Recently the ADHA (American Dental Hygiene Association) and Xlear have put together a petition to the FDA. The petition calls on the FDA to approve xylitol as an active ingredient in dental hygiene products. Xlear is a company that makes and sells several products for nasal hygiene that contain xylitol. The company also owns Spry, a company that makes oral hygiene products that contain xylitol.
Xylitol is readily available in many OTC (Over the Counter) products and is frequently recommended by dental professionals.
The current FDA stance on xylitol is the following:
The FDA has approved a health claim that foods containing xylitol or other polyols "do not promote tooth decay" or "reduce the risk for cavities," based on scientific evidence.
The history of xylitol is interesting. During WWII there was rationing of many items and one of them was sugar. As a result of rationing, there was a lot of research into alternative sweeteners. This lead to the discovery of xylitol, a chemical that can be synthesized from plants. In fact, the name was created due to the word xylit, which is the Greek word for 'wood'.
After the war, dentists in countries that had used a lot of xylitol to sweeten foods noticed a pronounced drop in tooth decay in their patients. This lead to research into the chemical which discovered that xylitol can be a significant factor in decreasing decay.
The reason? One of the bacterial types that contribute to tooth decay is streptococcus mutans. This bacteria metabolizes sugar as its energy source and its metabolic waste product is acid. The bacteria cling to teeth, metabolize sugar, secrete acid, and this acid causes the tooth structure to decay. The interesting thing about xylitol is that, while it is sweet, it cannot be metabolized by strep mutans. Basically xylitol reduces the food supply for strep mutans and thus, starve the bacteria of their food supply. This means fewer strep mutans survive to breakdown teeth. Basically if there are fewer bugs to cause decay, then decay is reduced.
If you are interested in reading the petition, learning more about it, and/or want to sign it...
You can read a summary of the petition here.
To read the full petition and sign (if you choose) follow this link.
