Will gum cause cavities?!
Question:
Will gum cause cavities?
I am talking about regular gum. It seems to me the sugar in it is gone in about an hour, then one chews it for 2-4 hours afterward. Would not the chewing during the 2-4 hrs compensate for the sugar effect by massaging the gums and circulating the saliva around the teeth? Maybe even cleaning them somewhat?
Answers:
The germs that causes cavities, Streptococcus Mutans, actually can store the sugar and build a sticky matrix out of it to adhere to your teeth, where they merrily attack your enamel for several hours even though you think all the sugar in the gum are gone from your mouth.
Worse, the strep mutans are all over that piece of gum as you chew, lapping up all the residual sugars in it, and you are spreading it around all of your teeth with the chewing action.
Don't chew any gum unless it's sugarless.