Eggs Substances for Caries Prevention
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010After five years of laboratory testing, researchers at the Balcarce Agricultural Experiment Station, National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA) succeeded in demonstrating that antibodies taken from the chicken egg yolk can prevent human caries.
Using microscopic and biochemical analysis, the researchers found that local application of these antibodies, called immunoglobulins, helps significantly reduce the number of colonies of bacteria able to adhere to the teeth.
The immunoglobulins were obtained from hens bred in Argentina to act specifically against Streptococcus mutans, a bacterium able to adhere to tooth enamel, which is the starting point for the development of caries.
The study won first prize in the professional scientific work in the last Congress of Dentistry of Mercosur, which was recently held in Mar del Plata.