Could Chocolate Actually be Good for Your Teeth?
New toothpaste substitutes cocoa extract for fluoride
A New Orleans start-up has developed a toothpaste that uses a naturally occurring compound found in cocoa instead of fluoride to help strengthen teeth.
New Orlean's based, Theodent relies on Rennou, a proprietary blend of a cocoa extract and other minerals that work together to strengthen teeth. The extract, a white crytalline powder, has a chemical makeup similar to that of caffeine, says Arman Sadeghpour, PhD, Theodent president and CEO.
"Theodent is more effective at strengthening enamel than fluoride," he said in an interview with DrBicuspid.com."More and more people are shying away from fluoride due to concerns about toxicity."
Theodent Classic ($9.99) hit store shelves at Whole Foods Markets last week. A luxury version of the toothpaste, Theodent 300, is an extra-strength version ($99.99) for patients with supersensitive teeth, will be marketed to select cosmetic dentists and medical professionals, says the company.
Rennou was discovered by Tetsuo Nakamoto DDS, PhD, chief scientific officer and chairman of the board at Theodent, while researching the effect of caffeine on teeth at the Louisiana State University (LSU) School of Dentistry. Dr. Nakamoto collaborated with two experts in analytical geology from the University of New Orleans, and together they discovered Rennou's effects on teeth and enamel.
How it works
Enamel is made up hundreds of thousands of calcium and phosphorus unit crystals that form the mineral component of enamel, hydroxyapatite. Through a series of laboratory tests, Dr. Nakamoto's team identified that Rennou increases the size of the surface unit crystals of enamel by four times. Larger unit crystals make teeth less susceptible to bacterial acid demineralization.
Sadeghpour joined this scientific team and completed his doctoral thesis at Tulane University by comparing Rennou head to head with fluoride and confirmed that it was more effective than fluoride at strengthening teeth.
Two experiments were performed for the study: the first examining enamel surface microhardness, followed by an acid dissolution study.
Through this research, Sadeghpour found that human teeth treated with varying doses of Rennou were generally stronger than those treated with fluoride and also more resilient to bacterial acid demineralization. His research became the foundation of taking this discovery and turning it into a product.
After Sadeghpour finished his doctoral thesis, Tulane University did a small press release on the findings. He then received a call from Clifton Carey, PhD, director of independent research at the ADA, who then independently studied Rennou.
In his research, Carey took initial radiographs of teeth before placing them in distilled water, fluoride, or Rennou for two minutes, Sadeghpour explained. He then subjected these teeth to an acid attack (1% citric acid at a pH of 3.9) for 10 minutes and measured how many microns of enamel were lost.
Carey found that the tooth in distilled water lost 8.88 microns, the one in fluoride lost 5.47 microns, and Rennou beat both fluoride and control group with 3.12 microns of erosion.
That in itself was interesting, according to Sadeghpour. But he also was intrigued that the concentration of Rennou used in the study was very small -- 142 times less -- compared with the concentration of fluoride. Rennou had almost twice (1.75 times to be exact) the protective effect of fluoride.
So, if you're looking to strengthen your teeth, try chocolate instead of fluoride and you may be surprised by the results. Look for Theodent Classic at a Whole Foods Market near you.
Source: www.drbicuspid.com