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Candies with ‘Good’ Bacteria May Help Prevent Cavities

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from lerablog.comOur mouths contain a mix of good and bad bacteria. Researchers at the German firm Organobalance GmbH have created a sugar-free candy containing good bacteria that reduced the levels of bad bacteria in the mouth, which could help reduce the incidence of cavities.

After we eat, bacteria on the surface of the teeth, most commonly Mutans streptococci, release acid, which can dissolve tooth enamel and lead to cavities. In previous studies with rats, researchers discovered that the bacteria Lactobacillus paracasei reduced levels of the bacteria that cause cavities, leading to a lower number of caries in the rats.

The German researchers created a sugar-free candy containing heat-killed L. paracasei bacteria and gave them to 60 test subjects who each ate five candies over a one-and-a-half-day period. One-third ate candies containing 1 mg of the bacteria, one-third ate candies containing 2 mg, and the other third served as a control group and ate candies without the bacteria. The test subjects were not allowed to perform any oral hygiene activities or to consume any coffee, tea, wine, or probiotic foods during the study.

Almost 75 percent of the subjects who ate the candies with the L. paracasei bacteria had significantly lower levels of M. streptococci bacteria in their saliva than they did before the study. The participants who ate the candy with 2 mg of L. paracasei had lower levels of M. streptococci after consuming only one piece of candy.

The researchers believe that the L. paracasei bacteria can bind with M. streptococci to prevent it from reattaching to the teeth and allow it to be washed away by saliva, thus reducing the development of cavities. They said that using dead bacteria prevented problems that could have been associated with live bacteria. Since L. paracasei does not bind with beneficial bacteria in the mouth, this is a better way to reduce cavities than other probiotics. Sugar-free candy also encourages the production of saliva, which is beneficial to oral health.


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