Within the scope of science popularization activities the scientists from our Institute gave the lecture and conducted the workshops ‘Analysis of oral microbiota based on 4 types of diets’ for over 150 pupils of Primary School No. 4 in Żyrardów. The workshops were divided into theoretical and practical sessions. The workshop included a demonstration on the biological material (bacterial microbiota) that forms in the oral cavity after consuming sour (pickled cucumbers), salty (salted chips), sweet (Coca-Cola), and bitter (walnuts) ingredients in our diet.

Students learned techniques for pouring bacterial culture media that mimicked food jellies. They also acquired skills in streak and deep culture, replica plating, and transferring biological material from their oral cavity to a Petri dish with a suitable sugar-rich medium. The medium supports the growth of facultative anaerobes and aerobes found in our oral cavity and periodontal pockets.

The workshops generated considerable interest among the pupils and teaching staff, and it was agreed to hold them quarterly, based on newly developed elements such as the isolation of genetic material from overgrown Petri dishes and their detection in agarose gels, as well as microscopic analysis of the seeded microbiota. This generated a great enthusiasm.