US Army Develops Tooth Cleaning Gum

pryoplasm writes "To help deal with some of the hygiene issues on the battlefield, the US Army worked on a gum to take the place of brushing your teeth. This might be eventually released and marketed to the public. While there are many gums out there that aren't so detrimental to your teeth, this one promises actually to help them out."

Let's hope these go international

[nikomo]

As a proud xylitol-chewing Finn, this would really help.

Article dated 21st Dec 2005?

[Rexdude]

Why is a nearly 5 year old article making news just now?

Re:Oblig. Futurama reference

[camperdave]

Actually, I'd love ham flavoured gum. Why is it that sweet toothed people get all the calorie free snacks? What about those of us who like savoury/salty snacks? All we get is potato chips and pretzels. It's all carbs. So how about it? How about some ham flavoured gum, or taco flavoured candies, or pizza flavoured lollipops?

Re:Crooked teeth

[jamesh]

There is also the fact that frequently chewing gives you crooked teeth.

No it doesn't. In fact research has shown that chewing gum actually straightens your teeth, correctly aligns your jaw, assists in building upper body muscle strength, improves learning and memory function in the brain, and can increase the size of your penis and duration of your erections by up to 58%.

(you didn't provide a source for your 'fact' so I don't see why I should)

Re:Sugarless gum??!?

[Anonymous Coward]

As .... I .... said ... I thought that is what sugarless gum nee Xylitol has been used for years.

And... as... an... engineer I can tell you that your PhD has apparently made your head so big you can't tell the difference between the words "inhibit" and "attack".

Xylitol, by your own words, "inhibits" bacterial growth-- i.e. to limit, block, or decrease the action or function of.

KSL, according the TFA you probably didn't bother to read, "attacks" existing bacteria-- i.e. the onset of a corrosive or destructive process.

Whether or not the difference is important in the field, the two chemicals/proteins/whatever use entirely different methods of solving the problem.

Like many doctors, you seem to have a firm grasp on one specific area of expertise, and completely ignore all other areas-- like the english language, or basic reading comprehension and problem solving skills.

Full disclosure-- since we're all being hoity-toity with our degrees, I have a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering a B.A. in English Literature. I suppose it isn't really fair, since one of my degrees taught me how to read and apparently yours did not.

Re:Actually NOT Sugarless gum.

[SLi]

Xylitol is not an artificial sweetener.