Identifying the Enemy
Caries is the most common chronic disease worldwide affecting people across all spectra of life and all ages, especially children. Children are highly prone to the condition owing to multi-factorial reasons ranging from love of sweets, nutrition, eating habits, oral care, genetic conditions and varied environmental factors. Some are more prone to caries than others. Some, with proper care and guidance, can surmount the condition and maintain relatively good dental health way into adulthood.
Researchers at Umeå University in Sweden have made a novel discovery of particular variants of caries-causing bacteria in some children that are highly virulent or aggressive. Children who have these variants suffer from rampant caries that can also pose an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases and other systemic diseases in the future. The children are considered to be high-risk.
The causative bacterium, called Streptococcus mutans, is found in some children’s saliva and they have an adhesive quality, able to withstand the mouth’s acidic and antibacterial environment. The bacterium itself is acid-producing. It does not respond to traditional treatments and, if present, can attack any lifestyle.
It is the aim of this is a five-year study to lead to a better way of identifying high-risk patients and treat their caries. This new knowledge is helpful in several ways: it can identify types of bacteria and how they initiate caries to be able to improve individualized dental care; the bacteria could be used as biomarkers for early detection of high-risk patients; new targets for treatment can be developed.
Other studies came to support this new knowledge, such as that which analyzed the saliva of 450+ children (ages 12-17) and their bacterial content divided into various risk groupings based on the genetic type of the caries bacterium. The next 5 years studied how the caries developed in each grouping. Another study showed that other high-risk children have genetic defects in their saliva receptors for bacteria, and the affected genes may involve those in so-called autoimmune diseases.
Nonetheless, it is still important to emphasise that caries in the many individuals who are of low to medium risk for developing caries can still be modulated by right eating and oral hygiene habits.
Battling All Types of Dental Caries in Lynnwood
We at Lynnwood dentistry are of the belief that dental caries are more of a preventable condition. We always of the belief that proper oral hygiene, good nutrition and good eating habits, and regular dental visits are crucial in our battle against caries-causing dental caries.
