Caries prevention: eat candy!
Lactic acid bacteria can protect against caries
We have millions of bacteria in our mouths. When they eat, they secrete acid, which corrodes the tooth enamel. That's why it's so important to brush your teeth regularly. You probably know all this from advertising toothpastes, toothbrushes and dental clinics. But here's what such advertising is often silent about: in addition to harmful bacteria, there are also useful ones. For example, Lactobacillus paracasei, which can be found in kefir. It is known that it suppresses the development of Streptococcus mutans – one of the main "corroders" of enamel. However, experiments with the confrontation of these two bacteria have so far been carried out only on animals.
Christine Lang from the biotech firm OrganoBalance in Berlin (Germany), together with colleagues, decided to test whether Lactobacillus paracasei would protect the human mouth from harmful microbes. First, the researchers found out how many harmful S.mutans are contained in the saliva of sixty volunteers, and then gave them mint candies with L. ragasasi, which were killed by heating before that. Each subject ate several candies during the day, and then another one before repeated saliva analysis.
As researchers write in Probiotics and Antimicrobial Proteins (Holz et al., Lactobacillus paracasei DSMZ16671 Reduces Mutans Streptococci: A Short-Term Pilot Study), those who ate sweets with bacteria, even if killed, the number of harmful S.mutans fell. (It is worth emphasizing that the experiment was organized in such a way that scientists themselves did not know which of the volunteers – who ate the candy with or without bacteria – owned saliva samples before receiving the final results.)
According to the authors of the work, the surface of lactic acid L. ragasasi contains special sugars that bind S.mutans and prevent them from attaching to the surface of the teeth. The resulting conglomerates of bacteria can either go further along the digestive tract, or leave the oral cavity in some other way: in any case, the associated S.mutans will no longer cause harm.
This, of course, opens up new prospects in the prevention of caries and, possibly, other diseases of the oral cavity. Such bacteria can be stuffed not only with sweets, but also, for example, toothpaste. But first, the researchers will have to confirm their results in a longer and more extensive experiment, which should last at least a couple of years and in which much more experimental subjects will participate. And if its results turn out to be positive, then it will be possible to state with full confidence that lactic acid bacteria really protect our teeth from caries.
Prepared based on the materials of ScienceNOW: Can Candies Combat Cavities?Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru