In order to assess whether naturally occurring oral lactobacilli have probiotic properties, lactobacilli were isolated from saliva and plaque from children and adolescents, with or without caries lesions. The interference capacities of these lactobacilli were investigated against a panel of 13 clinical isolates and reference strains of Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sobrinus, as well as against the subject's autologous mutans streptococci, using the agar-overlay technique. Lactobacillus-mediated inhibition differed significantly between the three subject groups (no caries, arrested caries, or active caries), demonstrating increased inhibition in subjects without present or previous caries experience compared to subjects with arrested caries or subjects presenting with frank lesions. Lactobacilli from subjects lacking S. mutans inhibited the growth of the test panel of mutans streptococci significantly better than lactobacilli from subjects who were colonized. Furthermore, subjects without caries experience harbored lactobacilli that more effectively repressed the growth of their autologous mutans streptococci. Twenty-three Lactobacillus spp. completely inhibited the growth of all mutans streptococci tested. Species with maximum interference capacity against mutans streptococci included Lactobacillus paracasei, Lactobacillus plantarum, and Lactobacillus rhamnosus. Naturally occurring oral lactobacilli significantly inhibited the growth of both test strains of mutans streptococci and the subject's autologous mutans streptococci in vitro, and this effect was more pronounced in caries-free subjects.

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Objectives: This article aimed to evaluate: (a) the agreement between a near-infrared light transillumination device and clinical and radiographic examinations in caries lesion detection and (b) the reliability of images captured by the transillumination device. Methods: Two calibrated examiners evaluated the caries status in premolars and molars on 52 randomly selected subjects by comparing the transillumination device with a clinical examination for the occlusal surfaces and by comparing the transillumination device with a radiographic examination (bitewing radiographs) for the approximal surfaces. Forty-eight trained dental hygienists evaluated and reevaluated 30 randomly selected images 1-month later. Results: A high concordance between transillumination method and clinical examination (kappa 5 0.99) was detected for occlusal caries lesions, while for approximal surfaces, the transillumination device identified a higher number of lesions with respect to bitewing (kappa 5 0.91). At the dentinal level, the two methods identified the same number of caries lesions (kappa 5 1), whereas more approximal lesions were recorded using the transillumination device in the enamel (kappa 5 0.24). The intraexaminer reliability was substantial/almost perfect in 59.4% of the participants. Conclusions: The transillumination method showed a high concordance compared with traditional methods (clinical examination and bitewing radiographs). Caries detection reliability using the transillumination device images showed a high intraexaminer agreement. Transillumination showed to be a reliable method and as effective as traditional methods in caries detection.

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Animal studies define CD4+CD25+ T cells as a subset that protect against autoimmune inflammation. We wanted to investigate whether CD4+CD25+ T cells from patients with recurrent tonsillitis could suppress the proliferation of other tonsil cells, in vitro, as this immunological tissue also may serve as a model for chronic inflammation. Tonsil CD4+CD25+ cells markedly suppressed the proliferation of CD4+CD25– T cells in Concanavalin A‐stimulated cocultures compared with cultures containing CD4+CD25– T cells only. The suppression exerted by the CD4+CD25+ cells was abrogated if these cells were irradiated before coculture or if interleukin (IL)‐2 was added to the culture medium. CD4+CD25+ T cells proliferated poorly in response to mitogen, when cultured alone. Substitution with CD4+CD25+ T cells isolated from peripheral blood, enriched by similar methods, did not downregulate the proliferation of CD4+CD25– responder cells from tonsils. The augmented suppressive ability of tonsil CD4+CD25+ T cells compared with cells of this phenotype from blood, on CD4+CD25– responder cells from tonsils, suggests that there may be a functional difference between CD25+ cells from the two locations. In conclusion, CD4+CD25+ T cells from inflamed tonsils distinctly suppressed T‐cell responses to mitogen in vitro, pointing to a regulatory role for CD4+CD25+ cells retrieved from inflammatory reactions in humans.