Method: The parent study was conducted to study ECC in a Northern Plains Tribal community, and focused on the transmission of cariogenic bacteria from mother to child. Mothers with newborns were recruited into the study between June 2009 and June 2010, resulting in 239 mother-child pairs enrolled. Follow-up visits were completed when the child was 4, 8, 12, 16, 22, 30, and 36 months (+30 days). At each visit, plaque samples were collected from the mother and child and S. mutans counts were obtained via selective media. All antibiotic records were obtained from Indian Health Service medical records and entered into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and combined with existing oral flora data for each child. This paper reports on oral flora at 16 months of age and previous antibiotic exposure.
Result: Bacterial count and antibiotic data were available for 81 subjects at 16 month time point and were included in the analysis. The subjects had an average of 3.7 antibiotic episodes; 80% of the children had antibiotic exposure. Of these subjects, 25 of them had no S. mutans. No significant correlation between the number of antibiotic episodes from birth to 16 months and S. mutans levels was found (p=0.2806). Also, there was no significant correlation between the total number of days of antibiotic usage and S. mutans levels (p=0.9422).
Conclusion: Our early findings suggest that antibiotics do not have a significant effect on S. mutans bacterial levels in these very high-risk children.