng, Wang, Guo, Liu and Xu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Shanshan Liu, liushanshancan@163.com
Li Xu, kqxuli@163.com
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.