Six Months of Daily High-Dose Xylitol in High-Risk Schoolchildren: A Randomized Clinical Trial on Plaque pH and Salivary Mutans Streptococci

A randomized clinical trial was designed to evaluate the effect of daily high-dose xylitol chewing gum on plaque pH and salivary mutans streptococci (MS) in a sample of schoolchildren at high risk of caries. The study was performed on 204 subjects (acceptance rate 88.3%). Inclusion criteria were: &g...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Caries research Vol. 43; no. 6; pp. 455 - 461
Main Authors: Campus, G., Cagetti, M.G., Sacco, G., Solinas, G., Mastroberardino, S., Lingström, P.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Basel, Switzerland S. Karger AG 01.01.2009
Subjects:
Area Under Curve
Cariogenic Agents - adverse effects
Cariostatic Agents - administration & dosage
Chewing Gum
Child
Colony Count, Microbial
dental caries
Dental Caries Susceptibility
Dental Plaque - physiopathology
DMF Index
Female
Follow-Up Studies
human
Humans
Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
Male
Odontologi
Odontology
Original Paper
Saliva - microbiology
Saliva - physiology
Streptococcus mutans - drug effects
Streptococcus mutans - isolation & purification
Sucrose - adverse effects
Sweetening Agents - administration & dosage
xylitol
Xylitol - administration & dosage
Xylitol
Chewing gum
Mutans streptococci
Plaque pH
ISSN:0008-6568, 1421-976X, 1421-976X
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:A randomized clinical trial was designed to evaluate the effect of daily high-dose xylitol chewing gum on plaque pH and salivary mutans streptococci (MS) in a sample of schoolchildren at high risk of caries. The study was performed on 204 subjects (acceptance rate 88.3%). Inclusion criteria were: >1 and <4 carious lesions, and a salivary MS concentration >10 5 CFU/ml. Subjects were randomly assigned to the xylitol or control group. Study design included one examination at baseline (t₀), one after 3 months of chewing (t 1 ), one after 6 months of chewing (t 2 ) and the last 3 months after the end of chewing period (t 3 ). Plaque pH was assessed using the MicroTouch technique, following a sucrose challenge. The area under the curve (AUC 5.7 and AUC 6.2 ) was recorded. Whole saliva was collected in sterile vials and MS CFU/ml were counted. Data were analysed using repeated-measures ANOVA. The main result was that plaque acidogenicity was reduced in both groups. The differences between treatments were statistically significant both for plaque pH and MS concentration; the interaction term for treatment and time was statistically significant (p < 0.01). At t 2 , the xylitol group children with a salivary MS concentration >10 5 and those with ≤10 5 showed significantly lower AUC 5.7 and AUC 6.2 values than the control group. These results suggest that the long-term use of high-dose non-sucrose chewing gums had beneficial effects on plaque pH, and that this effect was statistically greater when using xylitol chewing gums, both on plaque pH and MS salivary concentration.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-1
content type line 14
ObjectType-Article-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ObjectType-Undefined-3
ISSN:0008-6568
1421-976X
1421-976X
DOI:10.1159/000264682