Phosphorus deficiency and protein malnutrition have been suggested as etiological agents of dental caries.
In separate studies presented at the 131st annual meeting of the American Assocation for the Advancement of Science in Montreal in December, it was concluded that protein supplementation may be of some benefit while the addition of phosphates to the diet appears to have no therapeutic value.
Edward A. Sweeney, DMD, of the Harvard School of Dental Medicine and Children's Hospital Medical Center, Boston, explained that protein malnutrition is perhaps the most widespread nutritional deficiency in the world today.
Supplementing the diets of children with protein deficiency has caused the bones of these children to mature more normally than bones of children who did not receive protein.
Sweeney related dental studies of these children which indicated that their teeth were acting the same way their bones were. The permanent teeth of children who received protein supplements