Is Sugar Free Gum Good for Your Teeth?
Surely you have ever heard in your life that sugarless gum helps clean teeth. What may seem like a myth or something that is not true, has been corroborated by researchers when they state that people who chew sugarless gum on a regular basis, develop almost 30% fewer cavities than others who do not. Then we talk to you about whether chewing gum without sugar is really good for your oral health and if it helps to clean your teeth.
Is Sugar Free Gum Good for Your Teeth
What happens if you chew sugarless gum
To begin with, it must be said that chewing gum without sugar is much healthier for the body than with sugar. Apart from this, sugarless chewing gums can bring you another series of benefits such as:
- Chewing gum helps build more saliva in your mouth, which is really good, especially after eating and preventing the acids that are generated from attacking the enamel of your teeth.
- Therefore, it is recommended to chew after eating a sugar-free gum and allow half an hour to pass before brushing your teeth.
- Another benefit of sugarless gum is that thanks to the xylitol of the gum, bacterial activity in the teeth is slowed, and therefore the possibility of caries is reduced.
Don’t forget to brush your teeth
Despite the benefits of chewing sugarless gum, especially after eating, you should not forget to brush your teeth. Chewing gum cannot be used as a substitute for brushing, especially before going to sleep. Dentists advise brushing your teeth just before bed to protect oral health. While you sleep, the mouth does not produce any saliva, hence the great importance of a good brushing to stop the bacterial plaque.
Do sugarless gum fight bad breath?
There is another popular belief regarding sugarless gum that it helps fight bad breath from your mouth. This is a mistaken belief since the xylitol present in chewing gum helps to mask bad breath but not eliminate it. Once the xylitol effect wears off, bad breath will return. Halitosis is usually due to cavities or some type of infection in the mouth. It is necessary to follow an adequate treatment to combat bad breath.
Is sugarless gum harmful?
There’s nothing wrong with chewing sugarless gum now and then. The problem occurs when they are abused, and they are chewing gum at all hours. If this occurs, the jaw may suffer more than expected and be damaged. Chewing gum more than 20 minutes a day is thought to overload the jaw and wear down the teeth.
In the case of suffering bruxism, eating chewing gum is totally discouraged since both the teeth and the jaw can suffer greater wear. It has also been found that excess xylitol is not a good thing for health due to its laxative effects.
In conclusion, it must be said that chewing sugarless gum is not bad for oral health as long as it is not abused. The presence of xylitol helps to stop the bacterial plaque and protect the enamel of the teeth. In any case, it should be clear to you that sugar-free gum should not be a substitute for tooth brushing. The act of brushing is essential when it comes to keeping both teeth and mouth in perfect condition.
