EVALUATION OF THE IN-VITRO CARIOGENIC POTENTIAL OF STREPTOCOCCUS-MUTANS STRAINS ISOLATED FROM 12-YEAR-OLD CHILDREN WITH DIFFERING CARIES EXPERIENCE

The limited usefulness of caries activity tests based solely on counts of mutans streptococci has been recognised increasingly. Such tests d o not account for potential differences in cariogenicity of Streptococ cus mutans strains harboured by individual patients. Hence, this study describes the evaluation of a simple and inexpensive method involving the dissolution of powdered hydroxyapatite as a means of determining the cariogenic potential of 64 freshly isolated strains of S. mutans f rom 24 children. Whilst it is apparent that differences between strain s isolated from individuals could be demonstrated using this test, the variability observed was such that it was not possible to relate in v itro cariogenicity to actual clinical caries experience.