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Rinsing with water for 1 min after milk formula increases plaque pH
Insights
Rinsing young children's mouths with water after nighttime formula feeds effectively reduces plaque acidity, unlike dilution or wiping. This simple method helps prevent tooth decay when brushing is difficult.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Dentistry
- Oral Health
- Cariology
Background:
- Nighttime infant feeding increases caries risk.
- Parental challenges exist in post-feed brushing compliance.
- Plaque pH changes post-formula consumption are critical for caries development.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the clinical effectiveness of dilution, rinsing, and wiping interventions on plaque pH after infant formula consumption.
- To evaluate methods for reducing cariogenic challenges following nighttime feeds.
Main Methods:
- Eighteen subjects participated in five interventions: undiluted formula rinse (UF), diluted formula rinse (DF), UF followed by water rinse (UF/R), UF followed by wiping (UF/W), and sucrose control (C).
- Plaque pH was measured at baseline and at 2, 5, 10, 20, and 30 minutes post-intervention.
- Statistical analysis compared pH changes across different intervention groups.
Main Results:
- Rinsing with water after undiluted formula (UF/R) significantly reduced plaque pH drops compared to undiluted formula alone (UF).
- UF/R demonstrated a higher minimum pH, smaller maximum pH drop, and reduced area under the curve compared to UF.
- Diluting formula (DF) or wiping teeth (UF/W) did not significantly alter plaque pH compared to UF.
Conclusions:
- Rinsing with water for one minute after undiluted formula consumption is an effective method to reduce plaque acidogenicity.
- Teeth wiping with a moist cloth and 50% formula dilution are ineffective in mitigating plaque acidity post-formula intake.
- Water rinsing presents a viable alternative for managing oral hygiene challenges after nighttime infant feeding.
Purpose:
Parents find it challenging to follow recommendations to brush young children after feeds at night despite the increase caries risk. This study compared three clinical recommendations (dilution, rinsing and wiping) on plaque pH after formula consumption.
Methods:
Eighteen subjects were recruited. The five interventions with 2-week washout between visits included: Rinse with undiluted formula for 30 s (UF); rinse with 50% diluted formula for 30 s (DF); rinse with undiluted formula for 30 s, followed by rinsing with water for 1 minute (UF/R); rinse with undiluted formula for 30 s, followed by wiping (UF/W); rinse with 10% sucrose for 30 s as control (C). Plaque samples were collected at baseline, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 30 min after the intervention and pH measured using the plaque sampling method.
Results:
UF/R resulted in significantly smaller pH drops at 5, 10 and 20 min compared to UF. It also resulted in higher minimum pH (UF/R: 6.34 ± 0.36 Vs UF: 6.06 ± 0.40, p = 0.02), smaller maximum pH drop (UF/R: 0.63 ± 0.35 Vs UF: 0.90 ± 0.49, p = 0.03), smaller sum of change of hydrogen ion concentration (UF/R: 9.22 × 10-7 ± 7.8 × 10-7 Vs UF: 2.30 × 10-6 ± 2.6 × 10-6, p = 0.04), and smaller area under the curve (UF/R: 7.70 ± 5.44 Vs UF: 13.44 ± 9.44, p = 0.02). DF and UF/W did not result in any significant pH change compared to UF.
Conclusions:
Of the three clinical recommendations, only rinsing with water for 1 min after undiluted formula reduced plaque acidogenicity. Teeth wiping with a moist cloth and 50% dilution of infant formula did not have an effect on plaque acidity.
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