What Is Oral Acidity?
Oral acidity refers to the pH levels of your mouth: as you might remember from chemistry class, a pH lower than 7 means that the fluids in your mouth are acidic while a pH higher than 7 means that they are basic.
What Is a Healthy pH for Your Mouth?
Many common oral health problems begin with acidity, so it’s important to try to maintain a balanced or basic pH. Some forms of tooth decay can be accelerated or caused by acidic pH levels below 6.7 and become even more severe at levels below 5.5. Eating acidic foods decreases the pH levels in your mouth, which augments destructive bacteria and puts your oral health at risk.
Recent Research Reveals the High Costs of Acidic pH Oral Health Products
When you’re shopping for oral moisturizers to treat dry mouth, you expect the products you find to be healthy and safe. However, that is not always the case: current research in dental health has revealed that some popular oral moisturizers can actually erode your tooth enamel and roots (dentin).
Dental science researchers Alex Delgado and Vilhelm Olafsson recently published a study revealing that acidic oral moisturizers with low pH levels (below 6.7) can be harmful to teeth. This includes popular products that contain citric, maleic, or fumaric acid to improve flavor or taste: that lozenge or candy-style oral moisturizer you like to suck on could be eroding your teeth!
Delgado and Olafsson’s research expands on their earlier findings on low pH levels. Their research has consistently shown that pH levels below 6.7 will erode the roots of your teeth and levels below 5.5 will erode tooth enamel.
SIDE EFFECTS OF ENAMEL LOSS:
- Sensitivity
- Discoloration
- Decay
- Tooth Fractures
- Shiny Spots on Teeth
Protect Your Oral Health with Higher pH Levels
This research helps explain why OraCoat is committed to providing you with safe pH levels in our XyliMelts and other oral moisturizer products. XyliMelts for dry mouth have a safe pH of 8, giving you effective dry mouth relief without harming your teeth. XyliGel has a pH of 7.4.
Our hope is that dry mouth sufferers will take the time to understand the research on pH levels of oral moisturizers and choose a product that effectively treats dry mouth while also protecting tooth dentin and enamel. Visit this link to review the research on acid oral moisturizers.