High-protein golden sea cucumber jelly candy as a nutritional innovation to enhance dental and jaw development in children with childhood malnutrition (1-5 years): Evidence from an experimental Wistar rat model.

Objectives: Childhood malnutrition is often linked to delayed dental eruption and impaired jaw growth, which increase malocclusion risk in children. Nutritional innovations such as golden sea cucumber may offer functional benefits. This study aims to evaluate the effect of high-protein golden sea cucumber jelly candy on dental eruption and mandibular growth in a childhood malnutrition model. Materials and Methods: An experimental post-test-only control group design was conducted using Wistar rats, divided into three groups: K1 (negative control, normal diet), K2 (positive control, low-protein diet), and P (treatment, low-protein diet with golden sea cucumber jelly candy supplementation). Parameters assessed included serum insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) levels, amino acid profiles, dental eruption rate, mandibular length and height, and osteogenesis markers (osteoblast count using Runx2 expression). Results: The treatment group (P) showed significant improvements compared with the childhood malnutrition control (K2). Supplementation restored mandibular length and height to levels similar to K1, significantly increased osteoblast number and Runx2 expression, improved leucine levels and body weight, and accelerated dental eruption close to normal growth patterns. Conclusions: Golden sea cucumber jelly candy has potential as a functional nutritional intervention to promote dental eruption and jaw development under childhood malnutrition conditions, supporting preventive and pediatric dentistry approaches.