Cariostatic effect of aspartame in rats.

This study examined the effects of aspartame (APM) on caries and the Streptococcus sobrinus population. Six groups of rats (20 in each group) colonized with S. sobrinus were fed varying amounts of sucrose (SU) and APM in their diets as follows: 1-0.15% APM, 2-0.30% APM, 3-30% SU, 4-30% SU + 0.15% APM, 5-50% SU and 6-50% + 0.15% APM. Ten from each group were sacrificed at 6 weeks and 10 at 12 weeks. S. sobrinus populations at both intervals were negligible in groups 1 and 2 and had no differences between groups 3, 4, 5 and 6. No caries were found in groups 1 and 2 Animals fed SU plus APM had significantly lower caries than animals fed the same amounts of SU (p = 0.001-0.0002). We conclude that APM is noncariogenic and anticariogenic.