Can honey prevent tooth decay?

　　The truth: Honey has always been regarded as a "purely natural" "good medicine", and its "health" and even "medical" effects have been widely publicized. How to get rid of the myths about these "effects", you can read Squirrel Yun Wuxin's article "Don't be obsessed with honey, although it has beautiful legends". Here I will only talk about "honey to prevent caries" based on the rumors.

　　Not only does honey not prevent dental caries, it is actually cariogenic.

　　Honey: disguise of sugar, accomplice to caries

　　The main component of honey is sugar, containing 30% Grape Sugar and 38% fructose and a small portion of sucrose. The relationship between dental caries and sugar is inseparable. Dental caries are caused by bacteria in the mouth, which adhere and grow on the tooth surface to form dental plaque. Sugar is the bacteria's favorite food. The acidic substances produced by bacteria metabolizing sugar are what the minerals that make up teeth are most afraid of. When the acidity reaches a certain level, these minerals will begin to be lost, and dental caries will occur. The more sugar you eat, the more severe your dental caries will be.

　　Although different sugars have different cariogenic abilities, from the strongest sucrose, to glucose, to maltose, lactose, and fructose, as long as they enter your mouth and attach to your teeth, they will more or less contribute to your path to dental caries. Many chewing gum brands launch so-called "xylitol chewing gum to prevent and treat dental caries". In fact, this is just because they use xylitol as a sweetener that cannot be used by cariogenic bacteria, thus avoiding the contact with more sugar. Xylitol itself has no effect in preventing and treating dental caries.

　　The caries-causing mechanism of sugar is clear and honey, which contains a large amount of sugar, is to blame. Population surveys have indeed found that excessive honey intake is significantly related to the level of dental caries, and people who eat less honey are less likely to develop dental caries.

　　Antibacterial ≠ anti-caries

　　The statement that honey "prevents caries" is probably an erroneous derivation of research on honey's antibacterial properties. Similar propaganda in China often mentions a scholar named Molan, and based on his research and opinions, honey can prevent dental caries. There is a misinterpretation in this.

　　Moran is an assistant professor of biochemistry in New Zealand who studies honey. He mentioned in a review that there are many research results on the antibacterial activity of honey, suggesting that consuming honey may reduce the risk of dental caries, but experimental confirmation is needed. It seems insufficient to assume that he agrees that honey can prevent caries.

　　Although some studies have found that undiluted and high-concentration (75%) honey has an inhibitory effect on Streptococcus mutans cultured in vitro, it does not show the feasibility of oral antibacterial effects at all (no one will "dry" pure honey,