Abstract
This chapter describes dental caries (tooth decay) and its causes. Sucrose and other mono- and disaccharides are metabolized to acid (lactate) by bacteria that remain in “stagnation” areas of the teeth. Rats and hamsters fed a 50% sucrose diet developed a caries-sensitive, predominantly gram-positive microbiota that became caries resistant when the rodents were fed penicillin (Sect. 1). Further studies identified Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) as the etiological agent. This organism synthesizes an insoluble polysaccharide capsule that is stable and retains lactate at the enamel surface (Sect. 2). The key enzyme, glucosyl transferase, is related to salivary amylase which adheres to oral bacteria and enhances bacterial acid production. The chapter concludes with a discussion of salivary and other factors responsible for the marked variation observed in individual caries experience (Sect. 3).
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© 2011 Springer Berlin Heidelberg
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Levine, M. (2011). Dental Caries. In: Topics in Dental Biochemistry. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-88116-2_15
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-88116-2_15
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Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
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Online ISBN: 978-3-540-88116-2
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