Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the color change property of a new colorchangeable chewing gum applied with a new coloring reaction, to measure masticatory ability and to analyze the correlation to masticatory performance.
Methods: Eleven healthy dentate subjects volunteered to participate in this study. Subjects chewed the gum 40, 80, 120, 160, 200, 240, or 280 times. Immediately after the trials, the color of the gums was measured and transformed using the CIE-LAB coloring system. The values of L*, a*, and b* were compared between the chewing strokes. The masticatory performance was also measured, using the sieving method. The correlation between the color of the gum and masticatory performance was analyzed.
Results: The values of L*, a*, and b* were influenced by the chewing strokes (p<0.05). The values of L* and a*, and the value of b*, statistically changed until the chewing strokes reached 120 and 160 times, respectively. The values of the correlation coefficient between the values of a* and masticatory performance exceeded 0.5 points for over 80 chewing strokes, and strong correlation was found at 160 chewing strokes (γ=0.690, p>0.05).
Conclusions: It was revealed that the color of a gum applied with a new coloring reaction changed according to the increment of the chewing strokes. A strong correlation between the color change and masticatory performance was found. It was suggested that the color-changeable chewing gum applied with a new coloring reaction was useful to measure masticatory ability.
