Not to brag but I’ve always been told that I have nice teeth. Aside from the fact that I wore braces when I was in college, I have been visiting my dentist for a dental check-up and cleaning every six months for the last two decades. Ever since my kids have had their baby teeth, I’ve been taking them to the dentist just as regularly. I’ve always believed that a nice smile can brighten one’s face like no cosmetic ever can, and so it’s really important to take good care of the teeth.
Thus when I was asked to be one of the ambassadors for the Xylitol Make It Zero campaign, I immediately agreed. This campaign aims to promote dental health awareness among children and adults alike, as it has been scientifically proven that chewing Xylitol everyday helps fight cavities.
Did you know that tooth decay is contagious? Tooth decay is caused by bacteria and so the simple act of blowing on hot and then feeding it to a child can transfer the infection. OMG, right??? Good thing that even before I learned about this simple fact, I’ve always instructed everyone in the house NEVER to blow on any of my kids’ food. They are to instead use the electric fan to cool it if needed. Something about blowing on food other than your own just seems wrong. Turns out my instinct was right. But even if our yaya doesn’t do this, after our very educational roundtable discussion with Dr. Fina Lopez and Dr. Angelo Fernandez of the Philippine Dental Association, I am scheduling all our household helpers for regular dental appointments as well just like the rest of the family.
The fact is, tooth decay causes pain in both children and adults… pain that’s so annoying that it makes me feel like getting a pair of pliers and taking away the infected tooth by myself just so it would go away. When you’re suffering from this pain, everything is affected — work, studies, mood… it’s really something you want to avoid as much as possible.
From left to right: Soi Kitaguchi (General Manager of Lotte Confectionery Pilipinas Corp., Dr. Fina Lopez, Therese Reyes (Marketing Manager of Lotte), and Dr. Angelo Fernandez.
Anyhow, chewing 5g of Xylitol everyday (that’s two pellets 2x a day in this case) has been proven to help stop the development of tooth decay, reduce dental plaque formation, and help remineralize teeth. They actually did a study on the effects of chewing Xylitol gum on school children in Belize and the control group who chewed Xylitol gum several times a day reported lesser incidences of tooth decay compared to those who did not. In fact, Kitaguchi-san shared with us that in Japan, Lotte has sponsored a school program which includes two pellets of Xylitol gum in students’ lunch trays which they chew after the meal.
I am honored to join several other mommy bloggers in Lotte’s Make It Zero campaign — Martine of Dainty Mom, Jackie of Go! Jackie Go, Frances of Mommy Topaz, Tin of Manila Fashion Observer, Ginger of Mommy Ginger, and Fleur of Mommy Fleur.
I will share our family’s experience with Xylitol in future posts. As of now my hubby, my kids, and I have all made it a habit to chew a couple of pellets after meals. 🙂
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