Xlear contest shows benefits of xylitol

Nov 15, 2010

Xlear has announced the winners of the Spry Dental Defense Project, which was created to motivate patients to use xylitol products and evaluate bacterial plaque biofilm levels in patients following the use of several xylitol products for 30 days.

The winners of the contest were dental hygienists Cindy Schoeninger, Sandra Dlugosz, Carla Gantz, Donna Grzegorek, and Helen Fortner. Each will have the opportunity to present her findings at the by-invitation only Xlear Xylitol Conference in Cancun, Mexico, in February 2011. Winners receive free conference registration and hotel stay, as well as free breakfasts, group dinners, and group tours during the weeklong conference.

Project participants agreed to identify several patients to participate in the study, take intraoral photographs of each patient, and regularly monitor their patients' exposure to xylitol on a daily basis during a 30-day period. Patients were given a Spry Dental Defense Kit, which contains Spry toothpaste, Spry oral rinse, Spry chewing gum, Spry mints, and Xlear nasal spray. Patients were instructed to brush twice a day with the toothpaste, rinse twice a day with the oral rinse, chew gum or eat mints after every meal and snack, and use the nasal spray twice daily for 30 days.

Following the 30 days, the patients returned to the project participants' offices for an oral hygiene evaluation, bacterial biofilm scoring, and follow-up photographs.

"The Spry Dental Defense Project was created to capture the exciting changes that can happen with the daily use of our xylitol-rich oral care products," said Blaine Yates, president of Xlear, in a press release. "This is one of the first xylitol projects of its kind, and the reports and evidence we have collected will help to change lives and further promote xylitol as an important component of overall oral health."