Acid tolerance properties of dental biofilms in vivo

Abstract Background The ecological plaque hypothesis explains caries development as the result of the enrichment of acid tolerant bacteria in dental biofilms in response to prolonged periods of low pH. Acid production by an acid tolerant microflora causes demineralisation of tooth enamel and thus, i...

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Main Authors: A Senneby, JR Davies, G Svensäter, J Neilands
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2017-07-01
Series:BMC Microbiology
Subjects:
pH
Online Access:http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12866-017-1074-7
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spelling doaj-ad5a8c099db64f90847209497f85b69a2020-11-24T22:03:21ZengBMCBMC Microbiology1471-21802017-07-011711810.1186/s12866-017-1074-7Acid tolerance properties of dental biofilms in vivoA Senneby0JR Davies1G Svensäter2J Neilands3Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Malmö University, Faculty of OdontologyDepartment of Oral Biology, Faculty of Odontology, Malmö UniversityDepartment of Oral Biology, Faculty of Odontology, Malmö UniversityDepartment of Oral Biology, Faculty of Odontology, Malmö UniversityAbstract Background The ecological plaque hypothesis explains caries development as the result of the enrichment of acid tolerant bacteria in dental biofilms in response to prolonged periods of low pH. Acid production by an acid tolerant microflora causes demineralisation of tooth enamel and thus, individuals with a greater proportion of acid tolerant bacteria would be expected to be more prone to caries development. Biofilm acid tolerance could therefore be a possible biomarker for caries prediction. However, little is known about the stability of biofilm acid tolerance over time in vivo or the distribution throughout the oral cavity. Therefore the aim of this study was to assess intra-individual differences in biofilm acid-tolerance between different tooth surfaces and inter-individual variation as well as stability of acid tolerance over time. Results The majority of the adolescents showed low scores for biofilm acid tolerance. In 14 of 20 individuals no differences were seen between the three tooth sites examined. In the remaining six, acid-tolerance at the premolar site differed from one of the other sites. At 51 of 60 tooth sites, acid-tolerance at baseline was unchanged after 1 month. However, acid tolerance values changed over a 1-year period in 50% of the individuals. Conclusions Biofilm acid tolerance showed short-term stability and low variation between different sites in the same individual suggesting that the acid tolerance could be a promising biological biomarker candidate for caries prediction. Further evaluation is however needed and prospective clinical trials are called for to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12866-017-1074-7MicrobiologyPhenotypePlaquepHObserver performanceAcid tolerance
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author A Senneby
JR Davies
G Svensäter
J Neilands
spellingShingle A Senneby
JR Davies
G Svensäter
J Neilands
Acid tolerance properties of dental biofilms in vivo
BMC Microbiology
Microbiology
Phenotype
Plaque
pH
Observer performance
Acid tolerance
author_facet A Senneby
JR Davies
G Svensäter
J Neilands
author_sort A Senneby
title Acid tolerance properties of dental biofilms in vivo
title_short Acid tolerance properties of dental biofilms in vivo
title_full Acid tolerance properties of dental biofilms in vivo
title_fullStr Acid tolerance properties of dental biofilms in vivo
title_full_unstemmed Acid tolerance properties of dental biofilms in vivo
title_sort acid tolerance properties of dental biofilms in vivo
publisher BMC
series BMC Microbiology
issn 1471-2180
publishDate 2017-07-01
description Abstract Background The ecological plaque hypothesis explains caries development as the result of the enrichment of acid tolerant bacteria in dental biofilms in response to prolonged periods of low pH. Acid production by an acid tolerant microflora causes demineralisation of tooth enamel and thus, individuals with a greater proportion of acid tolerant bacteria would be expected to be more prone to caries development. Biofilm acid tolerance could therefore be a possible biomarker for caries prediction. However, little is known about the stability of biofilm acid tolerance over time in vivo or the distribution throughout the oral cavity. Therefore the aim of this study was to assess intra-individual differences in biofilm acid-tolerance between different tooth surfaces and inter-individual variation as well as stability of acid tolerance over time. Results The majority of the adolescents showed low scores for biofilm acid tolerance. In 14 of 20 individuals no differences were seen between the three tooth sites examined. In the remaining six, acid-tolerance at the premolar site differed from one of the other sites. At 51 of 60 tooth sites, acid-tolerance at baseline was unchanged after 1 month. However, acid tolerance values changed over a 1-year period in 50% of the individuals. Conclusions Biofilm acid tolerance showed short-term stability and low variation between different sites in the same individual suggesting that the acid tolerance could be a promising biological biomarker candidate for caries prediction. Further evaluation is however needed and prospective clinical trials are called for to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy.
topic Microbiology
Phenotype
Plaque
pH
Observer performance
Acid tolerance
url http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12866-017-1074-7
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