Strep on my teeth

Strep throat is a commonly referred medical condition, indicating bacterial infection of the throat.

- Dr. Sunil S Chiplunkar

The infection is caused by round shaped bacteria: Streptococcus pyogenes (Group A Strep) and leads to pain in throat, and during swallowing, there are red spots in upper part inside the mouth, and patient suffers fever. Though the “Strep throat” is talked about a lot in public, little is known in general society about a particular Streptococcus bacteria present on the teeth - this Streptococcus causes infection on the enamel of teeth.

Bacteria in the oral cavity (mouth)

The oral microbiota refers to microscopic organisms or microbes in the mouth. The number estimates vary from 50 to 100 billion microbes present as clusters in the mouth: cheeks, teeth, gums, palate, and tongue. The oral cavity offers a stable wet environment with abundant nutrients and diverse surfaces (teeth, gums, tongue, palate, cheeks etc), allowing various microbes to thrive. All the microbes of oral cavity are not harmful-either they are harmless or they are commensals (microbes which provide benefit to the human body). Some microbes, however, are pathogenic in nature (cause disease). Further, there is increasing evidence that the oral microbiota is closely related to diseases like diabetes, obesity, and cancer. In the future, oral microbiota will become a new target for improving the overall body health.