With the recent media frenzy on ‘sugar’ being the ‘bad boy’ of the health industry, one sugar has been shown to have positive health benefits – xylitol. Xylitol is very beneficial for oral health and has recently been hailed by Nigel Carter, Chief Executive of the British Dental Health Foundation, as the ‘biggest advance against cavities since fluoride’ (Rumbelow, 2012), yet few people, including those in the dental industry, are aware of xylitol or promote its use.
Very simply, xylitol works by reducing the number of cariogenic (decay-causing) bacteria, such as Streptococcus mutans, in the mouth and consequently raising its pH (Trahan, 1995; Sano et al, 2007). This has the following effects:
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