Vaccine May Prevent Dental Caries

Dentistry Today

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It’s possible an anticaries DNA vaccine may eventually exist that has the ability to prevent dental caries.

This information comes from a study led by Wei Shi, of the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. There are still, however, issues concerning the low immunogenicity of DNA vaccines.

This study was published in the Journal of Dental Research.

To compile the data, the research team used recombinant flagellin protein derived from Salmonella as mucosal adjuvant for the anticaries vaccine. The results were then analyzed on rodent teeth. The results indicated that Salmonella allowed the production of surface protein immunoglobin G in serum and secretory immunoglobin A in saliva of animals by intranasal immunization with the combination of pGJA-P/VAX and Salmonella.

The study also demonstrated that immunoglobin A was involved with the inhibition of S. mutans colonization of tooth surfaces.

In summation, it’s possible for a substance in saliva to be triggered in a way that would result in an anticaries vaccine. There is also information from other studies that back up these claims, including studies that show there have been successful vaccines for dental caries in animals. That’s why this study could lead to a dental caries vaccine for humans.