Xylitol - The #1 Secret Weapon to Wipe Out Tooth Decay Causing Bacteria

There’s a battle going on in your mouth. Oral disease wants to attack your teeth and gums and dentists all over the world continue to patch up the damage in the mouths that are on the losing end of that battle. How big is the problem? It’s the biggest. For many populations worldwide, the levels of dental caries (cavities) have reached epidemic proportions. Even in the USA, childhood tooth decay is on the rise.

I have heard some patients of mine claim that they are victims to this disease that caused their mouth full of cavities because they were born with the misfortune of having “soft teeth”. Others believe that cavities and gum disease are inevitable. Well none of that is true. Sadly these people are probably waiting for the miracle drugs to kill the bugs that are behind all of these problems.

However the closest thing we have to a “miracle drug” is already here and it’s not a drug. It’s xylitol, a naturally occurring substance that is as sweet as candy and, like a warrior in disguise; it disarms the bad cavity-causing bacteria in your mouth. With consistent use of xylitol, the nasty oral bacteria are rendered virtually harmless. This substance, that looks and tastes like regular table sugar, is used to sweeten a variety of candy and chewing gum as well as tooth pastes and mouth rinses. So here’s the take home point to this whole article:Xylitol is poised to displace fluoride as the greatest scientific discovery for healthier mouths. Furthermore xylitol has none of the controversy that surrounds fluoride!

Sucrose (sugar) serves as food for the harmful bacteria in our mouths resulting in acid production that destroys tooth structure. Xylitol is a different kind of sugar known as a polyol. It occurs naturally in many fruits and vegetables and is produced in the human body as well. Side by side you can’t really tell them apart and they both taste deliciously sweet but xylitol has a much different effect on the bad bacteria in our mouths, preventing it from adhering to the tooth surfaces. Also the bacteria can’t process xylitol so it can’t create the acid byproduct that regular sugar does. Regular use of xylitol has been shown to reduce tooth decay by up to 80% while it also facilitates remineralization (re-hardening) of teeth.

We Need Xylitol Now!

Dental caries affects nearly 100 percent of populations in the majority of countries. The National Center for Health statistics reports that in the USA by the time kids are age 17; almost 80% have experienced tooth decay. In Finland it is practically the opposite where 80% of the high school graduates have had no caries. What is the difference? Finland schools regularly distribute xylitol to the students.

Here’s more proof: Dr Peter Allen , the head of the Ministry of Health in Belize, reports that in his country’s landmark study, xylitol reduced caries by greater than 50% with results continuing to show that same reduction even 5 years after the study (and xylitol usage) was completed. It appears that xylitol usage has a very long lasting effect. The thought at that time was that the evidence was so overwhelmingly positive that there would soon be a massive shift towards xylitol products in the USA. Sadly that never happened.

Knowing that a child’s major oral infection source is their mother, studies in Finland showed that maternal use of xylitol can prevent the colonization of the Strep Mutans in the dentition of the child. This leads to caries prevention in the child. Additionally, Professor Brian A Burt, Editor in chief of Community Dental Oral Epidemiology, stated that “the evidence is strong enough to support the regular use of xylitol-sweetened gum as a way to prevent caries, and it can be promoted as a public-health preventive measure”.

Catherine Hayes, D.M.D., D.M.Sc from the Harvard School of Dental Medicine Department of Oral Health Policy and Epidemiology published a review of the evidence in the Journal of Dental Education and she felt so strongly about the positive effects of xylitol’s strong caries protective effect, she stated “it would be unethical to deprive subjects of its potential benefits.” Yet how many dental health professionals are telling you this at your regular visits?

The Xylitol Buzz Is Beginning!

So why isn’t xylitol being enthusiastically promoted by every dentist and hygienist across the land? Well, unfortunately, good news doesn’t travel very fast. Possibly dentists haven’t noticed since they are very busy fixing the damage (holes in teeth, cavities) from this ongoing war and it is the majority of the work that they perform on a daily basis.

However a new mindset is springing up among progressively conservative dental professionals to mount a pre-emptive strike that includes using xylitol as a protective agent to seriously disarm the bacteria involved in the destruction of teeth and the disease in gums. These dentists have formed an organization called the American Academy for Oral Systemic Health ( www.AAOSH.org )and I am honored to be their president.

In order for dentists, hygienists, and other health professionals to be in this group they must demonstrate their knowledge of how the health of the mouth impacts the health of the body and they must know and understand the role of xylitol. These dentists are currently recommending a daily xylitol regimen to practically all of their patients. As changes like this begin occurring in my profession, I can assure you that we are on our way to a healthier nation.

Reprinted with permission of Dentaltown Magazine and Dentaltown.com