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Chewing sticks provide an alternative to toothbrushes

By Alan Mozes NEW YORK, Mar 17 (Reuters Health)

The western world's use of the toothbrush and toothpaste as part of a daily dental hygiene regimen is not the only effective way to clean teeth and prevent plaque build-up. In fact, for thousands of years much
of the developing world has been preventing cavities and gum decay by using chewing sticks from the root, stem, or twig of local trees and shrubs.

Researchers have now isolated the antimicrobial agents in some of these sticks that they believe act to kill bacteria in the mouth and surrounding the teeth. Their findings are published in the March 20th
issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

"We know that in plants there are all sorts of properties and chemicals that can kill germs, fungi and viruses. And perhaps some are released from these chewing sticks that can kill bacteria (that cause) bad breath, and bacteria that cause gum disease and that start cavities," said study co-author Dr. Christine Wu, an associate professor of periodontics in the College of Dentistry at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Wu and her associates at the University of tellenbosch in Tygerberg, South Africa, specifically looked at the properties of one particular chewing stick in Namibia commonly referred to as "muthala." An earlier oral health survey of over 2,000 Namibians had indicated that the 20% of the population that use muthala had lower cavity rates than those who did not use any dental hygiene method.

The sticks are prepared by cleaning the wood, removing the bark, and cutting and bundling them into usable sizes that are sold in local markets. Over time, the sticks become frayed by chewing, which serves
to clean teeth not only by passively releasing such compounds but also by active repeated mechanical use in brush-like fashion.

In the current investigations, the researchers were able to isolate four compounds found in the pencil-sized chewing sticks that demonstrated an ability to inhibit oral bacteria.

In an interview with Reuters Health, Wu said the findings were part of an effort to embark on research into the burgeoning field of alternative medicine and hygiene. "We are connected to the Center for Botanical Studies funded by National Institutes of Health," she noted. "The Center has $8 million over 5 years to study 10 botanicals and their effect and usage to treat disease related to menopausal women, so we
have a very good environment to study chemicals isolated from plants."

Wu said that such work highlights alternative means to promote dental hygiene in those places where toothpaste and toothbrushes are an unaffordable or unavailable luxury.

"We know that dental plaque is the causative agent of cavities and gum diseases, so we use toothbrushes daily to remove plaque and maintain our oral health," she noted. "Toothpaste has chemicals that can kill germs, so we're basically using a mechanical motion to clean off the plaque in combo with the chemicals to kill of the germs. But those people who cannot afford the toothbrush and the toothpaste can use a chewing stick to kill the germs."

Wu emphasized the practical nature of the chewing stick method, pointing out that the sticks are used again and again and are considered to be
socially acceptable means of cleaning teeth in countries ranging from India to Saudi Arabia and the Sudan. "People will chew on it, and if they go to friends they take it out and use it and then put it back," she explained. "It's not like they use it once and throw it out."

SOURCE: Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry March 20, 2000.