An Assessment of the Cariogenicity of Commonly Used Infant Milk Formulae Using Microbiological and Biochemical Methods

Shweta Dixit Chaudhary,Mayur Chaudhary,Sanket Kunte,Asha Singh

doi:10.1155/2011/320798

Abstract

Dental caries is an important dental public health problem and is the most prevalent oral disease among children in the world. The present study was undertaken to evaluate and comparatively assess the change in plaque and salivary pH after ingestion of various commercially available infant milk formulae, and also to evaluate and comparatively assess plaque and salivary samples for change in colony-forming units of Streptococcus mutans caused due to their ingestion. 36 children in the age group of 1-2 years were fed with infant milk formulae three times a day for 21 days and results quantified. The present study revealed a highly significant increase in the levels of colony-forming units of Streptococcus mutans in both the plaque and salivary samples when assessed at baseline and after a period of 21 days, with the t value being 11.92 for the plaque samples and 11.66 for the salivary samples. It was also observed that all the test samples produced significantly lower plaque pH values than pre-feed pH. Based upon this study, further evaluation of the cariogenicity of infant milk formulae is recommended.

Highlights

Dental caries is an important dental public health problem and is the most prevalent oral disease among children in the world
There was, no statistically significant difference between the three infant milk formulae (IMF) when difference between prefeed pH and the minimum pH in plaque and salivary samples of children fed with Dexolac 2, Lactodex 2, and Lactogen 3 was computed, which indicates that the three IMF do not differ significantly in their ability to depress the plaque and salivary pH
There was no statistically significant difference between the three IMF when evaluated for difference between the CFU of Streptococcus mutans in plaque and salivary samples of children fed with Dexolac 2, Lactodex 2, and Lactogen 3, which indicates that the three

Summary

Introduction

Dental caries is an important dental public health problem and is the most prevalent oral disease among children in the world. The prevalence of dental caries has been of great interest for a long time and is a principal subject of significant research performed worldwide [1]. It is estimated that around 95% of the world’s population is affected by dental caries [2]. Children suffer from many infectious diseases during the first three years of life around the time of eruption of the deciduous teeth. Childhood caries, which is a combination of a child being infected with cariogenic bacteria and the frequent ingestion of sugar, is one of such diseases. Despite improvement over several decades, oral disease amongst children remains a serious problem [3]

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Discussion

Conclusion