If you are trying to preserve your oral health, you may want to consider chewing more gum. Often, people chew gum because of the flavor. However, chewing the sugarless gum can be advantageous to your oral health. Here are some of the ways that gum can benefit your dental health and why:

It can reduce the number of bacteria within your oral cavity.

The amount of tooth decay that you suffer is related to the microbes in your mouth. Bacteria thrive in your mouth by feeding on food that becomes caught in the cracks and crevices of your oral cavity after a meal or snack. As the microbes digest their food, acid is released, causing the demineralization of the tooth enamel and the formation of cavities.

Some gum contains ingredients that help eliminate oral bacteria. Xylitol, which is a sweetener used in some sugarless varieties of gum, is antimicrobial. In addition, gum that includes cinnamon for flavoring can also limit the number of bacteria in your mouth. Cinnamon includes natural antibacterial compounds called cinnamaldehydes.

It can clean your teeth and gums.

The removal of plaque and the dilution of bacterial acids are important to the health of your mouth. Plaque contains oral microbes that have mixed with food particles. The sticky substance adheres to the teeth until it is pulled away through mechanical efforts. As you chew gum, the gum sticks to the plaque and leftover food that may be resting on the teeth and gums and pulls them from the dental surfaces and soft tissues of the mouth. 

In addition, chewing gum stimulates your salivary glands, increasing the amount of saliva in your mouth. The saliva has a more alkaline pH than bacterial acid. Thus, it dilutes the acid and helps neutralize it to make it less damaging to the teeth.

It can help reduce your stress levels. 

A repetitive motion, such as chewing gum, can offer a constructive way to reduce your stress levels. This can benefit your oral health by helping to lower stress than can cause episodes of bruxism. 

Bruxism is the grinding of the teeth that occurs at night, often without the knowledge of the sleeping person. The grinding can occur with enough force to wear away tooth enamel and even crack or chip the teeth. 

To learn more about the advantages of regularly chewing sugarless gum, schedule a consultation with a family dentist in your local area.