Characterization of Oral Species in Dental Biofilms in Healthy and Stunted Groups of Children Aged 6-7 Years in East Nusa Tenggara.

Impaired development that causes stunting is one of the most common health problems in Indonesia. In particular, the highest number of cases of stunting in Indonesia was reported in the East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) province. Previous studies have shown a tendency for deteriorating oral hygiene in children with a poor nutritional status. In addition, a higher proportion of oral has been reported in children with poor oral hygiene. However, the relationship between populations of oral and stunting has not been studied before. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the oral profile in the dental biofilms of healthy and stunted children aged 6-7 years. The participants were 60 elementary school students in the Nangapanda District, Ende, NTT, Indonesia. In this study, real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to examine dental biofilm samples from the healthy (n = 31) and stunted (n = 29) groups. The results revealed that seven oral species were found in all groups. However, the number of four oral species significantly differed between the healthy and stunted groups: , , , and . This is the first study to demonstrate a potential association between oral species and stunting in children.