Although chewing-gum is widely used in many countries, there is little information on the composition of the saliva ,elicited by its use and particularly the changes in composition that occur with duration of stimulation. However, the oral health benefits claimed for the use of chewing-gum after meals (Jensen and Wefel, 1989; Leach, Lee and Edgar, 1989;Kandelman and Gagnon, 1990) are presumably brought about by the effects of the increased flow of saliva (Dawes and lVlacpherson, 1992) on the teeth or on dental plaque and/or the consequent changes in salivary composition.