You didn’t have a childhood in the 80s and 90s if you never had Bubblicious chewing gum. This was my go-to gum as a kid. It was delicious! I bought it for flavor and bubble-making abilities. Then in high school my sister introduced me to WinterFresh because girls don’t like boys with bad breath—go figure. I lived on that more than kids today are on their smartphones. So what is Dr Nelson’s go to now?
We first need to understand the main benefit of all gums is that they help stimulate saliva and this is the most natural way to prevent cavities. The stickiness of gum also picks up some food debris you may have lurking on biting surfaces.
To keep it super simple, there are three types of chewing gums: sugar, sugar free, and gum with xylitol.
Even kids know sugar gum is bad and though it increases saliva flow it also exacerbates the mouth’s environment to make cavities.
In southern Oregon we live in a very holistic area where people don’t like introducing foreign products into their bodies. Sugar free gum is for them. It does everything gum is supposed to do (increase saliva flow) but nothing more.
The BEST gum is any that has xylitol as one of the top three ingredients (i.e. Ice Cube or Trident). Think of xylitol as a self destructive bomb. Simply put, when xylitol is introduced in the mouth the cavity-causing bacteria devour it like it’s sugar and it makes them implode thus inactivating their ability to cause cavities.
Why would you chew any other type of gum?
Chew this 3-5 times a day (ideally after a meal or snacking) and we expect a significant drop in cavity-producing bacteria as long as you follow the standard means of caring for your teeth of brushing and flossing.
If you go to Crater High School, know that those that may be attracted to you like youth with good breath but not having rotting teeth is another plus.