Microbially-produced peptides having potential application to the prevention of dental caries.
Strategies advanced to decrease the occurrence of dental caries have in the past typically focussed upon attempting to reduce plaque accumulation by application of broad-spectrum antibacterial agents. In recent years however there has been growing interest in the application of a more targeted approach to the selective elimination from plaque of those bacterial species that are specifically implicated as the aetiological agents of this disease. This review focuses upon a number of the small bacterially-produced peptide antibiotics known as bacteriocins that are currently being explored for their potential role in the treatment and prevention of dental caries.
Chikindas
M L
ML
Unilever Dental Research, UK.
Novák
J
J
Caufield
P W
PW
Schilling
K
K
Tagg
J R
JR