Changes in Dental Plaque pH and Blood Glucose Levels Following the Intake of Selected Drinks and Food
Year: 2020
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Background: Commonly consumed foods have a significant effect on our postprandial blood glucose levels and dental plaque pH. Growing awareness of the detrimental effect of high-glycaemic index (GI) foods means that people have become more conscious about their daily dietary intake. This study was designed to investigate the effect of high-GI foods on postprandial blood glucose levels and dental plaque pH. Aim: The study aimed to evaluate the effect of some common carbohydrate food products on dental plaque pH and their postprandial glucose response. Material and Methods: Various food products were used in this study: white bread, chickpeas, pasta, mashed potatoes, breakfast cereals and rice. A glucose drink of 25 g/250 mL was the standard against which all the other food products were measured. Participants refrained from any oral hygiene regime the night before and the next morning. Over a period of 2 hours, dental plaque (0, 12, 22 and 62 minutes) and blood (‒5, 0, 15, 30, 45, 60, 90 and 120 minutes) samples were collected before and after consumption of the test foods. A micro pH meter was used to measure the acidity of plaque samples, and an automatic clinical chemistry auto analyser was used for plasma glucose concentration measurement. Results: In sub-study 1, a significant difference was found among the glucose 25 g and 50 g solutions (p = 0.001). At all times, the glucose 25 g solutions displayed a smaller pH drop compared with the glucose 50 g solutions. In Sub-study 2, for plaque pH, the maximum area under the curve (AUC) was observed for white bread which was 62.9 ± 19.7 mmol/L, followed by the glucose 25 g solution, mashed potatoes, pasta and chickpeas. There was a significant difference between white bread and chickpeas (P = 0.004). For plasma glucose in sub-study 2, the maximum incremental area under the curve (iAUC) was seen for the glucose 25 g solution (135.0 ± 52.3 mmol/L), followed by mashed potatoes, white bread, pasta and chickpeas. The same pattern was observed for the GI values, with mashed potatoes showing the highest GI of 95.9, followed by white bread (77), pasta (46.8) and chickpeas (35.4). In Sub-study 3, Rice B showed the maximum AUC (59.2 ± 22.2 mmol/L) and the maximum iAUC (110 ± 31.6 mmol/L) for plaque pH and plasma glucose, respectively. Rice B had the highest GI value at 84.2, followed by Bread A (82.3), Cereal A (76.8), Bread B (60.4), Rice A (55.5) and Cereal B (43.1). In sub-studies 2 and 3, a linear correlation was seen between the AUC of plaque pH and the GI. Conclusion: This is the first study that simultaneously measured dental plaque pH and postprandial blood glucose levels, and it has shown that foods with a high GI, which produces higher postprandial plasma glucose levels, also produces greater plaque pH drops compared with low-GI food. The outcome of this study will benefit health care providers by demonstrating that food high in GI has a greater capacity to initiate dental decay than food with a low GI.
Author: Jouhrah Hussain Khan
Language: English
Subfield: Periodontics
Field: Dentistry
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3084369989