Streptococcus mutans have been proposed as the main causative agent of dental cavities. Dental caries is among the most common diseases in the world, this study was done to determine whether PCR analysis is useful to identify and even classify oral and other streptococci. 20 dental plaque samples were collected from teeth, 10 normal sample and 10 from persons with oral problems. The samples wer...

Gingivitis is an inflammatory destructive disease mainly caused by microbial plaques. Gram-positive and gram-negative bacilli or cocci have been isolated from dental plaque and gingivitis. This study was going to isolate and characterize the pathogenic bacteria from gingival of 100 patients with oral gingivitis. Enriched and specific media used for isolation of bacteria. Identification of isola...

BACKGROUND Orthodontic therapy has oral ecological changes causing increased numbers of mutans streptococci in saliva and plaque. The purpose of this study was to estimate counts and colonization pattern of Streptococcus mutans after application of fixed orthodontic appliances. MATERIALS AND METHODS Plaque samples of randomly selected sixty patients were collected before placement of orthodon...

Streptococcus mutans were detected in the feces from 10 of 29 caries-active patients, aged 4 to 9 years. The percentage of S. mutans to the total counts of facultatively anaerobic streptococci on mitis salivarius agar (Difco Laboratories) varied from 0 to 72.5%. S. mutans were then isolated from dental plaque of sound teeth and carious dentin of the 10 subjects known to harbor S. mutans in the ...

Th e infl uence of the diff erent extracts of propolis and chlorhexidine on mutans streptococci and the development of dental caries in rats was examined in this study. Specifi cally, the antimicrobial eff ects of propolis extracts (including ethanol, methanol, chloroform, hexane, propylene glycol, and ethyl acetate) on Streptococcus mutans UA159 and Streptococcus sobrinus 6715 were studied. Mi...

The proton-translocating, membrane ATPases of oral streptococci have been implicated in cytoplasmic pH regulation, acidurance, and cariogenicity. Membranes were isolated from Streptococcus mutans GS-5 and Streptococcus sanguis NCTC 10904 following salt-induced lysis of cells treated with lysozyme and mutanolysin. The ATPase activities of these membranes were 1.8 and 1.1 units per mg membrane pr...

Caries is a unique multifactorial infectious disease. Our understanding of etiological factors, the progress of the disease, and the effectiveness of prophylactic procedures have led us to believe that we understand the disease. However, we still have too few answers to many questions: "Why can we not predict who will get the disease?" "Why do we not become immunized?" "How much saliva is enoug...