Benefits of Chewing Sugarless Gum
Clinical studies demonstrate that chewing sugarless gum for 20 minutes after meals can help prevent tooth decay. This makes sense because you're getting mechanical cleansing from the act of chewing the gum and you're also increasing the flow of beneficial saliva, which provides remineralizing agents like calcium and pH-neutralizing agents like bicarbonate.
There are also studies that show xylitol gum in particular may offer additional dental benefits when used over time (6mo+) and at a daily dosage of 6-10g by decreasing the virulence of cavity-causing bacteria. Double win! Two words of caution – sugar alcohols, like xylitol, can result in gastric distress (bloating, gassiness, osmotic diarrhea) so start off small and taper your dosing over time. Also, be careful if you have dogs – their bodies cannot properly digest xylitol and it is fatal to them if ingested, even in small quantities.
My favorite xylitol gums are: pur, epic, spry, and zellie’s – they all contain 1g of xylitol per piece. This is most useful if you're trying to obtain a dental benefit of xylitol use by consuming 6-10g per day in several divided doses. I typically chew 1 piece of gum after meals and snacks and have a mint or two (same brands but 0.5g of xylitol per mint) after coffee or other acidic beverages which tends to come out to 6-12 xylitol exposures during the day for a total of about 8g. I don't experience any GI issues at this amount, but tolerance will likely vary by individual.
Brushing Before Breakfast is My Recommendation
When I encourage people to brush their teeth before breakfast I am often told that the reason they instead wait to brush them after is so they can be sure their teeth are clean. I argue that if you're only going to brush once, brushing your teeth before breakfast is most important because it removes the bacteria that grew overnight while you slept (yes, even if you brushed before bed – they had a party and multiplied overnight)! This will make your food taste better, especially if you're prone to morning breath, and will prevent the bacteria in your mouth from sharing your breakfast and producing harmful acids as a result.
If you can’t stand the taste of toothpaste with your OJ, use a non-mint paste (CariFree comes in citrus and grape and kids paste is fine for adults, too, as long as it's fluoridated), an unflavored paste (Dr. Bob or oranurse), or simply brush without paste and still benefit from removing the bacteria. You can add some enamel-strengthening fluoride in later if you brush after breakfast* or if you swish with fluoride mouthwash.
*Rememeber that our mouths become acidic when we eat, so you don’t want to brush right after eating (or drinking coffee or other acidic drinks) – you can end up with enamel abrasion from the brush and paste in an acidic environment that has weakened your enamel. If you don’t have time to wait 30 minutes after eating to brush a second time, chewing gum is a great option to increase your salivary flow (neutralizing the pH) and cleanse your teeth via chewing. It works! If you want to get some fluoride in, swish with mouthwash after chewing the gum for 20 minutes.
Want to learn more about some of my favorite pastes? Check out this post.
