## 4 Discussion  
Dental decay has been known since recorded history, but was not an important health problem until sucrose became a major component of the human diet. When sucrose is consumed frequently, an organism known as _S.mutans_ emerges as the predominant organism, and it is this organism that has been uniquely associated with dental decay [60]. The tooth surface initially represents a carrier state relative to harboring this primary carinogen in the dental plaque on a smooth surface. The proportion of the carinogen in the flora is similar in both cases, but the location of _S. mutans_ differs within the plaques. In the tooth destined to develop decay, _S. mutans_ is located on the enamel surface, whereas in the tooth destined to remain caries free, _S. mutans_ is confined to the saliva-plaque interface [61]. Debriding procedures, such as toothbrushing and flossing, might remove most plaque organisms except of _S.mutans_, including _S. aureus_ and _F. nucleatum_, tested in this study, but could leave untouched those bacteria either firmly attached to the enamel surface or sequestered in defects and cavities in the enamel or dentin surface [60; 62; 63]. In such cases, alternative natural diet sources such as honey tested here could inhibit the proliferation of the previous mentioned pathogen's population, resulting in controlling or even better, preventing dental caries. Other pathogens can also proliferate in the oral cavity inducing periodontitis and other soft tissue diseases resulting in the loss of teeth and low quality of life [60; 62; 63]. Within the limitations of this in vitro study, different honey samples, originating from the region of Epirus in Greece, were found to be effective against dental pathogens when treated in artificial saliva means. Artificial saliva has rheological, lubrication, and antibacterial properties similar to the ones of natural saliva and is used with good clinical results in patients suffering from xerostomia after radiation and other similar ailments, which reduces the production of natural saliva [64]. In our study, despite the strain and botanical dependent variation of our results, the majority of our samples performed better than manuka honey. This is an important finding, because manuka honey is considered by most researchers as the \"front-runner of honeys for non peroxide antimicrobial activity\" [65]. Hydrogen peroxide is not accumulated in manuka honey due to the destruction of glucose oxidase by methylglycoxal [66] and this is perhaps one reason for the outperformance of antibacterial activity of the Greek honeys. These honeys can act as both bacteriostatic and bactericidal depending on the concentration used. Pasture honey (4-8%) and 5-11% manuka honey were found to be bacteriostatic, whereas bactericidal activity was achieved at 5-10% and 8-15% concentrations, respectively [15; 27; 67]. In contrast, artificial honey (sugar solution which mimics the composition of honey) showed only bacteriostatic activity (at 20-30% \(v/v\)) and not bactericidal in the study of [PERSON] et al. (2005) [68]. In the present study, the bacteriostatic result was not differentiated from the bactericidal effect, mostly because (a) the aim of the study was to assess the total antibacterial activity and (b)--to a lesser degree--from a therapeutic point of view it is the inhibition of bacterial growth that matters most. Mechanisms of antimicrobial activity of honey are different from antibiotics, which destroy the bacteria's cell wall or inhibit intracellular metabolic pathways. The antibacterial activity is related to four properties of honey [11; 17; 22; 26; 33; 69]. First, honey draws moisture out of the environment and thus dehydrates bacteria. The sugar content of honey is also high enough to hinder the growth of microbes, but the sugar content alone is not the sole reason for honey's antibacterial properties [68]. The second antimicrobial reason of honey is the pH values. The pH of honey is between 3.2 and 4.5 [26; 27; 38; 70].