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I think there should be a serious look at whether dental industry is preventing these treatments from seeing the light, or at least quietly and deliberately ign

I think there should be a serious look at whether dental industry is preventing these treatments from seeing the light, or at least quietly and deliberately ignoring them. Xylitol has almost definite benefits but most dentists have never heard of it.

triyambakam 6y ago
I first heard about Xylitol at natural food stores and from this book - "Kiss your dentist goodbye" (written by a dentist) - though like you say, no dentist that I've been to in person has mentioned it [1] https://www.amazon.com/Kiss-Your-Dentist-Goodbye-Yourself/dp/1632991195 https://www.amazon.com/Kiss-Your-Dentist-Goodbye-Yourself/dp...
- starpilot 6y ago
  Oh wow, that's interesting. Looks like her routine is here: https://drelliecom.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/zellies-cmcsbooklet-2016-spreads.pdf https://drelliecom.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/zellies-cmcsb... I may try this.
derefr 6y ago
> Xylitol has almost definite benefits but most dentists have never heard of it. I mean, it's in a lot of toothpastes and mouthwashes. Certainly it could be in more things, but dentists do recommend those things it's in (without understanding exactly what makes one better than another, instead going on dentistry-association studies of the observed effects of various products. Presumably the scientists doing said studies know what xylitol is.) It's hard to just put xylitol in regular foods, though, because people feed random foods to their pets all the time, and xylitol kills dogs. So it only ends up marketed in the form of things you would never think to allow your pets to have in the first place. (Like mouthwash, or gum, or mints.) You can certainly take your consumption into your own hands, though, and just buy a bag of xylitol to use in place of sucrose for cooking/baking/putting in your coffee/etc. (That is, if you don't have a dog.)
- starpilot 6y ago
  A lot of toothpastes and mouthwashes? Any that you can find in local stores? I have to order mine from Amazon.
  - ravenstine 6y ago
    I'd buy a toothpaste with xylitol if I could, but I've never seen any in stores. It doesn't have xylitol, but I do buy toothpaste with bioactive glass which helps remineralize teeth without fluoride. I actually wrote an article about its history and why it disappeared from shelves in the US: https://medium.com/@ravenstine/the-curious-history-of-novamin-toothpaste-620c6bef8881 https://medium.com/@ravenstine/the-curious-history-of-novami...
    - alanbernstein 6y ago
      Thanks for sharing this. I've been asking dentists about this stuff for years, not one had heard of it. When I last read about it, it was just referred to as 45s5, and I didn't realize it was available from a major manufacturer. Now I have a chance to get some. Care to share your experience with using it?
    - 542458 6y ago
      Some types of Tom’s toothpaste have Xyletol. You just have to make sure you’re getting one with fluoride too, and not one of the useless non-fluoride ones. I Typically stock up when I find it. There are other toothpastes with Xyletol too, but that’s the one I usually look for.

triyambakam 6y ago

I first heard about Xylitol at natural food stores and from this book - "Kiss your dentist goodbye" (written by a dentist) - though like you say, no dentist that I've been to in person has mentioned it [1] https://www.amazon.com/Kiss-Your-Dentist-Goodbye-Yourself/dp/1632991195 https://www.amazon.com/Kiss-Your-Dentist-Goodbye-Yourself/dp...

starpilot 6y ago
Oh wow, that's interesting. Looks like her routine is here: https://drelliecom.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/zellies-cmcsbooklet-2016-spreads.pdf https://drelliecom.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/zellies-cmcsb... I may try this.

derefr 6y ago

> Xylitol has almost definite benefits but most dentists have never heard of it. I mean, it's in a lot of toothpastes and mouthwashes. Certainly it could be in more things, but dentists do recommend those things it's in (without understanding exactly what makes one better than another, instead going on dentistry-association studies of the observed effects of various products. Presumably the scientists doing said studies know what xylitol is.) It's hard to just put xylitol in regular foods, though, because people feed random foods to their pets all the time, and xylitol kills dogs. So it only ends up marketed in the form of things you would never think to allow your pets to have in the first place. (Like mouthwash, or gum, or mints.) You can certainly take your consumption into your own hands, though, and just buy a bag of xylitol to use in place of sucrose for cooking/baking/putting in your coffee/etc. (That is, if you don't have a dog.)

starpilot 6y ago
A lot of toothpastes and mouthwashes? Any that you can find in local stores? I have to order mine from Amazon.
- ravenstine 6y ago
  I'd buy a toothpaste with xylitol if I could, but I've never seen any in stores. It doesn't have xylitol, but I do buy toothpaste with bioactive glass which helps remineralize teeth without fluoride. I actually wrote an article about its history and why it disappeared from shelves in the US: https://medium.com/@ravenstine/the-curious-history-of-novamin-toothpaste-620c6bef8881 https://medium.com/@ravenstine/the-curious-history-of-novami...
  - alanbernstein 6y ago
    Thanks for sharing this. I've been asking dentists about this stuff for years, not one had heard of it. When I last read about it, it was just referred to as 45s5, and I didn't realize it was available from a major manufacturer. Now I have a chance to get some. Care to share your experience with using it?
  - 542458 6y ago
    Some types of Tom’s toothpaste have Xyletol. You just have to make sure you’re getting one with fluoride too, and not one of the useless non-fluoride ones. I Typically stock up when I find it. There are other toothpastes with Xyletol too, but that’s the one I usually look for.