Nano-Hydroxyapatite Toothpaste: Where Did It Come From and Is It Safe?
We’re making everything nano now. Technology is allowing us to shrink beneficial vitamins, nutrients, and minerals into extremely small particles that are highly bioavailable. This means our body can use them without breaking them down and destroying their potency.
You’ll experience meaningful benefits and faster results from natural ingredients that are engineered to work perfectly with your body. Nano-hydroxyapatite is one of those ingredients, and it’s coming to a toothpaste near you.
What is Hydroxyapatite?
Hydroxyapatite is a substance that occurs in the wild. It can be derived from the bones of mammals, seashells, and algae. It’s a combination of natural calcium, phosphorus, and oxygen bonded together to form a strong crystal.
Hydroxyapatite is present in the human body. It’s what tooth enamel is made of. When you’re dehydrated, you drink water. When your enamel needs repair, it only makes sense to use more enamel material to fix the problem. It’s simply a matter of turning hydroxyapatite into a bioavailable mineral to make it effective for enamel repair.
So, What is Nano-Hydroxyapatite?
Raw, natural hydroxyapatite particles from natural sources are too large to be used by the human body. Nano-hydroxyapatite is hydroxyapatite that has been created in a lab, made into very small bioavailable particles. These tiny particles can be used by the body to rebuild its natural bone material and fortify tooth enamel.
There are very few things you can use or ingest at home that will actually stimulate the growth of bone or the repair of enamel. Coral calcium is a wonderful ingredient in remineralizing toothpastes. Fluoride also works to do the same thing, but it comes with certain risks that many people don’t find to be worth the potential reward.
How is Nano-Hydroxyapatite Better Than Fluoride?
Hydroxyapatite is the material that enamel is made of. Fluoride is something completely non-nutritive to the body. Nothing in your body is made of fluoride. It’s not an essential mineral or a nutrient. It’s used to fortify teeth instead of hydroxyapatite, because before nanotechnology made it possible to increase the bioavailability of hydroxyapatite, fluoride was the only option.
Fluoride is the negative ion of the chemical fluorine, a highly toxic and wildly combustible gas. The dangerous parts of the gas aren’t present in the fluoride used in oral care products. Fluoride in its non-toxic state is naturally present in rocks and soil. Small amounts of it are found in vegetables and fruits irrigated with groundwater. It’s naturally present in coffee and tea.
It’s also added to the public water supply in the overwhelming majority of North America. It’s impossible to avoid fluoride when you eat a healthy diet and drink plenty of water. Boiling vegetables or pasta on your stove infuses them with the fluoride from the tap water. Making coffee with tap water gives you a double dose.
We then add even more fluoride to our bodies in the form of toothpaste. Fluoride bonds to teeth, sealing weak spots in the enamel and preventing cavities. The science shows that fluoride is highly effective at repairing teeth and preventing cavities, but don’t get too excited just yet.
You might have noticed that children’s toothpastes often boast on the front that they’re fluoride free. If fluoride is such a helpful ingredient, why would we deprive our growing toddlers and young children of the thing they need to make their teeth strong?
The truth is that fluoride can actually be bad for children. Children still have their adult teeth up inside of their gums. They’re continuing to grow and fortify until they’re ready to emerge, loosening the “baby teeth” on their way out.
While these teeth are still in the gums, they can be internally fortified by fluoride. To a certain extent, this is helpful. To a more powerful extent, this is harmful.
Fortifying the teeth with fluoride before they emerge from the gums can assure that they come out especially strong. It can also assure that they come out discolored with irregular pits on the surface. Since the body doesn’t need the fluoride it ingests, it looks for places to put it.
The teeth that haven’t erupted from a child’s gums are top contenders. Too much fluoride can cause a condition called dental fluorosis. Dental fluorosis is relatively common in the United States, with just under a quarter of the population being impacted to some degree.
This buildup of fluoride causes more cosmetic problems than medical problems, although it can be exceptionally difficult to thoroughly clean teeth full of small pits and grooves.
Your teeth aren’t the only place where your body will store excess fluoride. If you don’t have any teeth waiting to emerge, your body will begin to store excess fluoride in your bones. This causes a condition called skeletal fluorosis. The bones harden and the tendons become stiff, locking the joints and making movement painful.
Skeletal fluorosis is a serious and untreatable condition, though it’s rarely seen in the United States. It’s more common in countries where populations rely heavily on groundwater for cooking, drinking, and washing. Fluoride occurs naturally in the earth, and groundwater is loaded with high concentrations that overwhelm the body in irreparable ways.
Fluoride can do some pretty bad things in large amounts. It’s hard to control how much fluoride you’re getting by simply eating food and drinking water. You’ll always come into contact with small amounts. If you want to play it safe, avoid it where you can. This means switching to a fluoride free toothpaste.
Nano-hydroxyapatite is something your body can use. It doesn’t build up, and there are no known medical conditions that stem from using it. It’s bioidentical to your tooth enamel and specifically designed for the purpose of repairing your teeth. Fluoride is merely a stand-in that poses potential risks. Why take your chances with a stand-in when you can have the real thing?
What Kind of Toothpaste Right For Me?
The best remineralizing toothpaste is any toothpaste that contains adequate amounts of calcium and phosphorus. These are the two most important minerals for strengthening tooth enamel and preventing cavities.
You need a toothpaste that will clean your mouth, protect and repair your teeth, and fight bacteria that cause tooth decay and gum disease.
You’ll want to consider the ingredients list from top to bottom. If a toothpaste were to contain nano-hydroxyapatite and a whole host of irritants and artificial ingredients, a different toothpaste may be a wiser choice. Consider the entire list before you pick up your next tube. You want to be sure of what everything does, not just the remineralizing ingredient.
Nano-Hydroxyapatite vs. Coral Calcium
Nano-hydroxyapatite is calcium phosphate. Coral calcium is calcium carbonate. You need both calcium and phosphorus to rebuild your enamel, so it might seem as though coral calcium wouldn’t get the job done. This is why considering the full spectrum of ingredients is important.
Coral is a substance naturally rich in phosphorus. Live coral is fertilized by the phosphorus fish naturally leave behind, similar to the way that cow manure fertilizes a vegetable garden. The exoskeleton fossil that coral leaves behind when it naturally completes its lifespan and washes ashore is rich in the remnants of this phosphorus.
Other sources of calcium carbonate may not contain phosphorus or other trace nutrients necessary for the repair of bone and enamel. Coral calcium is unique in that regard.
As far as which kind of calcium is better, they’re both highly beneficial in repairing your teeth. It all boils down to the additional benefits that your toothpaste offers.
Managing Oral Bacteria
Most toothpastes don’t contain any ingredients that destroy bacteria. Triclosan is deemed by the FDA to be ineffective and by the EPA to be dangerous. It converts to chloroform in the water supply and pollutes rivers. Once triclosan was taken off the table, there weren’t many viable substitutes that worked with the formulation of toothpaste.
Nano silver is one of few natural and safe antibacterial ingredients that has been studied extensively. Dental studies show that the overwhelming majority of participants experienced an overall improvement of their dental health. The FDA has reviewed and approved studies finding that nano silver is effective at killing bacteria and poses no risks when ingested.
The Takeaway
Nano-hydroxyapatite can be a valuable addition to your oral care routine, as long as it’s a part of a well-rounded toothpaste formula. Check all of the ingredients on the label before you grab the first nano-hydroxyapatite toothpaste that you see.
If you can’t find a nano-hydroxyapatite toothpaste that helps to manage oral bacteria, your teeth and gums will be very thankful for a coral calcium and nano silver formula.
Sources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4252862/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844018368944
Leave a comment