RAPID AND QUANTITATIVE DETECTION OF STREPTOCOCCUS-MUTANS WITH SPECIES-SPECIFIC MONOCLONAL-ANTIBODIES

Streptococcus mutans is known to be a prime etiologic agent for the in itiation and progression of human dental caries. Rapid, accurate, and quantitative detection of S. mutans will help us better understand the pathogenic mechanisms of dental caries and will help to develop metho ds for caries diagnosis and risk assessment. This study describes the development of three highly species-specific monoclonal IgG antibodies against S. mutans, The antibodies were used to develop a number of me thods that quantitatively detect S. mutans in less <1 min and are sens itive enough to detect a single bacterial cell, These methods could be widely used in basic and clinical studies related to S. mutans and in the clinical diagnosis and treatment of caries in humans.