Quantification of incipient approximal caries during fructose and sucrose consumption.

The purpose of this study was to quantify the changes in the size of approximal caries lesions during regular sucrose or fructose consumption. The material consisted of the subjects in the 2-year Turku Sugar Study, with an observation period of 19 months. Planimetric evaluation showed a highly significant increase in the approximal lesions of both groups. There was no difference between the groups in the rate of the increase in the sizes of the lesions. Initially, small lesions increased at a higher rate than initially large lesions in both groups. It is concluded that a fructose diet enhances the progression of carious lesions as much as a sucrose diet.