Findings

What do systematic reviews say?

5 questions · 5 findings · 1 reviews · Oral medicine and oral cancer

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No studies found 0 · 0%GRADE not reported 5 · 100%Very low 0 · 0%Low 0 · 0%Moderate 0 · 0%High 0 · 0%

Gum chewing (sugar-free) vs No chewing gum

Self-reported thirst · Elderly (>60 years) and medically compromised adults with xerostomia / dry mouth

Gum chewing reduced self-reported thirst in most studies (6 of 7 positive, 1 no effect); not meta-analyzed.

1 finding from 1 review

The effect of gum chewing on xerostomia and salivary flow rate in elderly and medically compromised subjects: a… 2023 All outcomes
Various (preoperative period to 3 + 1 months) · Haemodialysis units, elderly / geriatric care, cancer and palliative care, and xerostomia / hyposalivation clinics (studies from multiple countries)
Narrative vote-count: of 7 studies measuring thirst, 6 found gum chewing reduced thirst [16,20,21,26,27,31] and 1 detected no effect [29].
7 studies
GRADE not reported

Gum chewing (sugar-free) vs No chewing gum

Salivary flow rate · Elderly (>60 years) and medically compromised adults with xerostomia / dry mouth

Across 19 studies the effect of gum chewing on stimulated and/or unstimulated salivary flow rate was mixed (9 positive, 10 no effect); this broad outcome was not meta-analyzed.

1 finding from 1 review

The effect of gum chewing on xerostomia and salivary flow rate in elderly and medically compromised subjects: a… 2023 All outcomes
Various (single session to 12 months) · Haemodialysis units, elderly / geriatric care, cancer and palliative care, and xerostomia / hyposalivation clinics (studies from multiple countries)
Narrative vote-count: of 19 studies measuring stimulated and/or unstimulated saliva flow rate, 9 found a positive effect of gum chewing [17,18,22,24,27,35,36,38,39] and 10 detected no effect…
19 studies
GRADE not reported

Gum chewing (sugar-free) vs No chewing gum

Salivary flow rate (unstimulated) · Elderly (>60 years) and medically compromised adults with xerostomia / dry mouth

In elderly and medically compromised people with xerostomia, chewing sugar-free gum daily for two or more weeks produces a small but statistically significant increase in unstimulated whole salivary flow rate versus no gum (SMD 0.44, 95% CI 0.22 to 0.66); certainty of evidence was not formally graded.

1 finding from 1 review

The effect of gum chewing on xerostomia and salivary flow rate in elderly and medically compromised subjects: a… 2023 All outcomes
Gum chewed daily for >=2 weeks (2 to 12 weeks; multiple time points for Kim and Ozen) · Haemodialysis units, elderly / geriatric care, cancer and palliative care, and xerostomia / hyposalivation clinics (studies from multiple countries)
SMD 0.44 [0.22, 0.66]
6 studies · 291 participants
GRADE not reported

Gum chewing (sugar-free) vs No chewing gum

Dry mouth (xerostomia) · Elderly (>60 years) and medically compromised adults with xerostomia / dry mouth

Gum chewing was linked with improved self-reported xerostomia / dry mouth in most studies (12 of 17 positive, 5 no effect); heterogeneous instruments precluded meta-analysis.

1 finding from 1 review

The effect of gum chewing on xerostomia and salivary flow rate in elderly and medically compromised subjects: a… 2023 All outcomes
Various (single session to 3 months) · Haemodialysis units, elderly / geriatric care, cancer and palliative care, and xerostomia / hyposalivation clinics (studies from multiple countries)
Narrative vote-count: of 17 studies measuring self-reported xerostomia / dry mouth, 12 found a positive effect of gum chewing [18,19,21,23,24,25,26,27,30,31,38,40] and 5 detected no effect [17,29,33,34,37]. No study…
17 studies
GRADE not reported

Gum chewing (sugar-free) vs Within-subject before/after comparison of soft gum vs hard gum (no no-gum control)

Oral mucosal moisture · Elderly (>60 years) and medically compromised adults with xerostomia / dry mouth

One small study found that chewing hard (but not soft) gum increased oral mucosal moisture.

1 finding from 1 review

The effect of gum chewing on xerostomia and salivary flow rate in elderly and medically compromised subjects: a… 2023 All outcomes
2-week chewing period (soft then hard gum, with 2-week wash-out) · Haemodialysis units, elderly / geriatric care, cancer and palliative care, and xerostomia / hyposalivation clinics (studies from multiple countries)
Single study [22] (Nakagawa 2017): chewing hard gum significantly increased oral mucosal moisture whereas chewing soft gum did not.
1 study · 12 participants
GRADE not reported