ReviewJournal of clinical and experimental dentistry2024
Is xylitol effective in the prevention of dental caries? A systematic review.
Review in Journal of clinical and experimental dentistry, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Specific effects of xylitol chewing gum on mutans streptococci levels, plaque accumulation and caries occurrence: a systematic review.BMC oral health · 2025Pooled it
- Review
- Mechanisms of caries induced by sugars: a narratives review from microbial metabolism to oral ecological imbalance and public health strategies for caries prevention.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2026Review
- Design of a Novel Peptide-Based Vaccine TargetingInternational journal of dentistry · 2026Article
- Multifaceted benefits of xylitol in oral health: from caries prevention to periodontal therapy.Bioinformation · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Xylitol is a sugar alcohol increasingly used in dentistry as a preventative measure against dental caries. The objective of this systematic review was to assess xylitol's efficacy in caries prevention through the reduction of the most commonly associated bacteria: Streptococcus mutans. Material and Methods: This systematic review followed PRISMA guidelines. A literature search was conducted in PubMed, Cochrane and Google Scholar databases. The search algorithm included the following key words: xylitol, dental caries, tooth demineralization, Streptococcus mutans, and prevention. The CASPe tool was used to assess risk of bias in the articles reviewed. Results: After the search and selection processes, nine clinical trials (some of them placebo-controlled) in humans were included in the review. The objective proposed - to assess the efficacy of xylitol in caries prevention - was not fulfilled conclusively in all the works. Little heterogeneity was observed among the trials, as the study groups, evaluation periods, daily doses of xylitol etc. varied considerably between the works. Conclusions: According to the present findings, the preventative effect of xylitol against dental caries cannot be confirmed. The results also highlight the need for further research with standardized protocols.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.