Origin of dental caries:
There are numerous evidences have demonstrated that dental plaque is a prerequisite for the initiation of dental caries and periodontal disease.
The degree of the cariogenicity of dental plaque is dependent on a number of factors including:
1. The location of the mass of microorganisms in specific areas of the tooth as on smooth surfaces, pits and fissures and dental root surfaces.
2. The large number of microorganisms concentrated in areas not accessible to oral hygiene or self-cleaning.
3. The production of a variety of acids (lactic, acetic, propionic, etc..) Able to dissolve the calcium salts of the tooth.
4. The gelatinous nature of the board favors the retention of the compounds formed in it and decreases the spread of neutralizing elements into it.
Dental caries is a multifactorial disease associated with the interplay of several factors, essential for the initiation of the injury.
These factors are the host, bacteria and diet. He was subsequently added a new factor: the weather, which allowed uncover more precisely the formation of dental caries.
As mentioned, for the development of caries requires the time factor, so the older a child has, the more likely to have caries.
However, in primary teeth or milk, can develop a type of particularly extensive caries, which affects virtually all incisors and usually seen in infants fed long bottle or by the use of pacifiers.
1. Evidence that dental caries is an infectious and contagious disease
Rottenstein Leber and Millar in 1867 and in 1890, deduced the fundamental principles involved in the development of dental caries. In his famous parasite chemical theory, Millar suggests that oral bacteria convert dietary carbohydrates into acids, which are capable of solubilizing calcium phosphate and produce enamel caries.
Initial experiments showed that germ-free rats were able to develop dental caries when infected with bacteria.
Evidence for the transmissibility of dental caries comes from studies in hamster. Dental caries-free animals did not develop the disease even when they were given a highly cariogenic diet.
This only occurred when these animals were placed in contact with animals that if they had dental caries.
Later it was found that when isolated Stretococus carious lesions in rats were inoculated in the oral cavity of germ-free animals, they were able to develop the disease.
The importance of diet started to be taken into consideration, noting that the colonization and production of many Streptococcus oral cavity occurred only in the presence of sucrose.
