Observations on the Relationship Between Selected B Vitamins and Acid Production by Microorganisms Associated with Human Dental Caries

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Abstract
Acid production by pure and mixed cultures of oral strains of lactobacilli, streptococci, staphylococci, and yeasts was completely or substantially inhibited when either nicotinic acid, pantothenic acid, or biotin was withheld from an otherwise nutritionally adequate synthetic medium. Thiamine and riboflavin were essential growth factors for several strains of these organisms. The oral acidogens showed species-specific differences in their susceptibility to the inhibitory action of pyridine-3-sulfonic acid, a metabolic analog of nicotinic acid. Hence, species- and strain-specific differences in B vitamin requirements may contribute to the variations in the acidogenic component of the dental plaque observed in different persons or in the same person at different times. This may help explain the inconsistencies encountered in attempts to attribute dental caries to a single specific microorganism.