Insights into the Virulence Traits of Streptococcus mutans in Dentine Carious Lesions of Children with Early Childhood Caries

Findings revealed that S. mutans is part of the viable microbial community in active and arrested dentine carious lesions of children with early childhood caries, and the increase in expression of the pdhA and aguD genes in arrested lesions is likely due to the unfavourable environmental conditions for microbial growth, inherent to this type of lesions.