ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES AND DENTAL CARIES

尽管部分人口的龋齿患病率大幅下降，但它仍然是一个重大的公共卫生问题，特别是对那些最不能承受这一负担的人。流行率的下降通常归因于通过各种途径增加对氟化物的接触。在增加使用氟化物之前和期间，食物防腐剂的摄入量也增加了25倍以上。食品防腐剂与氟化物的共同之处在于，它们表现为弱酸，它们在低pH值下质子化，可以扩散到细胞内，降低对酸的耐受性和突变链球菌对酸的适应。认识到唾液对菌斑环境的重要性，我们将研究在三年时间内收集的全部唾液样本中哺乳动物和非哺乳动物成分与同一组受试者龋齿发生率的关系。我们相信，这项建议具有很高的新颖性，并提供了开发提高龋齿诊断和预防方法的可能性。

Despite significant reduction in the prevalence of dental caries in some segments of the population it remains a major public health problem, particularly for those least able to bear the burden. The decline in prevalence has generally been attributed to increased exposure to fluoride through a variety of routes. Prior to and during the increased use of fluorides ingestion with food preservatives was also increasing by over 25 fold. Food preservatives have properties in common with fluoride in that they behave as weak acids they are protonated at low pH values, can diffuse into cells, reduce acid tolerance and acid adaptation by mutants streptococci. Recognizing the importance of saliva on the plaque environment, we will examine the relationship of mammalian and non- mammalian components of whole saliva samples collected over a three- year period, to the incidence of dental caries in the same group of subjects. We believe this proposal is highly novel and offers the possibility of developing approaches to enhance the diagnosis of caries and methods for its prevention.