Table 3.

Concentration of salivary MS (log₁₀ CFU/mL in saliva: mean ± SE) at the different time points (baseline, 6 months of gum use, 12 months of gum use, and after 12 months of no-gum use) in the two groups

	Time	Polyol		Xylitol		p value one-way ANOVA
		Subjects (n)	Mean ± SD	Subjects (n)	Mean ± SD
Gum use	Baseline	90	5.32 ± 0.43	89	5.41 ± 0.35	0.29
	6 months	79	5.22 ± 0.21	77	5.33 ± 0.46	0.31
	12 months	72	5.33 ± 0.42	71	5.16 ± 0.42	0.03
No-gum use	24 months	64	5.33 ± 0.46	66	5.15 ± 0.64	0.04
	p value one-way ANOVA		0.42		<0.01