Bacteriology of Dental Caries

¹ Forsyth Dental Infirmary and Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts

(1) The majority of micro-organisms present in saliva appear to be derived from the tongue, not from dental plaque. (2) Plaque and gingival crevice organisms do not appear to be growing rapidly. (3) Studies with germ-free animals have indicated that bacteria are essential for the production of dental caries. (4) Caries can be transmitted in experimental animals, and the organisms responsible exhibit some specificity. (5) Some of the characteristics of cariogenic micro-organisms appear to be ability to form acid from carbohydrates, to persist in large numbers in dental plaque, and to form intracellular polysaccharide.

Until more information is available concerning the physiology of cariogenic organisms, and until a clearer understanding of the forces regulating the ecology of the complex oral microbiota is reached, we can only speculate upon other determinants of microbial cariogenicity.

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				H. W. Scherp Dental Caries: Prospects for Prevention Science, September 24, 1971; 173(4003): 1199 - 1205. [Abstract] [PDF]