Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Oh, patents! Non-adhesive chewing gum

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

 Got  dental work? Dentures? Fillings? Bridges? Partials? Retainers? Implants? Crowns?  Still want to chew gum? No worries… there is a patented chewing gum that won’t stick to  prostheses or any of your dental work…!

 US 4241091, titled Calorie-free non adhesive chewing gums and method  awarded to Life Savers Inc., resolved this issue a while back in 1980, with “a substantially calorie-free, carbohydrate-free, non-cariogenic chewing gum composition, which has a surprisingly large cud* volume for its size, and which will not adhere to natural or artificial teeth, or prosthetic devices”. This is achieved using a plant based “slip agent” in the composition, such as “alpha-cellulose, texturized vegetable protein, fish protein concentrate, citrus peel, citrus pulp, fruit pulp or mixtures thereof”, which imparts non-adhesive properties to the chewing gum.

This non-adhesive solution for chewing gum on dental work and dentures, however, remains an ineffective environmental one as the cud stays water insoluble and made of polymeric hydrocarbons which bond to asphalt and rubber shoes, making it both very expensive and difficult to remove in large pedestrian areas. (Refer to an earlier July 7, 2014 post on Chewing gum for a list of patents that address the chewing gum environmental issue).

Below you will find the abstract for US 4241091, titled Calorie-free non adhesive chewing gums and method, and above an image of Freedent gum, with the properties described in the patent.

A substantially calorie-free, non-carbohydrate, non-cariogenic, non-adhesive chewing gum is provided which does not adhere to dentures and includes gum base, substantially calorie-free sweetener, flavor, water, thickener, filler, softener and a slip agent for imparting non-adhesive properties to the gum, the slip agent being alpha-cellulose, texturized vegetable protein, fish protein concentrate, citrus peel, citrus pulp, fruit pulp or mixtures thereof. A method for imparting non-adhesive properties to chewing gum is also provided. The resulting chewing gum has significantly higher cud volume than heretofore known chewing gum of equivalent weight.

* Cud = what remains of the water insoluble portion of the gum. Cud volume matters especially for bubble gum since it is not possible to blow bubbles with small cuds.  

No comments: