The caries vaccine is a bacterial vaccine, currently under development, to prevent and protect against tooth decay.
Streptococcus mutans has been identified as the major etiological agent of human dental caries.
Several types of vaccines are being developed at research centers.
Development of a vaccine has been under investigation for more than 25 years: already in 1972 a caries vaccine was said to be in animal testing in England, and that it would have begun human testing soon. In reality such vaccines have not managed to come out of the laboratories so far, maybe also because of absence of economic convenience for the pharmaceutical companies.
The corporation Planet Biotechnology has developed an antibody against S.mutans which it produces using transgenic tobacco plants. This product may be considered a therapeutic vaccine, and is in clinical trials as of May 2006.
