Do you have a pack of gum near you? Most of us do. Pick it up and check out the ingredients. Does it contain sugar? How about high fructose corn syrup? Saccharine? We don’t recommend any of these. In fact, if your gum does not contain one key ingredient, we don’t recommend that you bother chewing it at all. Here’s the deal: While chewing traditional gum may help remove a little bit of the sticky foods and plaque from your teeth, it’s also contributing to –not fighting– tooth decay.
The Magic Ingredient
The chewing gum the team at my Sacramento dental office DOES recommend is one that contains Xylitol. Xylitol is not only a fantastic tasting sweetener that can help reduce blood sugar and aid in the prevention of obesity, it’s also a powerful oral health aid that can:
- Prevent tooth decay
- Starve bacteria
- Prevent oral inflammation
- Reduce your risk for gum disease
- Increase remineralizing saliva production.
- Reduce the acidity of your saliva.
- Help your body better absorb calcium which we all know can strengthen your teeth.
How Xylitol Gum Protects Your Mouth
Streptococcus mutans is one of the most common bacterial causes of oral health problems. This bacteria feeds on sugars and carbohydrates that linger in your mouth. Since Xylitol does not produce the carbohydrates the plaque needs to live, when the bacteria eats Xylitol, it starves. And yes, that means your oral oral bacteria levels drop — sometimes by up to 75%!
Xylitol is Good for the Rest of Your Body
Xylitol has other health benefits as well. For example, it can:
- Fight the yeast Candida Albicans
- Reduce ear infections in children
- Increase collagen production in skin and connective tissue
- Act as a prebiotic and aid in digestion
To learn more about the incredible benefits of chewing Xylitol gum or using other Xylitol products, call my dental office in Sacramento today. We are here to help you smile more every day.
Serving patients from Sacramento, Natomas, and Rio Linda.