OBJECTIVETo study the anti-halitosis effect of sugar-free chewing gum through their influence on odor induced by cysteine.

METHODSTen volunteers were randomly divided into the treatment group and the untreated group; each group consisted of five volunteers. All volunteers consented to participate in a test in which breath odor was induced by cysteine. After the test, the treatment group chewed sugar-free chewing gum for 1 min, whereas the untreated group did not undergo any treatment. The effectiveness was determined by the percent reduction of H2S, CH3SH, and (CH3)2S response after the volunteers chewed gum for 1, 10, and 20 min.

RESULTSAt 1, 10, and 20 min, H2S of the treatment group was reduced by 82.68%, 92.27%, 97.47%, respectively, CH3SH was reduced by 65.49%, 73.79%, and 82.89%, respectively, and (CH3)2S was reduced by 60.45%, 73.82%, and 59.72%, respectively. The differences between the two groups at different times were significant (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONChewing gum can effectively inhibit cysteine-induced odor.