Who would have thought that one day the dentist would tell you to eat candy to prevent decay! Well almost. Sugarless chewing gum is actually a benefit to the oral dynamic. In previous posts I have mentioned how eating sugars fuels the bacteria in our mouths to make acid, this in turn dissolves the teeth. That dissolving becomes decay. Sugarless chewing gum has the added benefit of stimulating saliva. Just last post I spoke of the repairing quality of saliva.
When we chew gum sugarless or otherwise it causes saliva to flow. Anytime we eat as a matter of fact saliva will flow. (or should) If we chew sugarless especially Xylitol gum we get saliva flow without the negative effect of sugar. So we can prevent decay with gum right?
There is one caveat: if we chew gum too long we will dry the mouth out of saliva and find that the benefit of having sugarless gum is cancelled out.
SO we should chew a bit of Xylitol or Sugarless gum after meals to clean the teeth and get our saliva flowing again but STOP after about 10-15 minutes.
Yes you can have your gum and eat it too!
PS. I noticed some good information on the science behind xylitol at http://www.healthyfellow.com, I cannot comment on other articles that I did not read but the commentary on Xylitol was quite sound!
OH and PPS
Animal lovers and owners. Do NOT let pets eat anything containing Xylitol. It effects them by releasing their stores of insulin and they can die of hypoglycemia. My thinking is that some cake frosting below the tongue of an ill or unconscious animal could save their life but be sure to check with the veterinarian.
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