Dentist Blog

Having great oral health doesn't just mean keeping your teeth clean and free from disease, as healthy gums are absolutely essential. Unless your gums are healthy they won't be able to do their job of keeping your teeth firmly in place, and you'll be at risk of losing teeth. As any dentist in Fishkill will tell you, gum disease is the most common cause of tooth loss in the world.

There's nothing complicated about getting and keeping healthy gums, as all it takes is a few minutes a day. All you have to do is ensure you brush your teeth twice a day, spending at least 2 minutes each time, and that you always floss once-a-day.

What if simply cleaning your infant's gums with a xylitol wipe every afternoon before bed could help to decrease the odds of them acquiring cavities later in life? According to Dr. Ling Zhan of the University of California at San Francisco, that could be all that is required. Recently, pediatric dentist, professor, and researcher Dr. Zhan spent time studying 44 families where children from the ages of 6-35 months were given either a xylitol wipe or a placebo wipe twice everyday for a year.

What Dr. Zhan's study uncovered is that the children who underwent the xylitol wipes were far less likely to develop cavities as their teeth developed. This even applied to the very young children who had their gums wiped before their teeth had even erupted. This study suggests that xylitol could be the key to reducing the epidemic of tooth decay in young children. As a Fishkill dentist who routinely sees many pediatric patients, I find this information to be fantastic news.