Influence of Maternal Xylitol Consumption Caries is an infectious, transmissible, diet-dependent, salivary mediated disease. When the balance between demineralization and remineralization tips toward demineralization, cavitation might result. It begins with transmission of the Strep mutans from a primary caregiver, usually the mother, to the child. Efforts to prevent transmission and colonization of Strep mutans in infants begin with the pregnant mother with diet changes, improved oral hygiene and daily xylitol consumption. Efforts to prevent the initial colonization of Strep mutans in an infant is considered primary-primary prevention. The caries process has two disease stages prior to cavitation: infectious disease and life-style disease. The infectious disease stage occurs before the child’s teeth erupt, after eruption and continues through infection. The life-style disease stage refers to the dietary influences of frequent sugar consumption, oral hygiene and the quality of saliva that enhance acid production leading to decalcification. Mothers asked to rinse daily with chlorhexidine, which attacks the bacteria, experienced a lower Strep mutan level and this delayed colonization in their infants for four months. The use of xylitol doesn’t attack the bacteria; it simply changes the environment to be less hospitable to acidproducing Strep mutans. Xylitol elevates the pH of the plaque and saliva and, as a five-carbon sugar rather than a six-carbon sugar, provides no usable nutrition for the bacteria. Xylitol provides not only immediate reductions in Strep mutans, it provides long-term caries reduction. Clinical Implications: Xylitol comes in many forms, tastes sweet and is easy to incorporate into the daily routine of new mothers to reduce the risk of sharing Strep mutans with their newborn babies Nakai, Y.: Influence of Maternal Xylitol Consumption on Mother-Child Transmission of Cariogenic Bacteria During and After Pregnancy. Finn Dent J, Suppl 1: 12-17, 2006. - See more at: hygienetown/Hygienetown/Article.aspx?i=327&aid=4457#sthash.S2xXf9Sd.dpuf
Posted on: Sat, 13 Jul 2013 14:00:00 +0000
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