Q&A with Dr. Ellie: Not all xylitol products are the same
Every month Dr. Ellie Phillips will answer your oral health questions as part of the Ultimate Oral Health Guide.
Do you have a question you’d like to ask? Submit it below in the comments section and it might be next month’s featured Q&A!
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Q: Are the gums on the market – such as Trident – effective at delivering xylitol? Also, I make lemonade with xylitol in the summer and my kids don’t know the difference. Is that not as effective as xylitol and water because of the acidity of the lemon? -P
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A: Dear P,
Any gum (like Trident) that mixes xylitol and sorbitol together – basically inactivates the benefits of the xylitol – plus sorbitol can give you bad stomach problems. Sorbitol is used by plaque bacteria – to produce thickened plaque – and many who eat a lot of sorbitol (sugarless) gum have gingivitis and bleeding gums.
Also, sorbitol appears to give people symptoms of acid reflux – quite possibly because it fuels the bacteria responsible for indigestion symptoms (C. Pylori).
So – my suggestion: don’t consume gum with sorbitol – it is really not safe for you or for your teeth!
Also you would be better to use a natural sugar in the lemonade and then have some xylitol after drinking it. I do not recommend putting xylitol in acidic or harmful drinks – it gets too diluted in the acidity. Use xylitol immediately after to take the acidity away.
Best wishes,
Dr. Ellie
**Do you have a question you’d like to ask Dr. Ellie? Submit it below and she answer it in one of the “Q&A with Dr. Ellie” posts!**
For more information, please visit all of Dr. Ellie’s web-sites:
Dr. E Oral Health Coaching - articles, resources and videos to help you learn more
Zellies.com - learn more & order your Zellies Xylitol & the Complete Mouth Care System
Dr. Ellie.com - a great resource for learning more about oral health & Dr. Ellie
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Does it matter if you clean more than one toothbrush in the same capful/container of listerine?
Hi Michele,
I honestly don’t know the scientific answer to your question. At my next opportunity – I will ask a microbiologist for their opinion.
You could consider to spritz the brushes – or maybe just alternate days. Make sure that after rinsing the Listerine off with water, you let your toothbrushes dry out completely. Bacteria die when they dry!!
We have started selling Mouth Watchers antibacterial toothbrushes. Does anyone have comments or testimonials about these new brushes we added to our website?
1.-How it will be the ultimate oral health for people with a few teeth and dentadures?
2.- and which material for dentadures you believe is the less harmfull for health ?
Regards
Thank you very much for this amazing complete program you put together and share it for free
God bless you and the world
Mony
Materials for bite plates and dentures contain various metals and plastics. Concerns about these metals or plastics should be addressed with your dentist – particularly to find out if the plastic leaches Bisphemol A.
When you have dentures, you still need to clean your mouth – and plaque grows on your tongue and is present in saliva. If you lost your teeth to periodontal disease, you can still transmit this to others. I suggest Closys as an excellent mouth rinse for mouth health – especially for anyone who has implants to hold in their dentures. Brush your denture with a little toothpaste, and rinse under running water.
Zellies mints are wonderful for anyone with dry mouth or dentures – and they will help protect from fungal infections and keep the mouth balanced and healthy. Our ZellieBears are another good option – or you may want to make a drink with a teaspoon of xylitol in water – and sip this during the morning or during the night for mouth protection.
If you ever see a white coating on your tongue or the skin of your mouth – consider diet and nutrition – and maybe add some probiotics to your daily nutrition.Zellies will help prevent this from happening also.
I just read your article about 10 steps to prevent gum recession and the brief one about “black triangles.” I recently found a black triangle between my front 2 lower teeth, which appeared only after 4 months on your program. On the one hand, I am delighted to always feel the “after the dental cleaning” cleanliness in that spot, you know, where your tongue can actually feel the separations between each tooth, but on the other hand, I’m worried that my gums are receding. The dentist checked for recession a month ago and noted just a “2″ there and didn’t say a word about recession except around my back teeth, where there were a couple of “4′s.” I only brush 2x/day and floss every 2-3 days. I eat healthfully and am in my mid 40s. Will quitting flossing altogether (I have cut down from daily to every 2-3 days) make the triangle ever disappear/the gum tissue grow in again?
I always want to know what “on my program” means! I need to ensure that you eat Zellies after everything you eat or drink, and whenever your mouth is dry. I also need to ensure you have at least 5 grams of xylitol each day?
Are you using other forms of xylitol rather than Zellies?……perhaps they are not working well….
I also need to assume you have the correct “system” products ( Closys, Crest Cavity Protection paste, Original Listerine, ACT anti-cavity rinse) and have read our booklets and instructions to use it correctly.
Gum health is directly related to gut health, the quality of your diet and the health of your digestion.
You may want to think about taking a good multi-vitamin, possibly a probiotic, and definitely ensure you have enough fresh veggies and fruits (for their anti-oxidant qualities). I like to recommend fresh pineapple too – the bromalain in pineapple can help digestive absorption – which could be important for saliva quality.
I’d also like to know what kind of toothbrush you use and if you brush your gums and massage them.
Some brushes are way too soft and some are too hard.
The idea is to massage the circulation in your gums – and bring a healthy blood supply to help the gums get healthy and possibly grow back. The nutrients that you consume help the healing process, but only if you stimulate circulation in the gum tissues with your toothbrush. Let me know if you need more help with brushing – this is very important for gum health!
I have no idea how flossing could possibly help re-grow gums, and certainly there is no science to show it can. If you can email a picture to me at ellie@zellies.com I can take a look and maybe help you with some other suggestions.
My dentist would like to apply a white sealant to my pre-molar because it has a very deep fissure which she said is causing staining/food to get caught. I do see a fine dark line in that tooth frequently and she demonstrated with her explorer how deep the tip is able to reach in. I am 46 and in good health. I am using your complete system — should I allow her to do the sealant? (Perhaps this situation would be an exception to your usual advice to avoid sealants since eventually they leak, harbor bacteria, and do need to be replaced every few years?)
I cannot diagnose nor give information about a specific tooth here, but we can discuss why I believe it is better to avoid sealants whenever possible. In this case, a sealant would probably be extremely small, and it may look nicer– so your decision could be made for esthetic reasons.
On the other hand, most US dentists have never seen a cavity reverse, and only a few believe in remineralization. Slowly this is changing, but xylitol is new to the United States and without its help, “miraculous” tooth repairs are not possible. Personally I suggest you use Zellies Mints and my system for at least 12 months and “watch” the outcome for this tooth before making any decision (by the way, we would all love to hear the rest of this story if you decide to wait…..).
Every time you eat a Zellies Mint and it dissolves in your mouth, xylitol liquid washes over teeth –into every pit and fissure. In these hidden places, xylitol eliminates harmful bacteria that may be lodged there. Without cavity-forming bacteria, danger is averted – and a sealant becomes unnecessary.
The biggest problem with sealants is they contain BPA (BisPhenol A) a chemical that is disruptive since it mimics estrogen and can get into brain tissue. There are additional problems with sealants for kid’s teeth, since healthy bacteria in tooth grooves are a positive source to balance mouth bacteria and fight infection and cavities. This idea of promoting healthy bacteria in tooth grooves is a little-known concept – and we will discuss this in future newsletters.
When you use xylitol at the end of every meal and snack, your risk for decay will be reduced so much that the need for a preventive sealant is eliminated.
I have a 20 month old daughter. She has a minor upper lip tie (which I read can lead to a greater chance of cavities) and she is still nursing at night. It seems to me that her upper 4 baby teeth have been rough and discolored almost since they came in. I’m brushing her teeth 2-3 times a day now with a natural child-safe toothpaste because I fear they are decaying. It is a traumatic event, where we have to hold her down to get to all her teeth, so we used to brush them once before bed (without paste when she was younger) and allow her to ”brush” her teeth any other time she wanted to try.
I’m concerned about some the artificial colors and ingredients in the products you recommend, but I’m willing to use them to protect her teeth and prevent further damage. She drinks only water from a sippy cup. I’m working on making less starchy meals. She doesn’t have enough molars yet to master leafy greens, but she does try.
What would you recommend for a toddler in this situation?
I have read good things about breast milk actually being protective for teeth, and we won’t be night weaning soon. I’d like to know what to do during the day and if you recommend rubbing xylitol on her teeth several times a day. I also worry about giving her too much flouride in toothpaste form. We have a Reverse Osmosis water filtration system that may be taking the flouride out of our water already, though.
Thank you for your question! Please see Dr. Ellie’s reply here: http://ultimateoralhealthguide.com/2012/08/28/q-a-with-dr-ellie/
Hi, I’m wondering how long I need to rinse with Listerine. I can only make it about 12 seconds before it starts stinging really badly.
The ingredients in Listerine do their work in less that 60 seconds – according to research. I know that this can seem forever – so I empathize. Ensure you are using the correct toothpaste – Crest Cavity Protection -immediately before the Listerine step. Cover your gums and teeth in the toothpaste before rinsing with Listerine. Spit out any big “glob” of paste, but don’t rinse the paste off your teeth or gums with water. Go straight to the Listerine step and squish the Listerine vigorously between your teeth – like liquid floss – for as long as you can tolerate. Spit out and immediately rinse with ACT. Use only Original or Cool Mint Listerine – never the purple or other varieties! If this continues to be intolerable for you – try diluting the Listerine with warm water – or in the worst case scenario – just use it for as long as you can! Even a short rinse will be a benefit for your oral health. Thanks so much for your question.
I bought a tube of crest cavity protection, guess whats in it? sorbitol and sodium saccharin. Is that all right in your book?
The reason I talk about sorbitol is to warn people that there are many “sugarless” products ( often made with sorbitol) that are NOT safe for teeth. Sorbitol can feed plaque bacteria and grow plaque when eaten regularly. Most importantly, when mixed with xylitol, in gum – for example, the sorbitol appears to inactivate remineralization.
On the other hand, in toothpaste and mouth rinses ( although I wish we did not have sorbitol) it does not create any problems – so don’t worry!