Effects of Cheese on Experimental Caries in Human Subjects

Abstract

The influence of Extra-Old Cheddar cheese on experimental caries in human subjects was determined using the 7-day intra-oral cariogenicity test (ICT). Cheese eaten immediately after 6 sucrose rinses a day reduced the demineralization caused by sucrose by an average of 71% (p < 0.001) in 5 subjects, as measured by microhardness changes. The mean resting pH of the ICT plaque was higher during the sucrose-cheese weeks (6.24) than in the sucrose-control weeks (5.96), but the difference was not significant. The mean minimum pH after a sucrose rinse was significantly higher (p < 0.01) during the experimental weeks (5.44) than during the control weeks (4.73). Cheese had no detectable influence on the bacterial composition of ICT plaque. These results confirm, in human subjects, the hypothesis that cheese may be anticariogenic.