Effect on Dental Stains by Potassium Tripolyphosphate Added Chewing Gum

Today, people worldwide consider the discoloration of teeth the main concern, therefore, dental stains are an important problem for a lot of patients, especially for smokers, and tea and coffee consumers.

This trial was planned to evaluate the effectiveness of a sugar-free chewing gum added with potassium tripolyphosphate, compared to a placebo chewing gum on the development or the removal of dental extrinsic stains preserving regular daily oral hygiene.

This was a single-center, double-blind, randomized, 6-week parallel controlled clinical trial. Among those who were eligible for the trial, 162 adult participants were randomly allocated into two groups of 81 each and were instructed to maintain customary oral hygiene. All subjects started the trial period after an in-office dental visit to set the stain index baseline. They chewed one of the two chewing gums for six weeks, five pieces per day, preferably after meals and snacks, for 10 minutes. Both chewing gums were sugar-free, 2g of weight with the same size and shape. The test chewing gum contained potassium tripolyphosphate (24.4 mg per piece), the control chewing gum was identical without potassium tripolyphosphate, therefore, it did not contain any anti-stain agent. The dental extrinsic stain was measured at the first visit and at the end of six weeks by the Modified Lobene Stain Index (MLSI). Comparisons between the groups were performed using ANOVA after adjustment of the baselines, and comparisons between initial and final indexes inside the groups were performed using paired t-tests.

After the 6 weeks, 154 subjects completed the trial, 77 in each group. The mean difference in stain composite index for all sites after six weeks was 0.04±0.07 in the control group and -0.03±0.07 in the test group. This difference was statistically significant after baseline adjustment (p<0.001). Moreover, the differences in stain indexes for both buccal or lingual-palatal sites showed a statistically significant difference (p<0.001) for those using the test chewing gum versus the control chewing gum.

The overall findings of this clinical study suggest that the use of chewing gum containing potassium tripolyphosphate can reduce dental stains versus placebo chewing gum on frontal teeth after six weeks of maintaining regular oral hygiene with normal tooth brushing.