Army Develops New Chewing Gum

IEBEYEBALL writes "The Army is developing a new chewing gum to help soldiers fight dental problems in the field. The gum takes the place of brushing teeth, which the soldier in a combat situation might not have time or means to do. This sounds like the perfect solution for the geek on the go!"

Sounds nice, but the dentist told me...

[NCraig]

I've been told a few times that if you don't floss you might as well not even brush. I don't see how any gum could possibly be effective in the same way as flossing.

However, I'm impressed that the Army has finally found something of use for both soldiers and really lazy people.

Chew 'em if you got 'em

[Anonymous Coward]

Teeth that is. The army was the first time I met 18 year olds who had dentures. There was, and probably still is, a class of people who believed that having teeth was a problem (especially if you don't take care of them) and that you should have them removed as soon as possible, usually before you drop out of school.

The army believed otherwise and encouraged you to at least keep a few. There were requirements to have some number of teeth to get into airborn and you'd see recruits desperately trying to keep their few remaining teeth to qualify for airborn.

Also, if you don't take care of your teeth, you gums get really sensitive, which is why some people don't like going to the dentist for a check up and cleaning. It was really something to see some big hulking badass practically crying in fear as they forced him to go to the dentist.

Bad teeth?

[dada21]

I've been burdened with bad teeth all my life. Cavities galore, crooked, cracks.

I always brushed and lossed. Flouride treatments and cleanings ahead of schedule. No good.

I have a mandibular excess, causing TMJ "pain" and massive nightly grinding. It was likely the source of my problem.

I saw a dentist in Poland about 7 years ago for a toothache. She explained to me the "conspiracy" of the ADA: pro-flouride, pro-abrasive cleanings, pro-short term fixes.

I did some research and found flouride is a poison that makes bones (and teeth) brittlel Yet I used it, drank it, showered in it.

I also found that most fillings are a massive amount of weak bonding agent, mercury and other toxins.

Finally I discovered, in my opinion, that many dentists are frauds like the chiro industry: fix you up enough so you still have to come back.

I stopped flouride intake (whole house filter, no toothpaste). I replaced my fillings (4-6 year lifrspan) with gold. I eat more friendly-bacteria.

My teeth are stronger. They don't hurt. Grinding hasn't ruined them much. My gums are healthy and my breath is significantly better.

The solution is mouth bacteria to consume the bad decay. Cut flouride, cut the US educated dentist. I now go to a foreign dentist who charges me WAY less per visit.

The Army needs to invest in Oragenics

[Genevish]

Here's [oragenics.com] the solution. OK, it's a few years away, but the Army investing in it would probably help it along...

Re:Some people already do this!

[Weh]

in europe there's already a gum called xylifresh that's supposed to clean your teeth

Xylitol gum

[WORLOK]

From what I gathered from recent outside reading which had references to the army, all this really is is gum which uses the sugar alcohol xylitol as the main sweetening agent as opposed to normal sugar. Sugar is used by bacteria to promote tooth decay whereas Xylitol is a natural sugar alcohol which the bacteria can't use effectively. You can get Xylitol only gum at most health food stores, and some commercial manufacturers make it but usually, for some God forsaken reason, have to combine it with some chemical artifial sweetener, like Aspartame or something else. :(

I don't know if the military version has some other bacteria fighting agent, but nothing like that was mentioned in my reading of Xylitol gum whcih mentioned the US military.

They can save money by just buying the troops "Spry" brand Xylitol sweetened chewing gum.

Re:Some people already do this!

[Schemat1c]

or me it seems to work, I've not had one cavity in the last 4 years since working like this. I did have one in the past when I brushed more regularly.

I saw a documentary a few years ago where they found a pile of 2000 year old Roman skeletons that were trapped in a cave that had been sealed by a volcanic eruption. Since the Romans usually burnt their dead this was a rare find. It was interesting because their teeth were absolutely perfect They did not brush their teeth or have dentists yet they had no cavities or crooked teeth. The reason they gave is that these people lived before Marco Polo had brought sugar to Europe. Sugar is now used in so many products, not just as a sweetener but as a preservative, that our teeth are now in horrible shape.

Re:Intentions are right

[headkase]

The army will invest lot's of good money into each soldier too, and yes the army is doing it for their own benefit but the soldier gains skills as part of the transaction as well. In a Machiavellian way it is all about combat readiness and that is necessary as a base but from there the values drilled into each soldier originate from the values of the nation as a whole. The values are all we have to hold onto when it comes down to it and I think the US values tend to be the kind that are suitable for real people to hold onto in times of duress.
Not disagreeing with anything you've said, I think we agree with different language.

Re:Some people already do this!

[kurosawdust]

At the same time do you know for a fact it is not as good? I don't.

Seeing as how the gum probably doesn't contain fluoride, I think we can say pretty safely that chewing it is not as good as brushing.

Re:Some people already do this!

[SacredNaCl]

I read the first few paragraphs of your fluoride conspiracy diatribe, and as far as I can tell, all of the results you're referencing (well, not referencing...you didnt really reference anything) describe situations where people or animals were given enormous amounts of fluoride, far in excess of what the ADA recommends. Would you be surprised if a study found ill effects in humans who swallowed 125 times the recommended dose of aspirin? You can believe this rubbish if you want, but at least be consistent - aspirin too should be condemned by your standards.

I guess the Institute of Medicine, the National Research Council, the US Dept of Health, the Center for Disease Control, and the World Health Organization are all in on it too, right? This conspiracy reaches much further than we thought! :P

The WHO (World Health Organization) concurs with my position. The CDC does not, but I wouldn't expect them to. They are responsible for the addition of fluoride into the water in the first place, as was the sturcture of our government at the time. No, I am not talking exposures "125 times", I am talking about mere factor of 2 to 3, and one that is easily exceeded in a substance as toxic as fluorine compounds are as the quantities involved are very minute.

You mean like the people who ramble on and on about a fluoride conspiracy and then wonder why their teeth are messed up and full of cavities?

He would be in rather good company:
Germany, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Finland, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden have banned fluoride in the water, and several have gone as far as ban a wide variety of fluoride containing products. It seems countries with socialized dental programs figured out it didn't work out on the balance sheet. Their teeth are fine, and on average, in better health than the teeth of similarly situated countries who allow its use.

Proposals go up every year to ban the use of fluoridated salt as well. People who scream that criticism of fluoride is based merely on far out conspiracies have never stopped to look into just how low of a dose can cause very severe health consequence. In countries where fluoride occurs naturally in the water, and they lack the technology or financial means to effectively remove it, you can compare their consumption levels to our own.(Parts of the US use water with high levels of naturally occuring fluoride as well, and when remediation isn't taken, they end up with the same health effects.) The margin of difference between having a fair portion of your society sick from fluoride and escaping the worst (but not the mild & moderate effects of toxicity) is not high at all. Its often less than a factor of 2.

When I see a village in India, or Pakistan, or Sudan, or Kenya, or Peru with 20-30% of the inhabitants clearly suffering from excess fluoride exposure,and their water levels come back a mere 3.02 and we have 1.0 in the water here, then compare dietary exposures, and it brings their total adjusted exposure to 4.12 and ours to 2.78 ..We are talking about a razors edge margin of safety. This margin could easly be exceeded by a person who drinks more water, or drinks a lot of tea, or eats regularly grapes, raisins, wine (where the grapes are subject to cyrolite pesticide use), cereals processed with fluoridated water, or drinks beer occasionally.

It is plainly obvious to see that the US Government is not telling the truth when they say there are no measurable consequences to using less than 8ppm of fluoride in the water and diet. Cases of fluoride toxicity in the US itself show it merely takes longer if the exposure levels are in the 3.0-7.9 range. Cases from around the world show that a mere 3.12 in the water is enough to substantially affect the health of a large number of residents over time. Even the EPA's MCL of 4.0 is ovbiously set too high. (Of course, when they try to lower it, the bosses at the EPA tend to put them on unpaid leave and the union has to step in to sue to get peoples

Re:Some people already do this!

[hal9035]

long time reader, first time poster. I'm a dentist. This guy is just so wrong about everything, toxic doses of most any chemical are bad. Fluoridation of the water supply has been shown to be safe and very effective. Most of his claims of world-wide fluoridation are just mixed up. He almost understands what he is trying to explain. Fluorides in the water supply and in pastes, etc. are effective in adults, too. Ask your dentist for a fluoride treatment once per year, good for kids, good for all.