Xylitol is an all natural, low-calorie sugar substitute that's been approved and used during the very last few decades. Chemically, xylitol, is a pentitol (five carbon polyol) or maybe because they are
alternatively called a sugar alcohol. It's produced mainly from birch and beech wood and
this is the reason that xylitol is alternatively called birch or wood sugar. Xylitol has the
exact same organoleptic properties as sugar, meaning that it looks and tastes like sugar, any way it has a number of advantages over sugars. One of the primary advantages is that it inhibits the
creation of dental caries.

The first evidence of xylitol's beneficial effects in avoiding tooth caries came from a study done in Finland that had been posted during the seventies. After the publication
of that study, many clinical trials have been conducted to evaluate the potential beneficial effects of xylitol in tooth decay, %domain_as_name% explains, care. Today, we have evidence that is enough to say with
trust that the use of xylitol, and particularly the substitution of sugars with xylitol has beneficial effects for tooth health.

The mechanisms through which, xylitol exerts these essential effects are both indirect and direct. To begin with xylitol isn't fermentable by the bacteria that inhabit the oral
cavity, in contrast with sugar. Which means that by substituting sugar with xylitol the
bacteria that are responsible for the development of tooth caries are deprived from one of their primary sources of power.

In addition to that, one of the main reasons that the use of sugars and
carbohydrates cause tooth problems is they reduce the pH of the mouth causing enamel demineralization. The consumption of xylitol on the flip side contains the exact opposite
impact, it raises the pH of the mouth, protecting teeth enamel from demineralization. It
should additionally be noted, that since the pH of the plaque isn't reduced by the utilization of items sweetened with xylitol, remineralization is promoted.
Another fundamental attribute of xylitol is it's bacteriostatic effects. That means
that xylitol inhibits the growth of bacteria like mutans streptococci, that're the main culprits for the creation of plaque and dental caries. This effect of xylitol is attributed
to the point that when these bacteria use up xylitol it's converted to xylitol-5-phosphate
which results to the formation of the degradation and intracellular vacuoles of the cell membranes of theirs.

Finally, a few recent research has demonstrated the habitual consumption of xylitol items and also to be more exact habitual chewing of xylitol gum by the mother is able to have a preventive impact for the children of theirs tooth health. This's attributed to the basic fact which xylitol use by the mother is able to bring down the mother to child transmission of bacteria that are liable for dental problems.
Each of the above make xylitol a very beautiful sugar substitute. Particularly since it's natural
and it does not have any known side effects. The most common means of consuming xylitol is by
chewing xylitol sweetened gum. However, any xylitol sweetened product will have almost the exact same beneficial effects.