The demonstration by ribotyping of the stability of oral Streptococcus mutans infection over 5 to 7 years in children.

The distribution of serotypes and ribotypes of mutans streptococcal isolates obtained from seven unrelated children at 5 and at 10 or 12 yr of age was investigated. For ribotyping, chromosomal DNA from 5 to 13 isolates per subject was digested with restriction endonucleases EcoRI and HindIII. The DNA fragments were electrophoretically separated, blotted on to nylon membrane and hybridized to the plasmid pKK3535, which contains the rRNA operon of the Escherichia coli chromosome. The ribotypes were unique for each child. In five children only one ribotype and serotype (c, e or f) was found. In one child two serotypes (c and f) were found at baseline and only one (serotype c) in the follow-up sample. In one child the same serotype was not found in the baseline (serotype e) and in the follow-up (serotype c) samples. Every child except one had a ribotype that was identical to one found 5-7 yr later. The results suggest that, at the age of 5 yr, infection by Streptococcus mutans has already stabilized and the colonizing strain remains permanent.