{"id":13075,"date":"2014-10-12T10:55:39","date_gmt":"2014-10-12T15:55:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.salud.carlosslim.org\/english2\/?p=13075"},"modified":"2014-10-13T13:41:10","modified_gmt":"2014-10-13T18:41:10","slug":"caries-bacterial-disease-of-global-impact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.salud.carlosslim.org\/english2\/caries-bacterial-disease-of-global-impact\/","title":{"rendered":"Caries: Bacterial Disease of Global Impact"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"dentista\"Caries, also known as tooth decay or a cavity, are a chronic infectious disease that gradually destroys the teeth by the action of acids produced by bacterial metabolism<\/strong>. In caries multiple factors intervene<\/strong>, such as the action of microorganisms, patient\u2019s susceptibility to them, time they take to proliferate, hereditary saliva\u2019s composition; also, the morphology of the teeth\u2019s face, jaw shape and even ethnicity. Genetic inheritance<\/strong> also affects the size and shape of the teeth, the number of pieces and even the chronology of eruption pattern (when baby teeth appear, when they fall out and when the permanent teeth grow). Other factors involved in caries and decalcification<\/strong> are increased intake of sugars<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Environmental factors<\/strong> that influence the incidence of the disease are diverse. Several studies in children, youth and adults find that the presence of caries has nothing to do with socioeconomic status or gender, but agree that hygiene is crucial for prevention. In Mexico, 90% of the population suffers from dental caries due to an inadequate diet and oral hygiene<\/strong>; as well as the high costs of dental care, which represents a serious public health problem.<\/p>\n

The main cause of this condition is the bacterium Streptococcus mutans<\/em><\/strong>, which is deposited in small cracks and fissures of teeth. This bacterium uses sucrose to produce a sticky dextran-based polysaccharide that allows them to adhere to teeth, forming plaque. This species is classified within the group of Gram-positive bacteria, which are those that are stained dark-blue or violet by Gram staining. It is a facultative anaerobic bacterium, meaning that is capable to change from aerobic respiration when there is oxygen to anaerobic when there is not. Streptococcus mutans lives in low pH environments and is able to metabolize sugars into acids as well as to synthesize them.<\/p>\n

Dental plaque forms constantly in our mouths, it is a pale yellow biofilm formed by microorganisms in which cells stick to each other on our teeth, gums and tongue surface<\/strong>s. Bacterial biofilms are commonly form in our body; but as teeth have non-shedding surfaces, allows microorganisms to adhere into their surface for long periods of time. The microorganisms grow and develop due to food waste stored in the mouth and saliva, producing acids that attack teeth and can cause caries. Without a proper oral hygiene dental plaque can harden and become in calculus or tartar.<\/p>\n

Since 1998, researchers at the Dental School of Guys Hospital in London developed a liquid vaccine against caries<\/strong>. A few applications provide active protection against cavities for at least four months. The active components are antibodies that adhere to bacteria, preventing them from remaining on teeth. While these impotent microbes are washed away, other ones that are harmless colonize teeth leaving no room for further invasions by viable cells of S. mutans.<\/p>\n

Initially the objective was the production of a traditional vaccine for injection into the bloodstream, but the revolution in molecular biology at that time allowed the production of genetically modified tobacco plants as “factories” producing large amounts of clean, safe vaccine for oral consumption. Eight small plants or one full-grown specimen are enough to produce a single course of treatment. It would cost very little to produce the vaccine on a large scale from fields of tobacco plants. Thought to be the first effective therapeutic molecule for humans made in genetically modified plants, it was also the first time that a secretory – as opposed to a blood-borne – vaccine was used in a human trial.<\/p>\n

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), tooth decay affects 60 to 90% of the world’s school population, and nearly 100% of adults in developed countries due to a high sugar diet<\/strong>, smoking<\/strong> and the excessive consumption of alcohol<\/strong>. Globally, 30% of adults aged between 65 and 75, have dentures.<\/p>\n

Oral health experts say that in recent years, Latin American countries have experienced an increase in this disease and that 5 billion people on the planet have it. Although the number of dentists is very large, is not sufficient; plus they intimidate most population. Just few people use this service before it is too late, since severe problems are difficult to reverse and teeth are gradually lost.<\/p>\n

Although there have been advances, a vaccine against Streptococcus mutans is not enough to stop caries; since it is the main cause but cavities are not exclusively caused by this microorganism. The human buccal cavity is the largest microbiota in our body, containing hundreds of different bacterial, viral, and fungal species. Along with Streptococcus mutans<\/em>, many other bacteria belonging to the same genus can cause cavities, including Streptococcus sobrinus<\/em>, Streptococcus anginosus<\/em>, Streptococcus constellatus<\/em>, Streptococcus gordonii<\/em>, Streptococcus mitis<\/em>, Streptococcus oralis<\/em>, Streptococcus salivarius<\/em> and Streptococcus sanguis<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Through:<\/strong> Cienciorama UNAM \u00a0\/ \u00a0WHO<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Caries, also known as tooth decay or a cavity, are a chronic infectious disease that gradually destroys the teeth by the action of acids produced by bacterial metabolism. In caries multiple factors intervene, such as the action of microorganisms, patient\u2019s susceptibility to them, time they take to proliferate, hereditary saliva\u2019s composition; also, the morphology of …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13097,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[15,12,11],"class_list":["post-13075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-actualidad-en-la-salud","tag-casalud","tag-genomica","tag-vacunologia","cat-3-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.salud.carlosslim.org\/english2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13075","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.salud.carlosslim.org\/english2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.salud.carlosslim.org\/english2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.salud.carlosslim.org\/english2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.salud.carlosslim.org\/english2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13075"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.salud.carlosslim.org\/english2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13075\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13098,"href":"http:\/\/www.salud.carlosslim.org\/english2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13075\/revisions\/13098"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.salud.carlosslim.org\/english2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.salud.carlosslim.org\/english2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.salud.carlosslim.org\/english2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.salud.carlosslim.org\/english2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}