Diversity of Lactobacillus species in deep carious lesions of primary molars

AIM: This was to determine the prevalence of Lactobacilli (LB) species in different stages of caries progression and are considered as secondary invaders of existing carious lesions and specialists for caries progression. METHODS: Carious dentine samples were collected from 70 primary molars (M) during step-wise (S1, S2: n = 35 M) or one-step (O1: n = 35 M) caries treatment and after 11 months of temporary restorations (S3, O2). LB were identified by selected physiological and biochemical characteristics, ratio of lactic acid isomers, electrophoretic mobilities of lactic acid dehydrogenases, and shotgun mass mapping by MALDI mass spectrometry. RESULTS: LB were isolated from 46% of soft dent…