Biological Approaches in Dentistry by the Use of Antibodies

Introduction: In nature, microorganisms typically appear in biofilms where many different species are living together synergistically and antagonistically. In such a spatially organised environment bacteria grow completely differently to planctonic mono-cultures which is still representative for laboratory cultures. Biofilms are also present with the human body where microorganisms outnumber the human cells ten times. Amongst all sites the oral cavity is the most populated area in the human body in particular concerning the number (around 800) of different species. In this context, tooth decay could be considered as a biofilm occurrence taking place when the right, i.e. cariogenic, microorganisms are put together growing on the right substrate, i.e. mainly sucrose, form-ing the right fermentation products, i.e. mainly lactic acid. From this biological perspective, caries could be pre-vented by different means. Here, biological means are described focussing upon the use of antibodies for diag-nostic purposes as well as for therapeutic purposes.

Objective: Since decades antibodies have been intensively used in enzyme linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) for quantification for instance of drugs, metabolites and microorganisms. During the recent years also therapeutic medicinal products have been launched with monoclonal antibodies as the active ingredient, e.g. the anti-cancer drug Cetuximab from Merck KGaA. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that a similar use of anti-bodies in dentistry would be reasonable as well. So, monoclonal antibodies could be used for the quantification of pathogenic oral bacteria which is shown by a new diagnostic device for caries risk assessment. In addition, the high specificity of monoclonal antibodies for binding to corresponding pathogens could be employed for the development of specific therapeutic products.

Conclusion: It is quite clear that the oral cavity will ever be populated by microorganisms. The pathogenic ones could be detected by the use of antibody-based diagnostics. Eventually, antibodies could be used to remove pathogenic microorganisms out of a biofilm which thus might be turned from a bad plaque to a good plaque.