Effect of chewing gum containing Xylitol and blackberry powder on oral bacteria: A randomized controlled crossover trial

The aim was to determine the effect of chewing gum containing xylitol and freeze-dried blackberry powder on oral bacteria. This was a randomized, controlled, cross-over study (RCT #: NCT05133557). Fifty participants chewed gum over an 8 h period, four times for 20 min at 2-hour intervals, containing 700 mg xylitol (CG) with or without 50 mg blackberry powder (BG), while wearing a stent containing a sterile enamel chip. After a 1 week washout, participants chewed gum from the other group following the same protocol. The primary outcome was the amount of nine oral bacteria in saliva as determined by quantitative PCR. The secondary outcome was bacteria formed on enamel chips. Chewing BG for four twenty-minute intervals reduced mean total bacteria load and the relative abundance of six of the nine bacteria studied in saliva (p