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European Archives of Paediatric Dentistry

, Volume 14, Issue 5, pp 289–300 | Cite as

Cariogenic potential of milk and infant formulas: a systematic review

  • J. AarthiEmail author
  • M. S. Muthu
  • S. Sujatha
Review
First Online:
  • 311 Downloads

Abstract

Aim

To assess the cariogenic potential of cow’s milk, human milk and infant formulas in comparison to sucrose in animal models.

Methods

Electronic search of the following databases were undertaken: PubMed–MEDLINE, MeSH and ingentaconnect. In addition, the reference lists of all eligible studies were searched. Characteristics such as animal species were used; comparisons and outcomes measured were analysed.

Results

The search yielded a total of 13 articles of which six studies met the inclusion criteria and seven were excluded. All the six included studies used rat models for assessing the cariogenic potential of the test groups. Cow’s milk was compared with sucrose in all of the six studies, reporting cow’s milk to be less cariogenic than sucrose. Two studies compared human milk to sucrose and reported human milk to be less cariogenic than sucrose, but more than that of cow’s milk. Although infant formulas were compared with sucrose in four studies, their cariogenic potential was a matter of some ambiguity.

Conclusion

The evidence suggests that cow’s milk and human milk are less cariogenic than sucrose, with cow’s milk being the least cariogenic. The cariogenic potential of infant formulas varied across the studies, with some being as cariogenic as sucrose.

Keywords

Dental caries Milk Infant formulas Animal models 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

This paper was presented at the 25th ISDR-IADR (INDIA CHAPTER) International conference. Sincere thanks to Dr. Divya Srinivasan and Dr. Jayakumar of Hongkong University for their relentless help to retrieve the papers. We also thank Dr. Anuradha Kuppan for her support throughout the preparation of the manuscript. This systematic review was self-funded. We certify that that we had no affiliations with any organisation or firm, involved in the subject of this review and hence free of conflict of interest.

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Copyright information

© European Academy of Paediatric Dentistry 2013

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Saveetha Dental CollegeSaveetha UniversityChennaiIndia
  2. 2.Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Sri Ramachandra Dental CollegeSri Ramachandra UniversityChennaiIndia
  3. 3.ChennaiIndia

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