Move Over, Fluoride?

As soon as my kids were out of diapers, I thought, "Hooray, I can put all that money we're now saving toward fun stuff—like a vacation!"

Sadly, we have yet to visit Hawaii: The cash savings were almost immediately funneled to the kids' dentist, who found several cavities in both my son and daughter. And if you think it's hard to get a cat to the vet, just try wrestling two kids into car seats for a trip to the dentist where they'll be getting multiple novocaine shots and drilling.

While anyone over 50 might say that adding fluoride to toothpaste was one of the biggest boons of their generation, dentists are sadly seeing an upsurge in cavities in young kids over the last decade—kids you who'd think could live life entirely cavity-free. Researchers say this is likely due to the flood of sugary foods that are aggressively marketed right at them, including cereals that are up to 50 percent added sugar by weight. (And of course, even if you try to monitor what goes in your kids' mouths, they'll find sugar like a divining rod to water.)

But, excuse the cheesy pun, there's something to smile about on the horizon.

University of Washington researchers have found that xylitol, a naturally occurring sugar substitute (!), dramatically helps prevent cavities in toddlers. They didn't discover this phenomenon, but have just published a study in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine giving props to earlier research on this sweet stuff. They gave toddlers a yummy-flavored xylitol-based syrup.

Fluoride, in contrast, helps remineralize tooth enamel after decay has already started. Xylitol, it turns out, helps starve oral bacteria so decay is less likely to happen in the first place, and also helps keep bacteria from adhering to tooth surfaces. This research should please parents who worry about the safety of fluoride (which elicits the wrath of many activist groups, who say it can even lower IQ).

Lead scientist Peter Milgrom, D.D.S., thinks this will soon lead to big changes in the toothpaste aisle at the drugstore. But he advocates the use of both xylitol and fluoride, to hit decay with a one-two punch.

He says, "I think all children with any tooth decay should be receiving both xylitol and fluoride, not just fluoride alone. The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry has already endorsed the use of xylitol, and it's accepted by dental associations. Now, parents should expect dentists to give them guidance to use it. If the child has tooth decay and the dentist fails to take these steps, the child will just get more tooth decay."

Hmm. Our kids' dentist has *not* brought up the topic of xylitol. In fact, the last time I called the office, she was out. On vacation. In Hawaii.