Anticaries vaccine

The mutans streptococci bacteria have long been acknowledged as the prime disease-instigating agents in dental caries, the disease that causes tooth decay. Caries vaccines have shown promising outcomes in animal trials, but they are still far from being effective in humans owing to political, monetary, as well as ethical concerns. Candidate vaccines must be evaluated in clinical trials to progress toward practical vaccine development. Passive immunization strategies that appear to be promising will need to be tested further in the clinic.