The arbitrary primer polymerase chain reaction(AP-PCR) and Southern blot restriction fragment length polymorphism(RFLP) were used to genotype the cariogenic pathogen S. mutans in children. Following the morphologic chracteristics of colony on selective medium for S. mutans, total genomic DNA from 155 strains was extracted by conventional methods. Among 155 strains, 143 strains (92.3%) were confirmed S. mutans by PCR with dexA gene and 114 strains were used in this study. Three random sequence 10-base oligonucleotide primers were chosen for AP-PCR. The amplified DNA products were separated electrophoretically in a 2% agarose gel containing ethidium bromide and the banding patterns were compared among different strains. For RFLP analysis, DNA was digested with EcoRI and BamHI, separated on a 0.7 % agarose gel and transferred to a nylon membrane. The membrane was probed with a previously characterised 1.6 kilobases (kb) DNA fragment cloned from gtf B gene of S. mutans. The probe was labeled with isotope[$^{32}P-{alpha}CTP$], and hybridized fragments were detected with intensifying screen. AP-PCR produced 4-8 DNA bands in the 0.25-10 kb regions and distinguished 9, 10 or 12 genotypes, depending on the specific primer used. Southern blot RFLP analysis revealed 2 hybridization patterns consisting of 1 DNA fragments 450, 500 bp. These results indicate that AP-PCR is more discriminative method for genotyping of S. mutans.