A 24-month Clinical Study of the Incidence and Progression of Dental Caries in Relation to Consumption of Chewing Gum Containing Xylitol in School Preventive Programs

Abstract

The effect of chewing gum containing xylitol on the incidence and progression of dental caries was tested in a sample of 274 children, aged eight and nine years, of low socio-economic status and high caries rate. They were divided into two experimental groups (15% and 65% xylitol chewing gum distributed three times a day at school) and one control group (without chewing gum). The three groups were exposed to the same basic preventive program. Children who chewed gum had a significantly lower net progression of decay (progressions-reversals) over a 24-month period than did the controls. Results for the two groups chewing gum were similar. Chewing xylitol gum had a beneficial effect on the caries process for all types of tooth surfaces, and especially for bucco-lingual surfaces. The two experimental groups had a DMF(S) increment of 2.24 surfaces, compared with 6.06 surfaces for the control group. For this indicator, there was no difference between the two experimental groups. Results for the plaque index were in agreement with those of the DMF(S) increment and the net progression of decay.

Xylitol Chewing Gums and Caries Rates: A 40-month Cohort Study

“…Subsequently, adjusted analyses were presented which sought to remove any distortion introduced by inequalities in baseline covariates between treatment groups (Anderson et al, 1980 (Stephan, 1944;Imfeld, 1977 The dropout rate of 32.6% in this study was anticipated. Dropout rates in school-based chewing gum studies are high in general, three other large-scale chewing gum studies with follow-up periods significantly shorter than that of the present study having had dropout rates of 53% (Kandelman and Gagnon, 1990), 37.3% (Kandelman et al, 1988), and 30.4% (Scheinin et al, 1985a,b). At the 28-month examination period in the present stuldy, the dropout rate was 25.7%.…”

“…Studies have examined DMFS scores as a function of the effect of sorbitol gum compared with no gum (Moller and Poulsen, 1973;Glass, 1981); xylitol gum compared with no gum and with topical fluoride (Scheinin et al, 1985a,b;Kandelman et al, 1988;Isokangas et al, 1988;Kandelman and Gagnon, 1990), and xylitol gum compared with sucrose (Scheinin et al, 1975). Xylitol has been shown consistently to reduce DMFS scores, while the effect of sorbitol has been equivocal (Moller and Poulsen, 1973;Glass, 1981;Birkhed, 1994).…”

Xylitol and caries prevention — is it a magic bullet?

“…Even with these intrinsic weaknesses, field trials are important as they allow the effectiveness and acceptability of preventive agents or methods previously shown in a clinical trial to be effective, to be evaluated in a particular setting. In two of these field trials, xylitol was given as several items of confectionery 17,21 while in other studies, xylitol was given in chewing gum only 20,23,27 and these studies will be considered later.…”

A Statistical Approach to Optimize Xylitol Production by <i>Debaryomyces nepalensis</i> NCYC 3413 <i>in Vitro</i>

“…Xylitol mitigates the formation of dental plaque owing to its non-fermentability by plaque forming bacteria [11][12][13][14]. It is commonly used as a sugar substitute for diabetic patients because it is low in calories and its metabolism is not regulated by insulin.…”

“…It is commonly used as a sugar substitute for diabetic patients because it is low in calories and its metabolism is not regulated by insulin. It was suggested as a therapeutic agent for glucose 6 phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency [11][12][13][15][16][17][18]. Xylitol is also known to improve health and biomechanical properties of the bone [12,13].…”