“Sugar” research
… In 1947, the Center for Sugar Research commissioned a ten-year, $57 research program from Harvard University to find out how sugar causes holes in teeth and how to avoid it. In 1958, Time magazine published the results of the research that originally appeared in the Dental Association Journal. Scientists determined that there was no way to solve this problem, and funding for the project was immediately stopped.
“… The most significant study of the effects of sugar on the human body was carried out in Sweden in 1958. It was known as the “Vipekholm project”. More than 400 mentally healthy adults followed a controlled diet and were observed for five years. The subjects were divided into various categories. Some took complex and simple carbohydrates only during the main meal, while others ate additional meals containing sucrose, chocolate, caramel or toffee in between.
Among others, the study led to the following conclusion: the use of sucrose can contribute to the development of caries. The risk is increased if sucrose is ingested in a sticky form, whereby it adheres to the surface of the teeth.
It turned out that foods with a high concentration of sucrose in the sticky form cause the most damage to the teeth, when they are consumed as snacks between main meals – even if the contact of sucrose with the surface of the teeth was short. Caries that occurs due to excessive consumption of foods high in sucrose can be prevented by eliminating such harmful foods from the diet.
However, it has also been found that there are individual differences, and in some cases, tooth decay continues to occur despite the elimination of refined sugar or the maximum restriction of the amount of natural sugar and carbohydrates.