The Effect of Chewing Gum in the Prevention of Caries

Abstract

Zubni karijes je zbog svoje rasprostranjenosti u svijetu velik javnozdravstveni problem. Zbog toga ne iznenađuje činjenica da postoji velik broj materijala i postupaka kojima je svrha prevencija nastanka zubnoga karijesa. Jedan je od tih postupaka uporaba guma za žvakanje koje simuliranjem lučenja sline sprječavaju stvaranje dentobakterijskoga plaka na površinu zuba i uklanjaju već akumulirani plak. Ispitivanje je obuhvatilo 16 studenata (12 studentice i 4 studenta) 3., 4. i 5. godine Stomatološkog fakulteta Sveučilišta u Zagrebu. Mjerena je količina lučenja nestimulirane sline za svakoga studenta, stimulirane sline sa štapićima voska preuzetim iz Caries risk test seta (Shaan, Vivadent) te dvije vrste guma za žvakanje Orbit (Wrigley) Winterfresh i Wild Strawberry. Ispitanici su vosak i gume za žvakanje prvo žvakali jednu minutu i svu skupljenu slinu bi progutali, a zatim su žvakali još tri minute i svu su slinu skupljali u graduiranu menzuru. Dobiveni rezultati su istraženi kao srednja vrijednost i standardna devijacija, a njihova razlika putem student t-testa. Također je izračunan i KEP indeks (DMF/t) za svakog ispitanika. Dobiveni rezultati pokazuju znatan porast lučenja stimulirane sline prigodom žvakanja guma za žvakanje u usporedbi sa žvakanjem voska. Također postoji razlika u lučenju sline u odnosu prema okusu gume za žvakanje. Kod gume za žvakanje s okusom Wild Strawberry volumen sline bio je veći. Rezultati ovog istraživanja potvrđuju opravdanost uporabe guma za žvakanje, pogotovo ako uzmemo u obzir da su većina današnjih guma za žvakaknje zaslađene umjetnim sladilima kao što je ksilitol koji ima i protukarijesno djelovanje.Dental caries, because of its spread worldwide, represents a public health problem. It is therefore, not surprising to find a great number of materials and procedures whose goal is the prevention of its formation. One such procedure is use of chewing gums which stimulate the secretion of saliva, thus preventing the formation of dental bacterial plaque on the surface of the teeth as well as a removal of existing plaque. The study included 16 students (12 female and 4 male) of the 3rd, 4th and 5th year of the Dental School of the Zagreb Universitiy. The goal was to measure the quantity of secretion of unstimulated saliva as opposed to that of stimulated saliva for each student, using the wax sticks borrowed from the Caries risk test set (Schaan, Vivadent) and two kinds of Orbit chewing gum (Wrigley: Winterfresh and Wild Strawberry). The examinees first chewed the wax and the chewing gum for one minute and then swallowed all the secreted saliva. Afterwards they chewed for another three minutes, this time collecting the secreted saliva into a calibrated measuring cup. The achived results are expressed as the medium value and standard deviation, the difference between them being noted with Student t-test. KEP index (DMF/t) for each examinee was also calculated. The achived results showed a significant difference in the saliva secretion during the use of chewing gum and the use of wax. There was also a difference in the secretion of saliva regarding the flavour of the chewing gum. The volume of saliva was more when Wild Strawberry was used. The results of the study justify the use of chewing gums, especially if we take into consideration that many of them contain an artificial sweetner, such as xylithol, with a strong anticaries effect