Abstract

IS CHEWING GUM GOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH: MYTH OR TRUTH

Dr. Ravneet Malhi*, Dr. Saru Khosla, Dr. Vaibhav Verma and Dr. Sameksha Arora

ABSTRACT

In the field of health there is a paradigm shift from treatment to prevention and now in today‟s world to promotion of health including oral health. For the maintenance of oral health natural resource i.e. saliva which is the inherent protective factor, can be stimulated by mastication. Even the chewing gum also increases the production of saliva by a factor of 10 2, which can help to neutralize plaque acid, wash away food particles and remineralize the tooth enamel and strengthen our teeth. Chewing gums though can be assumed to have protective and promotive effect on oral health; but they have cariogenic effect too due to their high sugar content. Therefore, now in the market a variety of sugar free chewing gums are available where sucrose in the chewing gum is substituted with sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol, malitol, lactilol, hydrogenated starch hydrolysate and isomalt, poorly fermented sweeteners which do not contribute to the cariogenicity of the diet. The detrimental effect of chewing gum was eliminated while maintaining the beneficial effect; thus can be used as one of the supplementary agent in maintaining oral health.

Keywords: chewing gum, xylitol, caries, plaque, saliva, oral health.