Abstract
Few laboratory methods exist for evaluating the cariogenicity of food ingredients. In this study, a dental simulator was used to determine the effects of commercial sucrose and xylitol mint products on the adherence and planktonic growth of Streptococcus mutans. Solutions (3% w/v) of sucrose, xylitol, sucrose mints, xylitol mints, xylitol with 0.02% peppermint oil (PO), and 0.02% PO alone were used to test the levels of planktonic and adhered S. mutans. A dental simulator with continuous artificial saliva flow, constant temperature, and mixing was used as a test environment and hydroxyapatite (HA) discs were implemented into the model to simulate the tooth surface. Bacterial content was quantified by qPCR. Compared with the artificial saliva alone, sucrose and sucrose mints increased the numbers of HA-attached S. mutans, whereas xylitol decreased them. Similarly, planktonic S. mutans quantities rose with sucrose and declined with xylitol and xylitol mints. Versus sucrose mints, xylitol mints significantly reduced the counts of HA-bound and planktonic S. mutans. Similar results were observed with the main ingredients of both types of mints separately. PO-supplemented artificial saliva did not influence the numbers of S. mutans that attached to HA or planktonic S. mutans compared with artificial saliva control. In our dental simulator model, xylitol reduced the counts of adhering and planktonic S.mutans. The mints behaved similarly as their pure, main ingredients—sucrose or xylitol, respectively. PO, which has been suggested to have antimicrobial properties, did not influence S. mutans colonization.
Highlights
In the oral ecosystem, there is a complex, continuous interaction between dietary constituents, the oral bacteria, teeth, and saliva
We evaluated the main ingredients of the mint products, sucrose, xylitol, and peppermint oil (PO), to determine whether there were synergistic effects between xylitol and mint
Statistical significance (P \ 0.05) is indicated by (a) compared with AS control and (b) compared with 3% sucrose and 3% sucrose mints the presence of xylitol and xylitol mints in the artificial saliva resulted in significantly less attachment of S. mutans to the HA discs compared with sucrose and sucrose mints (P \ 0.0001 Fig. 1a)
Summary
There is a complex, continuous interaction between dietary constituents, the oral bacteria, teeth, and saliva. Sugars and syrups (consisting of mono-, di-, and oligosaccharides) are added to foods, usually as sweeteners, preservatives, or functional components. One such sugar, sucrose, is highly associated with the risk of caries with regard to its amount in food and the frequency of its consumption [17]. Because the consumer still enjoys sweet-tasting food, alternative sweeteners, such as polyols, have been recommended to replace sucrose in food products. Xylitol is a five-carbon polyol, that is isosweet to sucrose. It is noncariogenic and has beneficial effects on oral health [11, 28].
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