[Palatinite--a new sugar substitute and its caries prophylactic evaluation].

By means of programmed feeding experiments on rats, the caries-producing properties of a new sugar substitute Palat-nit were compared with those of other carbohydrates. The cariogenicity of Palatinit was significantly lower than that of sucrose and lactose and roughly comparable to that of L-sorbose. Reference strains of s. mutans are unable to produce extra-cellular polysaccharide or notable amounts of acid from Palatinit. The use of this substance as sugar substitute can be recommended for caries prophylaxis on the basis of these experiments.