RESUMEN
PURPOSE: This pilot study evaluated the acceptance and compliance of a xylitol chewing gum regimen by both children and classroom teachers in a Head Start program. METHODS: Thirty-five children chewed 100% xylitol gum (XyliFresh 100%, Leaf, Inc., 500 Field Dr., Lake Forest, IL 60045 U.S.A.) three times a day over a three week period. Children's acceptance was evaluated using a picture selection test. Teachers' acceptance was evaluated using a questionnaire. The children's and teachers' compliance was evaluated using a daily checklist that was completed by each teacher. RESULTS: Positive ratings were given for xylitol gum chewing (94%) and for taste (86%). Children's acceptance and compliance for chewing was excellent. Children chewed the gum at designated times and none of the children swallowed the gum. Teachers' acceptance of the chewing program was low. Three out of five participating teachers thought the gum chewing disturbed the classroom routine and four were not willing to participate in the program next year. Teachers' compliance was good and they followed by instructions during a three-week period. CONCLUSIONS: This study supports the suggestion that chewing xylitol gum is well accepted by children. Collaboration and education is essential to motivate teachers to adopt and supervise school-based prevention programs.
Asunto(s)
Conducta , Goma de Mascar , Conducta Infantil , Intervención Educativa Precoz , Edulcorantes , Enseñanza , Xilitol , Actitud Frente a la Salud , Preescolar , Conducta Cooperativa , Caries Dental/prevención & control , Femenino , Florida , Humanos , Masculino , Motivación , Proyectos Piloto , Servicios de Odontología Escolar , GustoRESUMEN
The effect of two high-sucrose diets on dentinal caries, dentin formation, and the predentin width was studied in Sprague-Dawley rats. Rats were weaned at the age of 3 weeks and for 4 weeks fed a non-cariogenic commercial rat food (R36) for control, a high-sucrose Stephan-Harris (S-H) diet, or a new high-sucrose (sR36) diet in which most of the barley and wheat flour of the control R36 diet were replaced by sucrose. The areas of dentinal caries, the areas of dentin formation, and the width of predentin and dentin were quantified. Both high-sucrose diets induced dentinal caries, and both reduced dentin formation and increased the width of predentin compared with the control diet. Moreover, rats fed the S-H high-sucrose diet showed significantly greater progression of caries and reduction of dentin formation relative to rats fed the new high-sucrose diet, sR36. The high-sucrose diet thus was a substrate for caries-inducing microbes and a significant, but possibly not the exclusive, substrate for host modulation of odontoblast function.
Asunto(s)
Dentina/efectos de los fármacos , Dentinogénesis/efectos de los fármacos , Sacarosa en la Dieta/farmacología , Animales , Caries Dental/etiología , Dentina/patología , Dieta Cariógena , Sacarosa en la Dieta/administración & dosificación , Progresión de la Enfermedad , Femenino , Harina , Hordeum , Masculino , Valor Nutritivo , Odontoblastos/efectos de los fármacos , Odontoblastos/fisiología , Ratas , Ratas Sprague-Dawley , TriticumRESUMEN
The effect of early weaning on caries progression, dentin formation, and dentin mineralization was examined in four groups of rats. Two groups received a normal diet and were weaned on day 18 or 21, and another two received a sucrose-rich diet and were weaned on day 18 or 21. At age 35 days the lower molars were sectioned sagittally, and the areas of dentin formation and of the dentinal caries were quantified. The width of the predentin zone was measured from histologically stained sections of maxillary molars. Early weaning reduced dentin formation in the group on the high-sucrose diet only the first days; later this effect was partially caught up with. A high-sucrose diet significantly increased caries frequency and extension of caries lesions compared with a normal diet in both early weaned and normally weaned groups. The effect of early weaning on caries frequency and extension in the high-sucrose group was insignificant compared with the normally weaned group on a high-sucrose diet. The predentin zone was wider in the sucrose groups than in the control groups at the end of the experiment. These results indicate that the effect of sucrose on dentin formation was dependent on the stage of physiologic dentin formation, but early weaning as such did not affect this.