Utah lawmakers, who voted to ban fluoride from drinking water, are considering a new cavity-prevention idea for Utahns to chew on: Giving school kids and prisoners xylitol gum three times a day.
Utah lawmakers are considering a program they believe could help prevent cavities in prison inmates and school kids by having them chew xylitol gum three times a day.
Utah lawmakers, who voted to ban fluoride from drinking water, are considering a new cavity-prevention idea for Utahns to chew on: Giving school kids and prisoners xylitol gum three times a day.
Nate Jones, the CEO of Xlear, a company that sells xylitol gum and other xylitol products, presented the idea to a recent interim meeting of the Utah Legislature. Jones was accompanied by Dr. Mark Cannon, a retired pediatric dentist who said he kept xylitol gum on hand for his patients.
Jones said a pilot program to provide xylitol gum to children and prisoners, if approved, would cost about $30 a year per person. Lawmakers listened to the proposal, but took no action.
The American Dental Association, however, said xylitol — a sugar-free sweetener often used in chewing gum — has some benefits, but is no substitute for fluoride and good oral hygiene.
The interim meeting of the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee on May 21 came two weeks after a new law went into effect in Utah,which prevents local governments in Utah from fluoridating their water supply.
“I think, as most of you know, this is very timely,” Rep. Kristen Chevrier, R-Highland, told lawmakers.
Chevrier was one of 51 Utah House members who voted for HB81, which then passed the Senate and was signed by Gov. Spencer Cox.
The law made Utah the first state in the nation to ban fluoride in drinking water. Florida has since become the second.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, came to Utah in April to praise lawmakers for their fluoride ban. Chevrier was on stage with Kennedy, along with the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Stephanie Gricius, R-Eagle Mountain, and House Speaker Mike Schultz.
A study published Friday in JAMA Health Forum, a scientific journal of the American Medical Association, projected that if every state followed Utah’s example, as Kennedy urged during his visit, the nation would see a 7.5% increase in tooth decay over the next five years. That would mean some 25.4 million more cavities among children, and an added cost to parents of $9.8 billion in dental bills, the study said.
The American Dental Association, in a statement to The Tribune, said there is some evidence that xylitol chewing gum can help prevent cavities, especially in people with moderate-to-high cavity risk. However, the association said the practice is no substitute for fluoride, teeth brushing or other oral health habits.
Jones told The Tribune that Xlear is willing to offer his company’s product at cost for five years to the first state that implements a xylitol gum program in schools.
“We very much would like that first state to be Utah,” he said.
Chevrier said after the interim meeting that while Jones’ company is “a big contributor to our Utah economy,” the discussion about xylitol was “not vendor-specific” and meant to focus on ways to promote dental health.
Many of the best-known brands of sugarless gum use a different sweetener, sorbitol, as their substitute for sugar. A 2010 study found sorbitol is somewhat less effective at fighting tooth decay than xylitol.
During his presentation to Utah lawmakers, Cannon said there have been several studies that have shown the benefits of xylitol on oral health.
Jones explained that cavities are caused when bacteria metabolize sugar and carbohydrates into acid that dissolves enamel.
According to Jones and Cannon, xylitol gum works by inhibiting the bacteria’s growth and ability to produce acid.
Jones said he doesn’t consider xylitol a replacement for fluoride, though he said fluoride “does nothing to address the underlying problem, which is the bacteria that cause tooth decay.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control’s website, fluoride “repairs and prevents damage to teeth caused by bacteria.” The bacteria produces acid, which dissolves minerals in the surface of teeth — and fluoride replaces those minerals, the CDC says.
He added that “reducing our over-reliance on fluoride” can lead health agencies, dentists and companies “to look for better tools to promote dental health and hygiene.”
Jones said Xlear supports Utah’s decision to remove fluoride from public drinking water, because the company believes it’s not “the most effective tool for fighting tooth decay.”
In its statement, the American Dental Association said “fluoride remains the more extensively studied and proven intervention for caries prevention across populations.”
Jones told lawmakers a xylitol gum program could save taxpayer money, since the state spends $2.1 million annually just on dental clinics in prison facilities.
Xylitol has a mild laxative effect, and in heavy doses can cause diarrhea, “and that’s if you use a lot of it, more than what you’re going to use in gum,” Jones said.
“As far as intervention programs go, this would probably be the least pushback you would get,” he said.
Rep. Raymond Ward, R-Bountiful — who is also a doctor — asked if similar xylitol gum programs have been tried in other states. Cannon said it’s been tried successfully in Michigan, but the efforts were done as limited studies.
A 1993 University of Michigan study found that chewing gum with xylitol could reduce new cavities and help reverse the decay process in already active cavities. That study — which followed more than 1,200 children in the central American nation of Belize for more than three years — found that children had to chew the gum for five minutes, three to five times a day, for the xylitol to be effective.
The American Dental Association said in its statement that a lot of research on xylitol was done in populations without fluoridated water — and there hasn’t been a study that compares the effects of xylitol with the effects of public drinking water fluoridated to levels recommended by the United States Public Health Service.
Ward wondered if it might be an extra chore for teachers to distribute gum to their students three times every day.
Jones said there are several ways teachers can give out xylitol products — during roll call, using a gum machine at the door or even giving out mints, though he said studies showing xylitol’s anti-cavity benefits have been done with gum.
“If there were a pilot [program], I would not like it to be forced in any way,” Chevrier said. “Maybe mints in schools would be best so we don’t end up with gum all over the desks and the walls.”
Discover more from World Byte News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
