When I was two years old -- apparently, I only heard it from the obvious source -- my mother went to a doctor and asked when she could start giving me candy. I'm dating myself but this was before 1990. Anyways, he said, "Never! Never give him candy. He'll develop a sweet tooth and it's game over for his teeth!".
Again paraphrasing and dramatizing, but you get the idea.
So my mom never gave me anything with sugar. To this day I don't eat any sweets and I have no cavities or tooth problems. I eat ice cream once a year, and mostly because people seem to like shaming me for not liking it. I always just have a couple of bites.
sugar doesn't cause cavities, acids do. some bacteria which is not uniformly present in people eats carbs and deposits acids. this is covered in great detail ina good book, "kiss your dentist goodbye" that i just read. ive seen improvements in my awful teeth after giving the free regimen a try
I sure hope your stomach acid isn't finding it's way into your mouth!
The point is to raise the pH in the mouth so your teeth, since acidity causes calcium to leach out of your teeth
It's sort of the opposite of a probiotic. In many organisms, including many non-human mammals, it short-circuits normal metabolic processes. Xylitol-sweetened products will easily sicken, and frequently kill cats and dogs, for instance.
> Conclusions: The results suggest that chewing gum with xylitol or sorbitol/maltitol can reduce the amount of dental plaque and acid production in saliva in schoolchildren, but only the xylitol-containing gum may also interfere with the microbial composition.
There are Xylitol sprays also, advertised for moisturizing a dry mouth. Spray, swish, and spit it out and little will reach your intestinal microbiome. Best done right before a time when you won't be eating or drinking so the residue has some time to act on the bacteria on the teeth (e.g., right before a shower or before bed).
I have a friend with extreme food restrictions, they can mostly only eat animal products (plus white rice and very few other things). They also cannot brush their teeth regularly due to disability - yet their teeth look fantastic!
I remember in Sub-Saharan Africa, they all chewed on this stem (can't remember what it was), and everyone I knew had incredible teeth. Their diet was probably also fairly simple. I wasn't really a fan of the local cuisine.
When I lived in Morocco, however, it was the opposite.
Moroccan food is some of the best in the world, but they have sugar in everything. Their mint tea is something that should come with an insulin injector. They buy these giant bricks of sugar, wrapped in blue paper, and just drop them in the pot.
When many Moroccans smile, it looks like a brown picket fence.
Again paraphrasing and dramatizing, but you get the idea.
So my mom never gave me anything with sugar. To this day I don't eat any sweets and I have no cavities or tooth problems. I eat ice cream once a year, and mostly because people seem to like shaming me for not liking it. I always just have a couple of bites.
Anyways my teeth are in great shape.