Are some sugars more cariogenic than others?

Many of the early studies on the relationship between sugars and dental caries focused on sucrose, which was at that time the main dietary sugar. However, in the modern diet of the population in industrialized countries, contain fermentable, including sucrose, glucose, lactose, fructose, glucose syrup, high fructose corn syrup and other synthetic oligosaccharides (e.g. fructo-oligosaccharides). Oral bacteria metabolize all mono-and disaccharides, to produce acid. Animal studies have shown the absence of clear evidence that the cariogenicity of mono-and disaccharide different except lactose. However, a plaque pH studies have shown bacteria in plaque produce less acid, lactose, compared with other sugars.

Some animal studies have reported an increased cariogenicity of sucrose, but in these studies, rats were superinfected with S. mutans, which uses sucrose, in preference to other sugars. It has also been suggested that sucrose more cari-ogenic because she is a substrate for extracellular dextran synthesis of S.

mutans. The sucrose does, therefore, lead to increased RAID volume. However, the number of plaque is formed not necessarily linked to the cariogenicity and high development of caries in the absence of significant boards already reported (Rugg-Gunn 1993). Human studies have also investigated the difference in the cariogenicity of some sugars; for example, the aforementioned Turku studies have shown no difference between the development of caries between the subjects of the diet containing sucrose compared with fructose (Scheinin and Makinen 1975). Invert sugar (50% fructose + 50% glucose) show that 20-25% less cariogenic than sucrose.