Affiliation:
1. Center for Oral Biology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14642;
Abstract
Dental caries continues to be a pubic health problem despite claims that 50% of schoolchildren are caries-free. There are widespread variations in the prevalence of caries worldwide. Caries lesions are the clinical manifestation of a pathogenic process that may have been occurring on the tooth surface for months or years. Acid production by bacteria embedded in a biofilm termed "dental plaque" is a key aspect of the pathogenesis of dental caries; nevertheless, the ability of micro-organisms to survive in a hostile acid milieu and the influence of fluoride and additional agents on this acid tolerance receive scant attention. Study of cariogenic micro-organisms largely has been limited to observations made on them in the planktonic state; clearly dental caries is essentially a surface phenomenon, and micro-organisms behave distinctively when grown on a surface. Although significant progress has been made in our understanding of the etiology, pathogenesis, and prevention of dental caries, it still remains a scientific and clinical enigma worthy of the attention of the best scientists.
Subject
General Dentistry,Otorhinolaryngology
Cited by
179 articles.
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