Thanks to the Finns...

... we have xylitol, that stuff in your chewing gum that helps prevent cavities.

Here begins a new thread on Finnish Inventions.

Xylitol is a sugar discovered in Finland which is derived from Birch trees (which they have in plentiful supply). Wikipedia says: Early studies from Finland in the 1970s found that a group chewing sucrose gum had 2.92 decayed, missing, or filled (dmf) teeth compared to 1.04 in the group chewing xylitol gums.^[13] (To this research I must ask: does chewing xylitol gum lead to fewer cavities than if you didn't chew at all?) In another study, researchers had mothers chew xylitol gum when their children were 3 months old until they were 2 years old. The researchers found that the mothers in the xylitol group had "a 70% reduction in cavities (dmf)."^[13] Recent research^[14] confirms a plaque-reducing effect and suggests that the compound, having some chemical properties similar to sucrose, attracts and then "starves" harmful micro-organisms, allowing the mouth to remineralize damaged teeth with less interruption.

Kalee came home after a few days in her new school telling me that all the other kids had candy from home that they could eat after lunch. Could she please take some candy, too? I was suspicious of this so I asked her teacher for clarification. "Xylitol," he said, "the kids chew GUM with xylitol in it after they eat." Ah ha! And so, now Kalee has a bag of gum at school, too.

But it was our Finnish teacher who told us we have xylitol thanks to the Finns (she is full of interesting little tid-bits like this). She said they start kids chewing it as early as 2 years old. Kalee loves this gum so much it just may be her favorite thing about Finland so far. At least it goes well following the daily cup of hot chocolate, her other favorite thing about Finland.