S Mutans Hides Under Other Bacteria to Stick on Teeth and Form Plaque
Studying bacteria in a petri dish or test tube has yielded insights into how they function and, in some cases, contribute to disease. But this approach leaves out crucial details about how they act in the real world. Taking a translational approach, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine and the Georgia Institute of Technology imagined the bacteria that cause tooth decay in three dimensions in their natural environment, dental plaque formed on the teeth of toddler affected by cavities. The researchers found that Streptococcus mutans, a major bacterial species responsible for tooth decay, is encased in a protective multilayered community of other bacteria and polymers forming a unique spatial organization associated with the location of the disease onset.
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