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In vitro Caries-like Lesion Production by Streptococcus mutans and Actinomyces viscosus Using Sucrose and Starch

University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine, Farmington, Connecticut 06032-9984

D. Krell

Dows Institute for Dental Research, College of Dentistry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242

J.S. Wefel

Dows Institute for Dental Research, College of Dentistry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242

J. Crall

University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine, Farmington, Connecticut 06032-9984

F.F. Feagin

Department of Physiology and Biophysics, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, University Station, Birmingham, Alabama 35294

We investigated the formation of caries-like lesions on root and enamel sections by S. mutans and A. viscosus when grown in four different carbohydrate substrates. The substrates were: sucrose, starch + -amylase, and a combination of starch and sucrose with and without a-amylase. Twenty-four sections with exposed windows on both the root and enamel surfaces were exposed to the individual bacterial species in each of the four substrates for three weeks. At three weeks, the sections were removed and lesion depths measured. When grown in sucrose alone, S. mutans produced significantly deeper lesions in both root and enamel surfaces when compared with A. viscosus. However, S. mutans failed to produce lesions when grown in "limited" sucrose with starch added, whereas A. viscosus in this same substrate produced lesions in the enamel and root surfaces. A. viscosus also produced either similar or significantly deeper lesions in both root and enamel surfaces, when compared with S. mutans grown in the two substrates with amylase. Thus, under these in vitro conditions, it was demonstrated that A. viscosus could utilize starch, whereas utilization of starch by S. mutans was -amylase-dependent.

Journal of Dental Research, Vol. 66, No. 3, 795-798 (1987)
DOI: 10.1177/00220345870660031801


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