Introduction
“After dinner: Do not forget to brush your teeth” – this is the motto. Often, however, you don’t have the time or opportunity to clean your teeth with a toothbrush after every main meal or even after a snack. Therefore a sugar-free dental chewing gum is recommended.
This does not clean the teeth sufficiently, but it helps better than doing nothing. On the one hand, chewing gums lead to fresh breath, on the other hand it is scientifically proven that chewing leads to increased salivation. Substances contained in the saliva neutralize the pH value in the mouth, so that the acids produced after eating do not attack the toothache too much.
The mechanism of action of chewing gums for dental care (so-called dental care gums) is based on the fact that the salivary glands are stimulated to produce and release more secretion during the chewing movement. Saliva has the property of neutralizing the acids within the oral cavity. These are then no longer able to damage the teeth.
It should also be noted that many nutrients are broken down into sugar enzymatically in the mouth during food intake. This sugar is then available to the bacteria living in the oral cavity, is metabolized by them and promotes the formation of lactic acid. The lactic acid in turn has a damaging effect on the hard tooth substance by dissolving important minerals from the enamel.
In addition, chewing gums are used to clean the teeth and thus help remineralize, i.e. “heal” the enamel. To what extent they actually do this, however, has not yet been conclusively clarified. The mechanical cleaning of teeth is also improved by the use of chewing gums for tooth cleaning.
Especially the chewing surfaces are less affected by caries, but dental chewing gums have hardly any influence on the mechanical cleaning of the outer tooth surfaces. Chewing gums for dental cleaning are usually sugar-free and are frequently used in everyday life. However, they should never be used to replace tooth brushing in the long term. Dental care chewing gums are usually sweetened by a sugar substitute, xylitol. Unlike ordinary sugar, xylitol cannot be converted by the bacteria in the oral cavity and therefore does not promote the development of caries.
