Abstract:
Until relatively recently, dental caries had long been considered to be an infectious disease caused by targeted bacteria with Streptococcus mutans as the leading candidate. These studies led to a view that these bacteria might be transferred
from person to person and infants commonly acquired them from their mothers after an infant got his or her primary teeth. Thus, dental caries has been reframed as an ecological disaster caused by microbes, and one major challenge in health
maintenance involves altering the disease-promoting oral flora through pathways that can overcome dysbiosis rather than killing pathogens. The cost of caries in relation to the economy is a burden including both direct costs and indirect factors
such as loss productivity, lost quality life due to pain.
