Drinking milk after eating sugary cereals may prevent cavities

Where there’s cereal, there probably is milk, which is always a good thing. A study says that drinking milk after eating sugary cereals may lower plaque acid levels and may prevent damage to tooth enamel that leads to cavities.

Dry ready-to-eat, sugar-added cereals are made up of refined sugar and starch, and when consumed, bacteria in the dental plaque on tooth surfaces produce acids, said Christine Wu, professor of pediatric dentistry and director of cariology.

Prof Wu and a  former graduate student Shilpa Naval worked on the study, which involved 20 adults eating 20 grams of dry Froot Loops cereal, then drinking different beverages -- whole milk, 100% apple juice, or tap water.

Plaque pH, or acidity, was measured with a touch microelectrode between the premolar teeth before eating; at two and five minutes after eating; and then two to 30 minutes after drinking a liquid.

The pH in plaque dropped rapidly after consuming cereal alone, and remained acidic at pH 5.83 at 30 minutes. A pH below 7 is acidic; a pH greater than 7 is basic. Pure water has a pH close to 7.

Participants who drank milk after eating sugary cereal showed the highest pH rise, from 5.75 to 6.48 at 30 minutes. Those who drank apple juice remained at pH 5.84 at 30 minutes, while water raised the pH to 6.02.

“Our study results show that only milk was able to reduce acidity of dental plaque resulting from consuming sugary Froot Loops,” said Naval, who is currently a fellow at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. “We believe that milk helped mitigate the damaging effect of fermentable carbohydrate and overcome the previously lowered plaque pH.”

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