Clemson University researchers working on a probiotic to fight cavities
CLEMSON, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - You have heard of probiotics and how they are good for gut health, but researchers are now learning that certain bacteria are also good for the mouth.
Clemson University associate professor in biological sciences Vincent Richards is looking at DNA sequences of bacteria. He and his team are trying to decipher the bad guys versus good.
“What can happen is when you eat sugars, there are certain bacteria that live on your teeth that like to break those sugars down,” Richards said. “They produce acid and then that causes your enamel on your teeth to de-mineralize.”
This in turn produces bacteria that causes cavities. But then there are good bacteria.
“Other bacteria that live on your teeth have the ability to break down parts of your diet and produce ammonia and that raises the pH of the tooth surface,” Richards said.
Richards says they have now identified the species that could work as a probiotic to promote good oral health. But it’s not yet enough
“So you can’t just pick any strain from the species and hope it will work,” Richards said. “You have to get the right strain. And so we need to be able to examine the different strains within the species to identify those species that are really good at raising the pH.”
Clemson University postdoctoral fellow Allison Mann said it’s a big project for researchers and students to take on.
“So I would say that this is probably the largest scale oral microbiome project that I can think of that looks at both the oral microbiome again from a taxonomic level, but also from a functional level,” Mann said.
The research is also examining how a probiotic could help people with HIV. They often produce less good bacteria as a side effect of their illness.
“Tooth decay is one of the second leading chronic diseases in children across the world,” Richards said. “This whole objective to develop probiotics has far-reaching effects.”
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