Causes and etiology of dental caries
A brief review of the history and early theories of etiology of caries provides an interesting background for the understanding of the current concepts of dental caries.
Early theories of caries etiology.
The ‘worm theory’.
According to ancient Sumarian text “ The legend of Worm” toothache was caused by a worm that drank the blood of teeth and fed on the root of the jaws.
Endogenous theories
Humoral theory
The ancient Greek believed that a person’s physical and mental constitution was determined by four elemental humours of the body.- blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile. An imbalance in these humours is the cause of all diseases including dental caries.
Vital theory
The vital theory regarded dental caries as originating within the tooth itself, analogous to bone gangrene.
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