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: I was interested in trying out your system. I have to fillings that are pretty large located as an MOD on my 54 and 64 (primary 6 year molars … yep, I never lost them..lol) . Anyway, I am currently at the end of my journey for ortho, and would like to start using your system to keep these two little teeth as long as possible. I currently have been using the crest you prescribe, and then rinse after with Listerine, followed by fluorinse (it’s a daily fluoride rinse from oral b….is that okay to be using? Because I can’t find ACT in Canada). Also, We do not have closys here either. Is there something manufactured in Canada that is comparable and as effective as closys.
P.S. My fillings have been feeling higher lately, is it possible that my teeth are starting to repair and pushing the filling out?
Thank you so much for all your help.
-L
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A:
Hi L,
I am not sure why your teeth would be feeling higher – this would be more likely something to do with the ortho tooth movement you have been working on with your orthodontist.
My system will look after your teeth and your gums.
Don’t forget you need xylitol – plenty of it for the system to work.
Xylitol makes plaque slippery – so the rinses can wash it away!!
Try to read about the suggestions on www.Zellies.com
Closys in UK is called Retardex – and that may be the same in Canada.
You can find the company on the internet (ROWPAR) and ask them what to do.
Amazon does sell to Canada I think.
We had a blog post about this from last year, here is the link: http://askdrellie.blogspot.com/p/ellies-system-other-countries.html.
Let us know how everything works out for you.
Enjoy your teeth and your ultimate oral health – from now and into the future!
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!**
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For more information on oral health and xylitol, please visit all of Dr. Ellie’s web-sites:
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
Dr. E Oral Health Coaching – articles, resources and videos to help you learn more
Join the conversation online on the Zellies Facebook page!
Categories: Uncategorized
Hi
I am also a Canadian and we have a company in Canada that says they create (for dental professionals) a product that can replace Closys. It is made by Oravital and is called, CDLx System. I would be very grateful if Dr Ellie could it check out. They supply to Canadian consumers from their website. With much gratitude and appreciation,
Doree
Thanks for your question. Despite CDLx claims, their ingredients are not the same as those in CloSYS.
Here are the facts:
1) Zinc Citrate may have been included in this formula to help bad breath, but Zinc Citrate usually requires a separate activator to be mixed in the cup – before using. CloSYS is naturally activated by human saliva.
2) CDLx contain xylitol, but it appears that xylitol could have a negative effect and activate the active ingredients in the bottle (before it reaches the mouth).
3) The amount of xylitol in the rinse would not enough to be useful and, as you know, I recommend using Zellies xylitol products during the day – so it does not need to be part of the rinse routine.
4) Remember that ingredients may appear to match between one product and another, but this does not guarantee similar results. For example, ACT substitutes (like Walgreen’s Equate) may have 0.5% sodium fluoride and look identical, but the two products are not the same consistency and so the more “liquid” Equate will not be retained in cracks and pits to help heal dental problems as effectively as ACT. It is the INACTIVE ingredients in ACT that make it so superior.
5) The buffering product in CloSYS naturally activates CloSYS within 15-60 seconds (just as your brushing begins). If a product is activated in the bottle (due to interaction with other ingredients), in the cup (as with Smart Mouth), or takes longer than 15 to 60 seconds to activate, the product has limited value. It appears that different means of activation control the rate and amount of release of the active ingredient in CDLx.
6) All these facts makes Closys such a special rinse – but I understand we need to find other alternatives in countries outside the US.
I have gathered the information above from my best and most credible sources. It appears little is know about long term use of CDLx. I have not found any product reviews by Health Canada or any specific research with this product. Any claims that CDLx product is “just like CloSYS” is not correct.
On the other hand, this may be your best option currently in Canada. You spoke of being happy so far when using CDLx, but please keep in touch so we can all hear more and ensure that you remain happy using it over the years.
This reply was specifically to give you the facts as accurately as possible. I will certainly let you know if we find a way to supply Canadian addresses with Closys, or if we hear more things ( hopefully positive) about CDLx. Thank you for an excellent question and nice report of your successes so far ( I apologize I had to shorten your post to leave room for this long reply!)
Ellie
Thanks, Dr Ellie, for your research on this. I also live in Canada, and we usually make an annual trip across the border to buy Closys and ACT for the year. We didn’t do that this past autumn, because it turned out we had bought tons of ACT and because e used to be able to buy Closys from mywellcare.ca (near Toronto) in 32 oz bottles. Then, for reasons the web store owners didn’t know, they could no longer get the 32oz bottles in Canada, only 4oz bottles (12 bottles for about $45), and now they only have it in single bottles that are part of sample packs of the rinse plus breath spray and toothpaste (which come in a box x6 for $72 (yes, you read that right: $72.) Amazon does not ship this rinse to Canada, but I recently ordered 2 x 64oz bottles from just4teeth.com. With the shipping fees, the total cost for the 2 bottles is $109. I just checked the UPS tracking today, and it would seem that the order is stuck at customs–maybe that’s normal, or maybe there’s a problem with getting it across the border, or maybe there will be a customs charge in addition. Anyhow…I feel fortunate to be able to afford this kind of expense, but many people cannot. So any efforts that you might make to see about shipping to Canada would be most appreciated!! Until then, we’ll continue our treks across the border to buy mouthwash (you should see the looks and hear the comments that we get from customs officers on both sides of the border….”What–you don’t have mouthwash in Canada?”, when we’re asked about the purpose of our trip.
Thanks for your message – we will try to help as much as we can – and as quickly as we can.
We should send you some booklets of the Zellies Complete Mouth Care System to share with the Crossing Guards!!
Thanks for your message – Ellie and the Team at Zellies
Dr Ellie, I just checked and the Canadian Amazon site (amazon.ca) does sell Closys to Canadians: it is $75 for a 32 oz bottle and it costs another $10 for shipping. The last time I bought a 32 oz bottle at Walgreens in the US, it was $12.99. Closys appears to be a luxury item in Canada…
Keep in touch – we are working and perhaps we can ship Closys to Canada soon!
Does anyone know WHY there’s a problem?
I can come up with lots of conspiracy-theory reasons why a bunch of people have expended considerable effort to get CloSys off the market in Canada (and Retardex is gone, too, by the way), but that would just be guessing and attributing vile motives to the Canadian Dental Association and some colluding government officials. And we wouldn’t want me doing that…. 🙂
Have you heard or read anything that would give a hint why Closys can’t be had in Canada or Britain?
I see that Zellies appears willing to ship a complete kit – I just ordered one yesterday, along with a couple of those silver-impregnated toothbrushes (great idea, that), and the cost was over $100. Actually, 40-some bucks was shipping. We’ll see if it makes it across the border.
Zellies would be doing us Kanucks a service if they’d (you’d) sell and ship the Closys 32-ounce and the original ACT without requiring us to pay for cross-border Listerine.
I’ve been buying Xyla brand candies recently, but I’ll be motivated to switch over to Zellies brand if I can get the other system components from Zellies as well (without going broke).
When I hit their website, I thought Walgreens would be my Closys salvation, but the you-have-to-look-for-it fine print says they won’t ship outside the USofA. Drat! The same applies to all the other suggested online re-sellers that the CloSys people list on their site. I tried every one. No shipping to Canada.
I dunno. I’m liking my conspiracy theory more and more. Shhh! Was that a black helicopter just now?
Kevin
PS: It would be helpful if Karen would come back and let us know what happened with her cross-border shipment. Did it ever get out of Canada Customs? If not, did they tell you why it was held?
Information on this topic is extraordinarily difficult to find.
Hi Kevin
Fellow Canuck here. I set up an American address through myUS.com then I ordered 3 – 64oz bottles of Closys ($26.99 each) and 6 – ACT 18oz ($5.99 each) from just4teeth.com. There was free shipping to my US address and then the cost to ship it to Canada to my house was $100 for 25lbs. Hold it – I’m not done. At the border I was charged $19 for GST and then some other fee (ROD) ? which was another $10 plus more GST. So for what I got about $250. There are 3 of us on the system. It works out to be about 40-50/month / person (not including the cost of zylitol). So approx $550/year / person. Steep at first glance but what does drilling and filling with a Canadian dentist cost?
We LOVE the 64oz bottles of Closys because they come with a pump! My daughters and I have a little 1/4c measuring cup with a handle and we do 1 pump for our rinse which is probably about 1/2 an oz. The perfect amount! The ACT bottles are cool too because they have a built-in squeeze to fill top for the 10 millilitres suggested. As you said Kevin, we can buy the nasty Listerine here in Canada for cheap (Crest original which is called Cavity Protection here in Canada is also cheap too). I really agree with the idea put forward by Kevin to Zellies for Canadians.
Zellies, PLEASE consider just selling us the Closys and ACT products (plus Zellies of course) because YES it is an “adventure” to get here. The 64oz bottles of Closys would also be a nice feature and I really like the 6 pack of ACT. I did contact Closys by the way and they said they were not shipping to Canada because of our French labelling laws. Come-on! How hard is it to put a french sticker on your product?! Anyways my back up plan because I live on Vancouver Island is to catch a ferry, head across the border and go to Blaine Washington to buy my year’s supply. For now, what I described above works for us.
Let’s keep rinsing out these ideas 🙂
Doree
Thank you so much for all your work on getting these products and sharing your experiences. Zellies will certainly help Canadians as much as we can. I think once people see the progress they can achieve on this system then they will begin to see savings rather than expense. So happy to have your input – thank you again! Ellie
Hi. I have suffered with bad breath for 20 years. Nothing helps! Wondering if your system can cure me? Thanks–Jane
Absolutely – but you need to read the details and follow products and protocol exactly. Make sure you use xylitol – and I really recommend our Zellies products as the very best!! If you drink water – you may want to add a tiny amount of xylitol to the water. Also try to start a new program of keeping your drinks to meal times as much as possible. Always have xylitol after everything you eat or drink.
If your digestion is in need of help – maybe consider probiotics……
Please let us know the outcome – it usually takes less than a month to see incredible changes!
Ok, great, I will tryi it. But, can you please explain why no drinks except after meals? Thanks! Jane
My intent was to suggest that we try to keep drinks to mealtimes. In other words, try to give your mouth a period of time between meals when you do not eat or drink. In the US we have a habit of always snacking, drinking etc – and some people rarely give their teeth any opportunity to “interact” with the natural saliva in their mouth! Hope this explains!! Thanks
Good morning Dr. Ellie.
Have you had any progress with shippig to Canada.
Regards Doug
Hi, and thank you for asking! Yes – you should have no problem and be able to ship to Canada from our website http://www.Zellies.com. Please let us know f you have any issues with the website – because we believe it works well. For those in other countries – we suggest they investigate a cool website that gives you a US address – so we ship there, and then this company will ship the products oversees – making the event seamless.
Here is their website:
A global book and yet no global alternates for your regime? UK based and impressed with reading but not so with a system that is specific to products for USA only. Would you provide the alternates please? Perhaps a referenced inclusion on your website but within your book would have been preferable – given it is revised.
Thanks for your message. At the end of our “advanced use” of the Complete Mouth Care System we have a link about using it in other countries. We may open up this PDF and make it into a more obvious link. Also, we have problems as products change and suddenly are not available. Perhaps one day we will find a way to make this system more available – fingers crossed. Here is the current link – but stay tuned as we try to address your question in detail – perhaps as a newsletter or video blog. LINK