Plaque formation of dietary isomaltulose in humans

The plaque formation of isomaltulose, a sucrose isomer, was examined in 15 human volunteers with both diet and oral hygiene under supervision. The subjects were requested to refrain from all oral hygiene procedures for 3 days and were provided between-meal snacks containing 157 g of 4 test sugars (100% isomaltulose, 70% isomaltulose + 30% sucrose, 50% isomaltulose + 50% sucrose, and 100% sucrose). The study was repeated 4 times over 4 weeks. The isomaltulose diet resulted in the lowest plaque index, while sucrose induced a significantly greater deposition. In the absence of sucrose-containing snacks, mutans streptococci in saliva decreased below the baseline level. These results suggest that isomaltulose may be a suitable substitute for sucrose in between meal snacks.