Antimicrobial Chewing Gums

Filed in archive Drugs, Vaccines and Therapeutics , Genomics, Proteomics and Bioinformatics on November 15, 2005

There have already been chewing gums in the market to freshen your breath for quite a while. But why not develop a gum to replace toothbrushing altogether? Well, the US Army Dental Research Detachment just did.

Oral hygiene may not sound like a serious problem for soldiers on manoeuvres. But US military experts point out that tooth and gum problems can be debilitating. Around 15% of deployed soldiers have experienced 'dental emergencies' such as gum infections, says Kai Leung of the US Army Dental Research Detachment in Great Lakes, Illinois.

The gum, developed by US Army researchers, contains a protein that attacks the bugs that cause plaque, which in turn can lead to gum infections and tooth decay. Soldiers can keep their mouths clean without toothpaste, brush and bathroom sink, its creators say.

While there have already been antimicrobial oral hygiene products in the market, most use the chemical chlorhexidine, which can leave a lot of unwanted side-effects such as teeth staining and impaired taste perception. This novel chewing gum, on the other hand, contains a protein that kills kills oral bacteria by targeting and attacking their cell membranes, says Kai Leung of the US Army Dental Research Detachment in Great Lakes, Illinois.

Sounds great. Question just is, how target-specific is this protein? We don't want to annihilate the entire oral microflora, do we?

If that, and other safety concerns can be addressed, such an antimicrobial chewing gum has a lot of potential, developers say, "not only for the military, but also also for the avid outdoorsman and anyone else on the goThat might include anyone from aid workers to music-festival-goers."

Source: Nature