The possible dental effects of children's rusks: laboratory evaluation by two different methods

In response to concern over the sugar content and possible dental effects of infants' rusks, a programme of research was undertaken to compare six different kinds of rusk with respect to (a) their cariogenicity in caries-active laboratory rats; (b) their capacity to serve as substrates for acid production by oral microorganisms, and the attack of this acid on dental mineral; (c) the adhesiveness of the rusks to the enamel surface. The caries scores in the animal experiments ranged from very high, with rampant dental destruction, for 31%-sucrose rusks, down to virtually non-cariogenic on a zero-sucrose variety. With only one anomaly, cariogenicity correlated well with sucrose content. The results of the studies in vitro showed good general agreement with the animal data. The sucrose in the rusks, rather than their content of other sugars such as glucose, maltose and lactose, etc, emerged as a major factor in determining their effect on teeth, but cereal components can also play a part in governing adhesiveness and fermentability.