Effect of Chewing Gums on the Remineralization of Enamel Lesions

Methods: Twelve subjects without current caries activity wore removable intraoral palatal appliances with 2 demineralized bovine enamel slabs. The study consisted of four experimental periods each lasting 21 days, during which each subject was assigned to one of three gum-chewing regimens:gum containing sorbitol(Trident Splash), xylitol(First Ice), and a mixture of sorbitol and xylitol(Vivident Xylit), and with paraffin as a control. The appliances were worn before gum chewing for 20 min and then retained for an additional 20 min 4 times per day. The demineralized enamel slabs were subjected to energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis and surface microhardness measurements before they were inset into the appliance and after the experimental period. The data were subjected to analysis of variance for repeated measures and processed with SPSS.

Results: Mineral(Ca/P) analysis revealed no significant difference between the baseline and after chewing periods for all groups(p>0.05). No significant difference was found among the groups either for the baseline measurements or after chewing periods(p>0.05). All groups showed higher microhardness values after the chewing periods than the baseline except for the Vivident Xylit group(p<0.05). No statistically differences were found between the groups regarding the baseline measurements(p>0.05). When the microhardness values after the chewing periods were compared, the Trident Splash group revealed higher values than the other groups(p<0.05). While the Vivident Xylit group showed statistically significant lower hardness values than the other chewing gum groups, the paraffin group showed similar hardness values to all groups except for the Trident Splash group.

Conclusions: The chewing of gum had no effect on the Ca/P ratio of demineralized enamel surfaces. The hardening of the demineralized enamel surfaces might vary according to the type of chewing gum.