Red Wine Counteracts Cavities

Cavities, periodontal disease and tooth loss affect an estimated 60 to 90 % of the global population. The problems arise when certain bacteria in the mouth get together and form biofilms, which are communities of bacteria that are difficult to kill. They form plaque and produce acid, which then starts damaging teeth.  M. Victoria Moreno-Arribas, from the Instituto de Investigacion en Ciencias de la Alimentacion (CIAL), CSIC-UAM (Spain), and colleagues grew cultures of bacteria responsible for dental diseases as a biofilm. They dipped the biofilms for a couple of minutes in different liquids, including red wine, red wine without the alcohol, red wine spiked with grape seed extract, and water and 12 percent ethanol for comparison. Red wine with or without alcohol and wine with grape seed extract were the most effective at getting rid of the bacteria.