![]() ![]() Also, stevia, a natural sweetener made from extracts of a plant, has been approved for limited use. The sweeteners approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the United States are aspartame, acesulfame potassium, saccharin, sucralose and neotame only. ![]() The newer sweeteners such as acesulfame-K, sucralose, alitame and neotame are categorised as second generation sweeteners. Saccharin, cyclamate and aspartame which were the earliest known sweeteners are called as ‘first generation sweeteners’. There is another way to classify the sweeteners, based on the time of origin. They are further divided into chemically synthesised sweeteners, including saccharin, aspartame and sucralose, and those obtained from plants, including stevioside, thaumatins, and monellin. The high-intensity sweeteners are non-caloric, non-acidogenic. The noncaloric sweeteners are generally much sweeter than sucrose and can, therefore, be used in smaller amounts. The noncaloric sweetening agents are also called nonnutritive sweetening agents that have no caloric value and are not fermented by microorganisms of the oral cavity. Sugar alcohols are erythritol, sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol, maltitol, lactitol, and reducing starch syrup. Caloric sweeteners are also called nutritive/bulk sweeteners and include sugar and sugar-alcohols. Sweeteners, which give food a sweet taste, are classified as carbohydrate sweeteners (caloric) and non-carbohydrate sweeteners (non-caloric). Many medicines have been found to have the side effect of producing a dry mouth (xerostomia), and prolonged use of such drugs contributes to an increased risk of dental caries, using non-cariogenic chewing gum to promote salivation would be beneficial in these cases. ![]() The use of non-cariogenic sweets can be recommended by professionals in these clinical settings as an important adjunct in reducing dental caries risk in these individuals. Dental caries has an age-specific characteristic in that ageing populations are also at risk of root caries. The prevalence of dental caries in children is declining, but children at high risk of developing dental caries are still an important public health concern. Therefore, sucrose may be expected to be somewhat more cariogenic than other sugars. This property along with the high specificity of the enzymes involved in the synthesis of the extracellular polymers has led some workers to regard sucrose as having a unique role in caries. Thus, sucrose favours colonisation by oral microorganisms and increases the stickiness of the plaque, allowing it to adhere in larger quantities to the teeth. The high free energy of hydrolysis of sucrose permits this reaction to proceed without other sources of energy. The dietary sugars all diffuse into the plaque rapidly and are fermented to lactic and other acids or can be stored as intracellular polysaccharide by the bacteria. ![]() Unlike other sugars, sucrose can serve directly as a glycosyl donor in the synthesis of extracellular polymers. This is because it is only from sucrose, that most oral bacteria can synthesise both soluble and insoluble extra-cellular polymers which increase the bulk of plaque and facilitate the attachment of bacteria, especially Streptococcus mutans. Sucrose has been called the arch-criminal in dental caries (Newbrun, 1967). A large variety of other common food like most breakfast cereals, many milk products, some meat and fish products, etc. Sucrose refined from sugar canes or sugar beets is the most common dietary sugar. ![]()
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