This is what you should be chewing.

IceCubes_Gum_full

Before I’m accused of being a corporate shill for Hershey’s (I can see the headlines: “Saginaw Dentist Sells Out to Chocolate Company!”) let me explain.

It seems that Ice Breakers Ice Cubes are the only gum sweetened with xylitol that can be found easily in stores. There are a ton of xylitol gums out there, but I just haven’t seen them around.  If anyone else has, please feel free to comment and prove me wrong.

Why should you care?  Because xylitol is proven to be good for teeth.  Specifically, xylitol cannot be broken down by the bad bacteria found in your mouth in the same way that regular sugars are.  Which means that xylitol cannot be used to create acid by those bacteria, which means that this acid can’t attack your teeth and cause cavities.

Even better is the fact that xylitol is taken up by the bad bacteria and they can’t do anything with it.  For lack of a better description…it kind of constipates them!  Over time, using a xylitol gum can actually change the make up of the bacteria in your mouth.  It actually gives the advantage to the “less bad” bacteria!  Cool stuff.

So all the gum chewers out there need to go out and try some xylitol gum.  Check the ingredients on the box and try it out.  Your teeth will love you for it!

If you have any questions or comments please feel free to email me at alan@meadfamilydental.com.  We would love to hear from you!