Antibodies and methods for predicting dental caries

A method of diagnosing predisposition of a human child to early childhood caries, said method comprising:

• providing an antibody that specifically binds to a glucosyltransferase B (GtfB) enzyme from a cariogenic Streptococcus;
• obtaining a saliva sample from a human child prior to onset of carious lesions;
• centrifuging the obtained saliva sample to produce a clarified saliva sample;
• contacting the antibody with the clarified saliva sample under conditions effective to yield a detectable signal if the GtfB enzyme is present in the clarified saliva sample and if the antibody binds to the GtfB enzyme;
• and
• quantifying the amount of GtfB enzyme in the clarified saliva sample based on the detectable signal, wherein an increase in the amount of GtfB enzyme present in the clarified saliva sample, as compared to an amount of GtfB enzyme present in a clarified saliva sample from a caries-free human child, indicates that the human child is predisposed to early childhood caries.