Genotypic and phenotypic characterization of strains isolated from patients with dental caries.

Background And Objectives: The oral cavity harbors numerous strains which display remarkable genotypic and phenotypic diversity. This study evaluated the genotypic and phenotypic diversity of 209 strains isolated from 336 patients with dental caries and compared with the universal reference strain, UA159.

Materials And Methods: Selective cultivation on mitis-salivaries-bacitracin agar and species-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was carried out to isolate and identify the 209 isolates from 336 patients with dental caries.