Benefits Of Chewing Gum – Ask Dr. Farooq Sorathia
Does Chewing Gum After A Meal Really Help?
I have been asked many times if chewing gum after a meal is beneficial to prevent dental caries. My answer is “YES! Sugar-free chewing gum after a meal does help prevent dental caries. However, it is NOT a substitute to brushing and flossing”. This I must make clear. The ADA (American Dental Association) recommends sugar-free chewing gums which are sweetened with non-caries causing sweeteners such as sorbitol, mannitol, and xylitol.
I know many people would be shocked to hear this, but yes, sugar-free chewing gum does help prevent dental caries. In my previous article about dental caries, I mentioned there are 4 main components for dental caries to occur, one is natural tooth structure, the second is bacteria, third is sugars from food and fourth is time.
Consider this, when we are eating food, the flow of saliva increases to help wet and bind the food. The mechanism of chewing automatically increases the flow of saliva, and as you remember, saliva helps in cleaning the remaining debris from the tooth and neutralize the acid produced by the bacteria in the mouth.
The same concept applies to chewing gum, where the mechanism of chewing will increase the saliva flow, and as a result help in cleansing the teeth. Now going back to the four factors that contribute to dental caries, we need to have sugar free chewing gum to increase the amount of saliva produced and also protect the teeth and neutralize the acid produced by bacteria from getting to the sugars from our
food.
I have now explained the benefits of chewing gum, and how it can prevent someone from developing dental caries. I believe it would be good practice to offer sugar-free chewing after every meal, this way you can all keep each others’ oral health in check, and each individual has to do their role in brushing and flossing regularly.
