Formulate and Evaluate a Medicated Chewing Gum for the Treatment of Mouth Ulcers

Mouth ulcers (recurrent aphthous stomatitis) remain a common oral health problem that significantly impacts patients' quality of life due to pain and difficulty in eating or speaking. Conventional therapies provide only short-lived relief and suffer from patient compliance issues. In this context, the present research set out to formulate and evaluate a medicated chewing gum as an innovative delivery system for mouth ulcer treatment, specifically using benzydamine HCl as a model therapeutic agent.Through systematic formulation development, an optimized chewing gum containing benzydamine 20 mg per piece was successfully created, utilizing a blend of gum base, plasticizer, sweeteners, and flavoring agents. The final product is a pleasantly mint-flavored chewing gum that, upon use, delivers benzydamine in a sustained manner to the oral mucosa and ulcer sitesto the growing body of evidence supporting mucoadhesive and novel oral delivery systems for localized treatment in the oral cavity It opens up opportunities to extend this approach to other oral conditions (e.g., periodontal disease or oral mucositis) and with other actives (e.g., corticosteroids, antimicrobial agents) formulated into chewing gums. Overall, the findings affirm that the medicated chewing gum developed herein is a promising, patient-centric therapy for mouth ulcers, and it holds potential to improve the quality of life for the many individuals suffering from recurrent aphthous stomatitis.