Sugars Intake

In 2014, Moynihan and Kelly published a systematic review sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO) identifying the effect of restricting sugars intake on caries in adults and children.¹⁵ The authors sought to identify all randomized clinical trials and observational studies published since 1950 exploring effects of individual sugars (i.e., sucrose) and/or sugar categories (i.e., added sugars, total sugars) on dental caries. Specifically, they were interested in the effect of lowering sugars intakes as well as the effect of sugars intakes below 10% of energy intakes in both adults and children. They reported that dental caries are lower when free-sugars intakes are less than 10% of energy intake across the lifespan. Following Moynihan and Kelly’s publication, the WHO recommended limiting free sugars intakes to less than 10% of energy intakes to reduce risk of caries.¹⁰