In this study, we utilized the inflammatory cytokine Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha (TNFα), which is known to be elevated in patients with dental caries (Pezelj-Ribaric et al., 2002) and plays a central role in coordinating various cellular signaling events (Qin et al., 2015; Shin et al., 2015). The gene discussed is TNF; the disease is dental caries.