← Chasing Life with Dr. Sanjay Gupta
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- [00:02]
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
Welcome to Chasing Life. For years, you may have watched scary movies with dentists as the villains. Think Marathon Man.
- [00:10]
Dr. Kami Haas
Is it safe?
- [00:11]
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
Or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
- [00:13]
Unidentified Host/Interviewer
Let's see what the damage is, shall we?
- [00:16]
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
Little Shop of Horrors. Maybe because of these movies or not, we have a lot of dental anxiety. In fact, in the United States, nearly three quarters of the population have some degree of fear or anxiety about going to the dentist. That was according to a survey published in the Journal of the American Dental Association. But at the same time, people know that dental care is crucial to our overall health. Get this. The number one most common health condition in the world is, is not cancer. It's not diabetes. It's not even heart disease. It is tooth decay. Among both kids and adults, untreated cavities tops the list. Now, the good news is that cavities are largely preventable.
- [01:10]
Dr. Kami Haas
The problem is, if I ask, you know the next 100 people I'm going to meet today, how do you get cavities? They're all going to tell me, of course, if you don't brush your teeth and eat a lot of sugar. Your mouth is more complex. It's an organ with multiple things that are functioning with a whole world of oral microbes.
- [01:25]
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
That's Dr. Kami Haas. He is a dentist, he's an orthodontist specialist. He's also author of the book called if youf Mouth Could Talk An In Depth Guide to Oral Health and Its Impact on youn Entire Life. Today's discussion is gonna make you think differently about how you care for your teeth. We're gonna talk about Dr. Haass's approach to oral health, what he recommends as the optimal routine to fight cavities and to keep your entire mouth in tip top shape. We're talking about in between the teeth. We're talking about your tongue. We're talking about your breath. We're also going to dive into the fluoride debate. I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN's chief medical correspondent, and this is Chasing Life. Okay, before we get started, I wanted to take a minute to explain how fluoride works. I think this is really important. Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral that can help prevent tooth decay. Remember, prevent tooth decay. Here's how it works. When we eat foods, in particular sugary foods or highly refined carbohydrates, the bacteria living in our mouth that are already there, get to work breaking down that food. And in doing so, when the bacteria start doing their work, they are releasing acid. And that acid is what then corrodes the minerals that make up the outer layers of our teeth. That process is called demineralization and that is the very start of tooth decay. Now fluoride, if it's already on your teeth, can help prevent this loss and even restore some of the minerals broken down by the acid released by those bacteria. Keep that in mind. You got food, you got bacteria, it releases these acids. Fluoride can help protect your teeth from those impacts and even restore some of the minerals. Okay, so keep this in mind during this conversation.
- [03:26]
Dr. Kami Haas
It's a pleasure to meet you. I've seen you obviously on TV a lot. So thanks so much for always been such a wonderful job.
- [03:32]
Interviewer/Host
Oh, thank you, doctor. I appreciate that. I am curious, just for yourself personally, what is your oral healthcare routine like?
- [03:39]
Dr. Kami Haas
In the morning, before breakfast, not after. I start with a very safe and effective mouthwash.
- [03:45]
Interviewer/Host
First thing in the morning, you're saying?
- [03:46]
Dr. Kami Haas
Yeah, before breakfast. Bb and before bedtime. Bb? Why? Because every time you eat or drink, the PH of the saliva drops and mouth becomes very acidic. And that's why you want to avoid brushing your teeth at least for an hour after you eat or drink anything. So in the mornings before breakfast, you want to get up. Use a very safe and healthy mouthwash that doesn't have artificial colors, it's not acidic, it doesn't have antimicrobial agent that kills 99% of your germs. So it alkalizes your mouth, it loosens the plaque, it freshens the mouth. The next thing after that is either you can floss in the morning or in the evening. And if you going to take away one thing from this, remember to clean your tongue because they leave all these microbes that lead to bad breath. And so you want to clean your tongue with a tongue cleaner. You can clean your tongue with a toothbrush, which is very, very minimal cleaning. Or you can use these U shaped tongue cleaners. They're like metal ones. Which is the next, better version or the third one, which is my favorite, is a specialized tongue cleaner that has a tongue brush on one side. These longer brushes that go into the deep crevices of the tongue and the scooper on the other side that you can get out, you know, microbes, the debris and the sulfur that causes bad breath.
- [04:56]
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
Okay, you got that. The mouthwash first, which isn't one of those mouthwashes that kill all the bacteria, but something that actually makes your mouth more basic or more alkaline. Then brush your tongue and finally brush your teeth. Now with regard to flossing, Dr. Haas says at Least once a day, either in the morning or at night. Your choice. But as for the nighttime routine, here's what he recommends.
- [05:21]
Dr. Kami Haas
In the evening, before bedtime, you do everything you did in the morning, but backwards. You do the flossing first. If you haven't done it in the morning. Floss is such a critical thing. I know that's the one area that almost everybody lies about to their dentist about how much they've flossed. But truly, we actually get most of the cavities between the teeth. So floss, it's super important. It causes bad breath if you don't. And use a good floss, you know, and wrap around your finger if you can't do that, because that's the best way, then use a water flosser. And the next thing is those little floss picks. But the best thing is actually a floss, because you can get the cleaner part of the floss in between the teeth. And the flosses I like to use actually have the toothpaste ingredients. Right. Infused in the floss. Because, as I always say, you don't brush without toothpaste. What would you floss without? Toothpaste, because that's actually where we get most of the cavities. So you want to floss first, then you want to brush your teeth again. Safe brush and toothpaste. And then the last thing you do at night is use the mouthwash and swish it around really vigorously and spit it out. Don't rinse anymore with water. So the mouthwash protects your teeth overnight.
- [06:24]
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
Wow.
- [06:25]
Interviewer/Host
Okay. So thank you for that. How do you sort of determine the evidence that makes this the right routine? Is this based on your patients? Because it's a very specific routine. How do you arrive at that?
- [06:39]
Dr. Kami Haas
Yeah. So the model of brush your teeth with fluoride floss and see the dentist twice a year. This is the model that we've been following for 30 years. And what is the result? The number one disease is dental disease, cavities and gum disease. That model, we know it doesn't work. When I was in dental school, like 30 years ago, the only discussion was fluoride versus non fluoride. Right. And what do we hear now? Fluoride versus non fluoride. As if this one ingredient, it's either going to save the world or is going to cause havoc. You're a physician. It would be as if in medicine, the only thing we Talked about for 30 years was the benefits of broccoli. One thing. So by just putting fluoride in a toothbrush, and brushing our teeth. It's just such a simple solution to a complex problem.
- [07:26]
Interviewer/Host
Yeah, look, I realize that we've probably been pretty reductionist about this sort of thing. We'll just stay on fluoride for a second. This idea that when you take in fluoride, when you ingest it through fluoridated water, for example, it's getting into your system, it's doing things to your teeth and to your bones. There's been this movement recently to try and reduce, if not eliminate, fluoride in the water or stop adding it at least. Obviously, some of it occurs naturally in water. If you look at the CDC's website, they say this is one of the greatest public health achievements of the 20th century. And then there's other people who say, look, hey, it's associated with neurodevelopmental disorders and other things. Where do you land on this?
- [08:05]
Dr. Kami Haas
By the way, all of those statements are true. And by the way, that CDC statement is from before the new environment is changed at cdc, as you probably know. So fluoride works. It's not a controversial thing. We know that fluoride makes the teeth more acidic resistant. It does have one benefit and one downside.
- [08:21]
Interviewer/Host
Because of the acid, you're saying?
- [08:22]
Dr. Kami Haas
That's right. The one benefit is it makes the teeth stronger, especially against acidic erosion. Great. Why all the controversy with fluoride? Because it also has some side effects. If it's ingested too much in childhood, it can lead to things like fluorosis, which is a discoloration or deformation of enamel. Or in very high doses, and in serious side effects, it can actually cause neurotoxicity or other toxicity. So that's why there's a controversy. And that's why my recommendation to people is only use fluoride when the benefit outweighs the risk. Like someone who's in braces, like teenagers, maybe an adult, and they're not brushing their teeth or whatever they're doing, they're still getting decalcifications, which are these white spots around their brackets or they're in cavities. Well, then add fluoride to the regimen because then the benefit of that outweighs the risks for that particular person. What are the situations that I wouldn't recommend fluoride? Well, on a baby or on a pregnant mother, because the risk doesn't outweigh it. There's other ingredients that we can use to help remineralize enamel and help having a better oral health without the potential risk of fluoride. So again, we've known about these advantages and disadvantages of fluoride for decades. But by obsessing over this one ingredient, it doesn't allow us to focus on the rest of the ingredients, on the rest of the mouth, on how the body works and how the mouth works. I don't think it's the only solution for all of the population.
- [09:44]
Interviewer/Host
Yeah, the famous adage in medicine is the dose makes the poison 100%. You know, I just want to be careful because I think this idea that sometimes the benefits are underplayed and the harms are overplayed, I think is important as well. Certainly choice is important here, but the idea that in normal concentrations it can be beneficial for a baseline of oral health, I think it's something you agree.
- [10:10]
Dr. Kami Haas
With, but it does come with some risks. So as a society, we have to decide if this is something that we want to do as a general.
- [10:16]
Interviewer/Host
Even at normal concentrations, you're talking about risks.
- [10:18]
Dr. Kami Haas
Yeah, I mean, so you're 100% right. Obviously the dose has a lot to do. It's like vitamin D. At the right dose is an incredible right vitamin, but at high doses could be toxic. It works. It's cheap. In fact, in Canada, in one of the provinces, they removed fluoride from the water and they saw an uptick in the amount of cavities, so they brought it back. So I know it works. Again, I'm not really crazy against fluoride, so I don't do really anything. I just don't put fluoride on top of it in my toothpaste and mouthwash because I don't need it. Because with all the other ways that I'm preventing cavities and have a healthy oral health. Same thing with my own family and same thing with thousands of my patients. By the way, in my offices, in some patients we use fluoride and some patients we don't use fluoride. In some patients we use hydroxyapatite. Sometimes we don't. Again, it depends on the patient. And I think in our society we just got to customize things a little bit more. I always give this example. Let's imagine a family comes in my practice or in your practice, and they have a pregnant mother, the dad has gum disease, they have a 1 year old with no cavities, a 10 year old with a ton of cavities, a teen in braces and a grandma with some lost teeth and some bone loss. They have different needs. That's what I try to teach even the dental profession that make sure that we learn more about just fluoride, we learn about how the microbes work. According to CDC, up to 74, 75% of pregnant women get gingivitis for hormonal changes, the changes in the diet, et cetera, 75%. And that, that inflammation, the gum disease, can impact the health of pregnancy. You know, it can increase the risk of many complications like preeclampsia, diabetes, et cetera. It can impact the timing of birth. And so if my, my own wife was pregnant, I wouldn't recommend fluoride for her because it's unnecessary risk. So I would recommend nano hydroxyapatite because nanohydroxyapatite as an ingredient just you know what it is. This ingredient has been around for decades. Unfortunately in us FDA has only so far approved fluoride for anti cavity, but in many countries it's been approved for that purpose. But I can just tell you what science says and what it does. Basically, it's a biomimetic version of your own enamel. So calcium phosphate, NASA invented it decades ago in the early 1970s in the micro size and then in the 1980s, the nano size. So it reminelizes enamel, it buffers enamel against acidic attacks. And that's why you want to brush your teeth before eating, not afterwards. It reduces plaque as effectively as some of the most potent antimicrobial agents. But the way it works, it doesn't decimate the oral microbes, it also naturally whiten teeth and it naturally reduces sensitivity because it's literally liquid enamel. But for someone who's got braces and they're not brushing their teeth and they're starting to get this decalcification out of their teeth, I would then add fluoride to nanohydroxy appetite. Should you see how if we customize products and their ingredients, we can get better results at the same time mitigate risks.
- [13:26]
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
Okay, let me pop in again here for a second because there's obviously a lot of nuance in what we're talking about. So let me just re emphasize a few of the points here in the United States, most communities have fluoridated water. So truth is, you're probably going to be getting fluoride from your drinking water. And yes, there's been some recent debate whether we should move away from that. But the American Dental association does continue to support this practice, the practice of fluoridating water and also the use of fluoride toothpaste for most people. And that goes for pregnant women as well. Both the ADA and the American College of Obstetricians consider Fluoride safe for pregnant women, and they recommend that pregnant women continue to use fluoride toothpaste. I just want to make that point very clear here so there's no confusion, but the nuance comes down to the fact that we are able to get fluoride protection from different sources. So, yes, like Ha said, dental care can be individualized. But you have to remember at the same time, not everyone's going to have access to good dental care. With that in mind, let's get back to the conversation.
- [14:35]
Dr. Kami Haas
If something that's almost entirely preventable is the most prevalent disease on the planet among adults and kids, maybe we should reconsider what we've been telling people, right? Millions of people brush their teeth still and floss their teeth and go to the dentist and they still get cavities with fluoride, by the way. So we know that one ingredient can solve everything. So let's broaden our knowledge about the mouth because again, remember, your mouth is not just enamel. Fluoride works on enamel, right? That's all it does. It just makes it teeth a little bit more acidic resistant. What about the oral microbiome? What about the nutrients that the teeth need to strengthen itself from inside, like vitamin D, vitamin K2, like calcium? What about prebiotics to help the oral microbiome? What about the alkaline ph of the toothpaste and mouthwash? Let's stop arguing over one ingredient. If you want to use it in circumstances that are necessary within known benefits and risk, I'm all for it. Again, as I said, I recommend it to many patients, but for people that don't need it, why take the risk when there are all these other alternatives to have a really healthy mouth?
- [15:45]
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
Okay, how you doing? Lots of new information there to absorb, but when we come back, we're going to learn about something really specific. Bad breath. Where does that really come from? And also teeth whitening, how to do it safely.
- [15:59]
Dr. Kami Haas
Claire Duffer.
- [16:01]
Claire Duffy
I'm CNN tech reporter Claire Duffy. This week on the podcast Terms of Service, we've talked a lot about how AI affects teenagers, their social development, their schoolwork.
- [16:12]
Podcast Guest
We were taught how to use AI as a tool to grade our essays and get feedback on them. And we were taught very specifically, like the line between, like, this is feedback, this is cheating.
- [16:24]
Claire Duffy
But what about their futures? When it comes to college applications and career planning, how has AI entered the convers? Listen to CNN's terms of service wherever you get your podcasts.
- [16:38]
Anderson Cooper
Hey, I'm Anderson Cooper. On my podcast All There Is, we explore grief and loss in all its complexities. My guest is Eoon Lee, an award winning author and a professor of creative writing at Princeton. She's written a number of highly acclaimed novels and memoirs. Her latest is called Things in Nature Merely Grow. You don't like the word grief or you don't use the word grieving?
- [17:01]
Podcast Guest
I don't use the word grief the way people use it. People talk about their grief as a process. It's a state that we're going to be in forever and ever and I choose to be here.
- [17:12]
Dr. Kami Haas
You choose to be?
- [17:13]
Podcast Guest
Yes, because the alternative is you forget you're lost people. And I don't want to forget.
- [17:21]
Anderson Cooper
Talking grief, building community. That's what the podcast is all about. This is all there is. Listen and follow wherever you get your podcasts.
- [17:39]
Interviewer/Host
There was a study, I think, that came out on flossing a few years ago and it caused quite a bit of a stir in the dental community. And I don't want to oversimplify it, but basically it was really questioning the benefits of flossing at that point, saying if you look at the data, maybe it didn't hold up in terms of actually reducing cavities and improving oral health. Do you remember that?
- [18:00]
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
What did you think?
- [18:01]
Dr. Kami Haas
I remember that most of us who've been practicing for 30 years or plus, we know that floss works. But not every floss works. Some of the most common cavities happen between the teeth. It's called interproximal spaces. The floss I use not only expands between the teeth, but has all of our KET toothpaste ingredients in the floss. The reason it expands because it removes 40% more plaque. So I try to avoid flosses that have ptfe, which is a forever chemical or petroleum based waxes like microcrystalline wax. These are forever chemicals that stain your body, stain the environment.
- [18:36]
Interviewer/Host
Yeah, you know, and you talked about a very specific sequence of events using the mouthwash, doing the tongue cleaning, doing the flossing, doing the brushing of the teeth. Do you have any sense, doctor, what percentage of the country is doing this in a proper way?
- [18:50]
Dr. Kami Haas
Very small percent. Let me ask you a question that may really shock you. How much or how many hours of dental education do you think in dental school or hygiene school we get on toothpaste, mouthwash, toothbrushes, flosses, basically the prevention, the oral care products.
- [19:06]
Interviewer/Host
Very little is my guess.
- [19:08]
Dr. Kami Haas
That's right. Zero. I went to UCLA Dental school. Not a bad school, probably one of the top schools in the country. And we had one hour on oral care products. All I remember they said, use something with fluoride. That was it. So I think it's shocking. So we've taken the responsibility to educate our company. Me along with my colleagues. We now teach at almost all the major dental conferences. We provide CE courses online. We provide educational content, webinars, live courses, recorded courses. We go to now dental schools. So to answer your question, because we're not educated in dental school, and because we're not educated in our hygiene school, of course not a lot of people are following the way they should be doing their oral care, and the result is a disaster. So since nobody else is doing this, we've taken the responsibility to actually go out there and not only teach the public, but also teach the profession as well.
- [20:02]
Interviewer/Host
Yeah. And I want to make clear, again, for people who may be listening, I mean, this is what you do for a living. You oversee many practices. So as a result of that, my guess is, doctor, you can collect a lot of data.
- [20:14]
Dr. Kami Haas
That's right.
- [20:14]
Interviewer/Host
Because this is one of those things where, again, like with the floss, does it work? Doesn't it work? You know, how long should you floss? How long should you brush? All that? You've been collecting this data?
- [20:25]
Dr. Kami Haas
Over 30 years.
- [20:26]
Interviewer/Host
Over 30 years. And the book is called if youf Mouth Could Talk.
- [20:30]
Dr. Kami Haas
That's right.
- [20:30]
Interviewer/Host
That's why you decided to write the book? My guess is.
- [20:32]
Dr. Kami Haas
Well, actually, I'll tell you a story about how I. Why I decided to write the book. I'm a dentist. I'm an orthodontist. My wife is a pediatric dentist. We run this huge group dental practice with all the specialists. I've gone to one of the best schools in the country. And before my son was born, when patients would ask, Dr. Haas, what toothpaste you recommend, I would say anything with fluoride, because that's what I was taught. And so when my only son was born, I went to my wife. I'm like, what toothpaste should we give Aiden? And my wife said, I don't know, because now it was our own child that was on the line. So that was the beginning of me. I actually panicked. I'm like, I don't understand. I know all this areas about sleep and breastfeeding and all these other things, but the area that I'm supposed to be the expert in, none of us know what to give my own child. And so I ended up reading over 600 research articles and books over the next few years. And that's really what led me to write my book, because once I had the knowledge, I figured, oh, my God, really, we need to spread this information about why oral health is important, how it's connected to pregnancy, to childhood, to airway, to sleep, to mental health, to systemic health, longevity. And then once I did that, the first question out of everybody when they would read my book, what toothpaste do you recommend, Dr. Haas? And I would say, well, it really depends on your situation. How old are you? What are your risk factors?
- [21:48]
Interviewer/Host
And so if people are listening and you may have a pregnant woman, you may have an older person, a younger person who are all listening. The idea of customization of the oral care routine is something that you talk a lot about in this book. I mean, it's probably there may be too many details to get into in one podcast, but I think the point that you're making is that it's not a one size fits all approach.
- [22:11]
Dr. Kami Haas
100%. Again, the problem is, if I ask the next 100 people I'm going to see today, how do you get cavities if you don't brush your teeth enough and eat a lot of sugar? Because that's the message we've been given. But if cavities were this simple, then cavities wouldn't be the number one disease in the world. It's not that simple. It's more complex. Your mouth is more complex. It's an organ with multiple things that are functioning with a whole world of oral microbes, with saliva, with soft tissues, with gingival tissues, with the bones, especially in children, that the mouth is growing. We have the airway, we have the tongue. And so we need to broaden our approach about oral health. And people like me, dentists and like you physicians, we need to join forces. Even from educational thing. It's absolutely nuts that dental schools have been separate than medical schools. It's probably one of the reasons why oral disease is the number one disease in the world. So maybe we should have a different approach. We need to customize them for different ages and stages and preferences and risk factors, and hopefully we can get the results that we haven't been able to achieve in the last decade.
- [23:13]
Interviewer/Host
What are the other consequences of poor oral health? Like, my dad had a cardiac procedure recently. The doctor, I think, very appropriately asked about oral health during that, concerned about potential infections and the impact that might have on the, on the cardiac procedure. So we're talking about mouth affecting heart. But it goes way deeper than that, doesn't it?
- [23:35]
Dr. Kami Haas
It goes way deeper for some reason. And probably the. This connection between medicine and dentistry people forget that the mouth is not a separate entity, is the opening to your body. So if you have microbes in your mouth, if you have toxins that those microbes produce, if you have inflammatory cells because of the reaction to the. To the unhealthy imbalance, oral microbes that have you in the mouth, if you have oxidative stress molecules, all of these things. When you have bleeding gums, which is a very common sign of gum disease, all of those molecules and the chemicals and the microbes and the toxin, they can get into the blood vessels. They can not only damage the blood vessels, but like you mentioned, they can travel to the heart and cause infections or inflammation. They can go to the brain, they can go to the joints, they can go to an unborn baby and cause complications. So because blood goes everywhere, right? So that's how. One of the ways. How oral health impacts every part of your body. There's other ways. During COVID for example, where we knew that people with gum disease had a high risk of complications from COVID because the oral cavity, the surfaces of the mouth, are contiguous with those of the trachea and the lower airway. So we've always known that oral health can impact respiratory health. Like you can aspirate, oral microbes, et cetera. I've seen studies that show that in nursing homes, if the residents clean their tongue with a tongue cleaner, it reduces pneumonia.
- [24:58]
Interviewer/Host
Interesting. Just by cleaning the tongue.
- [25:00]
Dr. Kami Haas
Just by cleaning the tongue, because they're not going to aspirate their microbes into the lungs as often. There's also, of course, your mouth is the opening to the GI tract. So there's the mouth. We all need to remember is not just connected to our body, it's the body. It's the opening to it. It is one of the most important organs in your body, Right? The airway. I think there's a mistake that a lot of people think your mouth is just teeth, but the lower third of your face is the lower jaw. Middle third third of your face is your maxilla. The nasal bones are part of the maxilla. The lower parts of your eye bones are part of the maxilla. The way you breathe, the tongue posture impacts your speech, the taste, everything. I mean, so the way you look like these are all impacted by the growth and development of your mouth. So that's why we got to take oral health a lot more seriously. The good news is it's so much easier to, I think, fix oral health, which impacts all of these areas of our mouth. Systemic health, mental health, personal Successes, professional successes, our dating life, how much money we make, by the way, all of these are impacted by oral health. So why don't we at least have an open mind to look at alternative new ways of taking care of oral health?
- [26:07]
Interviewer/Host
Finally, just breath, bad breath. A lot of people come to you, I'm sure, talking about that, complaining about that. Is that coming from the mouth? Is it coming from lower down in the airways?
- [26:17]
Dr. Kami Haas
Yes, it can be caused by many things, like your throat, the food you ate, but primarily comes from your mouth. And it's not primarily from your teeth, it's primarily from your tongue. So that's one. Clean your tongue and it should be part of your routine. Just like at least once a day you should be cleaning your tongue or maybe twice a day. So that's one thing. Teeth are also critical. And one of the areas that is also extremely common to have bad breath is between your teeth if you have gum disease. Just like that's one of the things that happens when you have gum disease. You get inflammation, you get swelling, food gets stuck. And so flossing, I gotta tell you, after 30 years of doing this, when I talk to someone, I can just being in the distance of talking, I can smell if there are types of person that flosses their teeth or not.
- [27:01]
Interviewer/Host
Interesting.
- [27:02]
Dr. Kami Haas
Yeah, because it really, really impacts bad breath. So majority of the bad breath is from the mouth. And these are the areas that you can do to really help it, mitigate it.
- [27:11]
Interviewer/Host
Do you want to say a couple sentences on teeth whitening?
- [27:13]
Dr. Kami Haas
Absolutely. I live in California. Everybody's obsessed with white teeth, Right. So I want white teeth, too. And so there are a couple of ways that you can whiten your teeth. One is through chemicals, like through bleaches, basically. Right. Hydrogen peroxide, it really whitens it, but it also causes sensitivity. So you have to make sure that you use the right concentration, don't overuse it, because then you're going to literally damage your teeth. Over time, your teeth are going to actually look more dull. You're going to cause permanent damage to your teeth. So that's with hydrogen peroxide. Do you know an ingredient that can naturally whiten your teeth, but at the same time reduce sensitivity and at the same time remineralize enamel, buffer enamel and reduce plaque. Nano hydroxyapatite. If I wasn't married, I would marry Nano hydroxyapatite just because it has so many benefits. My wife, I hope she doesn't listen to this podcast. Nanohydroxyapatite. It naturally whitens your teeth because it's like liquid enamel and makes it shiny and smooth and white at the same time. It reduces sensitivity. So it works the opposite of bleach. Bleach whitens your teeth more. It bleaches your teeth, but over time you can damage your teeth. So maybe once in a while you can bleach your teeth. But your daily uses, if you want to have white teeth, you're a coffee drinker, like I am. If you're a tea drinker, which I also. I am. You want nano hydroxy appetite, ideally with vitamin D3 and K2 in your toothpaste and mouthwash and floss. It naturally whitens it. So you can see why I'm obsessed, in a way, with this one ingredient.
- [28:48]
Interviewer/Host
Well, I wish you and nano hydroxyapatite a long and successful life together.
- [28:53]
Dr. Kami Haas
Thank you.
- [28:54]
Interviewer/Host
We don't endorse any products on this podcast, but the products that you're talking about, are they readily available? Can you find these toothpastes that have fluoride and nano hydroxyhepatite and some vitamin D and K2 and all that? Do they exist?
- [29:07]
Dr. Kami Haas
Yes, of course. There are other oral care product companies that also have nanohydroxy appetite. It's a. It's an upcoming ingredient, and I think a dozen brands have it.
- [29:16]
Interviewer/Host
Doctor, what a fascinating discussion. I. I gotta be honest. I read the book, so I knew that it was gonna be interesting. But you're a fascinating guy and you've been at this for a long time. You literally married another dentist. So this is. This is your life. So I really appreciate you sharing your wisdom with us.
- [29:33]
Dr. Kami Haas
Thank you. That's very kind of you. Say thank you very much. Have a wonderful day.
- [29:37]
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
That was my conversation with Dr. Kami Haas, Orthodontic specialist, founder of an oral care company called Supermouth, and author of the book if youf Mouth Could Talk. If you'd like to read his dental recommendations more closely, please make sure to check out our show notes. Thanks so much for listening.
- [30:01]
Audie Cornish
This week on the Assignment with me, Audie Cornish. Pew Research says anyone born between 1981 and 1996 is considered a millennial.
- [30:12]
Podcast Guest
I'm 84.
- [30:13]
Audie Cornish
You're 84. Whereas I'm like, late 70s, which is how I ended up feeling like an elder millennial, but not making the cut, quite literally.
- [30:20]
Dr. Kami Haas
Yeah.
- [30:21]
Podcast Guest
When I have to think about those timeline points of how we came of age, it's like, all right, we had a big foreign policy event with the Twin Towers. We had a big financial event with the recession. Things like that will continue to happen to all kinds of folks at all ages. But I think what separates us going through that from Gen Z going through that is that they are always online consuming those big hits.
- [30:49]
Audie Cornish
Listen to the assignment with me, Audie Cornish. Streaming now on your favorite podcast app.
- [30:56]
Unidentified Host/Interviewer
News cycle, making your head spin. The have I got News for you Crew is here to help with a comic take on the week's headlines. New episodes Saturdays at 9 on CNN and next day on the CNN app.