Can coffee combat caries? An in vitro study

BACKGROUND: Dental caries is a multifactorial disease caused by oral microflora, diet and oral environment. Oral microflora is crucial in initiation and progression of caries. An important strategy in the prevention of dental caries is to inhibit Streptococcus mutans, a caries causing bacteria. Use of natural products in the disease prevention has been increasing recently. One among such products is coffee which has anticariogenic properties against S. mutans. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the anticariogenic efficacy of coffee against S. mutans. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study is carried out using saliva samples collected from 120 healthy individuals of 18–25 years' age group divided into two groups (carious and noncarious). S. mutans is isolated from the saliva samples, cultured on mitis salivarius–bacitracin agar plates and used for checking the inhibitory activity of coffee in different formulations on these bacteria. RESULTS: Our study results showed that coffee, when used alone, has highest antibacterial activity against S. mutans and its anticaries activity reduces when it is mixed with milk and sugar (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Our study proved that coffee has anticariogenic activity against S. mutans.