It’s a perennial American favorite. Inning accordance with the U.S. Census Bureau, the typical American takes in 1.8 pounds of it, on average, each year.
Did you know that the average american consumes 1.8 pounds of gum each year? With so much gum entering into our mouths it is very important to understand how chewing gum affects our dental health. You may have heard that it’s both good and bad for your teeth … so what’s the genuine answer? Continue reading to find out!
Is Chewing Gum Bad for Your Teeth
Avoid chewing gum sweetened with sugar
Gum has always been a youth preferred! What child does not enjoy that sweet burst of taste or a bubble-blowing competitors with buddies? Unfortunately, gum sweetened with sugar is bad news for teeth.
When you or your child choose sweet chewing gum, you’re not the only ones satisfying your craving for sweets. The bacteria in our mouths like sugar too! And they enjoy it long after we’ve spit our gum out. These bacteria use sugar as fuel, producing acids that weaken tooth enamel and cause cavities.
Stay with sugarless gum
Here’s the bright side: chewing sugar-free gum can actually enhance your oral health! Chewing gum increases saliva flow in your mouth, strengthening your teeth and washing away food debris and bacteria. While the same holds true for sweet gum, the increased saliva flow isn’t really quite sufficient to balance out the damage that the sugar can do.
Inning accordance with the american dental association, research studies reveal that chewing sugarless gum for 20 minutes after a meal can prevent tooth decay. Saliva helps reduce the effects of acids in our mouths after eating. It likewise contains calcium and phosphate which enhance tooth enamel, our teeth’s first line of defense against cavity-causing bacteria.
So, when selecting gum, “stick” to the sugarless kind!
You might think that, like the majority of sweet, chewing gum can just do damage to your teeth, but the unexpected fact is that there is such a thing as gum that benefits your teeth.
Any Sugarless Gum Can Help Clean Your Teeth
You do not need to chew gum promoted as cavity-fighting in order to improve your oral health. Chewing any routine sugar complimentary gum can help prevent cavities by getting rid of food particles from the surface areas of your teeth. Chewing likewise promotes the production of saliva, which assists clear away food, enhance teeth, and reduce the levels of acid in your mouth that cause dental caries.
Xylitol Is Sweet for Your Teeth
Chewing gum is even more effective at preventing cavities if it includes a sugar replacement called Xylitol. Xylitol is a naturally occurring sweetener that some research studies have revealed can lower the amount of cavity-causing bacteria in your mouth. Considering that Xylitol, unlike sugar, disagrees as fuel for these organisms, the variety of bacteria reduces, leaving your mouth a safer place for your teeth.
Some Gum Can Even Harden Tooth Enamel
Some gum manufacturers are starting to add a compound called casein phosphopeptide-amorphous calcium phosphate (CPP-ACP) to their items. CPP-ACP, more frequently understood by its trademarked name Recaldent, is said to remineralize and solidify tooth enamel, making your teeth more powerful and less most likely to suffer from dental caries.
With all these options waiting at the checkout candy rack, it is much easier than ever to satisfy your craving for sweets and protect it from cavities at the same time. The next time you are in the state of mind for a sweet treat, why not bite into a piece of sugar complimentary, cavity-fighting, or enamel-strengthening gum that benefits your teeth instead of a sugar-filled sweet? Your teeth will thank you.