Red Wine could help Prevent Tooth Decay
Polyphenols, which are present in large amount of fermented seeds and skins that are thrown away after the grapes have been pressed, interfere with the ability of bacteria to contribute to tooth decay and the grape-based chemicals may well hold clues for new ways to lessen the ability of bacteria to cause life threatening systemic infections.
The findings are the result of collaboration between the University of Rochester Medical Centre and the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station at Cornell University. Both institutions, with access to Finger Lakes wineries, have been looking at how compounds found in wine grapes impact human oral health. Together, they won a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) grant in December 2005 to study the influence of grape Polyphenols on oral bacteria, and today's publication is an early result.
"Most foods contain compounds that are both good and bad for dental health, so the message is not 'drink more wine to fight bacteria,'" said Hyun Koo, DDS, Ph.D., assistant professor of Dentistry within the Eastman Department of Dentistry and Centre for Oral Biology at the Medical Centre. "We hope to isolate the key compounds within the winemaking waste that render bad bacteria harmless, perhaps in the mouth with a new kind of rinse," said Koo, an author of the current study.
The widespread of over-prescribing antibiotics have vastly increased the likelihood that the strains most able to resist antibiotics will thrive and spread faster While current antibiotics often kill a strain of bacteria responsible for disease, only to then create a vacuum which is quickly filled by related strains. One certain strain has become resistant to all 18 antibiotics approved by the US and used in childhood and ear infections.
olyphenols extracts were taken from a variety of grape wines to investigate how these interfere with ‘Streptococcus Matans’ which is the bacteria that produces substances behind tooth decay. They also tested against acid and glucans (building blocks of plaque). Cabernet Franc extracts was seen to be the most effective, with Pinot Noir in second place.
Red Wine Grapes from Various Wineries
The red wine grapes of were obtained from wineries in Finger Lakes in New York State , Cornell Orchards in Lansing, Swedish Hill Winery and Pleasant Valley in Hammondsport.
All of the polyphenol extracts were seen to inhibit the bacterial enzymes glycosyltransferases (GTFs) that produce the sugary glucans bacteria that stick bacteria to the surface of the tooth and protect the bacteria colonies by as much as 85 per cent. None of the extracts were seen to actually kill the bacteria.
The study adds that there could also be economic and environmental benefits in developing medicines from wine waste products, which from an industrial process is an economical and environmentally friendly way to find benefit for nutrients that, would otherwise be thrown away or end up in animal feed.
More than 80 per cent of all grapes grown are used to make wine, and the fermented waste, known as pomace, is understood to contain at least as many Polyphenols as the whole fruit.
Now a nice glass of wine tasting mouth wash would no doubt make us very happy to brush our teeth three times a day!