spotlight on sweeteners: why xylitol in toothpaste takes the cake

key takeaways

• Unlike traditional sweeteners, xylitol in toothpaste is anti-cariogenic, meaning it actively prevents decay by inducing cell death in harmful oral bacteria.
• While sweeteners like saccharin and sucralose are purely flavorants, xylitol provides therapeutic benefits by increasing saliva flow to support natural enamel remineralization.
• Davids prioritizes USA-made, birch-derived xylitol to ensure non-GMO, sustainable, and high-purity ingredients.

It’s hard to believe, but for much of the 19th century, dental soaps and detergents contained sugar. Scientists and manufacturers didn’t understand the link between sugar and dental health until the latter part of the century, pushing into the beginning of the 20th century. Until the discovery of this connection, manufacturers needed to mask the bitter, chemical taste of the soap.

As dental science progressed into the 1940s, not only did toothpaste producers eliminate sugar from their recipes, they replaced soap with sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), a synthetic detergent. SLS produced the same foaming and cleaning action as soap, but it lacked the intense bitterness, meaning it was possible to manufacture toothpaste without “pure” sweeteners, such as sugar.

That doesn’t mean sweeteners were unnecessary. SLS was still bitter. However, the evolution led to the adoption of alternative sweeteners like sodium saccharin and xylitol in toothpaste. These ingredients, while entering the scene at different times (1940s and 1970s, respectively), offered an alternative to the ingredients of earlier centuries.

Davids uses birch-derived xylitol to ensure purity and quality and minimize GMO risks. Other brands might use corn-derived xylitol or synthetic sweeteners like sodium saccharin. We prioritize naturally sourced and derived ingredients in our products.

The shift toward cleaner ingredients is a modern concern. It stems from centuries of balancing flavor and function, moving from a bitter cleaning necessity to a science-backed oral care routine.

an expanded history of non-sugar sweeteners

While xylitol in toothpaste is common today, it was nonexistent before the 20th century. Before mass production began in the early 19th century, most oral hygiene remedies were homemade and included things like crushed bone, oyster shells, pumice, and salt. They were bitter but necessary.

In the 19th century, these dentifrices used binders like honey and cane sugar to minimize bitterness. People didn’t know that sugar is a primary fuel source for harmful oral bacteria. As sugar enters the mouth, these bacteria consume it and convert it into lactic acid, which erodes enamel.

The increase in dental decay and cavity cases motivated medical research and the eventual discovery of sugar as the culprit. This discovery then drove a quest to develop a toothpaste without harmful sweeteners, or at least one with less harmful ones.

In 1879, Constantin Fahlberg, while researching coal tar derivatives at Johns Hopkins University, accidentally stumbled on the non-sugar sweetener, saccharin. After synthesizing a new compound from the coal tar, he noticed a sweet taste on his hands. Upon testing it, he found it to be much sweeter than sugar.

Despite the excitement around Fahlberg’s discovery, debates were contentious around the sweetener. People were concerned about long-term exposure. The debates culminated in the 1970s FDA ban proposal, which was later overturned.

Today, saccharin remains a popular sweetener, especially its derivative, sodium saccharin, but it’s only one of many. Xylitol in toothpaste is quickly becoming the most popular sugar alternative because of its quality and health benefits.

common sweeteners and their quality

Saccharin isn’t the only non-sugar sweetener in the market. There’s also sucralose and sorbitol. To understand why Davids prefers xylitol to these options, we must review each artificial substance and sugar alcohol.

sodium saccharin

Saccharin is a synthetic sweetener roughly 300 to 400 times more potent than sucrose (standard sugar). It’s a non-cariogenic substance, meaning that it doesn’t ferment in the mouth like sugar, so it won’t lead to enamel erosion.

Unlike xylitol, saccharin is non-functional, meaning it’s purely a flavorant. It offers no therapeutic benefits. If anything, since its inception, the synthetic has undergone scrutiny, including accusations of carcinogenic properties and gut microbiome-altering effects. Most current research dispels these claims, including a 2024 study in the Springer Journal for Food Science and Biology, “Impact of Artificial Sweeteners and Rare Sugars on the Gut Microbiome”, and a 2025 review in the MDPI Journal of Diseases, “Artificial Sweeteners: A Double-Edged Sword for Gut Microbiome.”

Even with cancer claims debunked and microbiome claims needing further study, sodium saccharin doesn’t provide any antibacterial action or enamel support. Xylitol in toothpaste accomplishes both. Saccharin might be a step up as a toothpaste without harmful sweeteners, but is it the best option?

sucralose

Sucralose is another synthetic sweetener, but it’s nearly 600 times sweeter than sucrose. Like saccharin, it’s non-cariogenic. Unlike saccharin, recent research raises significant questions about the efficacy of the substance and its long-term impact on health.

Made from real sugar, the sweetener undergoes chemical alterations, replacing hydroxyl groups with chlorine atoms. This change makes the substance non-caloric. While this all sounds nice on a surface level, it once again results in an ingredient with limited benefits other than flavor.

Unlike xylitol in toothpaste, sucralose is facing increased scrutiny. Recent studies, including a 2024 PMC report, suggest that sucralose disrupts the gut microbiome, leading to dysbiosis and adversely altering the intestinal microbiota. A 2022 report in the MDPI Journal of Microorganisms also found that sucralose consumption can alter glucose and insulin levels in young healthy adults. Furthermore, the Journal of Cancer Discovery published a 2025 article linking high-dose sucralose consumption to altered immunotherapy responses in mice.

Research is ongoing. The current assumptions may change, but with adverse findings culminating, sucralose may join sugar in the harmful sweeteners category.

sorbitol

Moving on to sugar alcohols, we have sorbitol. For toothpaste without harmful sweeteners, it’s the most common sugar alcohol. It’s present as a polyol in fruits, but is often commercially manufactured from corn syrup.

In toothpaste, sorbitol acts as a mild sweetener (about 60% as sweet as sugar) and a humectant, a substance used to promote moisture retention. Unlike xylitol in toothpaste, which is entirely non-fermentable, sorbitol is fermentable to some oral bacteria, meaning it’s a low-cariogenic substance.

Despite this low fermentability, sorbitol still reduces bacterial counts compared to sugar, although less effectively than xylitol (44.1% compared to 64.4% over a week). This means sorbitol doesn’t actively cause cavities, but it also means it doesn’t actively prevent them.

A recent and alarming 2025 study published in Science Signaling suggests a possible connection between sorbitol and liver health. For most people, the gut microbiome contains a sorbitol-degrading bacterium, which allows the sorbitol to pass through the system. The study suggests that in people without this bacterium, sorbitol may pass undigested to the liver, converting to fructose derivatives and contributing to liver disease.

xylitol

That brings us to xylitol in toothpaste, the current favorite of the sweeteners and sugar alcohols. Unlike the other sweeteners on this list, xylitol is anti-cariogenic, which means it actively prevents decay.

While other sweeteners are unattractive to harmful bacteria as a fuel source, xylitol mimics sugar properties, motivating bacteria (Streptococcus mutans) to ingest it. The bacterium doesn’t have the enzymes to ferment xylitol for energy, so it relies on its existing energy stores, resulting in an energy cycle that hastens toward cell death.

Beyond its antimicrobial mechanism, xylitol reduces bacterial and plaque adhesion properties. This makes it easier to eliminate both with routine brushing. Also, xylitol in toothpaste supports mineral transport by increasing saliva production, supporting remineralization.

For extra support in a toothpaste without pure sweeteners like sugar, Davids pairs xylitol with nano hydroxyapatite, a mineral-rich ingredient. The xylitol helps maintain a neutral pH in the mouth, allowing the minerals to bond with the enamel tooth surface.

Davids birch-derived xylitol for pure quality

Davids commitment to premium quality, environmental sustainability, and consumer trust drives our business model and ingredient choices. We could choose a corn-based xylitol source to save money and production costs, but that would expose our consumers to GMO risks and reduce our high-quality standards. That’s why we use birch-derived xylitol instead.

Our birch-derived xylitol for toothpaste not only supports local economies but also ensures a transparent and traceable supply chain. It also results in a purer ingredient and a cleaner sensory profile that is non-GMO defensible.

Are you ready to experience the Davids difference? Shop our selection of clean, pure toothpaste today.