Virulent tooth decay in toddlers can be caused by combination of bacterium and fungus
Early childhood caries, a highly aggressive and painful form of tooth decay that frequently occurs in preschool children, especially from backgrounds of poverty, may result from a nefarious partnership between a bacterium and a fungus, according to a paper published ahead of print in the journal Infection and Immunity.
The resulting tooth decay can be so severe that treatment frequently requires surgery—in the operating room, says corresponding author Hyun (Michel) Koo of the University of Pennsylvania.