DEVELOPING EX VIVO CARIES MODEL WITH NANOPARTICLES BIOSENSORS

Abstract

Dental caries is a global public health problem, which leads to significant health and economic consequences. Caries research currently lacks disease models that can faithfully recapitulate the complex diet/host/oral-microbiome interaction of the human oral environment. Here, we developed an ex vivo disease model of dental caries and fluorescence-based nanoparticle sensors capable of highly-sensitive pH-imaging. Our results show that we can investigate the site-specific time-dependent pH changes occurring in dental biofilm and tissues under the influence of multiple factors, such as types/flow of diet/drinks, composition and risk profiles of biofilm, and host determinants (including site-specific dental structures and saliva). Overall, this study may aid in the understanding of dental caries and for testing potential treatment approaches.