"Put that gum back in your mouth Johnny"

A recent study on the effects of a new chewable mint that mimics the cavity fighting properties of saliva has found a 62 percent decrease in cavities in children using the product.

BasicMints™ contains CaviStat®, a fluoride-free, cavity-fighting complex that is made up of components naturally present in the human body. Patented and exclusively licensed to Ortek, CaviStat was developed and clinically tested by researchers in the Department of Oral Biology and Pathology at Stony Brook University School of Dental Medicine.

Data from the study on the product called BasicMints™by Ortek Therapeutics, Inc., and Stony Brook University was published in the most recent issue of the Journal of Clinical Dentistry.

The year long study found that show the children who were administered BasicMints had 62 percent fewer cavities in their molars after one year compared to children in the placebo group.

BasicMints are not currently approved for use in the U.S. but the company is planning to submit an Investigational New Drug application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) later this year.

“Cavities affect the quality of life for millions of children every year by causing them pain, to miss school days and cost billions of dollars to repair annually,” said Israel Kleinberg, D.D.S., Ph.D., lead researcher and inventor of the CaviStat technology and Distinguished Professor and Founding Chairman of the Department of Oral Biology and Pathology at SBU School of Dental Medicine. “This study shows for the first time that this new fluoride-free, cavity-fighting tool has the potential to significantly improve the oral health of children.”