Sugar-Free Gum And Caries

Nutrition Research Newsletter, April, 1998

Unregulated use of sugared chewing gum has been associated with a detectable rise in the incidence of dental caries. However, gum sweetened with the sugar substitutes sorbitol and xylitol instead of sucrose does not lead to caries. Sugar-free gum has been well accepted by consumers in the UK, and now makes up over 50% of the market.

This review of studies on the dental effects of chewing gum documents the fact that chewing sugar-free gum can actually protect against caries, as well as stimulating a protective salivary flow. Saliva is able to buffer the acids in plaque formed from dietary carbohydrates. Chewing gum is the only known food that stimulates salivary flow without increasing the bulk or caloric content of the diet when chewed for 30 minutes (the average length of time among US users). Clinical trials indicate that the effects of xylitol-sweetened gum are superior to those of sorbitol-sweetened gum, although both are noncariogenic compared to sugared gum. Studies indicate that chewing xylitol-sweetened gum, which has an inhibitory effect on mutans streptococci, reduces the ability of plaque to form acid from sucrose when used for two to three weeks. A 1995 report described a large study in Belize that showed that chewing xylitol-sweetened gum, presumably because of its enhanced supersaturation with the mineral ions of dental tissues, can lead to remineralizing and the actual repair of the earliest stages of dental caries in children.

W. M. Edgar, Sugar Substitutes, Chewing Gum, and Dental Caries--A Review, British Dental J 184(1):29-32 (Jan 10, 1998) [Correspondence: W. M. Edgar, Professor Dental Sciences, Oral Biology Unit, School of Dentistry, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3BX, UK]

See also: A. J. Rugg-Gunn, The Benefits of Using Sugar-free Chewing Gum: A Proven Anti-Caries Effect, British Dental J 184(1):26 (Jan 10, 1998) [Correspondence: A. J. Rugg-Gunn, Professor Preventive Dentistry, The Dental School University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK]