Hi. This is Dr. Antolak from The Gentle Dentist, located in Shelby Township Michigan. The number is 256-247-3500 and one thing we like to do in our office is really focus on prevention. Prevention is the process of eliminating problems before they actually start. In the mouth, prevention means that we do the best thing that we can to help eliminate cavities from the mouth. And eliminate factors that can eventually cause problems with the teeth or overall health of your mouth and one thing that we know which is really interesting is the use of xylitol gum. Xylitol is an alcohol natural bi-product. It’s from the bark of birch trees actually and Xylitol is a natural sweetener. Xylitol can be used to actually change the process that the bacteria that the mouth do. Normally, the micro-biology is that cavities form when there’s bacteria in your mouth. It’s in everybody’s mouth. There are certain bacteria though that when it’s subjected to sugar and that’s not just sugar from soda pop and things like that, there’s also sugar from things like bread and starches and items that do contain even more complex taste of sugar. This sugar will break down in the bacteria or subjected to the, their byproduct is an acid.
This lactic acid sits on the teeth can create cavities. Well an approach that we do make is people like to chew gums so we have a number of different flavors of this gum that we recommend and whereas is when people chew it, the bacteria are kind of confused. Xylitol alcohol based is not the sugar and so it actually kills off and starves off the bacteria that cause the cavities therefore helping to really prevent decay in a natural process. It’s been used for years and actually in Europe, it’s very highly recommended.
It’s used in a lot more of, of soft drinks and other types of food products. So hopefully one day, we’ll become more acquainted to using xylitol in our products for not only cavity problems but also the IVs and things like that for people.
This is also good for diabetics because they don’t have sugar. So the brand made is actually made in Ohio so it’s a US based product and it’s a really terrific thing because some of the products of the Xylitol were actually made in China. So, this is something that we recommend here and it’s very flavorful and so we would recommend that if you have an interest in using Xylitol Gum. So, if there are any questions, our phone number is 586-247-3500. Thank you.