# Would it be possible to make the cavity-causing bacteria in one's mouth go extinct?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-possible-to-make-the-cavity-causing-bacteria-in-ones-mouth-go-extinct/722002
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [June 8, 2015, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-possible-to-make-the-cavity-causing-bacteria-in-ones-mouth-go-extinct/722002 "2015-06-08T20:58:58Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2015, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-possible-to-make-the-cavity-causing-bacteria-in-ones-mouth-go-extinct/722002/1 "2015-06-08T20:58:58Z")
Do cavity-causing bacteria only feed on sugar? If not, only on carbohydrates?
With enough dedication, would it be possible to starve them out by severely restricting the intake of what they use for nutrients?
Are there counter-bacteria that feed on them?
Do those specific bacteria have a positive effect? Please don’t tell me that some bacteria are good. I want to know if these bacteria are good.
If they were wiped out from one’s mouth, how could they infect it again?
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### Author:  [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2015, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-possible-to-make-the-cavity-causing-bacteria-in-ones-mouth-go-extinct/722002/2 "2015-06-08T21:04:07Z")
That’s a rather interesting question. I know that there are “probiotic” treatments available for situations where you have too much “bad” bacteria in the intestines and not enough “good” bacteria. One of these treatments literally involves [eating shit](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-736518.html).
So it makes sense to consider whether you could, say, coat your teeth with enough “good” (i.e. non cavity-forming) bacteria that the bad bacteria becomes marginalized and starts to die off.
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### Author:  [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2015, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-possible-to-make-the-cavity-causing-bacteria-in-ones-mouth-go-extinct/722002/3 "2015-06-08T21:06:00Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#):
>
> …Do those specific bacteria have a positive effect? Please don’t tell me that some bacteria are good. I want to know if these bacteria are good…
Since bad breath is, to some extent, produced by bacteria, one could imagine a strain of “good” mouth bacteria that makes your breath minty as a matter of course. Whether such bacteria actually exist out there is another question.
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### Author:  [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2015, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-possible-to-make-the-cavity-causing-bacteria-in-ones-mouth-go-extinct/722002/4 "2015-06-08T21:06:33Z")
Dentist here. No they do no good that we know of. Eat only carbohydrates. Don’t think you can eliminate them once in the mouth. One isn’t born with them but get them from parents.
Best thing to do, restrict simple carbohydrate intake. Brush well and often. Floss.
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### Author:  [@Habeed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Habeed)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2015, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-possible-to-make-the-cavity-causing-bacteria-in-ones-mouth-go-extinct/722002/5 "2015-06-08T22:24:05Z")
> [@rsat3acr](#):
>
> **Dentist here.** No they do no good that we know of.
I guess you missed out on the [clinical trials](http://www.oragenics.com/?q=cavity-prevention) for this very thing. Genetically engineered bacteria that make antibiotics to kill all the other bacteria (they have both a gene that codes for the antibiotic, and a gene that makes them immune to the same antibiotic) are in trials now…
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### Author:  [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2015, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-possible-to-make-the-cavity-causing-bacteria-in-ones-mouth-go-extinct/722002/6 "2015-06-08T22:31:41Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#):
>
> Do cavity-causing bacteria only feed on sugar? If not, only on carbohydrates?
> With enough dedication, would it be possible to starve them out by severely restricting the intake of what they use for nutrients?
>
> Are there counter-bacteria that feed on them?
>
> Do those specific bacteria have a positive effect? Please don’t tell me that some bacteria are good. I want to know if these bacteria are good.
>
> If they were wiped out from one’s mouth, how could they infect it again?
Blis technologies have a [product they reckon](http://blis.co.nz/conditions/tooth-decay.html#.VXYW3c-qpBc)can do this.
> [@robert\_columbia](#):
>
> Since bad breath is, to some extent, produced by bacteria, one could imagine a strain of “good” mouth bacteria that makes your breath minty as a matter of course. Whether such bacteria actually exist out there is another question.
And [another one](http://blis.co.nz/conditions/bad-breath-halitosis.html#.VXYXjM-qpBc)they reckon can do this as well.
I’ve never used either, but they do sound intriguing.
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### Author:  [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2015, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-possible-to-make-the-cavity-causing-bacteria-in-ones-mouth-go-extinct/722002/7 "2015-06-09T02:38:59Z")
> [@rsat3acr](#):
>
> …Don’t think you can eliminate them once in the mouth. One isn’t born with them but get them from parents…
In what way? Can you avoid passing them along to a kid by refusing to touch the child’s mouth, or will bacteria enter anyway?
What’s the longest, generally, that one can keep their mouth clean of bacteria? E.g. are there people who manage to make it all the way from birth to age 15 with no bacteria in their mouths, and then one day a prankster throws poop in their face and some bacteria get a hold in their mouth?
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### Author:  [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2015, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-possible-to-make-the-cavity-causing-bacteria-in-ones-mouth-go-extinct/722002/8 "2015-06-09T02:43:33Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#):
>
> In what way? Can you avoid passing them along to a kid by refusing to touch the child’s mouth, or will bacteria enter anyway?
>
> What’s the longest, generally, that one can keep their mouth clean of bacteria? E.g. are there people who manage to make it all the way from birth to age 15 with no bacteria in their mouths, and then one day a prankster throws poop in their face and some bacteria get a hold in their mouth?
You’ll get it from kissing someone as a teen or adult anyway.
Most parents aren’t chewing their infants food nowadays, so avoiding kissing on the lips might be worth it.
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### Author:  [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2015, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-possible-to-make-the-cavity-causing-bacteria-in-ones-mouth-go-extinct/722002/9 "2015-06-09T02:56:45Z")
> [@rsat3acr](#):
>
> restrict simple carbohydrate intake. .
Simple carb= sugar?
> [@rsat3acr](#):
>
> One isn’t born with them but get them from parents.
>
> .
That makes me think, are babies born sterile or do they come with some bacteria right out of the gate?
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### Author:  [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2015, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-possible-to-make-the-cavity-causing-bacteria-in-ones-mouth-go-extinct/722002/10 "2015-06-09T03:05:29Z")
And theoretically if you only kissed someone who didn’t have the bacteria, could you be totally sterile? Could someone who never kissed anyone never get the bacteria? Or maybe it’s bound to happen just by living in the world, eating in restaurants, etc…
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### Author:  [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2015, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-possible-to-make-the-cavity-causing-bacteria-in-ones-mouth-go-extinct/722002/11 "2015-06-09T03:19:30Z")
> [@rsat3acr](#):
>
> Dentist here. No they do no good that we know of. Eat only carbohydrates. Don’t think you can eliminate them once in the mouth. One isn’t born with them but get them from parents.
>
> Best thing to do, restrict simple carbohydrate intake. Brush well and often. Floss.
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#):
>
> And theoretically if you only kissed someone who didn’t have the bacteria, could you be totally sterile? Could someone who never kissed anyone never get the bacteria? Or maybe it’s bound to happen just by living in the world, eating in restaurants, etc…
I got them from my ex-husband. How do I know? Same lab in Micro I once did in A&P, cheek swab under a microscope. No cocci until I kissed that dirty bastard. The teacher was so surprised I had none that I had to swab again to prove to her I was doing it right. No cavities as a kid or young adult, either (which makes me wonder if I have some resistance to them, as he was certainly not the first person I kissed!) One very bad cavity that required a root canal and crown after I hooked up with him.
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### Author:  [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2015, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-possible-to-make-the-cavity-causing-bacteria-in-ones-mouth-go-extinct/722002/12 "2015-06-09T03:25:59Z")
> [@Habeed](#):
>
> I guess you missed out on the [clinical trials](http://www.oragenics.com/?q=cavity-prevention) for this very thing. Genetically engineered bacteria that make antibiotics to kill all the other bacteria (they have both a gene that codes for the antibiotic, and a gene that makes them immune to the same antibiotic) are in trials now…
That’s very exciting, but I should caution that I recall seeing something like this at least 20 years ago.
It was a strain of bacteria that did not decay the teeth, but would out-compete the bacteria that does. They made a big deal of you just needing one spray of liquid into your mouth and you’d never experience tooth decay again.
I’m not saying it’s a pipe dream, but maybe the situation is more complex than some of these press releases might suggest, and a bunch of things have to happen before you or I could go get this done.
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### Author:  [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2015, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-possible-to-make-the-cavity-causing-bacteria-in-ones-mouth-go-extinct/722002/13 "2015-06-09T03:31:02Z")
Your mouth provides food and shelter for a variety of bacteria. You are not allergic to your normal mouth flora If you eliminate them, the empty Ecological Niche will be filled by some other bacteria.
The problem is that you can easily become allergic to foreign mouth flora.
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### Author:  [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2015, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-possible-to-make-the-cavity-causing-bacteria-in-ones-mouth-go-extinct/722002/14 "2015-06-09T05:09:18Z")
I had this idea when I was in grade nine, and drew a cartoon about it. Reality had other ideas.
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### Author:  [@Gretchion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gretchion)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2015, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-possible-to-make-the-cavity-causing-bacteria-in-ones-mouth-go-extinct/722002/15 "2015-06-09T05:28:32Z")
> [@Habeed](#):
>
> I guess you missed out on the [clinical trials](http://www.oragenics.com/?q=cavity-prevention) for this very thing. Genetically engineered bacteria that make antibiotics to kill all the other bacteria (they have both a gene that codes for the antibiotic, and a gene that makes them immune to the same antibiotic) are in trials now…
Well they always say 4 out of 5 dentists recommend such-and-such, maybe this is the 1 that doesn’t.
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### Author:  [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2015, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-possible-to-make-the-cavity-causing-bacteria-in-ones-mouth-go-extinct/722002/16 "2015-06-09T07:11:40Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#):
>
> In what way? Can you avoid passing them along to a kid by refusing to touch the child’s mouth, or will bacteria enter anyway?
I’m pretty sure that “Baby’s First Bacteria” comes from mothers nipple. Or via non-sterile bottles, if no breastfeeding, occurs at all. We humans don’t stay bacteria-free for very long at all. And we shouldn’t be - our bacterial infection load is pretty important to to our overall health.
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### Author:  [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2015, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-possible-to-make-the-cavity-causing-bacteria-in-ones-mouth-go-extinct/722002/17 "2015-06-09T10:00:37Z")
Even if you never kissed anyone you’d still pick up bacteria from your food. Nobody eats sterile food, outside of a very few folks awaiting bone marrow transplants or suffering from SCID.
> [@Melbourne](#):
>
> Your mouth provides food and shelter for a variety of bacteria. You are not allergic to your normal mouth flora If you eliminate them, the empty Ecological Niche will be filled by some other bacteria.
>
> The problem is that you can easily become allergic to foreign mouth flora.
That is an incorrect use of the term “allergy”. Please don’t do that again.
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### Author:  [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2015, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-possible-to-make-the-cavity-causing-bacteria-in-ones-mouth-go-extinct/722002/18 "2015-06-09T12:13:38Z")
> [@si\_blakely](#):
>
> I’m pretty sure that “Baby’s First Bacteria” comes from mothers nipple. Or via non-sterile bottles, if no breastfeeding, occurs at all. We humans don’t stay bacteria-free for very long at all. And we shouldn’t be - our bacterial infection load is pretty important to to our overall health.
First exposure is from vaginal flora if the baby travels that route.
You can deliver sterile rats by cesarean. They’re messed up though and they die.
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### Author:  [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2015, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-possible-to-make-the-cavity-causing-bacteria-in-ones-mouth-go-extinct/722002/19 "2015-06-09T13:39:08Z")
We pick up all kinds of bacteria all the time, but there’s one primary bacteria - _streptococci mutans_ - that causes tooth decay. It takes either saliva or a surface contaminated with biofilm - like a toy in a daycare center that some kid’s been goobering on - to spread viable _s. mutans_. It shouldn’t make up part of the vaginal flora, no matter how good your oral sex skills are. Other bacteria there outcompete it without a good carbohydrate source to feed it and with no hard surface for it to make a biofilm on.
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### Author:  [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2015, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-possible-to-make-the-cavity-causing-bacteria-in-ones-mouth-go-extinct/722002/20 "2015-06-09T14:21:44Z")
> [@grude](#):
>
> You’ll get it from kissing someone as a teen or adult anyway.
>
> Most parents aren’t chewing their infants food nowadays, so avoiding kissing on the lips might be worth it.
Dude… babies do all sorts of crazy personal-space invading things. My 1 year old son jammed his fingers in my mouth yesterday when I didn’t expect it, and I’m sure that he promptly grabbed something (like a toy car), and stuck that in his mouth. Bam! He’s got my mouth bacteria now, or a good start anyway.
With a 3 year old brother, he also has quite the snack-fest on bits of random half-eaten food before we can clean it up / even know it’s there, since the 3 year old likes to eat 3/4 of something, then leave the other 1/4 somewhere random. And he goes to preschool, so that’s a regular stew of funky bacteria and grotty children.
Like it or not, your kids are going to get a somewhat common set of bacterial strains, just like you do.
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-possible-to-make-the-cavity-causing-bacteria-in-ones-mouth-go-extinct/722002.md?page=2)