4 ms·

I have a feeling that the people who would trust a product like Lumina are probably the same people who will never use flouride.

by yosito 2y ago

chrisfosterelli 2y ago
I'm strongly considering it, although I can't get it where I live yet. I've never had a cavity, but I spend a lot of time doing endurance sports and very high carbohydrate intake has become the latest performance enhancer. As a result I'm often drinking a couple hundred grams of plain table sugar per week and I'd like to keep my streak of good teeth health. If I can do that for $250 I don't see why not. They're pretty clear it's not a replacement for brushing. I think of it as preventative care (assuming it is actually safe of course).
- Grimblewald 2y ago
  Read the article. If you have not already, you might rethink consideration of this product.
  - dgfitz 2y ago
    They just needed to humble brag, the article wasn’t important.
    - BytesAndGears 2y ago
      I don’t think that’s the case at all - it’s a common concern in endurance sports, you really do have huge quantities of sugar.
  - comp_throw7 2y ago
    The article provides some reasons to think that the treatment might not be fully effective even conditional on the mechanism of action working as described, not that it won't do anything at all.
    - Grimblewald 2y ago
      The article provides some sound reasons for why 1. infecting yourself with this bacteria may not do what it is marketed to do 2. may result in suppression of beneficial microbiota 3. is not safe against lateral acquisition of a gene that is beneficial to the microbe but pathogenic to the human host 4. there is no real kill switch for a lot of money, you might just end up buying a lot of health issues.
  - thowawatp302 2y ago
    Th article just confirms my suspicion that the worst thing is I could be out $500
    - j_bum 2y ago
      How is that your takeaway? Either you didn’t read the article, or you’re blatantly ignoring that we don’t understand the long term implications of having this bacteria in your mouth and gut microbiome. There may be no problems at all… but we don’t know. This is why FDA regulations exist. The product being sold in Prospera to skirt regulations should be a red flag anyway. I’m not saying that it can’t or won’t work. I’m saying, be careful. If you can prevent cavities by brushing with fluoridated toothpaste and flossing, why would you adopt a potential risk that could affect your health?
      - hackernewds 2y ago
        I googled and got multiple results that I couldn't tie with your comment. what do you reference with Prospers?
        j_bum 2y ago
        As referenced in the article, Próspera [0]. It’s a private city/private economic zone in Honduras. The NYT actually just released a great Sunday Read podcast on the city this weekend [1]. [0] https://www.prospera.co/en/visit https://www.prospera.co/en/visit [1] https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/15/podcasts/the-daily/prospera-hunduras-crypto.html https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/15/podcasts/the-daily/prospe...
        PawgerZ 2y ago
        The article: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/28/magazine/prospera-honduras-crypto.html?pgtype=Article&action=click&module=RelatedLinks https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/28/magazine/prospera-hondura... Archive: https://archive.is/fwjcD https://archive.is/fwjcD
      - 2y ago
- AStonesThrow 2y ago
  I hope one day that the dudes eating sugar and the dudes using fluoride get into a room together, and discuss how long and often said substances are in contact with dental enamel, and at what concentrations, and then either they convert to homeopathy, or find something better to do with their HSAs.
pdabbadabba 2y ago
Since you bring up fluoride—does anyone know the state of the literature on the effectiveness of fluoride treatments? I’ve been getting them for years. But with the recent trends towards PE owned dental practices and efforts to juice their profitability, I’m more and more skeptical of anything my dentist tries to sell me on.
- whynotminot 2y ago
  I also get the treatment because why risk your teeth and health at the cost of basically $50? But am still curious to know more about its efficacy.
- jolt42 2y ago
  Seems solid to me. They can predict reduction of caries before they add it to city supply water, which still happens in China I believe.
  - amenghra 2y ago
    Majority of USA has fluoridated water per the cdc website. No need to go to China if you want data for studies.
- teslabox 2y ago
  I learned about Novamin a few years ago [0], and ordered BioMin Restore [1] to give it a try. I'm now a devoted customer. There are other Novamin/hydroxyapatite toothpastes, but I only have experience with this one brand. I think this company's latest news is the version of their toothpaste that has fluoride [2] is now FDA-approved for sensitive teeth, so they're going to be able to sell it in the United States specifically labeled to help with sensitive teeth. If you live in Canada or the UK [3], it looks like you can order this now. Just noticed a blog post on the UK site: Why you shouldn’t over-prescribe fluoride to your patients - https://biomin.co.uk/news/article/why-you-shouldnt-over-prescribe-fluoride-your-patients https://biomin.co.uk/news/article/why-you-shouldnt-over-pres... [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26669660 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26669660 [1] https://drcollins.com/collections/toothpaste/products/biomin-restore-toothpaste https://drcollins.com/collections/toothpaste/products/biomin... [2] https://biomintoothpaste.com/ https://biomintoothpaste.com/ [3] https://www.biomin-toothpaste.com/products/biomin-f-75-ml https://www.biomin-toothpaste.com/products/biomin-f-75-ml / https://biomin.co.uk/ https://biomin.co.uk/
bhaney 2y ago
Can you explain a little more about where your "feeling" comes from? I preordered Lumina months ago and I drink fluoridated water, brush regularly with fluoridated toothpaste, and intend to keep doing so indefinitely.
- yosito 2y ago
  I socialize with a lot of international entrepreneurs who go to places like Prospera where Lumina was started. In those circles, it's not at all uncommon for people to see fluoride as an evil thing. I've even seen women in their dating profiles advertising that they won't date a man unless he's "unfluoridated".
  - bhaney 2y ago
    Have you considered that surrounding yourself with weird conspiracy theorists and then blindly projecting their behaviors onto the population at large isn't a great idea?
comp_throw7 2y ago
Well, you can trivially falsify this feeling by going and asking some early adopters whether they brush their teeth with fluoridated toothpaste. (Spoiler: they do.)

I have a feeling that the people who would trust a product like Lumina are probably the same people who will never use flouride.

by yosito 2y ago

I have a feeling that the people who would trust a product like Lumina are probably the same people who will never use flouride.

chrisfosterelli 2y ago

I'm strongly considering it, although I can't get it where I live yet. I've never had a cavity, but I spend a lot of time doing endurance sports and very high carbohydrate intake has become the latest performance enhancer. As a result I'm often drinking a couple hundred grams of plain table sugar per week and I'd like to keep my streak of good teeth health. If I can do that for $250 I don't see why not. They're pretty clear it's not a replacement for brushing. I think of it as preventative care (assuming it is actually safe of course).

Grimblewald 2y ago
Read the article. If you have not already, you might rethink consideration of this product.
- dgfitz 2y ago
  They just needed to humble brag, the article wasn’t important.
  - BytesAndGears 2y ago
    I don’t think that’s the case at all - it’s a common concern in endurance sports, you really do have huge quantities of sugar.
- comp_throw7 2y ago
  The article provides some reasons to think that the treatment might not be fully effective even conditional on the mechanism of action working as described, not that it won't do anything at all.
  - Grimblewald 2y ago
    The article provides some sound reasons for why 1. infecting yourself with this bacteria may not do what it is marketed to do 2. may result in suppression of beneficial microbiota 3. is not safe against lateral acquisition of a gene that is beneficial to the microbe but pathogenic to the human host 4. there is no real kill switch for a lot of money, you might just end up buying a lot of health issues.
- thowawatp302 2y ago
  Th article just confirms my suspicion that the worst thing is I could be out $500
  - j_bum 2y ago
    How is that your takeaway? Either you didn’t read the article, or you’re blatantly ignoring that we don’t understand the long term implications of having this bacteria in your mouth and gut microbiome. There may be no problems at all… but we don’t know. This is why FDA regulations exist. The product being sold in Prospera to skirt regulations should be a red flag anyway. I’m not saying that it can’t or won’t work. I’m saying, be careful. If you can prevent cavities by brushing with fluoridated toothpaste and flossing, why would you adopt a potential risk that could affect your health?
    - hackernewds 2y ago
      I googled and got multiple results that I couldn't tie with your comment. what do you reference with Prospers?
      - j_bum 2y ago
        As referenced in the article, Próspera [0]. It’s a private city/private economic zone in Honduras. The NYT actually just released a great Sunday Read podcast on the city this weekend [1]. [0] https://www.prospera.co/en/visit https://www.prospera.co/en/visit [1] https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/15/podcasts/the-daily/prospera-hunduras-crypto.html https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/15/podcasts/the-daily/prospe...
        PawgerZ 2y ago
        The article: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/28/magazine/prospera-honduras-crypto.html?pgtype=Article&action=click&module=RelatedLinks https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/28/magazine/prospera-hondura... Archive: https://archive.is/fwjcD https://archive.is/fwjcD
    - 2y ago
AStonesThrow 2y ago
I hope one day that the dudes eating sugar and the dudes using fluoride get into a room together, and discuss how long and often said substances are in contact with dental enamel, and at what concentrations, and then either they convert to homeopathy, or find something better to do with their HSAs.

pdabbadabba 2y ago

Since you bring up fluoride—does anyone know the state of the literature on the effectiveness of fluoride treatments? I’ve been getting them for years. But with the recent trends towards PE owned dental practices and efforts to juice their profitability, I’m more and more skeptical of anything my dentist tries to sell me on.

whynotminot 2y ago
I also get the treatment because why risk your teeth and health at the cost of basically $50? But am still curious to know more about its efficacy.
jolt42 2y ago
Seems solid to me. They can predict reduction of caries before they add it to city supply water, which still happens in China I believe.
- amenghra 2y ago
  Majority of USA has fluoridated water per the cdc website. No need to go to China if you want data for studies.
teslabox 2y ago
I learned about Novamin a few years ago [0], and ordered BioMin Restore [1] to give it a try. I'm now a devoted customer. There are other Novamin/hydroxyapatite toothpastes, but I only have experience with this one brand. I think this company's latest news is the version of their toothpaste that has fluoride [2] is now FDA-approved for sensitive teeth, so they're going to be able to sell it in the United States specifically labeled to help with sensitive teeth. If you live in Canada or the UK [3], it looks like you can order this now. Just noticed a blog post on the UK site: Why you shouldn’t over-prescribe fluoride to your patients - https://biomin.co.uk/news/article/why-you-shouldnt-over-prescribe-fluoride-your-patients https://biomin.co.uk/news/article/why-you-shouldnt-over-pres... [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26669660 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26669660 [1] https://drcollins.com/collections/toothpaste/products/biomin-restore-toothpaste https://drcollins.com/collections/toothpaste/products/biomin... [2] https://biomintoothpaste.com/ https://biomintoothpaste.com/ [3] https://www.biomin-toothpaste.com/products/biomin-f-75-ml https://www.biomin-toothpaste.com/products/biomin-f-75-ml / https://biomin.co.uk/ https://biomin.co.uk/

bhaney 2y ago

Can you explain a little more about where your "feeling" comes from? I preordered Lumina months ago and I drink fluoridated water, brush regularly with fluoridated toothpaste, and intend to keep doing so indefinitely.

yosito 2y ago
I socialize with a lot of international entrepreneurs who go to places like Prospera where Lumina was started. In those circles, it's not at all uncommon for people to see fluoride as an evil thing. I've even seen women in their dating profiles advertising that they won't date a man unless he's "unfluoridated".
- bhaney 2y ago
  Have you considered that surrounding yourself with weird conspiracy theorists and then blindly projecting their behaviors onto the population at large isn't a great idea?

comp_throw7 2y ago

Well, you can trivially falsify this feeling by going and asking some early adopters whether they brush their teeth with fluoridated toothpaste. (Spoiler: they do.)