Dental caries

Abstract

Dental caries, otherwise known as tooth decay, is one of the most prevalent chronic diseases of people worldwide; individuals are susceptible to this disease throughout their lifetime. Dental caries forms through a complex interaction over time between acid-producing bacteria and fermentable carbohydrate, and many host factors including teeth and saliva. The disease develops in both the crowns and roots of teeth, and it can arise in early childhood as an aggressive tooth decay that affects the primary teeth of infants and toddlers. Risk for caries includes physical, biological, environmental, behavioural, and lifestyle-related factors such as high numbers of cariogenic bacteria, inadequate salivary flow, insufficient fluoride exposure, poor oral hygiene, inappropriate methods of feeding infants, and poverty. The approach to primary prevention should be based on common risk factors. Secondary prevention and treatment should focus on management of the caries process over time for individual patients, with a minimally invasive, tissue-preserving approach.

Dental caries disparities in early childhood: A study of kindergarten children in British Columbia

“…Also, because the diagnostic cut-off used in the dental public health surveys was for dentine caries only, early stages of decay, including initial caries and visible enamel decay, were not captured. 26 Another study limitation was that although dental public health staff adhered to a standardized set of provincial guidelines and procedures for calibration and evaluation, involvement of multiple surveyors across different regions may have resulted in inconsistencies in dental caries assessment practices and coding. Notwithstanding these limitations, the coverage in both survey years was extensive; and in BC, these results provided, for the first time, the opportunity to utilize public health data to assess trends in caries rates for 4-6 year olds by geography and neighbourhood SES.…”

Acid-resistant genes of oral plaque microbiome from the functional metagenomics

“…ECC can not only cause tremendous pain [2] but can also results in an enormous social cost [3]. Consequently, the prevention and treatment of ECC are extremely important and mandate intensive study [4].…”

“…Consequently, the prevention and treatment of ECC are extremely important and mandate intensive study [4]. It is well known that microorganisms living in the dental plaque biofilm play a vital and direct role in the occurrence of tooth decay [2]. Survival and propagation of microorganisms in the caries microenvironment inducing tooth decay require that they exhibit certain properties, such as adhesion, acidogenicity and acid resistance.…”

Inhibition of Streptococcus mutans biofilm formation, extracellular polysaccharide production, and virulence by an oxazole derivative

“…Dental caries, as one of the most prevalent transmissible infectious disease that represents a significant public health problem in many countries (Selwitz et al 2007), is induced by protracted contact between four factors: dental plaque, tooth surfaces, constituents of the diet, and time (Anderson 2002). Dental plaque is a typical biofilm and comprises of surface-attached bacterial communities encased in extracellular polysaccharides (EPSs), proteins, and DNA (Davies 2003).…”