EARLY THEORIES OF CARIES ETIOLOGY:
- ancient Sumerian text- caries was caused by a worm that drank the blood of the teeth.
- humors-the ancient greeks considered that s persons physical and mental situation was determined by relative proportions of the four elemental fluids of the body-blood, phlegm, blackbile and yellow. caries was caused by the imbalance of these humors.
- vital theory
- chemical theory
- parasitic theory
- chemico-parasitic theory
- proteolytic theory
- proteolysis-chelation theory
- phosphate sequestration theory