Dentists may be soon out of history

A new antimicrobial drug may soon put dentists out of their jobs, for it totally eliminates the bacteria that live in plaque and cause tooth decay.
Created by Wenyuan Shi of the University of California, Los Angeles, the anti-microbial drug is safer than traditional antibiotics, for unlike them, it does not kill commensal or "friendly" bacteria and only targets Streptococcus mutans.

According to the New Scientist, Shi created the drug by linking a peptide that specifically targets S. mutans to the active region of Novispirin G10, a broad-spectrum antibiotic that destroys bacterial membranes.

He found that though the compound killed S. mutans grown in liquid or as biofilms, it did not harm other oral streptococci.

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