fa the effects of a dairy probiotic product, espar, on salivary calcium and mutans streptococci کودکان Pediatric Dentistry پژوهشي Research <b> Background and aims.</b> Espar is a dairy product of probiotic nature that contains useful bacteria and high calcium con-tent. The aim of this study was to analyze effects of daily consumption of Espar on the number of salivary mutans strepto-cocci and the level of calcium content in a population of 15 to 17 year-old female students.<div><b> Materials and methods.</b> A double-blind randomized crossover study (n = 50) of healthy female adolescents was im-plemented in four stage intervals. The first and third stages were ‘run-in’ and ‘wash-out’ intervals. For the second and fourth stages, two weeks long in duration, the participants consumed 100 grams of Espar or 200 grams of plain yogurt. At the end of each stage, the number of salivary mutans streptococci and the level of calcium content were documented. </div><div><b>Results</b>. There was a statistically significant decrease in the number of salivary mutans streptococci subsequent to Espar consumption when compared to ordinary yogurt (p < 0.01). Additionally, salivary calcium content increased significantly subsequent to the consumption of Espar and yogurt. However, Espar yielded a higher level of significant increase in sali-vary calcium when compared to plain yogurt (p < 0.01).</div><div><b> Conclusion.</b> This study found that daily consumption of Espar increased the salivary calcium level while decreasing mu-tans streptococci of the saliva.</div><hr><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left direction: ltr unicode-bidi: embed"><b>Source: </b>Journal of Dental Research, Dental Clinics, Dental Prospects </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left direction: ltr unicode-bidi: embed"><a href="http://dentistry.tbzmed.ac.ir/joddd/index.php/joddd/article/view/894" target="_blank"><font color="#0000ff">Full Text</font></a></p> Calcium, Mutans Streptococci, Probiotic, Saliva. 0 0 http://idai.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-32-3238&slc_lang=fa&sid=1 Hamid Reza Poureslami hamid42pour@yahoo.com 100319475328460014925 100319475328460014925 Yes Kerman Oral & Dental Diseases Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran/Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran Lida Pishbin 100319475328460014926 100319475328460014926 No Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran Zahra Eslaminejad 100319475328460014927 100319475328460014927 No Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran Fateme Jahani Moghadam 100319475328460014928 100319475328460014928 No Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran Moshtagh Rashid Farrokhi 100319475328460014929 100319475328460014929 No Department of Comprehensive Dentistry, University of Texas, Health Science Center, San Antonio, USA