A Mouthful of Microbes

摘要

Thanks to dentists, "open wide" has become a command to fear. A century ago, dental practitioners depended on a shot of whiskey and pliers to treat toothaches and sore gums. Today's dentists have laser drills and Novocain, but they haven't completely shed the aura of pain. In the near future, however, the tools of choice may be less scary: a DNA test followed by a chaser of "good" bacteria, for example.