Monographs in Oral Science最新文献

Saliva interfaces with all oral tissues and modulates the development of dental caries or erosive tooth wear. Its mechanical function of coating all surfaces combined with the components in saliva modulates individual susceptibility to dental caries or erosive tooth wear. The effort to associate genes known to regulate saliva roles with dental caries experience has been carefully reviewed in the literature, and this chapter reflects on these studies from their conception standpoint, highlighting limitations in design, and adds a review to the work on erosive tooth wear.

Fluoridation of the drinking water is one of the most impactful public health interventions ever done. Dental caries experience importantly decreased in all parts of the world that adopted the intervention. Implementation of fluoridation of the drinking water to populations has always been the focus of criticism, and these discussions often focus on the safety of the intervention. When asked about safety, many people will tend to assume a more cautious position, and the question regarding safety of fluoridation of the drinking water never goes away. Fluoridation of toothpastes also provides the same impact on dental caries experience in populations. It is reasonable to propose that water fluoridation may not be implemented anymore since there is a feasible and effective replacement for it. Finally, this chapter revisits the discussed effects of fluorides on overall health, with particular emphasis on cognition and intelligence.

Halitosis is a widespread condition presenting several social and psychological implications, leading to a reduction in the quality of life of an individual. Halitosis, per definition, defines an unpleasant smell of the exhaled air, independent of its etiology. It can have a long-term prevalence or be transient, making it difficult to establish this symptom's epidemiology. Oral malodor can be attributed to a high local concentration of intraoral microbial populations, particularly those of the tongue's biofilm, as well as the biofilms associated with teeth and periodontal tissue. Frequently, the treatment options rely on improving oral health via tongue cleaning, detecting periodontal diseases, insufficient dental restorations, alternating diets, and/or alleviating local factors. Different methods targeting specific bacteria species have been designed to improve this condition. The aim here is to underline the correlation between oral biofilms and halitosis, describing prime bacteria species influencing oral malodor and addressing new concepts to ameliorate this condition.

Introduction: To date, the microbiota associated with persistent endodontic infections has only been analyzed in patients who did not receive any antibiotic therapy for at least 3 months before endodontic treatment. In this clinical study, secondary endodontic infections of patients who recently received systematic antibiotic therapy before endodontic treatment were analyzed and compared with the actual data available in the literature.

Methods: Root canal-filled teeth with periradicular lesions of 20 patients who were under systematic antibiotic therapy which ended 1-21 days before the endodontic treatment were studied. A wide range of antibiotics was administered, including amoxicillin, amoclav, amoxicillin/metronidazole, ampiclox (ampicillin and cloxacillin), doxycycline, tetracycline, ciprofloxacin, and azithromycin. Microorganisms were isolated according to standard protocols and identified using MALDI-TOF-MS. A narrative review of the literature was conducted to compare the results of this study with the data reported so far.

Results: The presence and concentrations of bacteria isolated from the infected root canals were comparable with those depicted in the literature, although the total colony-forming units number in saliva was rather low. The number of different bacterial species isolated and identified in each patient as well as the diversity over all patients did not show signs of any influence of the administered antibiotics. Weissella hellenica and Cellulomonas spp. were detected in root canals for the first time. Granulicatella adiacens and Dietzia spp., previously isolated from primary endodontic infections, were detected for the first time in persistent root canal infections in this patient group.

Conclusions: The bacterial diversity reported to date in secondary endodontic infections should be extended with the new microbial composition revealed in endodontic patients who had recently received systematic antibiotic therapy.

The formation of a physiological biofilm cannot be avoided under normal circumstances. However, the consequences of a supragingivally located biofilm, such as caries, gingivitis and, as a further effect, periodontitis, are relatively easy to avoid. The simplest and most common method used worldwide for the elimination of biofilm is periodic mechanical removal using a toothbrush or similar tools, such as chewing sticks or woods. This method was already used in ancient Egypt, and is still being used today, albeit advanced and improved with the help of toothpastes. Here we give a summary of the most common toothbrushes, highlighting their advantages and disadvantages. Furthermore, we provide an overview of the most common toothpastes, their ingredients, and functions. In addition, the ingredients will be critically evaluated and recommendations given for the use or non-use of certain ingredients for different target groups, such as children, healthy adults, or patients with special needs.

More than 700 microbial species inhabit the complex environment of the oral cavity. For years microorganisms have been studied in pure cultures, a highly artificial situation because microorganisms in natural habitats grow as complex ecologies, termed biofilms. These resemble multicellular organisms and are characterized by their overall metabolic activity upon multiple cellular interactions. Microorganisms in biofilms express different genes than their planktonic counterparts, resulting in higher resistance to antimicrobials, different nutritional requirements, or creation of a low redox potential allowing the growth of strictly anaerobic bacteria in the presence of oxygen. Multiple in vitro biofilm models have been described in the literature so far. The main emphasis here will be on multispecies biofilm batch culture models developed in Zurich. The standard 6-species supragingival biofilm model has been used to study basic aspects of oral biofilms such as structure, social behavior, and spatial distribution of microorganisms, or diffusion properties. Numerous parameters related to the inhibition of dental plaque were tested illustrating the high reliability of the model to predict the in vivo efficiency of antimicrobials. Modifications and advancements led to a 10-species subgingival model often combined with human gingival epithelial cells, as an integral part of the oral innate immune system, eliciting various cell responses ranging from cytokine production to apoptosis. In conclusion, biofilm models enable a multitude of questions to be addressed that cannot be studied with planktonic monocultures. The Zurich in vitro biofilm models are reproducible and reliable and may be used for basic studies, but also for application-oriented questions that could not be addressed using culture techniques. Oral biofilm research will certainly lead to a more realistic assessment of the role of microorganisms in the oral cavity in health and disease. In this respect, substantial progress has been made, but there is still more to explore.

Milk is an important part of the human diet; after weaning, cow's milk (bovine milk) predominates and this chapter considers the effect of bovine milk on dental caries. Yoghurt, which is a milk product, is also considered here. Several published reviews have concluded that milk is of very low cariogenicity and may have some caries protective potential. For example, WHO reviewed the strength of the evidence in 2003 and concluded that a "decreased risk" of dental caries from milk was "possible." The evidence comes from several types of study: epidemiological studies (interventional and observational), animal experiments, plaque pH studies, and in vivo and in vitro enamel and dentine slab experiments. More recent observational epidemiological studies have adjusted for potential confounders and have reported that milk consumption is associated with lower caries experience or incidence. Other types of study generally support this conclusion. Reasons for these favourable caries-related properties include the lower acidogenicity of lactose compared with other dietary sugars and the protective effects of calcium, phosphate, proteins, and fats. There is less research concerning yoghurts but it is likely that the cariogenic potential of plain yoghurt is similar to that of milk. The addition of sucrose to milk increases caries risk.