Abstract

Rodrigo Crespo Mosca* and Nanci Do Nascimento, N.

Oral health in most Brazilian municipalities is still a big challenge, particularly with regards to universalization, the equity of care and the high cost involved in restorative therapy. The demand to discover new natural products with antibacterial activity for the prevention of dental diseases, and perhaps with less health and financial impacts, would be very important to obtain an effective way to control the formation of a biofilm pathogenic and dental caries. The objective of this work is to study the feasibility of the use of the biotechnology venom, native from different snakes, to inhibit the growth of Streptococcus mutans, which is the principal agent involved in dental caries. Our results showed that the venom of snakes Bothrops moojeni and Bothrops jararacussu inhibited the growth of S. mutans and the component responsible for the inhibition appears to be hydrogen peroxide. Although, it is still not fully conclusive, the tests already carried out show that snake venom is an important tool used to inhibit the growth of pathogens, especially those involved in caries diseases.