Sydney and Will successfully managed their latest dental appointments. No cavities and everything looks good. I was sorta holding my breath during their evaluations. Some nights they enjoy sucking the toothpaste off their brushes, I mean, brushing their teeth. Other nights they barely swipe those pearly whites before I’m wrestling them to the ground trying to shove the toothbrush in their mouth, scrub those back teeth, and prevent tooth decay and gingivitis. To get good evaluations means we must be doing something right.
I was made to feel like a bad mom by the dental hygienist, though. I updated Will’s dental history with the information that he now chews gum on occasion. It’s usually Trident or Extra or anything sugarless. I thought that sugarless gum was okay or even good for teeth. That seems to be true, but the hygienist indicated that if he really has to chew gum (disapproving look) than the gum should contain Xylitol. Huh?
Xylitol is some great sweetener proven to prevent tooth decay. Some flavors of gum by Trident have Xylitol or else there’s a fabulous gum at Whole Foods with it. She ran and got me some samples of the Whole Foods gum. I don’t know about you, but I’m not making a special trip to Whole Foods for GUM. Maybe I’ll read the packages of Trident in my local store for the magic ingredient. Of if not, he’ll have some regular sugarless gum and be done with it. After all, he’ll be 60 before all his teeth fall out, but I’ll be dead anyway so I won’t hear him lament, “If only mom bought me gum with Xylitol!”
