Eating cheese: does it reduce caries?

Key Points

• Consumption of cheese-containing cooked meals increases plaque calcium concentration.

• Eating cheese as part of a cooked meal (or on its own) may protect against dental caries.

• A small amount of cheese (15 g) is effective — this will not significantly contribute to fat intake.

• Recommending the consumption of cheese-containing meals is a positive approach to caries prevention.

Abstract

Objective Eating cheese by itself increases plaque calcium concentration — which is probably one mechanism of the well-established action of cheese in reducing experimental caries. The objective of the present study was to determine whether consumption of cheese as part of a cooked, mixed meal (ie as it is habitually consumed) is able to increase plaque calcium concentration.

Design Plaque samples were obtained from 16 adult volunteers before and 5 minutes after consumption of either a 15 g cube of cheese, one of two cheese-containing test meals, or one of two control meals. Each subject tested each of the four meals on a separate occasion. Plaque calcium concentration was measured using atomic absorption spectrophotometry.

Results The test meals increased plaque calcium concentrations to a significantly greater magnitude than the control meals (P < 0.05). A non-significant trend was observed towards a larger magnitude of change in plaque calcium concentration in the 8 subjects with the lowest, compared with the 8 subjects with the highest baseline concentration.

Conclusion The findings suggest that cheese-containing meals increase plaque calcium concentration and thus probably protect against dental caries.

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