Prevalence and Incidence of Early Childhood Caries in Yakima County

The long term project objective is to study the existence Scardovia wiggsiae as a causative agent of early childhood caries (ECC) in the Yakima County.  ECC has been associated not only with dental disease but also many other aspects of overall health, including delayed growth and development.  The newly discovered Scardovia wiggisiae bacterium has been associated with Streptococcus mutans as primary organisms responsible for ECC.  Initially to gauge the frequency of diagnosed ECC, on-site visits to dental and medical facilities will be conducted in order to extract incidence and prevalence from medical records.  The hypothesis is for this study is that Scardovia wiggsiae is present in Yakima County and is responsible, in part to ECC along with other organisms.  In subsequent phases, Plaque samples will be obtained and bacteria (e.g., Scardovia wiggsiae) will be grown on blood and acid agar (ph5).  The isolates will be purified for the partial sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene.  Isolate sequences will be compared to other taxon sequences in the human oral microbiome data base (HOMD).  The results will compared to other results obtained from prior research investigations.