Objective: This pilot study assessed whether there was any relationship between the oral microbiome and its effect on gastrointestinal symptoms in children.

Materials and Methods: Thirty-six children aged 8 to 12 years were assigned to the following groups: 1) control group with no gastrointestinal symptoms, and 2) experimental group with gastrointestinal symptoms. Gastrointestinal symptoms were assessed using a questionnaire completed by the parents. Dental plaque was collected from the maxillary right first molar region. DNA was extracted, and the samples were sent for 16S sequencing. Data were evaluated by the Mann-Whitney U test.

Results: The comparison between both groups in terms of composition of microbes revealed no significant differences. However, the number of Fusobacterium was significant in the experimental group (p=0.03).

Conclusions: Our preliminary findings indicated no strong differential abundance between the groups, except for Fusobacterium, which showed a significant increase in the experimental group with reported gastrointestinal symptoms.