ABSTRACT
@#The Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) phage, as one of the principal pathogenic bacteria of dental caries, is a main cause of the formation and development of dental caries due to its overproliferation in dental plaque biofilms. Bacterial viruses, also known as bacteriophages, have the capability of specifically infecting bacteria and effectively degrading bacterial biofilms. S. mutans phages, therefore, may prevent and control caries. Therapy based on phages has been applied in many fields, but the application of S. mutans phages in caries remains exploratory. This article will review the research progress of S. mutans phages in clinical caries prevention, aiming to provide a new idea for the clinical prevention of caries. The results of the literature review show that the living bacteriophage system has the advantages of high specificity, high affinity and good safety. However, due to its unstable structure, it can be processed into a more stable formulation by freeze-drying, spray drying, adding stability enhancers, or incorporating bacteriophages into ointments, biodegradable polymer matrices or particles to a certain extent to improve stability. The lysozyme produced by phages can digest the bacterial cell wall and release the assembled phage particles, which effectively cleave biofilms. In addition, the antigen binding fragment library for cariogenic pathogens was screened by phage display technology, and the purpose of caries prevention and treatment was achieved by passive immunization of antigen binding fragments. However, the host range of bacteriophages is narrow, so this kind of problem can be overcome by phage combined with traditional therapy or other drug use or cocktail therapy with multiple phages in clinical caries prevention and control.
ABSTRACT
Objective To study the effect of fissure sealant combined with fluorine-containing gel in the prevention of dental caries in children.Methods Totally 86 cases who came into our hospital for healthy check-up from June 2010 to June 2011 were slected,and they were divided into 3 groups according to a random number table.Children in fissure sealant group were given fissure sealant treatment,children in combined treatment group were given fluorine gel treatment in addition of fissure sealant,and children of the control group were given rou-tine oral care.Observed the caries average,adjacent surface caries and caries occurrence of the three groups,and observed the blocking agent of the fissure sealant group and the combined treatment group.Results Three years after the prophylactic treatment,the caries occurrence, adjacent surface caries and caries average of fissure sealant group and combined treatment group showed an obvious downward trend compared with those of the control group.But the caries occurrence,adjacent surface caries and caries average of combined treatment group were sig-nificantly lower than the fissure sealant group,with a statistically significant difference(P <0.05).In the follow-up of the first two years,the complete preservation rate of sealant in the combined treatment group was significantly higher than the fissure sealant group,while the partial and complete loss rate of sealant in the combined treatment group was significantly lower than the fissure sealant group,and the difference was statistically significant (P <0.05).Conclusion Fissure sealant combined with fluorine-containing gel in the prevention of dental caries in children can receive good results,and it is worth of promotion.