Residual caries detection using visible fluorescence.

This study investigated the ability of a new fluorescence method to detect residual caries in vitro. Gross caries was removed from 40 teeth with D2 caries. Samples were excited with violet-blue light and viewed through a 530-nm high-pass filter.

Differential activation of human neutrophils by Streptococcus mutans isolates from root surface lesions and caries-free and caries-active subjects.

Phagocytosis of bacterial pathogens is an important defense mechanism and may contribute to regulating Streptococcus mutans-induced dental caries, particularly at root surfaces. This study was undertaken to examine and compare differences in polymorphonuclear leukocyte or neutrophil activation by clinical isolates of S. mutans collected from the saliva of caries-free or caries-active individuals with S.

Specific and charge interactions mediate collagen recognition by oral lactobacilli.

The mechanisms by which oral lactobacilli, one of the three major genera of cariogenic bacteria, attach to tooth surfaces are unknown. We hypothesize that recognition of collagen, the major component of dentin, may be a mechanism which localizes these bacteria to exposed root surfaces as well as to carious lesions which have penetrated the dentin. We found that the majority of oral Lactobacillus spp.

Antibiotics alter interactions of Staphylococcus aureus with collagenous substrata.

The effects of sub-minimum inhibitory concentrations (sub-MICs) of three antibiotics affecting the biosynthesis of peptidoglycan on the interactions of Staphylococcus aureus strains with collagenous substrata were evaluated. In a system measuring binding of 125I-labeled collagen, growth of bacteria in the presence of one-quarter MIC of cloxacillin and vancomycin reduced the number of collagen binding sites on the surface of bacteria. Growth in the presence of cefpodoxime reduced the number of collagen binding sites in one strain and increased it in another.

An in vitro model for adhesion of bacteria to human tooth root surfaces.

A model mimicking bacterial colonization of dentine has been developed. It employs uniform particles of pulverized human tooth root tissue incubated with radioactively labelled bacteria. After incubation, the number of attaching bacteria is quantified.