Table 1.
Summary characteristics of included studies
| Study citation | Intervention Daily frequency/amount/chew-time |
Participant characteristics | Duration of follow up | Study design | Control group | Effect size (95% CI) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hoerman [16] | Xylitol for 10 weeks | Chewed 5 times a day for 10 min | N = 30 dental students | 10 weeks | RCT | No gum | − 0.31 (− 1.21, 0.59) |
| Hildebrandt and Sparks [17] | Xylitol for 3 months | Chewed 3 times a day for 5 min (after each meal) | N = 151; adults | 3 months | RCT | No gum | − 0.70 (− 1.09, − 0.31) |
| Thaweboon et al. [18] | 55% xylitol and 100% xylitol for 90 days | Chewed 3 times a day for 5 min | N = 91 schoolchildren aged 10–12 | 90 days | Other-controlled trial | No gum | − 0.57 (− 1.00, − 0.13) |
| Makinen et al. [19] | Xylitol and d-glucitol for 6 months | Chewed 4 times a day for 5 min | N = 123, kindergarten children | 6 months | RCT | No gum | − 0.40 (− 0.84, 0.04) |
| Wang et al. [20] | Sugar free gum for 14 days | Chewed 5 times a day for 10 min | N = 40 adults | 2 weeks | RCT | No gum | − 0.86 (− 1.48, − 0.24) |
| Haresaku et al. [21] | Xylitol and malatol for 6 months | Chewed 3 times a day for 5 min (after each meal) | N = 128 adults | 6 months | Patient preference non-randomised trial | No gum | − 0.10 (− 0.55, 0.34) |
| Calgar et al. [22] | Xylitol 21 days | Chewed 3 times a day for 10 min | N = 60 adults (age range 21–24 years) | 3 weeks | RCT | Placebo gum | − 1.33 (− 2.18, − 0.48) |
| Campus et al. [23] | Xylitol for 9 months | Chewed 5 times a day for 5 min | N = 176 children aged 7–9 | 9 months | RCT | Placebo gum | − 0.01 (− 0.32, 0.31) |
| Hildebrandt et al. [24] | Xylitol for 3 months | Chewed 3 times a day for 5 min | N = 105 adults | 3 months | RCT | No gum | − 0.76 (− 1.23, − 0.28) |
| Seki et al. [25] | Xylitol gum over 3 months | Chewed 4 times/day (after breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinner) for 5 min | N = 161 children aged 3–4 years | 9 months | RCT | Control gum | − 0.33 (− 0.64, − 0.02) |
| Alamoudi et al. [26] and Hanno et al. [27] | Xylitol gum over 3 months | Chewed 3 times a day for 5 min | N = 34 mother–child dyads | 18 months | RCT | Fluoride varnish | − 0.66 (− 1.65, 0.32) |
| Al-Haboubi et al. [28] | Xylitol gum over 6 months | Chewed 2 times daily for 15 min | N = 186 adults aged over 60 years | 6 months | RCT | No gum | − 0.23 (− 0.56, 0.10) |
| Ghassemi et al. [29] | Xylitol for 4 weeks | Chewed 3 times a day for 5 min | N = 50 adults (female university students) | 4 weeks | RCT | Probiotic | − 0.18 (− 0.74, 0.37) |