Sugar Substitute May Improve Dental Health

A recently published clinical trial examined the effect of a natural sugar substitute on the development of dental cavities in children. Dental caries (tooth decay) is the most prevalent chronic disease in both children and adults. Although overall frequency of dental caries in children was decreasing from the 1970s to the 1990s, the trend has reversed and is now increasing again. In children between the ages of 2 and 11, 42 percent have dental caries in their primary teeth and 23 percent have untreated dental caries.

In this new study, researchers evaluated the impact of topical oral treatment with the sugar alcohols xylitol and sorbitol, on the development of dental caries in children. In this study, 100 children between the ages of 9 and 15 months were treated with either topical xylitol three times daily; 2 xylitol doses and 1 sorbitol dose; or 1 xylitol and 2 sorbitol doses as the control group.

After ten and one-half months, the results showed that in the group of children receiving one xylitol treatment per day, 51.7 percent had tooth decay. In the group of children receiving xylitol treatment twice daily, 24.2 percent had tooth decay, and in the group that had received xylitol three times per day, 40.6 percent had tooth decay. The researchers also showed that there were significantly fewer decayed teeth in the groups receiving xylitol twice or three times per day compared to the control group.

The researchers concluded, “Xylitol oral syrup administered topically 2 or 3 times daily at a total daily dose of 8 grams was effective in reducing early childhood caries progression.”

References:

Milgrom P, Ly KA, Tut OK, Mancl L, Roberts MC, Briand K, et al. Xylitol pediatric topical oral syrup to prevent dental caries: a double-blind randomized clinical trial of efficacy. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2009;163:601-7.

Edelstein BL. Xylitol syrup can reduce dental caries progression in young children. J Pediatr. 2010 Jan;156(1):164.