Dental caries is a biofilm-mediated disease that represents a worldwide oral health issue.
Streptococcus mutans has been ascertained as the main cariogenic pathogen responsible for human
dental caries, with a high ability to form biofilms, regulated by the quorum sensing. Diarylureas
represent a class of organic compounds that show numerous biological activities, including the
antimicrobial one. Two small molecules belonging to this class, specifically to diphenylureas, BPU
(1,3-bis[3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]urea) and DMTU (1,3-di-m-tolyl-urea), showed interesting
results in studies regarding the antimicrobial activity against the cariogenic bacterium S. mutans.
Since there are not many antimicrobials used for the prevention and treatment of caries, further
studies on these two interesting compounds and other diarylureas against S. mutans may be useful to
design new effective agents for the treatment of caries with generally low cytotoxicit