The Benefits of Xylitol for Oral Health

00:00:00.000 | Now let's talk about some protocols

00:00:03.880 | that involve changing the chemistry of your mouth,

00:00:06.860 | not just immediately after meals

00:00:08.880 | or during brushing or flossing,

00:00:10.900 | but really around the clock.

00:00:13.140 | And one of the key protocols that I'd like to discuss

00:00:15.500 | is the use of an artificial sugar called xylitol.

00:00:19.440 | Xylitol is a very low calorie sweetener.

00:00:23.120 | I can place it among the other low calorie sweeteners

00:00:25.440 | like aspartame, sucralose, stevia, et cetera.

00:00:29.020 | But what's unique about xylitol

00:00:31.160 | is that very much like standard sugar

00:00:34.520 | or any kind of carbohydrate sugar,

00:00:36.720 | the bacteria Streptococcus mutans loves to eat xylitol.

00:00:42.400 | But when Streptococcus mutans eats xylitol,

00:00:46.720 | it doesn't, meaning it cannot produce the acid

00:00:50.200 | that normally would demineralize the teeth

00:00:52.840 | and create cavities.

00:00:54.520 | In addition to that,

00:00:55.360 | when Streptococcus mutans eats xylitol,

00:00:58.080 | it kills Streptococcus mutans.

00:01:00.380 | So what this means is that if xylitol is present

00:01:02.720 | in the oral cavity after a meal,

00:01:04.620 | say in the minutes and hours after a meal,

00:01:06.980 | then any Streptococcus mutans that happens to be there

00:01:09.740 | is going to preferentially feed on the xylitol,

00:01:12.260 | not other sugars, and it won't be able to release acid.

00:01:15.780 | And because xylitol can actually inhibit the growth,

00:01:19.220 | and that is the proliferation of more Streptococcus mutans,

00:01:22.240 | we've got a twofer.

00:01:23.080 | We've got a situation where Streptococcus mutans

00:01:26.020 | can't release acid to demineralize the teeth

00:01:28.640 | and potentially cause cavities,

00:01:30.160 | and the total amount of Streptococcus mutans that can grow,

00:01:32.760 | that can proliferate in what are called colonies,

00:01:35.160 | literally the bacteria colonizes on the teeth

00:01:37.440 | and that forming that biofilm,

00:01:39.360 | well, then that can't happen.

00:01:41.040 | So xylitol is a very potent tool

00:01:42.820 | for improving oral health in this way.

00:01:45.160 | In addition, xylitol reduces inflammation of the gum tissue

00:01:49.400 | and other soft tissues of the mouth.

00:01:51.400 | And so xylitol is providing an array of positive benefits,

00:01:54.900 | especially when it's present to the mouth

00:01:56.720 | immediately after meals.

00:01:58.220 | And for that reason,

00:01:59.340 | there are a number of different dentists

00:02:00.500 | that have created xylitol products in the form of gums

00:02:03.960 | or in the form of mints,

00:02:05.620 | specifically to be used after meals.

00:02:07.840 | So by chewing a few of these xylitol mints,

00:02:10.280 | or by chewing a xylitol-based gum immediately after a meal,

00:02:13.640 | you're taking substantial steps

00:02:15.320 | towards improving the chemical milieu of your mouth

00:02:18.080 | and inhibiting the proliferation

00:02:19.960 | of cavity-forming Streptococcus mutans.

00:02:22.780 | Now, you can also find some literature

00:02:24.360 | on other proposed benefits of xylitol,

00:02:27.320 | such as improving overall microbiome,

00:02:31.480 | such as reducing inflammation in other tissues

00:02:33.880 | besides the gums and within the mouth.

00:02:36.360 | There is some evidence

00:02:37.200 | that it can support the gut microbiome

00:02:39.440 | because, of course, the oral microbiome

00:02:41.000 | and the gut microbiome are contiguous.

00:02:42.720 | They have different compartments.

00:02:43.840 | I mean, you might even be surprised to learn

00:02:45.620 | that within your mouth,

00:02:47.080 | there are different niches, as they're called.

00:02:49.160 | For instance, there's different microbiota

00:02:51.200 | that live on the gums versus the hard palate

00:02:53.340 | versus the soft palate back in the throat,

00:02:55.900 | and then as you descend into the gut, et cetera.

00:02:58.500 | And it does appear that xylitol

00:02:59.940 | has certain positive benefits

00:03:01.700 | for all of those different gut microbiome niches.

00:03:04.620 | But the literature on that is less well-substantiated

00:03:06.900 | than, for instance, the literature showing

00:03:09.180 | that if xylitol is put in as a surrogate sugar substrate

00:03:13.900 | for Strep mutans, that it disables Strep mutans

00:03:16.660 | and can prevent the formation of cavities.

00:03:19.040 | Now, as far as I know,

00:03:19.940 | when consumed in mint form or gum form,

00:03:23.020 | I'm not aware of any specific side effects

00:03:25.540 | or bad effects of xylitol,

00:03:26.980 | provided that it's not consumed in excess.

00:03:29.580 | But as with everything, dosage matters.

00:03:32.140 | So if you're somebody who wants to explore

00:03:34.020 | the use of xylitol gum or xylitol mints after a meal,

00:03:37.180 | I wouldn't suggest going from consuming zero xylitol mints

00:03:39.980 | to consuming 50 a day or something like that,

00:03:42.420 | or even 10 a day.

00:03:43.260 | You might start off slowly

00:03:44.360 | and just consume one or two after a meal,

00:03:46.500 | maybe just your morning meal,

00:03:47.580 | maybe just your evening meal,

00:03:49.460 | something of that sort,

00:03:50.660 | rather than chewing xylitol gum all day long,

00:03:53.500 | et cetera, et cetera.

00:03:54.580 | I'll just mention one other positive benefit

00:03:56.340 | of xylitol gum,

00:03:57.740 | which is if you use xylitol gum after, say,

00:04:00.740 | your noon meal or your early day meal,

00:04:03.100 | it further increases the production of saliva,

00:04:05.740 | which, as we talked about before, is a great thing

00:04:08.940 | because one of the best ways to support oral health

00:04:11.620 | and tooth health is to have a long stretch of time

00:04:14.060 | in the middle of the day

00:04:15.140 | where you're producing a lot of healthy saliva

00:04:17.280 | in large amounts, because again,

00:04:18.500 | saliva is this incredible stuff

00:04:19.900 | that's supporting remineralization of the teeth.

00:04:22.340 | So lots and lots of reasons to think about,

00:04:24.420 | maybe consider using xylitol gum or xylitol mints.

00:04:27.880 | There are a number of different ones available out there.

00:04:29.860 | I have zero, again, zero financial relationship

00:04:32.980 | to any of those mint or gum companies.

00:04:35.620 | I'll provide a link in the show note captions

00:04:37.360 | to one source.

00:04:39.020 | The company and the products were developed by a dentist,

00:04:41.660 | Dr. Ellie Phillips,

00:04:42.580 | who is quite prominent in the public health education space

00:04:45.480 | around dental health.

00:04:46.400 | Some of her views are a little bit controversial,

00:04:48.600 | like her views on flossing.

00:04:50.040 | Other of her views,

00:04:51.160 | I find, frankly, quite ahead of their time

00:04:53.280 | in that she's been talking about a number of these things

00:04:55.120 | like promoting the health of the oral microbiome

00:04:58.320 | and the potential value of xylitol gums and mints, et cetera,

00:05:02.640 | for some period of time.

00:05:04.040 | I think most of the information that she puts out there

00:05:06.480 | is supported by other dentists,

00:05:08.080 | and she still suggests regular dental visits.

00:05:10.040 | So, you know, nothing renegade out there or heretical.

00:05:13.680 | Again, there are other sources of xylitol gums and mints

00:05:17.220 | that you could consider.

00:05:18.320 | I'm simply putting a link to the one that I use

00:05:20.580 | because I happen to use them and like them.

00:05:22.680 | So I'd like to use the discussion about xylitol

00:05:24.820 | as a segue into a discussion about toothpaste,

00:05:27.380 | because there is a lot of controversy out there

00:05:30.480 | about which toothpaste are better for us,

00:05:33.080 | maybe even bad for us, and best for us.

00:05:36.480 | I think it's fair to say,

00:05:37.480 | based on what we all now know about xylitol,

00:05:40.320 | that if you can find a toothpaste

00:05:42.040 | that contains xylitol as a sweetener,

00:05:44.180 | that can only be a good thing.

00:05:45.960 | And indeed, there are a number of them out there.

00:05:47.840 | We'll talk about specific sources in a little bit,

00:05:49.840 | but let's just put xylitol on the short

00:05:53.400 | to not so short list of things

00:05:54.680 | that would be great to have in a toothpaste

00:05:56.720 | for all the reasons that you now understand.

00:05:59.520 | The real big question with toothpaste is always,

00:06:01.920 | should I use a toothpaste that has fluoride

00:06:04.680 | or avoid toothpastes that have fluoride?

00:06:06.840 | And in order to answer that,

00:06:08.140 | we have to go back to our earlier discussion about fluoride.

00:06:10.280 | It really depends on whether or not you're somebody

00:06:12.480 | that thinks that fluoride is great

00:06:13.840 | because it creates these super physiologically strong bonds

00:06:17.240 | within our teeth.

00:06:18.080 | The crystal structures are that much stronger

00:06:20.000 | than when formed by hydroxyapatite,

00:06:22.080 | or whether or not you're somebody who is wary of fluoride,

00:06:25.680 | that you're concerned about potential brain health issues

00:06:28.960 | or thyroid issues.

00:06:30.000 | And here, I think people really do fall into either camp

00:06:33.040 | or the camp, frankly, of, I don't know, should I be worried?

00:06:35.880 | I don't know if I should be worried.

00:06:37.320 | I personally grew up using fluoride toothpaste.

00:06:40.740 | We had the kind of standard name brand fluoride toothpaste

00:06:44.200 | in our bathroom.

00:06:45.120 | I brushed my teeth with those for years.

00:06:47.000 | Whether or not that negatively impacted my health or not,

00:06:49.400 | I don't know.

00:06:51.080 | Get my blood work done.

00:06:52.000 | My thyroid hormones are normal.

00:06:54.460 | My brain works at least reasonably well.

00:06:57.080 | But I do realize that some people

00:06:58.340 | are very concerned about fluoride

00:06:59.760 | and they just don't want it anywhere near their kids.

00:07:02.240 | They don't want it anywhere near themselves.

00:07:04.560 | So if you're somebody who's going to err

00:07:05.740 | on the side of caution with fluoride

00:07:07.400 | and you are seeking a non-fluoride containing toothpaste,

00:07:11.400 | there are such toothpastes out there.

00:07:13.460 | And most of those, if not all of them, contain,

00:07:17.160 | you guessed it, hydroxyapatite.

00:07:19.160 | They contain the minerals that naturally form the bonds

00:07:21.880 | that create that additional enamel

00:07:24.320 | that can potentially fill in cavities

00:07:26.640 | by remineralization of the enamel

00:07:28.920 | and some of the deeper layers of the tooth.

00:07:30.840 | So if one is seeking toothpaste

00:07:32.720 | and you want to avoid fluoride,

00:07:34.560 | you'd want to find something that ideally

00:07:35.980 | had hydroxyapatite and something that had xylitol.

00:07:39.980 | And they often also contain some sort of mild abrasive.

00:07:43.820 | Okay, not a really scratchy abrasive substance,

00:07:47.920 | but a mild abrasive that can really allow

00:07:50.140 | for breaking up with the biofilm

00:07:51.660 | that we talked about earlier.

00:07:53.260 | Now I've provided links to a couple of sources

00:07:55.380 | for such toothpaste and also

00:07:57.020 | for these little toothpaste tablets

00:07:59.540 | that I've been using lately as well.

00:08:01.100 | I sometimes switch back and forth between the two.

00:08:02.860 | These are tablets that you chew up

00:08:04.760 | and then you brush your teeth immediately after

00:08:07.200 | with your wet toothbrush.

00:08:08.440 | Both of them work quite well.

00:08:10.000 | Again, I want to be clear that the companies

00:08:11.680 | that I've provided links to in the show note captions

00:08:13.720 | are companies for which I have

00:08:15.120 | absolutely zero financial relationship.

00:08:17.380 | I do know some of the people that started these companies.

00:08:21.100 | I actually discovered these companies

00:08:22.420 | because these people are dentists or periodontists

00:08:25.360 | or other people in the oral health field.

00:08:28.320 | But I also want to be very clear

00:08:29.520 | that there was no exchange of promotion

00:08:31.620 | of their products for information or otherwise.

00:08:33.940 | I simply tried and liked the products

00:08:36.440 | and I just so happened to have learned some things

00:08:38.400 | about oral health care from these people,

00:08:40.880 | separate and away from anything about toothpaste

00:08:43.780 | or xylitols, et cetera, okay?

00:08:45.540 | So I want to be very clear

00:08:47.200 | that I do believe these are quality sources.

00:08:49.120 | These are the toothpaste and tooth tablets

00:08:50.800 | that I happen to use, gums and mints that I happen to use,

00:08:54.200 | large part as a consequence of researching this episode,

00:08:57.280 | but I pay full price for them.

00:08:58.920 | I'm certainly not suggesting that anyone else

00:09:01.620 | has to use them.

00:09:02.900 | They just represent one option

00:09:05.020 | if you're looking for non-fluoride containing toothpaste

00:09:08.420 | and some other things to promote oral health.

00:09:10.460 | And I'm sure there are other sources out there.

00:09:12.380 | And if you'd like to refer the various viewers

00:09:15.100 | and listeners of this podcast to those sources,

00:09:16.780 | 'cause you feel very strongly about those other sources,

00:09:18.940 | just put those in the comment section on YouTube.

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The Benefits of Xylitol for Oral Health | Dr. Andrew Huberman

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