Milk and oral health

Oral health includes freedom from disease in the gums, the mucosa and the teeth. There has been a striking reduction in dental caries and periodontitis in industrialized countries, although the proportion with severe disease has remained at 10-15%, and the prevalence increases in less developed countries. If left untreated, these diseases may lead to pain, and impaired quality of life and nutritional status. Prevention and treatment need, besides traditional implementation of proper oral hygiene, sugar restriction and use of fluoride, newer cost-effective strategies. Non-sweetened dairy products, which are proven non-cariogenic, or specific bioactive components from alike sources might prove to be part of such strategies. Thus, milk proteins, such as bovine and human caseins and lactoferrin, inhibit initial attachment of cariogenic mutans streptococci to hydroxyapatite coated with saliva or purified saliva host ligands. In contrast, both bovine and human milk coated on hydroxyapatite promotes attachment of commensal Actinomyces naeslundii and other streptococci in vitro, and phosphorylated milk-derived peptides promote maintenance of tooth minerals, as shown for the β-casein-derived caseino-phosphate peptide. Observational studies are promising, but randomized clinical trials are needed to reveal if dairy products could be a complementary treatment for oral health.