What is XylitolXylitol?
Chemically speaking, xylitol is a sugar alcohol. As the name suggests, it has a sweetish taste and is therefore very popular for sweetening. In nature, xylitol is found in cauliflower, berries or plum.
However, these foods contain only a small percentage of xylitol. It is therefore extracted industrially from hardwoods and cereals. The special thing about xylitol is that it has almost the same sweetening power as normal household sugar.
However, its physiological calorific value is 40% lower than that of sucrose. Xylitol is important in dentistry because of its anticariogenic effect. On the one hand, it prevents the tooth enamel from being destroyed by sugar, and on the other hand, it prevents the development of caries.
One of the functions of xylitol is to prevent caries bacteria from attaching to the tooth surface. The other task is to stimulate the production of saliva. This saliva leads to neutralization of the pH value.
Xylitol thus indirectly raises the pH value. In addition, saliva contains proteins, enzymes and minerals that decompose excess food and re-mineralize and strengthen the enamel. This might also be of interest to you: Fluoridation of the teeth
Are dental care gums also available for children?
The use of chewing gum after a meal has already been tested in a large number of studies. So it is scientifically proven that regular chewing gum is definitely a good prophylaxis for healthy teeth. The risk of tooth decay is reduced by almost half if sugar-free chewing gum is used in addition to brushing your teeth.
It is enough to chew the chewing gum for a quarter of an hour. The advantage of sugar-free chewing gums is that they usually contain a sugar substitute such as xylitol, which is also effective against caries. Bacteria cannot use the breakdown product of xylitol.
So if they are not fed, the bacteria die and cannot cause caries. It is important to note that chewing gums cannot replace daily dental care with a toothbrush. Possibly the new soft plaque can be removed somewhat by chewing and increased saliva production, but chewing gums containing abrasive particles cannot remove plaque or food residues either.
Chewing gums containing calcium, fluoride or phosphates are also useful. These minerals strengthen and remineralize the enamel, which would otherwise be demineralized after eating.
