Like many of life’s challenges, it turns out that dental plaque is all about how you respond.
A team of microbiologists, immunologists and periodontists in the University of Washington’s School of Dentistry are expanding upon their recent discovery that people’s gums respond to plaque with three distinct types of inflammation. The team has received a $2.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to better understand each of those three responses.
The team discovered that people fall into three main types of responses to bacteria in plaque, including a new type of what UW microbiologist Jeffrey McLean called “slow responders.” That discovery added new depth to the field’s understanding of gingivitis — the swelling, redness and bleeding in the gums that occurs when plaque builds up on and below the gumline.
