Gum

Some 9,700 years ago on an autumn day, a group of people were camping on the west coast of Scandinavia. They were hunter-gatherers that had been fishing, hunting and collecting resources in the area.Some teenagers, both boys and girls, were chewing resin to produce glue, just after eating trout, deer and hazelnuts. Due to a severe gum infection (periodontitis), one of the teenagers had problems eating the chewy deer-meat, as well as preparing the resin by chewing it.This snapshot of the Mesolithic period, just before…

A mold cast of one of the chewed pitch pieces found in the Huseby Klev site. Credit: Verner Alexandersen. Some 9,700 years ago on an autumn day, a group of people were camping on the west coast of Scandinavia. They were hunter-gatherers that had been fishing, hunting and collecting resources in the area. Some teenagers, both boys and girls, were…

About 10,000 years ago, a group of hunter-gatherers were hanging out in what is now south-western Sweden chewing pieces of birch tar. New analysis of that substance reveals that they may have had very modern dental issues.The birch tar samples, which were likely chewed to create a kind of glue, were first excavated in the 1990s in Huseby Klev, Sweden. While they've been studied before, a team of researchers, led by Emrah Kırdök from Mersin University in Turkey, developed cutting-edge methods to analyze the ancient DNA…

Research on 10,000-year-old birch tar samples from Mesolithic Scandinavia indicates that hunter-gatherers likely had poor oral health, with a high probability of gum disease and tooth decay, and reveals insights into their diet and lifestyle. Credit: SciTechDaily.comMesolithic Scandinavians likely faced oral health issues, with studies on ancient birch tar revealing signs of gum disease, tooth decay, and diverse dietary habits.Members of a hunter-gatherer group that lived in south-western Scandinavia during the Mesolithic…

Trash Can Children The Garbage Pail Kids are a bit out of my wheelhouse. I don’t particularly like gross-out humor. Even some of the stuff in Ren & Stimpy is too much for me. I respect gross-out humor. I think it’s probably healthy to find amusement in bodily functions that we all experience but, for some reason, choose to demonize. That doesn’t change things, though. It doesn’t tickle the atrophied humor muscle in my brain. Except for butts. Butts are forever funny. However, the NES is part of my domain. So when…

As companies like Asus, Logitech, and Sony continue to push the limits of handheld gaming devices (seriously, Sony, an eight-inch screen?), companies like Anbernic are making them smaller and smaller. Its latest, the RG Nano, looks to be smaller than a pack of playing cards, but still capable of playing thousands of retro games.The Playdate Is Unique, Charming and Full of PotentialAnbernic is a Chinese company that’s been making handheld emulation devices for quite a few years now, and having been reviewing them for just…

Mondelez International Inc. MDLZ -0.70% said it has agreed to sell Trident, Dentyne and other gum brands in developed markets for $1.35 billion, part of the food company’s plan to focus on chocolates, cookies and other snacks. The buyer is Perfetti Van Melle Group, a candy maker known for global brands such as Mentos and Chupa Chups lollipops. Mondelez said the sale price represents a multiple of 15 times current year estimates for…

Gum diseases are among the most common chronic human diseases, affecting between 20 to 50 percent of people worldwide. They happen when plaque, a sticky film of bacteria, builds up on teeth.The earliest stages of gum disease are treatable and reversible (gingivitis). But some people develop a chronic destructive form of gum disease, which is irreversible. This disease progresses to tooth loss.A growing body of evidence shows that gum disease can also make people more likely to develop other serious health conditions.Here…

Researchers are investigating the link between gum disease and Alzheimer’s disease.Researchers at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine believe that targeting the bacteria that cause periodontal disease could slow the progression of <span class="glossaryLink" aria-describedby="tt" data-cmtooltip="<div class=glossaryItemTitle>Alzheimer’s</div><div class=glossaryItemBody>Alzheimer's disease is a disease that attacks the brain, causing a decline in mental ability that…

There's been increased anxiety after epidemiologists warned of a new and significantly more virulent coronavirus variant, Omicron, circulating in parts of South Africa and some other countries. With it, the race to find ways to stop the COVID-19 pandemic has acquired more urgency. In that effort, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, US, have tested a new experimental chewing gum that could reduce the amount of coronavirus particles in saliva. This, the researchers say, could help slow the transmission of the…