Partial Substitution of Hexitols for Sucrose and Dextrin in Caries-producing Diets

¹ Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts

Three experiments were conducted with caries-susceptible white rats in which sorbitol or mannitol were used in partial substitution in cariogenic diets for sucrose or dextrin. Wherever 20 per cent or more of sorbitol or mannitol was present in the cariogenic diets, moderate but consistent reductions in caries experience were noted. Although an absolute statement cannot be made about the ability of sorbitol and mannitol to initiate or maintain the caries process because of the need for the simultaneous presence of some caries-initiating carbohydrates in the diets, it appears that these hexitols have little or no capacity to promote the caries process.

The tendency of sorbitol and mannitol to produce diarrhea among the experimental animals prohibited the feeding of high amounts for prolonged periods or their complete replacement for carbohydrates except under unusual circumstances. However, 20 per cent of the hexitols could be tolerated in the diets of these rats for periods of up to 140 days. Higher amounts could be tolerated, provided that the rats were older at the beginning of the feeding trials or that they had been accustomed to lower levels previously.

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