Do xylitol-containing products help prevent dental caries in adults?

Question:
Do xylitol-containing products help prevent dental caries in adults?
Clinical Answer:
A single, small randomized controlled trial provided insufficient evidence to judge the effects of xylitol-containing products for preventing dental caries in adults.

When xylitol lozenges were compared with sucralose lozenges in adults with at least one cavitated dental caries lesion, there were no apparent differences between groups in terms of dental caries increments or adverse events (sores in the mouth, cramps, bloating, constipation, flatulence, and loose stool or diarrhea). However, this was assessed in only one trial with 669 participants (the trial was considered to be at a low risk of bias), therefore may have been too small to a detect difference between groups if one was present. The included trial did not report on presence or absence of dental caries or the number of decayed teeth, and the review did not assess compliance with treatment.