Comparison of the cariogenicity of some processed cheeses

Authors:

ABSTRACT

Aim

Cheeses have been investigated for their potential cariogenicity in several studies and have been shown to produce
little change in the resting pH in dental plaque and little or no demineralisation of enamel in most intra-oral cariogenicity studies. The aim
of the present study was to investigate the cariogenicity of four processed cheese formulations.

Methods

Enamel demineralisation
was measured intra-orally in bovine enamel, and aliquots of 10g of each test cheese were used to assess plaque pH using the plaque
harvesting technique after the San Antonio criteria. In a second experiment, the same cheeses were assessed for their effects on
enamel using the intra-oral cariogenicity test (ICT) with bovine enamel.

Results

None of the four cheeses caused pH drops below
the critical pH and two of the cheeses raised the pH slightly. The effects on pH were all significantly different from those of the sucrose
saliva control. None of the cheeses produced microhardness changes that were statistically significantly different from the saliva control.

Conclusion

None of these cheeses as tested were found to lead to acidogenicity and by inference to be cariogenic. They were
therefore deemed to be safe for teeth when used as a food.

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