Xylitol in layman’s term is a sweetener substitute for sugar. According to studies, it has benefits that sugar doesn’t have. It is said to prevent tooth decays and can also be used as a food sweetener for people suffering from diabetes.
The chemical composition of xylitol is not sugar. Fructose and glucose are examples of the kinds of sugar. Xylitol is actually a sugar alcohol with five instead of six carbon atoms. It can be compared to sucrose which taste as sweet as xylitol.
German and French chemists discovered xylitol in the late 1900s. It is found in some fruits such as raspberries and strawberries. It can also be found in some vegetables and even in some mushrooms.
How does xylitol prevent tooth decay? It prevents the occurrence of acid attack, that’s how. The food that we eat contains sugar that aids in the proliferation of certain bacteria in the mouth. Those bacteria can penetrate the surface of our teeth through the acids produced by metabolic process.
Acidity is measured by “pH”. When the pH of plaque falls down to 5.5 or lower, calcium is being stripped away from our tooth’s surface. Then, our tooth’s enamel will start to dissolve slowly. This is when tooth cavities will be formed. As it goes on further, the enamel will become porous and vulnerable to bacteria and will later lead to tooth decay.
Xylitol can prevent the acid attack by stopping the complete metabolism process of bacteria that causes tooth decay. Tooth decay is caused by the leading bacteria known as lactobacilli and streptococci. It is said that presence of xylitol results to a fall of as much as 90% of bacteria. The enamel stays safe from acid attacks and cavity are not produced because those bacteria can no longer produce acid.
Our mouth is being protected from bacteria by our saliva. It maintains the desired pH level to prevent bacteria from producing acid that destroys our teeth. However, too much consumption of sugar in our daily diet limits the protective capability of saliva or may render it useless.
Most of us go beyond two instances of sugar intake a day so we need fluoride to wash out acids formed on the enamel. That’s why we often brush our teeth. On the other hand, xylitol, when contained in our saliva, makes our mouth more alkaline and it raises amino acids and ammonia which causes the pH to rise. This will halt the production of bacteria.
After you’ve known the benefits of xylitol, you are probably interested about how you can avail of xylitol. It is being used in the production of chewing gum sweeteners. Dentists found that gums with xylitol is a good way of adding the compound to our saliva. Chewing in itself facilitates the production of more saliva. Presence of xylitol and more saliva secretion means more protection against tooth decay-causing bacteria.
The teeth is one of the most important parts of the body. We need them to better crush our food in aid of proper digestion. You can also never take lightly any case of toothache. You feel cursed if you have one and immediate tooth extraction is often not advisable. So, most dentists would first provide medication to stop the toothache prior to extraction.
One last thing about having healthy teeth is that you can always smile without hesitation. You’ll be more confident whenever you talk to anyone. Hopefully, manufacturers would find a way to use xylitol instead of other sugars in our daily food so our teeth would always be healthy.
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