德國研發出防蛀牙糖果 牙齒越吃越健康

德國柏林一家公司研發了一種防蛀牙糖果，這對那些喜歡吃甜食的人真是好消息。

這家公司指出，其實並不是糖果或者糖引起齲齒和蛀牙，而是牙齒表面正常的菌羣在你吃過糖後會分泌酸，然後你的牙釉質就有了洞。正常的細菌中對你牙齒最有害的是變形鏈球菌，所以如果你能減少它們存在於你口腔裏的量，你就能有效抑制齲齒的發生。

研究人員製造了一種無糖的糖果，其中含有一種能在口腔中減少變形鏈球菌的益生菌。在參與測試的60個志願者中，有四分之三的人在吃過這個糖果一天後，口腔裏的變形鏈球菌就顯著減少了。

It may sound too good to be true, but German researchers have created a sugar-free candy they say can actually fight cavities.

The development, reported by Medical News Today, involves lacing the candy with dead "good" bacteria that bind to "bad" cavity-producing bacteria in the mouth to block tooth decay.

Researchers from the Berlin-based firm Organobalance GmbH, who developed the candy, noted the human mouth contains a variety of good and bad bacteria. Mouthwashes, along with brushing, flossing, and cleaning our teeth help to knock out cavity-causing, gum-damaging bad bacteria, while allowing beneficial oral bacteria to thrive.

Poor oral health has been linked to many health conditions, from heart disease to Alzheimer's to pancreatic cancer.

In new research published in the journal Probiotics and Antimicrobial Proteins, the German researchers noted bacteria that remain on the surface of the teeth after we eat release acids, which can dissolve the tooth enamel, leading to cavities. The most common strain of these "bad" bacteria are called Mutans streptococci. But another bacteria called Lactobacillus paracasei reduce levels of the cavity-causing bacteria in animal studies, decreasing the number of cavities.

The team, led by Christine Lang, sought to determine if binding the two bacteria together would prevent this bad bacteria from reattaching to the teeth, causing them to get washed away by saliva.

In a study involving 60 volunteers, Lang and her team tested whether their sugar-free candy, which contained heat-killed samples of L. paracasei, reduced levels of bad oral bacteria. One-third of the subjects ate candies with small amounts of the dead bacteria, a second group ate candies laced with higher levels, and a third ate bacteria-free candies.

All participants ate five candies during the two-day study and were not allowed to perform any oral hygiene activities during this time.

The results showed that nearly 75 percent of the participants who ate candies with the good bacteria had "significantly lower" levels of bad bacteria in their saliva than those who ate bacteria-free candy. In addition, the higher the levels of the bacteria in the candy, the greater the reduction of the bad bacteria.

"Additionally," the researchers added, "sugar-free candies stimulate saliva flow, a benefit to oral health."