Chewing Gum, Aye or Nay..!

Caries is the most common chronic infectious disease in the World. We should do everything to prevent or at least decrease its spread. Sugar increases blood pressure,bad cholesterol and risk of heart disease. On top of that, sugary food adhere to teeth and stimulate plaque growth.
Xylitol is a five carbon sugar alcohol compound. Sugar alcohols are neither sugar nor alcohol. Xylitol is not an artificial sweetener as well. Xylitol is a naturally sugar compound which can be derived from  vegetables and plants. Xylitol has all the benefits of sugar without its many drawbacks.
Bacteria can use the six carbon monosachcharide such as glucose or fructose as food source to produce plaque on teeth which leads to decay but cant use xylitol for this same purpose.

Xylitol has been added to chewing gums as a sweetener instead of sugar.For this reason, it is very important to know all its advantages. Now to get back to our main subject about chewing gums. Chewing gums are very effective in preventing teeth decay for the following reasons:

1. It increases saliva flow up to 10 times.Saliva helps to wash away food debris and plaque.
2. Chewing gum mechanically washes away food debris and food trapped on deep areas of back teeth.
3. The increased saliva flow increases remineralization process. What the plaque acids take out, the extra saliva puts back.
4. Dry mouth is common for people who take medications such as antidepressants and anti-histamines. More saliva production helps those patients from dry mouth side effect.
5. Chewing gum  improves memory and increases concentration. We all remember the legend Micheal Jordan and how he used to chew gum during his NBA games. 
6. Chewing gum helps those who want to quit smoking. 

How to use the chewing gum?

Chew gum immediately after each meal for 20 minutes.When you eat sugary meals, the PH level in your mouth drops rapidly and remains low for some time.The chewing action stimulates far more saliva,which rapidly brings the PH levels back up to its normal limit.

N.B. Be sure to chew  chewing gum with xylitol.Other sweeteners such as mannitol,aspartame or sorbitol can be used by bacteria in the mouth as food sources and they can lead to causing decay. So be sure whenever you buy any product with sugar substitute,that xylitol is the main and only ingredient.