A team of German researchers has achieved a success in creating sugar- free candies that can help teeth knock out cavity causing and gum damaging.
The newly produced candy which enriched with dead good bacteria can actually fight cavities, according to the report published in journal Probiotics and Antimicrobial Proteins.
The human mouth contains a variety of good and bad bacteria, say the researchers from the Berlin-based firm Organobalance GmbH who produced new sugar-free candies.
The candy benefits teeth when the good bacteria bind to bad cavity-producing bacteria in the mouth to prevent tooth decay.
After eating food, bad bacteria like Mutans streptococci remain on the surface of the teeth and release acids, which can dissolve the tooth enamel, leading to cavities.
Animal studies reveal that good bacteria called Lactobacillus paracasei through decreasing levels of the cavity-causing bacteria can reduce the number of cavities.
“Binding the two bacteria together would prevent these bad bacteria from reattaching to the teeth, causing them to get washed away by saliva,” explained the research leader Christine Lang.
Some 60 volunteers were tested while they were divided into three groups. One-third ate candies with small amounts of the dead bacteria, a second group took candies laced with higher levels, and a third ate bacteria-free candies.
“All participated people ate five candies during the two-day study and were not allowed to perform any oral hygiene activities during this time,” the team reported.
The results unraveled that 75 percent of those ones who consumed candies with the good bacteria had significantly lower levels of bad bacteria in their saliva than those who ate bacteria-free candy.
An earlier study suggested that some food such as cheese and chocolate (without milk and sugar) are effective in combating tooth decay.