Although dental implants are considered safe and long-lasting, in reality, 6-15% of the patients with such implant have a risk to develop inflammations. Such inflammatory response is caused by the decay of the tissue and bone adjacent the implants caused by oral pathogens. Although significant inflammation may take years to occur, that may lead to severe bone loss due to delayed diagnosis. Now researchers in Germany have developed a rapid self-test using specialized chewing gum . In presence of inflammation in the oral cavity, several protein-degrading enzymes are activated.
These enzymes convert the chemicals in the chewing gum within 5 minutes and release a bittering agent. The patient is alarmed by the change in taste of the chewing gum and can visit a dentist. This way the test helps in the early diagnosis of severe complication like bone loss . This cost-effective, easy to perform…
