8th Grade Inventor Research 2014

What is chewing gum? Chewing gum in various forms has been around since ancient times.  The Greeks chewed sap from the mastic tree, called mastiche.  On the other side of the world, the ancient Mayans favored the sap of the sapodilla tree (called tsiclte).  Native Americans from New England chewed spruce sap—a habit they passed on to European settlers.  Today, the base used for most gum products is a blend of synthetic materials (elastomeres, resins and waxes in various proportions).  However, chewing gum is as popular as ever. 

What does chewing gum do? The physical act of chewing increases the flow of saliva in your mouth.  If you chew after eating, the increased salivary flow can help neutralize and wash away the acids that are produced when food is broken down by the bacteria in plaque on your teeth.  Over time, acid can break down tooth enamel, creating the conditions for decay.  Increased saliva flow also carries with it more calcium and phosphate to help strengthen tooth enamel. Clinical studies have shown that chewing sugarless gum for 20 minutes following meals can help prevent tooth decay.  In the future, look for chewing gum that delivers a variety of therapeutic agents that could provide additional benefits to those provided by the ability of gum to mechanically stimulate saliva flow. For instance, some gum might contain active agents that could enhance the gum’s ability to remineralize teeth and reduce decay, or enable gum to help reduce plaque and gingivitis.

Does chewing gum replace brushing and flossing? No, chewing gum is an adjunct to brushing and flossing, but not a substitute for either. The ADA recommends brushing twice a day with a fluoride toothpaste and cleaning plaque from between your teeth once a day with dental floss or other interproximal dental cleaners.

The various latexes are taken from trees in much the same way that rubber is obtained. The tree is gashed, and the latex drips into canvas bags. It is then boiled to reduce water content, hardened, and kneaded into blocks weighing about 25 pounds (11 kilograms). After shipment to a gum factory, it is purified by heating and straining before being put into a mixer, a vat in which other ingredients are added. After cooling, the mixture is flattened by rolling machines, cut into sticks, and fed into a machine for wrapping and packaging.

This is the process used for the standard stick of chewing gum. Gum is also sold in candy-coated pellets or tablets, soft bubble gum, gum balls, and slabs or sticks of bubble gum. Each type is put through a different process. Some bubble gum, for instance, is extruded, or squeezed through holes while still warm, then cut or shaped before being wrapped.Gum balls are coated with a sealer and then sprayed repeatedly with sugar syrup that hardens. Next they are polished with an edible wax. Candy-coated pellets or tablets are treated in much the same way.Chewing gum is a popular product around the world. Manufacturers are located on almost every continent. However, the world’s largest manufacturer of chewing gum is the William Wrigley Jr. Company of Chicago. Other U.S. manufacturers include the Topps Company and the Ford Gum & Machine Company