Does Chewing Gum Help or Hurt My Teeth?

Benefit of Chewing Gum on Teeth Health

February 9th, 2008, By Dental Health Magazine Staff

The chewing of gum is said to be the world’s most common habit, with about 100,000 tons of it being consumed every year. Most of us are familiar with the negative aspects of chewing gum, when we find it on chairs, stuck under desks or contaminating pavements and therefore our shoes. However, there are also many benefits to chewing gum.

Studies have shown that chewing gum can have an indirect, positive effect on dental hygiene, teeth health. Chewing gum after meals helps to stimulate the production of saliva and overall salivary flow. Saliva helps to wash away and neutralize the acid produced by bacteria in plaque. This acid is responsible for dental decay and bad breath. Chewing gum can also help relieve pressure in your ears and sinuses by encouraging jaw movement.

The popular perception is that chewing gum is bad for the teeth. However, many dentists (one source says 90%!) believe that chewing sugarless gum after meals actually has health benefits! Indeed, Wrigley’s Orbit sugar-free gum was the first sugar-free chewing gum to be awarded accreditation by the British Dental Association (BDA) in recognition of its contribution to good oral health.

The benefits arise from the fact that tooth decay occurs when essential minerals are dissolved from the tooth enamel by acids produced by the bacteria in plaque. Teeth are at their most vulnerable directly after meals and snacks, when plaque acid levels can rise dramatically.

However, chewing gum removes these acids within minutes, thus slowing down the process of tooth decay. One reason for this is that chewing can stimulate saliva production by up to ten-fold, thus flushing out oral bacteria. Furthermore, saliva contains hydrogen carbonate ions, a mild alkali, which serves to neutralize plaque acids. For this reason, hydrogen carbonate is used in some toothpastes.

Saliva also contains minerals such as calcium, phosphate and fluoride – all components of tooth enamel – which can be assimilated and thus help to repair early decay and also strengthen tooth enamel.

On the other hand, chewing gum typically contains a sweetener of some type. Chewing gum that contains sugar, for example, can be harmful to your teeth. Sugar fuels the acid-producing bacteria in your mouth. Brands of gum containing sugar can be harmful to your teeth if these types of gum are chewed too often or are removed from the mouth too soon.

In fact, studies have shown that if a person chews gum containing sugar, it should be chewed for at least 15 to 20 minutes. After this time, the sugar is gone, but the saliva is sufficiently stimulated to rinse away some of the sugar residue.

There are, however, a number of sweeteners that help prevent cavities and reduce the acid production in your mouth. Xylitol, a natural sweetener found in many fruits and vegetables, tastes and looks like sugar but without the negative side effects. Chewing gum that contains high levels of xylitol fights cavities and dental decay by creating an unwelcome environment for bacteria. Xylitol is one of bacteria’s natural enemies-in a xylitol-rich environment, bacteria lose their ability to stick to teeth and are therefore unable to colonize and turn into plaque.

Another Health Benefit From Drinking Green Tea - Stronger Teeth!

Many patients ask me if there is any natural, easy ways to prevent tooth decay. Here is an article that you may find helpful. Studies are starting to show some evidence that adding green tea to your diet could help. Green tea is shown to have so many positive health benefits, and now studies show that drinking green tea can strengthen teeth (as long as it doesn't contain sugar!)  - Dr. Connell

Green Tea May Strengthen Your Teeth

A cup of green tea a day may keep the dentist away.

That's the finding of new research published in Preventive Medicine. The findings show that drinking at least one cup of green tea a day increases the odds of keeping your teeth as you age.

The researchers suspect that antimicrobial molecules called catechins present in green tea and in lesser amounts in oolong tea provide the benefit. But be careful if you like your tea with sugar: sweetener may negate the effect, the team found.

"Green tea may have bacteriocidal effects, which would affect teeth, but only if you drink it without sugar," said Alfredo Morabia, of Columbia University in New York and editor of Preventive Medicine, who wrote an editorial accompanying the new research.

"They also reported that drinking sweet coffee was actually deleterious," he added. "Coffee alone had no problem, but sweet coffee would actually make you lose your teeth."

Yasushi Koyama of the Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine and colleagues looked at more than 25,000 Japanese men and women between age 40 and 64 in making the determination.

They found that men who drank at least one cup of tea a day were 19 percent less likely to have fewer than 20 teeth (a full set including wisdom teeth is 32) than those who did not drink green tea. Tea-drinking women had 13 percent lower odds.

One possible explanation for the benefits of tea drinking is that warm drinks wash out your mouth. But coffee, which also provides a mouth rinse, had no benefit, suggesting something else is going on.
Catechins have been shown to kill mouth bacteria associated with tooth decay and gum disease, so the researchers suspect this is what gives green tea its dental benefits.

"Previous research has indicated that regular consumption of green tea may lead to a lower instance of periodontal disease, a leading cause of tooth loss in adults," said Samuel Low of the University of Florida College of Dentistry and President of the American Academy of Periodontology in a statement to Discovery News.

Maintaining healthy teeth and gums is part of maintaining a healthy body, Low said. "That is why it is so important to find simple ways to boost periodontal health, such as regularly drinking green tea -- something already known to possess certain health-related benefits."

By, Jessica Marshall