Isolation and characterization of bacteria associated with dental caries with special reference to their etiologic potential

Abstract

The dental caries is a significant public health problem affecting a number of children and adults throughout the globe. However, the prevalence of dental caries is increasing with increasing consumption of dietary sugar but several factors other than sugar are suggested for the etiology of dental caries including involvement of microorganisms and host factors. The microbes involved in dental caries convert dietary sugar into acid which lead to demineralization of tooth enamel and ultimately results in development of dental caries. The mutans streptococci including S. mutans are suggested to be involved in the etiology of dental caries. Under certain circumstances dental caries can develop even in the absence of these organisms. Due to the disparity in the etiology of this disease, we designed the study to isolate microbes from dental caries and compared them with microbes isolated from healthy individuals. The results revealed that although mutans streptococci is a major contributor in the etiology of dental caries, but some other non-mutans organisms can also contribute to dental caries etiology. The results suggest that proper consideration for removal of non mutans cariogenic bacteria should be given in addition to removal of mutans streptococci for management of dental caries. The results also suggest that some future studies focusing on removal of non mutans organism, mutans streptococci and both kind of organisms and their subsequent effects on management of dental caries should be done in order to understand relative contribution of these organisms in disease etiology.