A chewing gum, which uses "good bacteria" to help prevent tooth decay, could be in the shops as early as next year. Tooth decay happens when streptococcus mutans bacteria stick to the surface of teeth, producing an acid that eats away at the protective enamel.
The new gum contains a strain of the bacteria Lactobacillus found in live yoghurt, which attach to the decay-causing bacteria, preventing them from adhering to teeth, Daily Mirror UK reported.
The German company BASF, which produced the gum in collaboration with OrganoBalance, claims its product can reduce the amount of harmful bacteria in the mouth 50-fold. Stefan Marcinowski, executive director at BASF, said the chewing gum "has been tested on large numbers of people and demonstrated the ability to significantly reduce bacterial levels".
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