New trends towards the effect and role of sugar consumption in the eti
ology of dental caries into the 21st century are presented, analyzed a
nd discussed. Many factors such as the amount of sugar consumed, the f
requency of sugar intake and the kind of sugars ingested have to be ta
ken into consideration. Over the years, the relative importance of the
se factors has changed. For a very long time, sugar has been ''blamed'
' as a primary etiological factor in the development of dental caries.
However, a number of recent reports have attributed a much less impor
tant role to carbohydrates. Sugar consumption only does not affect car
ies prevalence as much as it used to. It is obvious that the role of s
ugar in the etiology of caries must be reviewed. Additional factors li
ke overall nutrition, the number of meals and snacks per day, educatio
n and motivation, fluoride (in tablets or drops, in mouthwashes, tooth
pastes, baby foods, formulas, beverages, milk, vitamin supplements and
/or fluoridated water ingested), socioeconomic group, ethnicity, oral
hygiene status, use of preventive methods and sweeteners other than su
crose are presented.