Dental caries is well established as an ecologically driven disease. Given the combination of the clinical successes with arginine to date, the growing demand for noninvasive prevention and treatment approaches for caries, and the potential that arginine can impact other diseases (periodontal diseases), respiratory infections, and overall host responses by promoting the persistence of beneficial organisms in oral biofilms, research must continue apace to create a thorough understanding of what are likely many different mechanisms of action of arginine on human health.
Dr. Burne is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Oral Biology of the University of Florida College of Dentistry. This presentation summarizes salient findings related to metabolism of arginine by the oral microbiome in the context of dental caries.
