Saskatoon Dental Group is a locally owned, full-scale Saskatoon dental clinic offering general dentistry services. At Saskatoon Dental Group, we are dedicated to offering excellent care to our amazing patients who are like family to us. We are grateful to treat whole families in Saskatoon across multiple generations and have a multicultural team speaking multiple languages. In our latest Saskatoon dental tip, we discuss is chewing gum bad for your teeth?
To determine if chewing gum is bad for your teeth, the question must be asked what kind of gum are you chewing?
Sugar-sweetened gum feeds the “bad” bacteria in your mouth, which can damage your teeth over time. It increases the amount of plaque on your teeth and causes tooth decay.
Studies have indicated that some sugar-free gums are better than others when it comes to your dental health. Those sweetened with xylitol are found to be more effective than other sugar-free gums at preventing tooth decay. This is because xylitol prevents the growth of the bacteria that cause tooth decay and bad breath
Now that we have determined what kind of gum you are chewing, let’s review if chewing gum is bad for your teeth:
- Chewing sugar-free gum can help protect your teeth from cavities. It nullifies and washes away the acids produced when food is broken down by bacteria in plaque.
- Chewing gum after a meal for about 20 minutes increases saliva flow. This helps wash away harmful sugars and food debris, both of which feed bacteria in your mouth.
- The increase in saliva that gum chewing produces also helps to strengthen tooth enamel. This is because saliva contains calcium and phosphate.
- It reduces sensitivity in teeth caused by tooth whitening. Temporary feelings of tooth sensitivity are a common result of in-office tooth whitening procedures. Chewing sugar-free gum can reduce the level of sensitivity in teeth for people who chewed two different types of sugar-free gum.
The determination is that chewing gum is not bad for your teeth, providing it is sugar-free.
We encourage you to visit us once a year for a full checkup and examination. Oral health is closely tied to your overall health and wellness and often we can identify issues before they become problems.
We are always welcoming patients looking for a new dental family. If you would like to book a checkup or if you have any dental questions please do not hesitate to reach out to our team. We hope we fully explained why you shouldn’t skip your dental check-ups!
See you soon!
The Saskatoon Dental Group Team
