UCLA researchers hope that they have created a tooth-friendly candy just as appealing as Red Vines or Twizzlers.

Dentistry professor and microbiologist Wenyuan Shi discovered an ingredient from licorice roots that combats a main bacterium that causes tooth decay a few years ago, and this ingredient is now infused and available in a sugar-free, orange-flavored, bacteria-killing lollipop.

The licorice root extract in his lollipop can effectively kill Streptococcus mutans, a common bacterium that could release harmful cavity-causing acids. Only 15 milligrams of licorice powder per lollipop eliminates 99.9 percent of this bacteria in the mouth within five to 10 minutes, Shi said.

Before the growth of cavities, harmful bacteria in the mouth produce acids that create holes in the outermost layer of the teeth. Streptococcus mutans is one of the more virulent cavity-causing bacteria, and the licorice root extract specifically kills only the harmful bacteria in the mouth, not other beneficial bacteria, said Aria Eshraghi, a microbiology graduate student who worked with Shi in the past. …