Why You Should Chew More Gum

Reading time: ~2 min

Summary:

• Chew sugar-free gum after eating or drinking anything other than water.
• It stimulates saliva production, which washes away food residues, neutralises acid, and helps your teeth re-mineralise, reducing the risk of cavities.

Eating or drinking leaves residues in your mouth.

Bacteria convert sugars in those residues into acid.

The acid literally melts your teeth.

Chewing gum stimulates saliva production. This:

• Neutralises the acid.
• Fills your mouth with minerals, helping your teeth re-mineralise (literally re-harden) after eating. The beneficial effect is stronger if you’ve brushed with fluoride toothpaste recently.
• Physically rinses away food residues.
• May help reduce cavity risk.

Choose sugar-free gum to avoid adding sugar that would turn into acid and defeat the purpose.

The best gums contain xylitol, a sugar substitute (it's not table sugar but is comparably sweet). It cannot get converted into acid by bacteria. It helps starve plaque-causing bacteria and prevents them from sticking to your teeth, which may slightly reduce your risk of cavities. But the evidence is limited, and you’d need to consume a lot to see an effect. The main benefit of gum is still the saliva stimulation.

Xylitol is toxic to dogs. Avoid giving it to them accidentally.

Newest Substack post:

• How I reduce small, repeated time losses in daily life

Misc. thoughts:

Music:

• I came across this song recently and had it on loop: Electric Nana - The One I Want.
• It reminded me a bit of The Knack - My Sharona, and Go - Valley Lodge.
• At 0:54, it made me think of "Weird Al" Yankovic - My Bologna (overlay the lyrics):

"Never gonna stop. Eat it up. Such a tasty snack, I always eat too much. And throw up."

Writing:

• So much for rougher notes on Listed.to. This was a high-effort post to ensure correctness.