Dental caries diet effects

Dietary inoiganic phosphates have been shown to piotect expeiimental animals against dental caries. Orthophosphates were effective cariostats, but NjuP Oj and NasPgOio were not. Dicalcium phosphate, CaHPCL. did not decrease dental caries unless a high level of NaCI was also included in the diet. 

Fluoride is a monovalent anion. It appears not to be an essential nutrient, as raising animals on a fluoride-defidenl diet over three generations has been found not to impair growth and reproduction. Fluoride has proven to be of value in reducing the rate of dental caries (tooth decay). There has been much interest in the possibility that fluoride can prevent and reverse osteoporosis, though such effects have not been proven. 

In 1945, the Vipeholm study was set up to determine whether increasing sucrose intake actually increased human caries experience. The marked variation in caries severity between individuals (Sect. 15.2.1) had led to doubts that increased sucrose consumption was really responsible. The study was conducted at the Vipeholm Hospital for individuals with mental handicaps outside the University City of Lund, Sweden. The study examined the effects of different diets on dental caries in the inmates and it ended in 1951. The results indicated that sticky sugar candies (toffees) between meals and popular with the inmates increased their DMFT by an average of one cavity per year. The use of mentally handicapped subjects was criticized in the Swedish press and all studies on mentally handicapped individuals were stopped in 1954. 

In recent years, a considerable body of research has been conducted on the cariostatic effects of cheese. Early work (Shaw et al., 1959 Dreizen et al., 1961) demonstrated that the incorporation of dairy products into the diet greatly reduced the development of dental caries in rats. Reynolds and Johnson (1981) confirmed these findings. Later work (Weiss and Bibby, 1966 Jenkins and Ferguson, 1966) indicated that if enamel is treated with milk in vitro and subsequently washed, the solubility of the enamel is greatly reduced. This effect was attributed to the high levels of calcium and phosphate in milk (Jenkins and Ferguson, 1966) or to the casein (Weiss and Bibby, 1966). Later work supports both viewpoints. 

Another mineral which is considered to be supplemented in drinking water is fluoride. Fluoride is added to drinking water to prevent the incidence of dental caries, especially seen in children with a fluoride-deficient diet. The subject is, however, a controversial one since excess fluoride is believed to have adverse effects such as dental fluorosis, which is the yellow staining of the teeth. 

Diet also plays a significant role in the development, progression and, in particular, the prevention of dental caries [44]. This factor can be easily controlled at an individual as well as population level with functional foods, which are foods with positive health effects that extend beyond their nutritional value [45]. Functional foods have been receiving an increasing amount of attention given their potential as a delivery vehicle of choice for a nmnber of products that could enhance and protect consumer health in general and oral health in particular, and include a variety of... 

These are a hardy crop now used mainly as animal fodder, although oatmeal used to be a staple article of diet in Scotland and is still used there. Among cereals oatmeal is particularly rich in fat and its protein is of quite good quality. It has a high content of phytic acid and, in view of the effects of this compound on calcium absorption, this used to be thought to account for the prevalence of dental caries among Scots. However, this is now considered most unlikely since phytate reduces caries in animals and is the protective factor shown by test tube experiments to be present in unrefined cereals. 

Although the future may hold a vaccine which will prevent dental caries, dental health, including dental caries prevention, requires lifelong dedication of an individual who understands and incorporates into daily habits the benefits to be derived from the combined effects of nutrition and diet, oral hygiene (care of the teeth and supporting structures), and fluoride. 

The enforced reduction in average consumption of purified carbohydrates during World War II has been used to explain the marked reduction of dental decay which occurred in the period subsequent to the war. Such studies assume that the only significant factor changing was the carbohydrate consumption. Actually, the delay in the appearance of a reduced caries rate, as indicated above, has been interpreted as signifying both preemptive and post-emptive effects of the diets. 

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