The effect of fluoride on the stability of oral bacterial communities in vitro.

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Marsh PD, Bradshaw DJ

The effect of fluoride on the stability of oral bacterial communities in vitro.

J Dent Res. 1990 Feb;69 Spec No:668-71; discussion 682-3. doi: 10.1177/00220345900690S129.

PubMed ID

2179328 [ View in PubMed

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Abstract

An in vitro model system has been used to study the combined influences of fermentable carbohydrate, pH, and fluoride on the stability of complex oral microbial communities. The pH generated from carbohydrate pulses rather than the availability of substrate per se was responsible for the enrichment of the cariogenic species S. mutans and L. casei. The addition of sub-MIC levels of sodium fluoride (1 mmol/L; 19 ppm) reduced both the rate of acid production and the fall in terminal pH from glucose pulses, thereby enabling pH-sensitive bacteria, including many Gram-negative species, to persist. Furthermore, the combination of even a moderately-low environmental pH (ca. pH 5.0) with a low level (1 mmol/L) of fluoride was able to prevent S. mutans from out-competing other species and resulted in its proportions within the bacterial community remaining low. By this mechanism, fluoride could make a significant contribution to preventing dental caries.

DrugBank Data that Cites this Article

Drug Enzymes

Drug	Enzyme	Kind	Organism	Pharmacological Action	Actions
Sodium fluoride	Enolase	Protein	Streptococcus mutans	Unknown	Inhibitor	Details
Sodium fluoride	Enolase	Protein	Lactobacillus casei (strain BL23)	Unknown	Inhibitor	Details