Idea #142 for July 10th, 2009: Sweetening the Deal or Preventing Toddler Tooth Decay

Outside of the common cold, dental cavities are the most widespread health ailment in the US. The majority of people who have cavities received their first one before the age of five. The habits of baby bottle feeding are thought to be a major cause. Sugars in milk or fruit juice promote growth of bacteria that eventually cause tooth decay. It may seem unimportant to care about cavities in baby teeth; after all, they are just temporary teeth. However, tooth decay in baby teeth can lead to health problems, and also affect the development of adult teeth later on.

Researchers have found an interesting way to battle this problem that plagues many babies: giving them the sugar-substitute xylitol, a naturally occurring sweetener. Giving babies xylitol syrup daily, it was found, can lead to a 70% reduction in tooth decay incidence. That doesn’t mean substituting other sugars with xylitol, but rather giving a supplemental amount of the syrup every day. Xylitol seems to attract bacteria, but the bacteria cannot survive on the chemical and thus die off, lowering the number of decay-causing bacteria on teeth. Since children born into poverty are more likely to suffer tooth decay, this can be a great low-cost solution for those families in the fight against cavities and their related health problems.

Read more about this in healthnews.com