THE RESPIRATION OF THE SALIVARY MICROBIAL FLORA AND ITS RELATION TO DENTAL CARIES ACTIVITY

¹ The Dental Research Facility, United States Naval Training Center, Great Lakes, Ill., and Northwestern University, Chicago, Ill.

1. No correlation was found between the endogenous respiration rates of the salivary microbial flora and dental caries activity.

2. Acetate was not oxidized by the salivary microbial flora, but a positive correlation was found between dental caries activity and the rate of oxidation of glucose, lactate, and pyruvate. Caries-active saliva exhibited an extremely rapid oxidation of these substrates as compared to that of caries-inactive saliva.

3. A positive correlation was demonstrated between the state of dental caries activity and the time at which the oxidation of the substrates was commenced.

4. It is believed that a combination of these findings could be used as a basis for development of a new and accurate test for dental caries activity.