Dear Dr. Ellie,
I have read that it takes a year of regular xylitol use for the bacteria to stop growing in the teeth? This seems like a long time. Is that true?
Thank you,
J M.
Hi J,
The bacteria thing is like this:
The “dose” of 6.5 gradually eliminates the bacteria that cause all the damage…5 weeks from teeth, 6 months from saliva, tongue etc.
Once these bacteria have gone ( about 6 months) they are replaced by a xylitol tolerant strain which is non adhesive.
This change over obviously may start to happen during the extinction of the harmful ones I am sure it is progressive…
By the time you get to one year the new kind (which are non adhesive) have populated.
This means by the end of the year your mouth/teeth are colonized with non-adhesive ones.
Now plaque stops forming on teeth…
…..well actually the plaque that people think is plaque stops forming
In fact, plaque still forms but it is a healthy muco-protein with healthy bacteria that coat the teeth and protect them( plaque is actually good for teeth if it is healthy).
I hope this helps the point is that it takes about a year to switch over, but at 6 month the mouth is considerably healthier, and producing the “better” bacteria.
Ellie
Ellie Phillips, DDS.