A new bacterial species involved in caries has been identified. « Medicine in the Library

Researchers of University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine and the Adams School of Dentistry and the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina found that a bacterial species called Selenomonas sputigena may play an important role in causing tooth decay.

Scientists have long considered another bacterial species, lo Streptococcus mutans which forms plaque and produces acid, as the main cause of tooth decay, also known as dental caries. However, in the study, which appeared in “Nature Communications” the researchers of the Penn Dental Medicine and the UNC have shown that S. sputigena, previously associated only with gum disease, may function as a key partner of S. mutans.

“This was an unexpected discovery that offers us new insights into caries development, highlights potential future targets for caries prevention, and reveals new mechanisms of bacterial biofilm formation that may be relevant in other clinical settings.said study co-author Hyun (Michel) Koo DDS, PhD, professor in the Department of Orthodontics and Divisions of Pediatrics and Community Oral Health and Co-Director of the Center for Innovation and Precision Dentistry at Penn Dental medicine.

The results, said Prof. Koo, show more complex microbial interaction than previously thought and provide a better understanding of how childhood cavities develop, an understanding that could lead to better ways to prevent cavities.

“Disrupting these protective superstructures of S. sputigena using specific enzymes or more precise and effective methods of tooth brushing could be one approachKoo said.

The researchers now plan to study in more detail how this mobile anaerobic bacterium ends up in the aerobic environment of the tooth surface.

Read the full text of the article:
Selenomonas sputigena acts as a pathobiont mediating spatial structure and biofilm virulence in early childhood caries.
Cho , H. , Ren , Z. , Divaris , K. …….. .
Common Nat 14, 2919 (2023).

Source: University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine