Wrigley announced the Wrigley Oral Healthcare Program is launching new resources to give dental professionals tips and insights to make the patient experience more enjoyable and, ultimately, help grow their practices.
The Wrigley Oral Healthcare Program is said to have a longstanding commitment to partnering with dental professionals. The program reportedly draws on decades of clinical research and expertise about the oral care benefits of sugar-free gum, backed by Wrigley’s heritage of bringing bright experiences to consumers through its products.

When brushing isn’t possible, chewing sugar-free gum, like Orbit®, can help keep teeth healthy by activating saliva, which is a way to help protect teeth. Knowing that patients enjoy getting samples after their visit, dental professionals can still receive an Orbit Sugar-free Gum Sample Kit through the Wrigley Oral Healthcare Program.

The oral care benefits of chewing sugar-free gum
A wealth of clinical evidence supports the oral health benefits of sugar-free gum, revealing how gum enhances production of saliva and helps with:

Cleaning mouth of food debris and sugars

Neutralizing acids

Supporting remineralization

All of which can help to reduce the incidence of dental caries

Chewing gums also promise to whiten teeth or kill germs that cause foul breath, and consumers are biting: for the 52 weeks that ended July 12, revenue for sugarless brands many of which claim some dental benefit rose 6 percent over the previous year, totaling $2.2 billion, according to Information Resources Inc., whose totals exclude sales at Wal-Mart. Sugarless gum which now accounts for more than 80 percent of gum sold, compared with 48 percent in 1998 posted year-over-year growth in each of the last 12 months, despite the financial slowdown.

Wrigley Oral Healthcare Program, which declined interview requests, provided a statement saying that for “more than 25 years, Wrigley has pioneered independent, clinical research to support the oral health care benefits of chewing sugar-free gum,” adding that it projects “significant growth opportunities in wellness and oral care.”

The company formed the Wrigley Science Institute in 2005 to help underscore “the benefits of chewing,” a trademarked term. Some research has more validity than other efforts, with studies suggesting that gum helps in areas like oral health, dieting, stress relief and focus and concentration; one study even suggested that chewing gum helped adolescents improve standardized math test scores. (“Research conducted in the area of chewing gum and cognitive performance is complex,” Wrigley says in a typical caveat on its Web site, “but results are emerging on a number of fronts that may point us toward a better understanding.”)

Rather than crediting some special ingredient, the dental association’s statement on gum labels says simply that “the physical action of chewing” gum for 20 minutes after eating “stimulates saliva flow, which helps to prevent cavities by reducing plaque acids and strengthening teeth.” Saliva has naturally occurring calcium and phosphate, which strengthen tooth enamel.

Brands that make the boldest dental claims do not carry the dental association’s seal, because they have not applied for it, which would require submitting scientific verification. Neither Trident White nor Orbit White carries the seal, though both Wrigley and Cadbury say their studies demonstrate efficacy.