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Book

Dental Caries

In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2025 Jan.
.
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Book

Dental Caries

Manu Rathee et al.
Free Books & Documents

Excerpt

Dentistry dates back to 5000 B.C. when the thinking was that the cause of dental caries was a “tooth worm.” The term “dental caries” was first reported in the literature around 1634, and it originates from the Latin word “caries,” which stands for decay. The term was initially used to describe holes in the teeth. Dental caries is reported to be one of the oldest and most common diseases found in humans. Dental caries is a prevalent chronic infectious disease resulting from tooth-adherent cariogenic bacteria that metabolize sugars to produce acid, which, over time, demineralizes tooth structure.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure: Manu Rathee declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

Disclosure: Amit Sapra declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

References

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