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Sugar consumption and caries risk: a systematic review.
1University of Michigan, School of Public Health, Ann Arbor 48109-2029, USA. bburt@umich.edu
Journal of Dental Education
|November 9, 2001
Summary
In the modern era of widespread fluoride exposure, high sugar intake shows a weaker link to dental caries severity. While sugar control is still important for caries prevention, its impact is lessened compared to previous times.
Area of Science:
- Dental Public Health
- Epidemiology
- Cariology
Background:
- Extensive fluoride exposure is common in modern populations.
- The relationship between sugar consumption and dental caries severity requires re-evaluation in this context.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically review the association between sugar intake levels and dental caries severity.
- To assess if high sugar intake increases caries risk in individuals with high fluoride exposure.
Main Methods:
- Systematic review of MEDLINE and EMBASE databases (1980-2000).
- Inclusion/exclusion criteria applied to 809 initial papers, resulting in 69 reviewed.
- Quality scoring and analysis limited to 36 high-quality papers from moderate-to-extensive fluoride exposure regions.
Main Results:
- Only 2 papers found a strong sugar-caries relationship.
- 16 papers found a moderate relationship.
- 18 papers found a weak-to-no relationship between sugar consumption and caries development.
Conclusions:
- The association between sugar consumption and caries is significantly weaker with modern fluoride exposure.
- Controlling sugar intake remains a justifiable, though not always primary, caries prevention strategy.