• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.357-369
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• 2005

Streptococci are Gram-positive, facultative anaerobes and have no catalase activities. Among mutans streptococci containing ${\alpha}-type$ hemolytic activity, S. mutans is a causative agent for dental caries. As well as acid production yielding the demineralization of tooth enamel, adherence and colonization of S. mutans to the teeth are also important for its virulence. These early colonization are accomplished by the bacterial fibrillar protein, Antigen I/II (Ag I/II) and glucosyltransferase (GTF). Therefore, Ag I/II and GTF are reasonable targets for the development of vaccine against S. mutans GS-5. The ag I/II and gtfD genes from S. mutans GS-5 were cloned and sequenced. Sequence analyses showed the nucleotides sequence of cloned genes had high homology to the sequences previously reported. The sequence alignment of 280 nucleotides between the cloned Ag I/II and the available sequence of the corresponding S. mutans GS-5 showed the perfect match. Comparing with the sequence of gtfD from S. mutans UA159, the corresponding nucleotide sequence of S. mutans GS-5 showed some mismatches and the mismatches introduced changes in four residues out of 105 amino acids, yielding four missense mutations.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.90-96
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• 2019

The objective of this study was to evaluate the potential of Diospyros malabarica stem extract, a natural materials, in oral health material. With this aim in mind, thin layer chromatography (TLC), TLC-bioautography, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and real-time qPCR were performed. The antibacterial activity of D. malabarica stem extract against Streptococcus mutans KCTC3065 was confirmed in an n-hexane fraction with low polarity. The molecular weight of the antibacterial compound was estimated to be 188 by ESI-MS analysis. The inhibitory effects of the extract on biofilm formation and gene expression related to biofilm formation of S. mutans were determined by SEM and real-time PCR analysis. The extract inhibited the formation of S. mutans biofilms at D. malabarica stem extract concentrations of 1 mg/ml, as shown by SEM. The real-time PCR analysis showed that the expression of the gtfC gene, which is associated with biofilm formation, was significantly decreased in a dose-dependent manner. Based on the above results, it can be concluded that D. malabarica stem extracts, a natural materials, can be used in oral health products to suppress the formation of biofilms by inhibiting tooth adhesion of S. mutans, a causative agent of dental caries.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.25-34
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• 2006

Fluoride released from dental restorative materials effectively declines the incidence and activity of dental caries and inhibits tooth demineralization. This study investigated the fluoride release and uptake characteristics of one composite resin $(Z-250^{TM})$ three glass ionomer-based restorative material ($Dyract^{(R)}$ AP, Fuji II $LC^{(R)}$, Fuji IX GP $Fast^{(R)}$) Forty discs(6mm diameter and 1mm height) were prepared for each material. Each disc was immersed in 5ml of distilled water within polyethylene vial and stored at $37^{\circ}C$. The distilled water was changed every 24 hours and the release of fluoride was measured for 31 days. At the end of this period, each specimen was subjected to one of four treatments : (A) no fluoride treatment (control), (B) application of a fluoride dentifrice (500ppm) for three minutes three times; (C) application of the 1.23% acidulated phosphate fluoride(APF) foam for one minute once, (D) the same regimen as (B), plus application of the APF foam for one minute once. Then, all samples were reassessed for an additional 7 days. For all samples, the greatest fluoride release was observed after the first day of the study but diminished with time. On the 7th day of the study, fluoride release level was stabilized. Fuji II $LC^{(R)}$ and Fuji IX GP $Fast^{(R)}$ released higher amount of fluoride than other materials ; however, no statistically significant difference was found from Fuji II $LC^{(R)}$ and Fuji IX GP $Fast^{(R)}$. The amount of fluoride of $Dyract^{(R)}$ AP, Fuji II $LC^{(R)}$ and Fuji IX GP $Fast^{(R)}$ was increased after fluoride treatment, and diminished with time.