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Microorganisms
Special Issues
Oral Diseases and Microbiome
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Oral Diseases and Microbiome

A special issue of Microorganisms (ISSN 2076-2607). This special issue belongs to the section "Medical Microbiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2026 | Viewed by 1360

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Luis Alberto Gaitán-Cepeda

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Oral Pathology and Oral Medicine, Graduate and Research Division, Dental School, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico City CP 04360, Mexico
Interests: oral pathology; oral health; quality of life; oral infectious diseases; oral lesions and HIV/AIDS
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Luis Octavio Sánchez Vargas

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Laboratorio de Bioquímica, Microbiología y Patología de la Facultad de Estomatología, Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosi, Mexico
Interests: oral bacteria; epidemiology and diagnosis pathology; microbiology and dental biotechnology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The oral microbiome comprises more than 700 microbial species classified into 185 genera and 12 major bacterial phyla. The role of the oral microbiome in maintaining or losing health is increasingly recognized: it extends beyond the oral cavity and has broad implications for overall health, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Oral infectious diseases, such as periodontal disease, continue to be a global public health problem owing to their frequency and prevalence. However, the identification of multidrug-resistant bacteria and fungal species within the oral microbiome has raised concerns that the oral cavity may serve as an ecological niche for these species. The oral microbiome is complex. The interaction of various constituents, including fungi and bacteria, results in the formation of oral biofilms. The role of oral biofilms in dysbiosis is a highly topical, interesting, and important subject.

 The aim of this Special Issue is to provide a collection of high-quality papers that showcase current issues in oral microbiome research and its role in disease development. As the Guest Editor, I invite you to submit research articles, review articles, and short communications on oral infectious diseases, periodontopathogenic microbiomes, the emergence of antimicrobial resistance, biofilms and oral diseases, and techniques for detecting pathogens.

Prof. Dr. Luis Alberto Gaitán-Cepeda
Dr. Luis Octavio Sánchez Vargas
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Microorganisms is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • oral microbiome
  • oral infectious diseases
  • oral bacteria
  • oral candidiasis
  • oral mycosis
  • periodontal disease

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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12 pages, 1488 KB  
Article
In Vitro Inhibition of Pathogens by Polyols: Optical Density-Based Screening and Implications for the Oral–Systemic Axis
by Mark Cannon and Bradley S. Stevenson
Microorganisms 2026, 14(4), 884; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms14040884 - 15 Apr 2026
Viewed by 621
Abstract
Polyols are widely used as non-cariogenic sweeteners in foods and oral care products, yet their comparative activity against diverse oral microbes and their potential relevance to the oral–systemic axis remain incompletely defined. Here, we performed an in vitro, optical density (OD)-based screening of [...] Read more.
Polyols are widely used as non-cariogenic sweeteners in foods and oral care products, yet their comparative activity against diverse oral microbes and their potential relevance to the oral–systemic axis remain incompletely defined. Here, we performed an in vitro, optical density (OD)-based screening of four polyols—allulose, D-mannose, erythritol, and xylitol—against Streptococcus mutans, Streptococcus anginosus, Candida albicans, and Fusobacterium nucleatum. Cultures were grown with polyols at 1–20% (w/v), and OD600 was recorded at organism-specific endpoints (~24 h). Allulose, erythritol, and xylitol produced strong, concentration-dependent suppression of streptococcal growth at ≥5–10%, whereas C. albicans showed minimal changes across the tested range. F. nucleatum was highly sensitive to allulose, D-mannose, and xylitol at ≥5% (reducing OD to ≤13% of the untreated control), while low concentrations of D-mannose and erythritol increased OD beyond that of the control, suggesting species-specific utilization or stress responses. One-way ANOVA with Tukey’s HSD post hoc testing supported significant between-polyol differences for most concentrations in Streptococcus spp. and F. nucleatum. Collectively, these results identify polyol- and taxon-specific growth phenotypes that can inform the formulation of swallow-safe oral hygiene products and motivate follow-up work in polymicrobial biofilm models and clinical studies targeting oral inflammation and downstream systemic risk. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Oral Diseases and Microbiome)
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Review

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18 pages, 529 KB  
Review
Micro/Nanoplastics and Periodontitis: An Environmental Microbiology Perspective on Oral Retention and Systemic Risk
by Mark Cannon, John Peldyak and Paul Reynolds
Microorganisms 2026, 14(5), 1014; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms14051014 - 30 Apr 2026
Viewed by 479
Abstract
Micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) have now been detected in human blood, placenta, and arterial tissue, yet the oral cavity has received strikingly little mechanistic attention despite serving as a primary portal of environmental exposure and a local site of polymer generation from dental [...] Read more.
Micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) have now been detected in human blood, placenta, and arterial tissue, yet the oral cavity has received strikingly little mechanistic attention despite serving as a primary portal of environmental exposure and a local site of polymer generation from dental and oral-care materials. This narrative review addresses that gap from an environmental microbiology perspective, synthesizing recent literature on periodontal disease, chronic low-grade inflammation, oral biofilms, dental materials, microbial–plastic interactions, and systemic chronic disease risk. Unlike prior reviews, we apply an explicit three-tier evidentiary framework (established, plausible, unproven) that distinguishes what is directly demonstrated from what is biologically plausible but unproven, and we situate the periodontal environment specifically as a particle-retention and inflammatory-amplification niche. The strongest direct oral evidence shows that human dental calculus harbors at least 26 microplastic types, dominated by polyamide (41.4%), polyethylene (32.7%), and polyurethane (7.0%). Polyethylene isolated from calculus induces cytotoxicity, apoptosis, impaired migration, NF-κB activation, and upregulation of IL-1β and IL-6 in human gingival fibroblasts. From a microbiological standpoint, oral organisms actively degrade methacrylate dental polymers, and the degradation products of these polymers reciprocally modulate oral bacterial virulence gene expression. Across experimental systems, MNPs activate oxidative stress, inflammasome signaling, macrophage polarization, and barrier dysfunction, pathways that overlap extensively with periodontal pathobiology. Adjacent environmental microbiology demonstrates that plastic-associated biofilms enhance extracellular polymeric substance production, quorum sensing, pathogen persistence, and antibiotic resistance gene transfer, supporting a plausible but not yet validated oral plastisphere within plaque and calculus. We argue that periodontitis should be reconceptualized as a chronically inflamed particle-processing interface that may increase local MNP retention, cellular reactivity, and systemic inflammatory spillover, with implications for cardiovascular, metabolic, and other chronic disease risk pathways. Current evidence does not yet prove that environmental MNP exposure causes human periodontitis, and that evidentiary boundary is maintained throughout. A priority research agenda is proposed, centered on contamination-controlled subgingival biomonitoring stratified by periodontal status, spatially resolved multi-species biofilm models, polymer source attribution, and longitudinal clinical studies linking oral plastic burden to inflammatory and systemic outcomes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Oral Diseases and Microbiome)
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