Students at a California elementary school are doing their part to aid the research of a Loma Linda University student who is studying whether licorice root can reduce the risk of cavities in children, according to a news story in the Sun.
Laurita Siu is pursuing her master's degree in public health at Loma Linda. As part of her study, 50 first- through fifth-graders have been sucking on a lollipop twice a day for 10 days. Some of the lollipops contain licorice root, while others do not, the story explained.
"We're going to evaluate the saliva of the kids," Siu told the Sun. "In your saliva you can see what types of bacteria there are in your mouth and how much."
Testing the saliva will reveal how bacteria levels change with or without the licorice root, and how likely students are to get cavities, the story concluded.
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