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Journal of Dental Research
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A Simplified Diagnostic System for Cultural Detection and Enumeration of Streptococcus mutans

H.V. Jordan

Forsyth Dental Center, 140 Fenway, Boston, Massachusetts 02115

R. Laraway

Forsyth Dental Center, 140 Fenway, Boston, Massachusetts 02115

R. Snirch

APO Diagnostics, Inc., 91 Esna Park Drive, Unit 2, Markham (Toronto), Ontario, Canada L3R 2S2

M. Marmel

APO Diagnostics, Inc., 91 Esna Park Drive, Unit 2, Markham (Toronto), Ontario, Canada L3R 2S2

A simple dip-slide test (Cariescreen SM®) based on MSB selective agar was devised for detection and quantitation of Streptococcus mutans in oral samples. For this test, a bacitracin tablet is dissolved in a vial containing buffered saline diluent. Paraffin-stimulated saliva is collected in this diluent vial. A dip slide which incorporates a modified MSB agar (minus bacitracin) is immersed briefly in the diluted saliva. After addition of a CO2-generating tablet, the screw-cap dip slide is closed tightly in the vial and incubated for two days at 37°C and one day at room temperature. S. mutans populations in saliva are estimated by comparison with a colony density chart.

Growth of reference strains of S. mutans was equivalent on Cariescreen SM dip slides and on MSB agar plates. Reference strains of Streptococcus sanguis, Streptococcus salivarius, Streptococcus mitis, and Streptococcus milleri did not grow on Cariescreen SM dip slides. Aliquots of saliva from 50 schoolchildren and 51 adults were tested by the dip-slide method and by conventional plating methods in MSB agar. Very good correlation (0.93) between the two methods was obtained. This simplified S. mutans detection system is suitable for use by clinical personnel in dental clinics or other non-laboratory settings for identification of subjects potentially at risk for caries.

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Journal of Dental Research, Vol. 66, No. 1, 57-61 (1987)
DOI: 10.1177/00220345870660011201
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This Article
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