14 Might 2018
It’s been over 40 years for the reason that first sugarfree chewing gum went on sale within the UK, launched throughout a time of rising consciousness round the necessity to defend enamel. New analysis exhibits how the oral well being and consuming habits of individuals within the UK are nonetheless altering, with nearly half consuming at the least 5 occasions a day now, and oral well being recommendation must catch as much as these evolving habits.
Britons’ diets and oral well being wants have modified dramatically since 1977, with many individuals not consuming the normal three meals a day – that oral well being pointers are primarily based on – with 83% of adults within the UK saying they’ve at the least one snack between foremost meals on a typical weekday.[1] With a lot consuming on the go, conventional oral well being strategies aren’t chopping it. New analysis has discovered that morning and afternoon snacks are least prone to be adopted by an oral care intervention, regardless of over half of UK adults being conscious of the impression food and drinks can have on their oral well being.[2]
Chewing sugarfree gum after consuming and ingesting could be a very important addition to our dental well being routine because it stimulates the manufacturing of saliva which helps the neutralisation of plaque acids. The oral care advantages of sugarfree gum are recognised by the FDI World Dental Federation[3], and supported by nationwide dental associations worldwide together with the Oral Well being Basis[4] however not extensively identified by the general public. Latest polling has proven solely 36% chew sugarfree gum for oral well being causes; nonetheless 42% of all these surveyed stated they’d be extra prone to chew sugarfree gum after being instructed of its oral well being advantages.[5]
Michael Dodds, Senior Principal Oral Well being Scientist for Wrigley says: “Chewing sugarfree gum after consuming and ingesting is an effective way to reinforce the mouths pure capacity to battle dental illness by neutralising plaque acids and supporting tooth remineralisation. Wanting again to the state of the nation’s enamel when Wrigley launched the UK’s first sugarfree gum in 1977 makes you realise how far now we have come, via a mix of Authorities public well being insurance policies and people and households making more healthy selections.
“There’s nonetheless an extended solution to go earlier than we finish preventable oral well being issues however hopefully by working collectively reaching this gained’t take one other 40 years.”
Again within the Seventies, the launch of the UK’s first sugarfree gum model, ORBIT®, chimed with a rising consciousness of the necessity for higher oral well being, after an increase in sugar consumption after the tip of rationing.
The launch of ORBIT® in 1977 noticed a wave of publicity highlighting the oral well being advantages of chewing sugarfree gum. In the identical yr, the primary public oral well being schooling marketing campaign was launched, Smile ’77 (now often known as Nationwide Smile Month), and the Common Dental Council launched a marketing campaign to make individuals extra conscious of the day by day routines wanted to care for their enamel, all signalling the beginning of a change within the dental career’s focus from treating oral well being issues to stopping them.
The mixture of higher consciousness and new merchandise made a marked distinction to the nation’s oral well being. Shockingly, in 1978, the Authorities’s Grownup Dental Well being Survey discovered that 28% of adults within the UK had no pure enamel. In the latest survey in 2009, the determine was 6%[6].As we speak’s pointers for oral well being are at the same turning level. The decline of conventional patterns of consuming and the truth that many individuals select to eat on the go implies that fashionable prevention methods are having to adapt to advertise an accessible, low cost and straightforward oral healthcare regime.
CEO of the Oral Well being Basis, Dr Nigel Carter OBE says: “I vividly keep in mind the period of drill and fill dentistry the place almost everybody attending the observe would want some kind of tooth restoration. Issues have modified a lot; while there may be nonetheless far an excessive amount of tooth decay round, the dental group now spend nearly as a lot time educating individuals on one of the best methods to care for their enamel as treating issues. Chewing sugarfree gum after you eat was a step change in oral care in Seventies and is much more related to our existence at the moment.”
To be taught extra about the advantages of sugarfree gum, go to the Wrigley Oral Healthcare Programme web site.
References
1. Kantar TNS’ on-line omnibus survey (Onlinebus) of two,743 UK adults. Carried out April 2017
2. Kantar TNS’ on-line omnibus survey (Onlinebus) of two,743 UK adults. Carried out April 2017
3. Szoke J, et al. ffect of after-meal sucrose-free gum-chewing on medical caries. J Dent Res. 2001;80:1725-9.
4. Oral Well being Basis. Caring for Enamel › Sugar-free chewing gum. Final Accessed: January 2015. Obtainable at: https://www.dentalhealth.org/tell-me-about/subject/caring-for-teeth/sugar-free-chewing-gum
5. Kantar TNS’ on-line omnibus survey (Onlinebus) of two,743 UK adults. Carried out April 2017
6. BDJ, Grownup Dental Well being Survey 2009: transformations in British oral well being 1968–2009, LINK