Cavity-Fighting Candy? Give Me a Gummy Bear!

I admit I was a bit skeptical when I read the news that gummy bears could fight kids’ cavities. In a new study, researchers fed kids candy at school and found that the chewy little critters cut down on cavity-causing bacteria.

Granted, the bears were sugar-free. But in place of the sugar was low-calorie xylitol, a sugar alcohol sweetener, which can cause diarrhea if consumed in large quantities (our diabetes blogger Sean Kelley found that out the hard way after scarfing down a box of sugar-free Christmas candy).

I had another potential objection: What message does this send to kids? First we tell them candy is bad for their teeth, but now it’s good—eat up! So I took my concerns to Kiet A. Ly, MD, the lead researcher on the study published in BMC Oral Health.

The candy cuts down on harmful bacteria
In the study, Dr. Ly, an acting assistant professor at the University of Washington in Seattle, and his colleagues had 154 children in grades one through five consume prepackaged gummy-bear snacks three times a day (I bet they had to turn away volunteers). The bears contained either xylitol (in two different doses), or another sugar substitute, maltitol.

All the children had a reduction in the cavity-causing germ Streptococcus mutans during the six-week study. Good news! But how would a parent keep a child from eating an entire bag (and suffering a bout of diarrhea)?

Dr. Ly says they based the study on gummy-bear vitamins that are packaged like a medicine. Before the study started, the researchers explained to the school kids that the gummy bears are not regular candy. “We actually had an assembly and we talked to them about good sugars and bad sugars,” he says.

Dr. Ly envisions parents giving the same warning and explaining to kids, “These are special gummy bears, these are not regular gummy bears that you can buy off the shelf, so these are like medicine and you only take two a day.”

The children were taking a low dose of the sugar substitute—less than the amount that can cause diarrhea.

“The tolerance level for causing side effects is fairly high,” says Dr. Ly. In the study, one group took 11 grams per day, and the other 15 grams per day, which is less than half of the 40-gram tolerance level.

And to be on the safe side, the researchers had a ramp-up period in which they slowly increased the xylitol dose, which cut down the chance of side effects.

It’s more practical than cavity-fighting gum
In order to work, the xylitol has to be chewed (not swallowed in a pill). Xylitol chewing gum is known to reduce cavities and is given to soldiers as part of standard rations. But handing out gum to kids in school didn’t go over well with teachers, nor did Popsicles (you can imagine the mess).

In fact, Dr. Ly’s team investigated a host of different delivery options, including cookies, but the gummy bears were easiest to manufacture and won the approval of school administrators.

The researchers are now testing the gummy bears in a larger study at East Cleveland schools, which were selected for their high cavity rates.

Dr. Ly says he could see a program in which the xylitol-containing gummy bears are distributed to kids in schools in low-income areas, through the Head Start program or via the WIC program.

Given the problems that low-income children have getting any kind of dental care (in one horrific case, a 12-year-old boy died of a tooth abscess), this seems like one type of candy that parents would be happy to have their kids chew on.

(PHOTO: KIET A. LY, MD)

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