[Comparative effects of the maltitol chewing gums on reducing plaque]

To estimate the clinical effect of the maltitol chewing gums in plaque control.

Thirty 13-15 years old susceptible adolescent were divided into three groups randomly, group A (maltitol chewing gums), group B (xylitol chewing gums) and group C (gum base chewing gums). Subjects chewed gums 5 times each day, 10 min each time. At baseline and at 4-week, subjects were evaluated for supragingival plaque. SPSS 17.0 software package was used for statistical analysis.

Four weeks later, plaque index of the three groups continuously step down. Significant difference was observed between baseline and 4-week (P = 0.000, 0.000, 0.006). Four weeks later, there was statistically significant difference in clearance rate of plaque among the three groups (P = 0.015). There was still no statistically significant difference between group A and group B (P = 0.687), but they were both different from C group(P = 0.019, 0.007).

Maltitol chewing gum can lead to similar effect on reduction of plaque as xylitol chewing gum.