In vivo assessment of dental plaque pH changes in children after ingestion of snack foods.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of some snack foods on plaque pH in children. In vivo dental plaque pH changes after consumption of cola, diet cola, milk, sweet biscuits, milk chocolate, banana, cheddar cheese, potato chips, boiled potato, bread and positive control of 10 percent sucrose solution were measured by using MEPH 2 pH-microelectrode. Six males and four females, ages eight to twelve years (dft: 1.3 and DMFT: 0.4) participated in this study. The measurements of plaque pH were made on forty-eight-hour accumulated plaque, at baseline to determine the resting plaque pH of the fasted plaque and at time intervals of 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 45 and 60 minutes. The plaque pH curves, delta pH values and time spent below pH 6.00 for each test product were determined. The test products were ranked according to maximum pH drop (delta pH) in ascending order as follows: cheddar cheese < diet cola < milk < banana < potato < potato chips < biscuits < cola < bread < milk chocolate < 10 percent sucrose solution.