Cariogenic potential of milk and infant formulas: a systematic review

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

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.

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.

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.