On 6/26/2020 2:28 PM, Ottavio Caruso wrote:
It has often been said that one should wait half hour after a meal
before brushing teeth, otherwise that could damage the enamel.
Does this also apply to chewing gum? (Assuming sugar-free chewing gum,
of course). Should one wait some time before chewing a gum or not?
In other words: meal > chewing gum > wait 30 mins > brush teeth?
Thanks
There is a tradeoff between avoiding enamel demineralization due to acid
foods and avoiding demineralization due to bacterial metabolism. I
never put much stock in delaying brushing myself; you've got to be
careful taking in vitro findings and applying them to in vivo situations.
I personally don't chew gum; I'm inclined to think it sometimes
encourages parafunctional habits. But chewing gum is not much of a risk directly to teeth; you could well think that salivary stimulation and
clearing of food debris from chewing gum ,might decrease caries activity.
If I weren't lazy, I'm pretty sure I could look in the literature and
find papers indicating a benefit to chewing gum. Got to be careful
though--I'd bet some of those studies were funded by gum companies.
Steve
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