The presence of the caries germ Streptococcus mutans in oral cavity of the pregnant woman is an important prognostic factor for the dental health of the child. Control of the Streptococcus mutans amounts of the mother and the resulting preventive measures in the dental practice are therefore an important factor for the future dental health of the child. High mother mutans amounts often mean early detectable Streptococcus mutans in toddlers. This represents a high risk of caries and can lead to early childhood caries (ECC).
Further references:
Reed SG, Cunningham JE, Latham TN, Shirer SC, Wagner CL.
Maternal oral mutans streptococci (MS) status, not breastfeeding, predicts predentate infant oral MS status. (Breastfeed Med. 2014 Nov;9(9):446-9. doi: 10.1089/bfm.2014.0036. Epub 2014 Oct 7.)
Chaffee BW, Gansky SA, Weintraub JA, Featherstone JD, Ramos-Gomez FJ.
Maternal oral bacterial levels predict early childhood caries development (J Dent Res. 2014 Mar;93(3):238-44. doi: 10.1177/0022034513517713. Epub 2013 Dec 19.)
Kishi M, Abe A, Kishi K, Ohara-Nemoto Y, Kimura S, Yonemitsu M.
Relationship of quantitative salivary levels of Streptococcus mutans and S. sobrinus in mothers to caries status and colonization of mutans streptococci in plaque in their 2.5-year-old children. (Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 2009 Jun;37(3):241-9. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0528.2009.00472.x.)
The detection of Streptococus mutans in pregnant women is an efficient method to indicate the risk of MS being transmitted from the mother to the child. The detection of SM in the child influences the risk of caries.
