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Dental professionals in Germany are urging caution against assuming that stevia, a widely known sugar substitute, is safer to teeth than granulated sugar. The dentists say that this assumption is not supported by adequate scientific evidence.

Stevia is a sugar substitute made by extracting steviol glycosides from a plant named Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni. The latter is widely found in South America. Although stevia has high sweetening properties, said to be nearly 300 times greater than sucrose, it is usually considered to have no harmful effect on teeth. So it has been recommended by a number of dentists as a reasonable substitute for the typical sugar used in tooth friendly products.

However German dentists are now saying that there is not enough scientific evidence to support the reported tooth friendly properties of stevia. The reported benefit of the sugar is that, like xylitol, it does not provide nourishment to oral bacteria and thus reduces the overall oral bacterial burden. However, the German dentists still warn that oral hygiene should continue to be the primary focus for reducing bacteria.

In 2010, the European Food Safety Authority discussed the safety of stevia to be used in food products. The toxicological assessment that was carried out indicated that stevia in the form of a steviol glycoside at the 95% level was not likely to be carcinogenic, genotoxic or connected to any toxicity of the reproductive or other developmental processes in the body. Accordingly, stevia was marked “safe” to be used in food production. Its permissible limit was listed at up to 4mg daily. Later in December 2011, stevia received official approval from the European Commission to be used as food additive on the European continent.

The International Stevia Council, a trade organization representing the companies offering stevia products, said that between 2004 and 2008 a wide range of countries have allowed the use of stevia. These countries include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Colombia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Paraguay, Peru, Russia, Switzerland, Taiwan, Ukraine and Uruguay.