Abstract

Our aims were to examine the effects of xylitol and a novel polyol sweetener, erythritol, on growth of oral Streptococci and compare their effects. The inhibitory effects of xylitol and erythritol on Streptococcus strains, as well as on streptococcal biofilm formation were examined. Streptococcus mutans, Streptococcus sobrinus, and Streptococcus sanguiniswere used as representatives of oral Streptococci. The effects of these polyols on biofilm formation were determined by microtiter plate assay. The growth was compared at each experiment using analysis of variance of repeated measures (SPSS 16.0 for Windows). Our results indicated that in the presence of 4% xylitol and 4% erythritol the growth of S. mutans was decreased by 68 and 71%, respectively. Biofilm formation by S. mutans was reduced to 31.32% in the presence of 4% erythritol. Regardless of concentration, in general, erythritol was found more effective than xylitol in inhibiting the growth and biofilm formation of Streptococci strains used in this study. Xylitol and especially erythritol both inhibited microplate surface adherence of oral Streptococci, which are known to contribute to plaque accumulation.

Key words: Xylitol, erythritol, oral Streptococci, biofilm, microtiter plate assay.