Thesis (M.D.S.)--University of Hong Kong, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 89-107). Also available in print.

Thesis (doctoral)--Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, 1984. / Extra t.p. with thesis statement inserted. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (p. 34-42).

Thesis (doctoral)--Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, 1984. / Extra t.p. with thesis statement inserted. Includes bibliographical references (p. 34-42).

The human oral microbiome is the total amount of microbial biodiversity present in the oral cavity and, given its relevance to human health and disease, has recently become a foci for study. By analyzing dental calculus, and sequencing the bacterial DNA, it is possible to reconstruct and examine the oral microbiomes of past individuals. In this study, dental calculus was sampled from (N=4) skeletons recovered from the cemetery of the mid 19th- 20th, century Mississippi State Asylum in Jackson, MS. Bacterial DNA isolation and shotgun sequencing were successful, with 16S analyses yielding an average of 96 identified species. All samples were significantly different from each other at all taxonomic levels (p <0.0001). Targeted examinations for opportunistically pathogenic oral bacteria were performed, but no detectable bacterial DNA was found in the samples. This study is the first to reconstruct the oral microbiomes of a subsample of an historic institutionalized population.

Analyses of human oral microbiomes reveal substantial amounts of information about health, diet, and diseases of individuals and their communities within the archaeological record. In order to examine bacterial genomes from the past, specific archaeological samples that contain remnants of the microbial communities in question must be utilized. Recent developments in high-throughput, next-generation DNA sequencing have enabled the characterization of entire oral microbiomes and genomes from the remains of the bacteria trapped in calcified dental plaque. This project analyzed samples of ancient human dental calculus from North and Central America, which were examined for the changes within the oral microbiome in relation to the adoption of agriculture. Additionally, the conditional presence of pathogens associated with an increasingly agricultural and carbohydrate-rich diet was examined. The overarching goal was to examine and determine the level of microbial shifts within the past oral microbiomes of North and Central America, and by virtue of using the associated archaeological reports and analyses, place the data into the proper context. Three distinct sets of dental calculus were used for this Dissertation; The first is from Indigenous samples (N=56), spanning from the Archaic to the Mississippian, recovered from excavations in the Guntersville Basin in Northern Alabama. The second set is from a Late-Terminal Classic Maya city center and satellite village in the Upper Belize Valley (N=11). The final sample set comes from an archaeologically recovered early 20th century Cemetery near Jackson Mississippi (N=12). After individual analyses, they are all examined along a temporal axis to examine the effect of agriculture on the human oral microbiome. The findings from this study have shown that oral microbiomes of the Americas were affected by the introduction of agriculture, but remained biologically diverse. Because various subsistence strategies can shape and affect the oral microbiome, the composition is seen to change over time. Our understanding of the evolution of oral microbiomes throughout human history is more complex than previously thought; there is no global trend for the oral microbiome, but is highly location dependent.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1960.

published_or_final_version / Dentistry / Master / Master of Dental Surgery

Thesis (M.A.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 62-73). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1979.

Thesis (doctoral)--Rijksuniversiteit te Groningen.