IL1A and dental caries: Here we propose a mechanistic model of cytokine-signaling network in the odontoblast layer (ODL) of human teeth in response to dental caries and the role of IL1R1 and ligands IL-1β and IL-1α in carrying the converged inflammatory signals to amplify innate immune responses including the production of antimicrobial peptides to protect the tooth and contain the battle against carious bacteria within dentin.