Genomics of Dental Caries and Caries Risk Assessment

Our understanding of dental caries was transformed over the past century to recognize that this chronic disease is an infectious and complex condition involving host, biofilm, and environmental factors. The severity and distribution of dental caries, or its clinical phenotype, is highly variable in the population. During the past 20 years, the genomic era has provided new insights into the interactions of host, oral flora, and environmental factors that make dental caries similar to many other complex hereditary conditions. Our knowledge of the contributions of an individual’s genome to their risk and resistance to dental caries has grown tremendously over the past decade. New insights continue to be gained as our understanding of the interactions between our genome, oral microbiome, microbial metabolomics, and environmental influences advances. Knowledge of, and the ability to predict, these underlying determinants of disease and health will ultimately provide approaches to accurately predict risk and activity of dental caries in an individual, allowing personalized approaches to preventing and managing this common disease of humans.