Chewing gum provides fresh breath, can hide an acute feeling of hunger and, above all, has advantages for dental health. Or not? Can it really be healthy or at least harmless to grind your teeth all day? FITBOOK knows the answers to these and other questions.
Chewing gum is literally on everyone’s lips. It is all the more important to find out whether the popular habit is harmless. FITBOOK asked an expert what chewing gum does to our teeth and jaw and whether it is really that healthy for our teeth.
Is chewing gum healthy for our teeth?
Good news for all chewing gum fans: Of course, chewing gum also has health benefits – especially dental health. In addition to the fact that they can cover up temporary bad breath, they also stimulate the flow of saliva, which is really good for the teeth. «The teeth are remineralized by the saliva and acid attacks can also be neutralized by it,» explains dentist Dr. Joachim Hüttmann in an interview with FITBOOK.
So salivating and salivating is a good thing. However, according to the expert, you shouldn’t overdo it either, because with constant and too much salivation, the mineral content in the saliva decreases, so that the dental health effect eventually wears off. For a higher salivation, however, you have to drink more or a lot. However, drinking «a lot» does not mean that you should drink «often»: «If you drink a lot during the day, you often have liquid in your mouth, which then washes away the saliva and dilutes it».
What should be considered when choosing chewing gum?
When chewing gum contains sugar, it behaves towards the teeth like ordinary candy – one that stays in the mouth for a particularly long time. The well-known problem: When eating carbohydrate-rich foods (including chewing gum containing sugar), bacteria convert the sugar into acids. These loosen minerals from the tooth enamel and thus promote the development of tooth decay.
«It’s obviously better to use chewing gum that contains a sugar substitute,» says Dr. Huttmann. Xylitol, for example, is a sugar substitute that cannot be metabolized by bacteria, i.e. cannot be processed into acid. According to the expert, this puts you on the safe (caries-free) side. You can see which sweeteners are contained in chewing gum by looking at the ingredients.
Also interesting: Are sweeteners really healthier than sugar?
Can chewing gum replace brushing your teeth?
According to Dr. Hüttmann «never a substitute for brushing your teeth». Leftover food and plaque cannot be washed away by the flow of saliva, but can only be removed mechanically. Nevertheless, chewing gum can support healthy oral hygiene because the production of saliva helps both to compensate for the loss of minerals from the teeth and to neutralize the pH value in the oral cavity, especially after acidic foods. Tooth erosion can thus be efficiently prevented.
Also interesting: Can brushing your teeth protect heart health?
Does chewing gum give you strong jaw muscles?
Anyone who has chewed on something tough for a long time knows that the jaw muscles – similar to sore muscles – can also become overloaded and painful. What does the long grind do to the jaw? «It trains the jaw muscles and leads to an increase in muscle tone (State of tension of a muscle or muscle group, Note d. editor) overall,” says dentist Dr. Huttmann. This is particularly critical for people who already have problems with clenching and grinding their teeth. Because an increase in muscle tone could possibly exacerbate the problems.
Also interesting: New chewing gum should detect infections
Can Chewing Gum Reduce Hunger?
Between meals, many people put chewing gum in their mouths to calm the first hunger pangs. «By chewing and then swallowing saliva, you fool your stomach into thinking you’re eating. Chewing gum could certainly reduce the feeling of hunger,” the expert can imagine, without knowing it for sure.
How long should you chew gum for?
When it comes to chewing time, according to Dr. Hüttmann’s assessment of no fixed time limit that could be adhered to. Chewing gum every day is definitely not healthy. «When you grind your teeth 24/7, it’s not good for your jaw muscles or your teeth. When the teeth are at rest, they don’t touch each other in the mouth at all, but rather float in the mouth in the resting-floating position,» says the expert. «The teeth only touch each other for a relatively short time during the day, for example when eating, so they rub against each other in a similar way to chewing gum.» This friction – whether when eating or chewing gum – leads to wear of the tooth enamel.
Conclusion
There are many good reasons why chewing gum is so popular. In addition to fresh breath, the (sugar-free) chewing gum can remineralize the teeth through increased salivation and neutralize acid and thus contribute to oral hygiene – and possibly also curb the feeling of hunger. Not surprisingly, they are of course not suitable as toothpaste substitutes. Also, as with anything, there is an “excess” when chewing gum. If you want to get the most of the health benefits of chewing gum, you might want to stop chewing gum 24/7 and instead stick to the healthier, sugar-free chewing snacks for acidic foods.