Food sugar substitutes: a brief review for dental clinicians.

The frequent ingestion of fermentable sugars such as sucrose, fructose, glucose and maltose is conducive to the development of caries in the teeth of susceptible individuals. Natural and artificial alternatives to these sugars have been and continue to be developed as non/low-caloric sweeteners. The US Food and Drug Administration have approved four non-caloric sweeteners at present. However, there are several other non-caloric sweeteners being commonly used in other countries. A review of these sweeteners is provided with information on a promising new agent that has not yet gained FDA approval.