MANUFACTURING A NEW MEDICATED CHEWABLE GUM FROM NATURAL MATERIALS TO CONTROL PERIODONTAL PATHOGENS
Within their multispecies subgingival biofilm in deep pockets, periodontal pathogens are being protected from the attendance of antimicrobial agents, in addition to; the licensed safe concentrations of antibacterials are less effective against biofilm; which leads to unsuccessful treatment and recurrent infections. Therefore, as a first local effort, the medical aim of the present study was to apply the natural material, frankincense, to make a medical chewing gum and an intra-pocket antimicrobial delivery system as a hopeful solution for the ineffectiveness of antimicrobials to control periodontal pathogens. The ability of frankincense film to work as an antibiotic delivery tool was tested by agar diffusion procedure against three types of anaerobic pathogens isolated from periodontal pockets. The usefulness of the currently prepared medical chewing gum from frankincense and other natural additives to control periodontal infections was tested by measuring the level of bacterial hydrolytic enzymes in gingival pockets. The results proved the validity of frankincense film to be a natural delivery tool of antimicrobial ingredients by the denotation of inhibiting the growth on agar plate. The results also proved the validity of frankincense to formulate a medical chewable gum with profound efficiency in reducing the bacterial load inside the gingival tissues. The study claims for the practical application of frankincense in the field of medicines production as a gum base to produce a medical chewable gum and an antimicrobial delivery system. This application can be adopted by pharmaceutical factories and can be dependable by the Ministry of Health and dentists as an alternative to increasing the concentration or combination of chemical medicines.
Keywords: medical chewing gum, antibiotic delivery systems, oral health.