An interventional study of Gum of Xylitol and Gum of sugar free in Healthy, sponsored by Universidad Católica de Cuenca. Completed at 1 site in Ecuador. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 25 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2025-03-14.
Sponsored by Universidad Católica de Cuenca · Not applicable, Interventional, and Other
This study was planned to evaluate the effects of xylitol-based chewing gums, sugar-free and sugared, on salivary flow and pH in young adults.
Chewing gum stimulates salivary flow, neutralizes and raises pH, and serves as a medium for administering therapeutic agents. However, global increases in sugar consumption have led to the development of chewing gums containing sugar substitutes, including polyols or non-fermentable sugars, of which the most commonly used are nutritive sweeteners such as sorbitol and xylitol.The use of polyol-containing chewing gums could play a role in preventing dental caries compared to not using gum or using sugared gum, most likely due to increased salivary flow and pH, improving enamel lesion remineralization; however, xylitol has anticariogenic properties influencing the reduction of dental plaque.
The study will conduct as a prospective randomized controlled trial. The population will consist of all enrolled students (1275 students) in the Dentistry program at the Catholic University aged 18 to 25 who voluntarily meet the inclusion criteria. The sample size will be 21 participants in each group, but it will be adjusted for a 15% loss of information or study dropout, thus requiring 25 participants in each group. Participants who meet the selection criteria will be probabilistically assigned using simple random sampling through a lottery system to four groups: the first group (G1) will consume xylitol chewing gum, the second group (G2) will consume sugar-free gum, the third group (G3) will consume sugared gum, and the fourth group (G4), the control, will chew paraffin.
Saliva samples will be taken between 8 to 10 am, taking into account that subjects should not have ingested food, smoked, or brushed their teeth at least 1 hour prior to sample collection. They will be asked to rinse their mouth with pure water to remove any food residue. Subsequently, they will be seated in a chair in an upright position with the head slightly tilted forward and eyes open, and the basal saliva sample will be taken as indicated by the established protocol of the collection method for unstimulated saliva by Tomas Seif. Before starting the test, they will be asked to swallow saliva, keep their mouth slightly open, and allow saliva to drain into the tube. The test lasts for five minutes and the salivary pH will be evaluated and recorded, labeled as T1. For stimulated saliva, the protocol dictated by the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of Southern California will be used. Through the drainage method, stimulated saliva will be collected in another pre-weighed test tube at three more time intervals: T2 from 5 to 10 minutes, T3 from 15 to 20 minutes, and T4 from 25 to 30 minutes after starting chewing gum consumption. The Measurement of saliva pH level will be evaluated immediately using a pH meter (BT-675 meter, Boeco-Germany), while the salivary flow will be evaluated by the difference in weight of the basal pH with the final pH.
Data will be entered into an Excel spreadsheet and data analysis will be performed. The analysis will be conducted using SPSS v.25, with descriptive data analysis. Chi-square test will be used for demographic data, Levene's test will determine data homogeneity, and ANOVA will determine differences in means, followed by Tukey's post-hoc comparison to find significant differences between group means, with a significance level of p\<0.05.
The expected results, that the mean salivary pH and flow will differ among the different chewing gums
Universidad Católica de Cuenca is the lead sponsor of 3 studies on the registry; none are open to participants now.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Exclusion Criteria:
They will consume chewing gum with xylitol (Xylichew), and stimulated saliva will be collected at three time intervals: T2 from 5 to 10 minutes, T3 from 15 to 20 minutes, and T4 from 25 to 30 minutes after the start of chewing gum consumption
Other: Gum of Xylitol
They will consume sugar-free chewing gum (Trident), and stimulated saliva will be collected at three time intervals: T2 from 5 to 10 minutes, T3 from 15 to 20 minutes, and T4 from 25 to 30 minutes after the start of chewing gum consumption
Other: Gum of sugar free
Formed by participants who will chew sugared gum (Agogó), and stimulated saliva will be collected at three time intervals: T2 from 5 to 10 minutes, T3 from 15 to 20 minutes, and T4 from 25 to 30 minutes after the start of chewing gum consumption
Other: Gum of sugar
The control group will chew paraffin wax (Dentek), and stimulated saliva will be collected at three time intervals: T2 from 5 to 10 minutes, T3 from 15 to 20 minutes, and T4 from 25 to 30 minutes after the start of chewing paraffin wax
Other: Paraffin wax
After each sample, the salivary pH level will be measured, and the amount of basal saliva will be weighed. This amount will be subtracted from the accumulated saliva at T4 to establish salivary flow
After each sample, the salivary pH level will be measured, and the amount of basal saliva will be weighed. This amount will be subtracted from the accumulated saliva at T4 to establish salivary flow
After each sample, the salivary pH level will be measured, and the amount of basal saliva will be weighed. This amount will be subtracted from the accumulated saliva at T4 to establish salivary flow
After each sample, the salivary pH level will be measured, and the amount of basal saliva will be weighed. This amount will be subtracted from the accumulated saliva at T4 to establish salivary flow
G1: Gum of xilytol
Measurement of basal salivary pH (T1), salivary pH at T2, salivary pH at T3, salivary pH at T4. Each Falcon tube will be weighed empty, with basal saliva, and at time T4, and then the difference will be established to determine salivary flow.
Time frame: The trial period for each participant is 35 minutes in total. Salivary pH at 10 minutes, salivary pH at 20 minutes, salivary pH at 30 minutes. Basal salivary volume and salivary volume at 35 minutes.
G2: Gum of sugar free
Measurement of basal salivary pH (T1), salivary pH at T2, salivary pH at T3, salivary pH at T4. Each Falcon tube will be weighed empty, with basal saliva, and at time T4, and then the difference will be established to determine salivary flow.
Time frame: The trial period for each participant is 35 minutes in total. Salivary pH at 10 minutes, salivary pH at 20 minutes, salivary pH at 30 minutes. Basal salivary volume and salivary volume at 35 minutes.
G3: Gum of sugar
Measurement of basal salivary pH (T1), salivary pH at T2, salivary pH at T3, salivary pH at T4. Each Falcon tube will be weighed empty, with basal saliva, and at time T4, and then the difference will be established to determine salivary flow.
Time frame: The trial period for each participant is 35 minutes in total. Salivary pH at 10 minutes, salivary pH at 20 minutes, salivary pH at 30 minutes. Basal salivary volume and salivary volume at 35 minutes.
G4: Parafinn wax
Measurement of basal salivary pH (T1), salivary pH at T2, salivary pH at T3, salivary pH at T4. Each Falcon tube will be weighed empty, with basal saliva, and at time T4, and then the difference will be established to determine salivary flow.
Time frame: The trial period for each participant is 35 minutes in total. Salivary pH at 10 minutes, salivary pH at 20 minutes, salivary pH at 30 minutes. Basal salivary volume and salivary volume at 35 minutes.
Documents are hosted by the registry — open the source record to download them.
Plan to share: Yes — Individual Participant Data (IPD) underlying the results of the publication will be shared.
Supporting information: Study protocol, Sap, Icf
This study is completed, as verified in Nov 2024. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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Universidad Católica de Cuenca