Vaccine disrupting dental bacteria, illustration. Dental bacteria (dark brown spheres) can cause plaque (light brown spheres), a bacterial biofilm that can form on teeth and can cause tooth decay. An example of a bacterium that metabolises sugar in the mouth in this way is Streptococcus mutans. The plaque formation mechanism can be disrupted using an antibody vaccine (pink, lower right) that prevents the bacteria binding to the plaque. The binding mechanism involves glucan-binding proteins (GBP). For this illustration with labels, see image C047/7657.