If I don brush my teeth after eating sweets but simply pop half a teaspoon of xylitol, why would that work?
While it is correct that the table sugar continues to be in your mouth, surprisingly xylitol often works by itself, i.e. without even brushing your teeth (the main reason being its ability to inhibit certain enzymes, see Xylitol’s three outstanding benefits). When there are sweets in your mouth, bacteria will indeed consume them. But when there is xylitol simultaneously present which the bacteria are unable to distinguish from normal sugar, upon ingestion many of them will be killed, thus diminishing the production of dangerous acids and hence the risk of tooth decay. Xylitol also strongly stimulates saliva production, which exerts an additional cleaning effect on your teeth, quite apart from another cleaning effect “X” xylitol obviously possesses as well but which so far has not been researched . As described under Xylitol’s three outstanding benefits, upon ingestion of table sugar, it would be advisable to keep the xylitol concentration high in your mouth.
Related Questions
- Can I use xylitol immediately after a meal or should I wait 30 minutes before brushing my teeth (like with eating something sour, so as to avoid damaging the enamel)?
- Should I brush my teeth only after 5 minutes of rinsing with xylitol or immediately?
- Is it more effective to suck/rinse with xylitol or to brush ones teeth with it?
