Can xylitol prevent tooth decay?

One of the keys to the formation of dental caries is that sucrose will ferment to produce acid when it meets caries-causing microorganisms in the mouth, which will corrode teeth and eventually form dental cavities. Scientists have been looking for a substance that can replace sugar. This substance can be comparable to sugar in nutritional value and taste, but it will not ferment to produce acid in the mouth. In this way, the probability of sweet taste leading to dental caries will be greatly reduced. From 65438 to 1970s, farid Berger, a Russian chemist living in the United States, made a breakthrough in this field. He extracted toluene from black, sticky and smelly coal tar, treated it with sulfuric acid sulfonation, phosphorus pentachloride and ammonia water, then oxidized it with potassium permanganate, and finally obtained a particularly sweet white crystal through crystallization dehydration. He called it "saccharin" and measured that it was 500 times sweeter than sucrose. Xylitol is a natural sugar existing in various fruits. As sweet as sucrose, but it won't form dental caries. In addition, xylitol does not rely on insulin for digestion, so diabetics can also eat it. At present, there are three misunderstandings in the consumption of xylitol: first, it can repair tooth decay. In this regard, experts said that xylitol has a certain effect on preventing tooth decay, but it cannot repair tooth decay. At most, people who eat xylitol regularly are less likely to suffer from tooth decay than those who eat sucrose regularly. Second, the higher the content, the better the caries prevention effect. Experts say that the content of xylitol in chewing gum does not affect the caries prevention effect; Third, it can completely replace sugar. In fact, xylitol, like glucose and sucrose, is a carbohydrate composed of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Therefore, diabetics should not eat more xylitol.