Consumer Reports on Health, Names & Claims

Healthy Gums?
"Short of telling you to 'swish,' chewing-gum products lately seem to be taking over the duties of a dental hygienist...One heavily promoted 'new' ingredient is old-fashioned baking soda...but despite its reputation as an all-purpose cleanser, baking soda quickly loses its abrasiveness when you brush or chew. And it's questionable whether the low levels of baking soda in a chewing gum would do any good.
     Another ingredient in those and certain other gums is the unsung sweetener xylitol, which may indeed have some cavity-fighting ability. Several studies have suggested that xylitol may help guard against cavities by inhibiting bacterial growth and drawing minerals from the saliva into the teeth...