According to an article by Pallarito, Japanese researchers have found that eating traditional, sugarless yogurt reduces the malodorous compounds that cause bad breath. It also cuts down on plaque and gingivitis. The study was funded in part by a major Japanese yogurt maker. Hali-tosis, or bad breath, is attributable to anaerobic bacteria that breed on the back of the tongue producing volatile sulfur compounds. One of those compounds is hydrogen sulfide. Lead author Kenichi Hojo and colleagues from Tsurumi University in Yokohama, Japan, decided to investigate yogurt because of its effects in preventing gastrointestinal problems and research indicating that regular yogurt consumption reduces the risk of dental decay. Researchers recruited 24 volunteers. Each person received identical instructions for oral hygiene, diet, and medication intake. In the initial phase of the study, participants were asked not to consume yogurt or products containing streptococci and lactobacilli, such as cheese and pickled vegetables. During the second phase, they consumed 90 grams of yogurt, or a little more than 3 ounces, twice a day for 6 weeks. Researchers collected samples from the participants’ saliva and tongue coatings, and measured vola-tile sulfide compound concentrations in the air of people’s mouths. Those measures showed that at 6 weeks, hydrogen sulfide levels decreased in 80% of volunteers who had bad breath. In addition, plaque and gingivitis were significantly reduced in people with bad breath after the yogurt-intake phase of the study, compared with the initial phase when they did not consume yogurt. However, the authors said there were no noteworthy differences in the number of oral bacteria in the mouths of people before and after eating yogurt.
(Source: HealthDay; http://www.keepmedia.com/pubs/HealthDay/2005/03/11/767426/?extID=10047&data=dental_research; accessed February 1, 2006)
