Effect on dental stain occurrence by chewing gum containing sodium tripolyphosphate--a double-blind six-week trial.

OBJECTIVE: A six-week controlled double-blind clinical study was conducted to assess and to measure the efficacy of a sugar-free chewing gum containing sodium tripolyphosphate (1%) on dental stain occurrence versus a placebo sugar-free chewing gum. METHODS: One-hundred and eleven subjects who had a Lobene Modified Index for stain extent score between 0.33 and 1.5 in their frontal teeth joined this study. Each subject entered in the test or the control group using a random table which allowed for an equal distribution of smokers and habitual tea users. Participants agreed to chew two gums (two grams each) three times per day, after meals, for ten minutes over six weeks. All received the same dentifrice containing only fluoride as the active agent. After six weeks, participants were scored for dental stain with the Lobene Modified Index. Data were scored by the same blinded operator for all measurements. Comparisons between the groups with respect to baseline scores were performed using an unpaired t-test, and inside the groups with a paired t-test (alpha = 0.05). RESULTS: One-hundred and eight subjects completed the trial; three left, but none reported problems linked to sodium tripolyphosphate. The mean difference for stain extent index after the six-week trial was 0.04 (+/- 0.08) in the control group, and -0.05 (+/- 0.08) in the test group (p < 0.001). A statistically significant reduction was also reported for intensity and composite indexes. The initial mean for stain extent index in the test group was 0.8 (+/- 0.34), and at six weeks was 0.74 (+/- 0.33; p < 0.001). The initial mean for extent index in the control group was 0.78 (+/- 0.3), and at six weeks was 0.81 (+/- 0.32; p < 0.005). CONCLUSION: This trial showed a reduction in dental stain by a chewing gum containing sodium tripolyphosphate after six weeks.

Older People Living in Nursing Homes: An Oral Health Screening Survey in Florence, Italy.

The oral health state plays an important role in the concept of 'elderly frailty', since institutionalized older people are prone to suffering from bad oral conditions. The aim of this study is to assess the state of oral health in the older residents of nursing homes and to measure its potential association with the cognitive state, the degree of functional autonomy, and the malnutrition risk. Methods: We enrolled 176 subjects from 292 residents in five nursing homes in Florence. For each subject, we performed the Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool, the Pfeiffer test, the Minimum Data Set-Long Form, a dental examination, and the Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index questionnaire. The results show that the oral condition was poor in 43.8% of cases, medium in 38.1%, and good in 18.2%. A worse oral health state was significantly associated (p < 0.05) with a worse cognitive state and with a higher dependency in daily living activities. The malnutrition score among the older people was unrelated to the oral health condition (p = 0.128). It can be concluded that the oral health condition in older institutionalized subjects is an open challenge for the public healthcare system, since the maintenance of adequate good oral health is an essential element of good physical as well as cognitive and psychological health.

Whitening effect by stain inhibition from a chewing gum with sodium hexametaphosphate in a controlled twelve-week single-blind trial.

OBJECTIVE: A twelve-week clinical study was conducted to assess the effect of a chewing gum containing sodium hexametaphosphate (4%) on the inhibition of stain formation. METHODOLOGY: Fifty-four subjects were entered and completed all aspects of the study. Twenty-seven of the subjects were smokers, and the other half did not smoke. Subjects were randomly assigned to the test gum or no-gum group. Each participant received a full oral prophylaxis at the beginning of each period of observation. Those chewing the test gum agreed to chew four times a day, for five minutes each time, over twelve weeks. Those assigned to the no-gum group agreed not to chew any gum. After twelve weeks, participants were scored for stain deposits (Lobene Index), received a second oral prophylaxis, and joined the alternate group in this cross-over format. At the end of the twenty-fourth week, all subjects were again scored for stain deposits and the study was completed. In order to enhance stain formation during the entire 24-week study period, all participants received a supply of a chlorhexidine (0.12%) dentifrice without anionic agents to use three times a day. Stain levels were scored by the same examiner for all measurements and recorded on computer. The examiner was blinded to all treatment assignments. RESULTS: There were no reported problems associated with the chewing gum. The Lobene Index mean score for stain extent was 0.54 +/- 0.36) in the test-gum group and 0.81 +/- 0.47) for the no-gum group. The difference between the mean scores was highly significant with paired sample t-test (p < 0.001). Mean stain intensity was 0.57 +/- 0.38) in the test group and 0.95 (+/- 0.72) in the control group, with a statistically significant difference at p < 0.01. CONCLUSION: The results indicated that chewing gum containing sodium hexametaphosphate reduced induced stain formation by 33% compared to a no-gum treatment.