Red Wine Does Not Prevent Tooth Decay In November 2009, a study
published in the Journal of Food Chemistry falsely claimed that
red wine will prevent tooth decay. Red wine prevents tooth decay
as much as white sugar prevents tooth decay. Scientists (of
course from Italy) conclude that red wine prevents tooth decay
by looking at how red wine affects Streptococcus mutans in a
petri dish. When red wine was added to an experiment where
bacteria were sticking to fake teeth, the bacteria Streptococcus
mutans stopped sticking. Therefore the scientist wrongly
concluded that red wine stops cavities. More About Red Wine and
Tooth Decay Bacteria in the mouth do not cause cavities. The
scientist makes the assumption that Streptococcus mutans causes
cavities. Therefore anything that will kill it, from Coke, to
raisins, to bleach, can be said then to cure cavities, as if
food has no other effect on the body at all. Rinsing the mouth
with alcohol does not stop tooth decay either. A lack of
nutrition is the cause of physical