How to Improve Oral Health & Its Critical Role in Brain & Body Health

Welcome to the huberman Lab podcast where we discuss science and science based tools for everyday life. I'm Andrew huberman, and I'm a professor of neurobiology and Ophthalmology at Stanford school of medicine. Today. We are discussing oral health. Now, when most people hear

oral health, they immediately think to health and appearance and presumably fresh breath or lack of bad breath as well and while of course, too.

And breath freshness whiteness and health

is a critical component of oral health today, you will learn that oral health including the oral microbiome the health of your palate your

tonsils indeed. The entire oral cavity is an extremely important component of General bodily

health so much so that today we are going to add a seventh pillar to the so-called six pillars of mental health physical health and performance. This is

not a trivial step.

To add a seventh pillar to the

six pillars. If some

of you have been listeners of this podcast for a while

you may recall that the six pillars of mental health physical health and performance. That is the six things that everyone needs to invest specific protocols into each day are in no particular

order by the way, sleep sunlight and light exposure generally which by extension also includes dark exposure nutrition.

Exercise which we could also call movement both cardiovascular exercise and resistance training stress management and relationships and social engagement including relationship to self. And today. We are going to add oral health and microbiome health and I suppose we could generally call this oral and gut health because as you know, if you think about it your mouth your oral cavity and your gut are contiguous with one another we are

Adorable and gut health as the seventh pillar of mental health physical health and performance because as you will learn today, there are so many aspects of oral health and daily protocols for oral health that extend to cardiovascular health to metabolic health and indeed to brain health and to staving off diseases in all of those bodily compartments. I cannot over emphasize enough how much oral health influences your general bodily health. So today you will learn

Learn about oral biology and health. We won't go too deep into the biology, but we will go deep enough into the biology that you will learn some incredible things such as your teeth have the ability to literally fill back in cavities that have formed provided those cavities haven't gone too deep into the teeth layers yet. You will learn that saliva. While most people think of it as just spit is an incredible substance fluid that contains all sorts of interesting and important things.

That allow you to rebuild the strength of your teeth and indeed to support the health of your oral cavity and gut microbiome and body generally. So saliva is super interesting and important and today you're going to learn many many protocols including zero cost protocols protocols that will actually save you money as well as some low-cost protocols to both restore improve and maintain oral health and in doing so maintain and improve your overall bodily Health before

We Begin I'd like to emphasize that this podcast is separate from my teaching and research roles at Stanford it is however a part of my desire and effort to bring zero cost to Consumer information about science and science related tools to the general public in keeping with that theme I'd like to thank the sponsors of today's podcast our first sponsor is Martina Martina makes loose leaf and ready to drink yerba mate, I often discuss yerba mate is benefits such as regulating blood sugar its high antioxidant content the ways that it can improve digestion

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A little bit earlier oral health is inextricably linked to all aspects of brain and bodily Health both in the short term and in the long term and it is perhaps the most overlooked aspect of mental health and physical health. So today I'd like to start off with a quiz. I'm going to ask you which of the following three categories you believe you best fall into. Okay. The first category is those of you out there who brush and floss everyday probably twice a day.

And make some effort to try and keep your teeth clean like the feeling of your teeth being clean and who pay a fair amount of attention to whether or not your teeth are getting whiter or not getting wider if you whether or not your breath is fresh or not fresh, maybe okay. These aren't requirements for being in this category. But maybe you're somebody who also uses a mouthwash or uses mints or gums in order to try and keep your mouth smelling and looking fresh in your mouth clean.

Okay. So this first category does not require that you do all of those things. But let's just make a basic requirement of participation in this category that you routinely brush at least twice a day and that you floss at least once a day. Okay. If you fall into that category you are in category 1 and by the way, if you're in category one and you do those things and you do a bunch of other things like tooth whitening and maybe you go to the dentist, especially often more than the recommended twice per year that still puts you in category 1

Second category are those of you out there who are let's say a bit more blase about your oral and tooth care those of you that perhaps just brush your teeth in the morning so that your breath is fresh and clean out that kind of sticky feeling in your mouth that's accumulated overnight that sometimes brush and maybe floss at night. But you know, a lot of times you fall asleep without doing that or you don't feel like doing it or perhaps that don't really floss at all. Okay that

perhaps go to the dentist once every six months maybe a little less maybe once a year once every couple of years. So while there's a bunch of different things that could put you in the category to let's make a basic requirement for belonging to category to that you brush your teeth once a day but not twice a day on a regular basis or that you brush twice a day, but that you rarely floss. Okay, that would put you into what I'm calling Category 2 and then of course, there's the third category that maybe some of you out there fall into

And this is the category of people who are extremely diligent not just about tooth care, but also about oral health generally about maintaining the microbiome of your mouth about making sure that your gums are very healthy about making sure that your soft palate and hard palate is very healthy about making sure that yes, your teeth are clean that they are devoid of as much bacterial build-up and other stuff in there that can cause cavities but also that you're paying careful attention.

You your oral microbiome and the overall milieu of your health in the mouth. And the fact that your mouth is linked to all these different aspects of brain and cardiac and metabolic Health. Okay, if you fall into that third category great, but let's be honest. Most people I would argue 95 maybe even 98% of people or more fall into either category 1 or Category 2. So as you're hearing this, you're probably thinking, okay. Well if I'm in

Everyone, I'm good, right I go to the dentist twice a year, I brush and floss use a mouthwash. I even brighten my teeth. I'd you know, I make sure that if I had a sugary meal I'll rinse out my mouth. I try not to drink acidic Foods things that we'll discuss today as to whether or not they actually have relevance for cavity formation or not. But guess what if you are in category 1 as I described it or Category 2

Chances, are you are doing things to really deplete and disrupt your oral health? That's right. Even if you're paying a lot of attention to tooth Health chances are if you're like most people out there simply because you don't have the latest information on what oral health really is and how to best support it chances. Are you are doing things that yes might be keeping your teeth white and clean and you're not getting cavities or you're not being told you have cavities that need to be filled when you go to the dentist.

Test twice a year or more but that you are disrupting your oral health in ways that are depleting other aspects of your brain and bodily health and I'm not here to scare you. I'm just here to tell you that if you're in category one, okay, you're clearly doing some things that are beneficial for you. But that there's some additional things that you can do in a few things to avoid doing that very likely will improve your overall bodily Health very quickly and the good news is those things are also zero or low cost or in some cases can

You substantial cost now? If you're in category two chances, are you are depleting both your oral health and your overall bodily Health, but here's what's interesting. Some of the folks in category two that are not doing as much for the let's say hygiene and freshening and whitening of their teeth actually have a healthier overall oral microbiome. That's not always the case, but often it can be the case. So what you're going to discover today is whether you're in category.

1 or Category 2 there are some wonderful and easily accessible practices that are well backed by science. And by the way in preparation for this episode. I also consulted with no fewer than five dentists including a pediatric dentist. I talked to a periodontist. I talked to people who fall into the functional dentist category. I talk to people with a bunch of different orientations who are all heavily qualified to talk about and to make recommendations about oral health and tooth Health Etc and what I'm going to deliver

Essentially the overlap in the Venn diagram of what they all agreed on I'll highlight a few differences that they each had and that several of them had they do fall into different camps, but I was positively surprised how much overlap were consensus there was in terms of best protocols for tooth and oral health. And by the way, if you're in that third category of the person that's doing a lot for their tooth health and appearance and breath Etc. But also oral health and microbiome. I'm sure that today you'll also learn some new health practices and some things that will allow you to expand on your

already terrific practices for oral health. So let's get into the material about oral health focusing first on tooth anatomy and health and some little bit about mouth Anatomy. I promise to not go into this in too much depth, but we really need to have a firm basis a foundation of understanding of what the mouth cavity really consists of and I'm not just going to throw a bunch of names out there for sake of nomenclature. I don't need to Cloud your hippocampus with that sort of information unless it's functional information, but it is critical functional information.

And for the rest of our discussion where we'll talk about ways that you can really build up the strength of your teeth, even if cavities have already started to form and how to really get your saliva to be the best healthiest saliva for your overall mouth and for your gut and for your brain your heart Etc. Okay. So let's talk just briefly. I promise briefly about the anatomy and a little bit of the physiology of that this stuff. Okay the teeth, we're all familiar with what teeth are and hung with the tonsils in the back of mouth.

We have our soft palate hard palate gums. Let's talk a little bit about how all that fits together centering around the thing that most people think about when they think about oral health and that's the teeth. It's just a good jumping-off point for us. Your teeth are layered structures, like pretty much every structure in your body is a layered structure. It's just the way those structures form cells are born at one location. They migrated out and form Stacks or layers those different layers have different cell types and your teeth are no exception. So while they're different kinds of teeth in your mouth,

Teeth have an outer layer which is the enamel the enamel believe it or not is not white. It is translucent light can make it through but it's not transparent snot like a clear window is translucent like to make it through but it's a bit opaque. Okay beneath. The enamel is a structure called Denton Denton is important for today's discussion because as it turns out cavities form not surprisingly from the outside of teeth in word and Cavities as the name suggests are holes that

Burrow down through the enamel and if you're unlucky make it down to the Dentin our goal meaning your goal is to engage in Daily protocols. That's right daily protocols that are simple and fast and zero or very low cost that allow you to avoid the formation of those cavities. Yes, but also that can allow you to fill in those cavities. This is one of the most important things to understand about oral health that frankly I didn't know until I started researching this

And talking all these experts in the field which is that you can repair cavities that have started to form. That's right your mouth environment based on its chemistry and some things that are mechanical but mostly based on its chemistry in particular how acidic it is or how basic it is is always in a state of what's called either demineralization or remineralization. Now those words are hard to say and they're especially hard to say fast. So demineralization Riemann,

Relations a little bit of a tongue twister today. I'm going to use a shorthand. That's a convention in the Dentistry field, which is demon or Riemann to refer to demineralization or remineralization remineralization is good. It is the process by which within the enamel and to some extent in the deeper Dentin layer of the tooth. But especially within the enamel there can be the addition of new minerals that form very

Robust essentially chains of crystals. Okay, if you've ever looked at a crystal of any kind under a microscope or you've seen a picture of it they are incredibly well organized. They form a lattice of very strong often although their weaker crystals to very strong bonds and structure. It's like the structure of a really well formed building. Okay remineralization is the process of putting minerals back into that crystal structure, and it's actually possible to

All back in those cavities that bacteria have started to form especially when those cavities have burrow down into the enamel but have not yet made it into the Dentin layer of the tooth or teeth. Okay. This is very important understand. It's especially important to understand the context of the fact that typically not always but typically if you have a cavity formed at one tooth and let's say it's just halfway or three-quarters of the way through the enamel layer that if you have cavities

elsewhere in your mouth chances are that they are at the same depth or level not always but chances are and that's great news. If those cavities have not yet made it into the Dentin layer. Why is it great news? Well, I don't know about you, but I don't like having my teeth drilled. I don't like having cavities drilled and felt I had a very traumatic childhood with respect to dentistry and oral health. I'll talk about a little bit later in the episode. It's not that I had tons and tons of cavities I actually

This other issue where my adult teeth came in behind my baby teeth. I do all my baby teeth pulled. I had to get a bunch of injections of Novocaine in my mouth. I didn't like getting injections into my mouth. So I opted have any cavities. I had drilled without novocaine. It's not because I was a tough little kid. Well that definitely toughen me up it was because I hated having syringes in my mouth. I might have even bitten a dentist or two or three. I don't bite the dentist anymore. I think the dentist by the way, I think dentists are wonderful regular cleanings are wonderful. We'll talk about frequency of cleanings.

But here's the point if you are somebody who enjoys getting your teeth drilled. Well, then I don't know what to say. But if you're like most people out there with proper wiring of your neurology. Well, then you don't like getting your teeth drilled and you can avoid it in many cases by remineralizing that enamel layer of your teeth. Now if there's demineralization down to the deeper Denton layers of the tooth then most often you're going to need it to be

Drilled and drilled and filled as they say or as some people say which is a bit more cynical drill fill and Bill. Could you get charged for that or your insurance gets charged for that? Okay back to some tooth anatomy and mouth Anatomy talked about the enamel layer of the tooth on the outside. I told you that it either can demineralize demon or remineralize Riemann. This is a key Point your teeth are always in a state of either demon or Riemann.

That's right. Either demon or Riemann. It's not both at the same time. It's one or the other and it is largely dependent on the pH that is the acidity of your mouth, which is largely dependent on how much saliva are you're producing and the mineral content of that saliva. Keep that in mind. I think it's a very important point. Now another key point. Is that next to your teeth, right? You have your gums the gingiva as it's called now, the gingiva provides a really important.

Role in keeping the teeth stable. We don't often think of it like that. But even though that stuff seems gummy and soft. It is soft tissue. It is very important for fixing the teeth to the Bone. It's not just about the roots that extend down into the jaw bone below. The gums are very important for keeping the teeth where they are. There's actually a little ligament to between gums and the teeth that resides a little bit deeper, but the gums form a critical barrier between the oral cavity and the deeper layers of what eventually

She is bone and into the general blood flow or bloodstream of the body. Now. This is so important to understand that the gums are a seal around the tooth. This is why when you go to the dentist, they're paying attention with that little pick they're paying attention to how high or hopefully low the tenting is the little recesses or pockets of gums along the the hiragana. Yeah. Sure. I'll end my turn your hand in my mouth. Yes. I'll try not to do that during today's episode point to my teeth so much so that I'm not

And you know, you can't understand what I'm saying that the gums are providing a seal between the oral cavity and essentially the bone and the general bloodstream. Now, this is so critical because let's just take a step back and think about the oral cavity and what a remarkable place it is. Think about it. This is a gaping hole in our body. Can we have some other gaping holes in our body? But those tend to be sphincter based holes? Yes. I realize they're probably some Chuckles as soon as you say sphincter like yes the anal sphincter.

Sure. Okay. We're in animus were biologists we can talk about that stays shut stuff is generally not going up there and if it is not very often. Okay, your nasal passages? Yeah, those are holes. But you know, there's a lot of stuff there there's mucus to catch stuff. There's a cribriform plate there's a bone there's a bunch of things that act as barriers between the nasal cavities and the Brain which sits right behind at the olfactory bulb and yes, we have eyes and then you know, we have the outside of the eyes and there's a you know a susceptibility.

We have our blink reflex. There's a also an ocular microbiome. There's a bunch of things there. But think about that just this gaping hole in the front of our face that we used to eat and speak and breathe. Okay. It's a huge hole and as a consequence, it's filled with bacteria from our outside environment all day long all day long sometimes at night. Although we're going to talk later about the critical critical need to be a nasal breather at night and not a mouth breather not just for sake of staving off sleep apnea, but also,

So because turns out that dryness of the mouth is one of the ways that you really can throw off your oral health in major ways fact, it's one of the leading causes of tooth decay and people like Methamphetamine addicts or if you see people that are mouth breathers their oral health and their teeth generally, but certainly their oral health is severely depleted. So you've got this big hole in front of your face and you're talking and eating and moving about during the day, even if you're a nasal breather when you're not talking or eating and all this bacteria is getting in and it's a really moist environment and its

warm so the combination of bacteria moist and warm means that this thing is like a petri dish for growing stuff that could potentially be really bad for us, but it has this incredible feature, which is that if the pH is right, then the bad stuff is killed off doesn't make it into our system doesn't disrupt our oral health or our bodily health and also has a critical feature, which is that the bacteria that are good for us proliferate and supports the sealing process of the gums against the

Teeth and to health and tongue health and palate Health Etc. Okay. So the oral cavity is Amazing by virtue of how vulnerable it is. But also how robust it is and the way it stays robust is by keeping the saliva healthy now, there are other ways to but that's one of the main ones and it's a huge portal into the rest of the body and if the oral cavity isn't amazing to you already based on what you've heard thus far think about this if you get a cut on your arm or your hand or your shin, unless you're one of these remarkable people.

Always heals up without a scar as long as you're about 25 years or older. Typically, you'll form a little scar. They'll be something noticeable there the oral cavity also can take cuts and burns and things like that. Unfortunately those things occur, but with rare exception heels up with nearly zero scarring, sometimes there's a scar but nearly zero scarring, which is remarkable. Why well, it's basically an open wound with a bunch of bacteria in it, and it's warm and its moist

So clearly there's something special going on in this thing that we call the oral cavity and indeed there is and it's anchored in the fact that if we treat it, right you can encourage remineralization. How do you do that by keeping the saliva healthy? How do you do that by supporting the proper bacteria within the mouth and making sure that you're eliminating the bacteria that you don't want or at least limiting those bacteria. And today we're going to talk about how to do that and by virtue of doing all the things that support tooth Health. You're also going to support gum health

Okay, those gums are critical because they form that barrier that if it gets too big if those Pockets those recesses get too big and you're not taking care of the bacteria in your mouth when you're not getting rid of the bad bacteria those bacteria worm their way down into the deeper recesses near the roots of the tooth sometimes into the tooth will talk about that and can get down into the bone and then can cause serious serious issues. This is so called periodontal disease and periodontal disease is associated with all sorts of really

Add stuff including Alzheimer's. Okay. This is not just some Wellness culture woo science sleep to alzheimer's there's literally evidence that the specific bacteria is that cause recession of the gums can cross the blood-brain barrier if they make it into the general circulation and potentially cause plaques and Tangles some of the Hallmark features of neural degeneration in Alzheimer's okay? Probably not the only cause of Alzheimer's but potentially one of the major causes. This is a new Theory, but it's

in that a lot of people are trying to pay attention to and it's also very clear that bacteria make it down into these deeper recesses near the roots and into the bone that you can end up with issues related to cardiac health and certainly metabolic Health. Okay. So again, the goal today is not to scare you it's not to spend too much time on all the terrible things that can happen, but rather to emphasize the positive, which is that you do the right things at the right times, especially if you do them on a regular basis that you can really improve the health of your total oral cavity and your teeth and your breath and all the other stuff.

That people care about for Aesthetics and interpersonal interactions will flourish as well. I'd like to take a brief moment and thank one of our sponsors and that's a g 1 AJ 1 is a vitamin mineral probiotic drink that also contains adaptogens. I started taking a G1 way back in 2012. The reason I started taking it and the reason I still take it every day is that it ensures that I meet all of my quotas for vitamins and minerals and it ensures that they get enough Prebiotic and probiotic to support gut health now gut health

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AG one.com hubermann, okay, let's talk about how cavities form because I think this is the major question that people ask when asking about or thinking about oral health as I mentioned before cavities are literally holes there fenestrations as the Nerds call them nerds like me call them will fenestrations little holes down into the enamel that if they make it down to the Dentin layer of the tooth most likely do need to be drilled and filled and presumably build.

Okay, but your goal I think all of our goal is to try and keep our teeth in a state of remineralization by keeping the pH that is the relative acid alkaline balance of the mouth such that the saliva supports remineralization. Now, let's think about how a cavity actually forms turns out that no specific food. Not even sugar causes cavities cavities are not caused by sugar.

Cavities are caused by bacteria that feed on sugar and that's not just a little bit of a Twist in the mechanism. That's a critical point. There's no specific food not even pure sugar not even like a hard candy like a delicious Jolly Rancher. I used to like those when I was a kid, they get stuck in your tooth that causes cavities. No, it's the bacteria that feed on sugar that then produce acid that burrows down through that degrades that demineralizing.

The tooth in this very focal area that we call a cavity. Okay. Now if that isn't surprising enough get this the bacteria that causes cavities by eating sugar and releasing this acid while there are several of them. The major one is called streptococcus mutans or what I'll call strep mutans for short strep mutans is not something you're born with. It's actually a communicable.

Bacteria, that's right. You give it to one another through how sharing of glasses sharing of bottles kissing on the mouth Etc. Now I am not here to tell you not to do any of those things. I'm certainly not here to tell you that however, and by the way in researching this episode, I did learn that there is a specific category of person out there. Typically, they are a dentist or married to a dentist that have opted believe it or not to never kiss their children near or on the mouth.

So as to help their children not get streptococcus mutans because almost all adults carry it not all but it's communicable like a STI or like a flu or like a cold. It's communicated between individuals. We are not born with it. Now. That's a whole area of let's just call it biosocial ethics decision-making that I think most people are not going to be too concerned with or at least act on because let's face it. Most people are not going to change.

Their overall behavior of kissing or usage of bottles or glasses in order to avoid getting strep mutans. Most people in the world have strep mutans or will get strep mutans and it lives in the mouth. Okay. It just resides there strep mutans is there and it's hungry. What's it hungry for sugar when they're sugar present? It eats it. It produces acid the acid produces cavities taking teeth from a state of

Remineralization to demineralization or and by the way, this is really important if your mouth is already in a state that's more demineralization mode so to speak well, then it will capitalize on that and it will cause cavities much faster. Okay. So keep in mind that acidity is bad for the mouth. Does that mean that you should never consume a lemon or and by the way, yes, I'm guilty of everyone's why don't you a lemon slice or drink?

Water with lemon in it or carbonated drinks or sodas or tea or anything that has acidic flavor. No likewise. Should you completely avoid ingesting any kind of sugar because strep mutans love sugar no turns out strep mutans like sugars in the form of complex carbohydrates sugars to so if you eat pasta or rice or oatmeal and some bread every once in a while as I do I'm an omnivore Meat and Fish and eggs and also starches and vegetables and fruit some an omnivore.

Or as most people are well, then strep mutans has an opportunity to eat the sugars that come from those other carbohydrates. Does that mean that if you were to have a zero carbohydrate diet? No sugars. No starches Etc. You would reduce the opportunity for strep mutans to consume sugar and release acid. Maybe maybe however most people won't do that and strep mutans is a very clever maybe even diabolical bacteria. And if you are on a zero carbohydrate zero sugar diet, there's some evidence that

Mutants will figure out ways to feed on other components of food in order to create this acid to then create cavities in your teeth. So the key thing to understand here is that cavities form not from foods not from sugars per se but from strep mutans and other bacteria that eat the sugars and create acid, hence the critical need to keep your mouth as alkaline is possible which does not mean that you can never drink some lemon water or coffee or tea. Here's the key point that everyone needs

he's remembering because this dovetails beautifully into how often you should brush and floss and when you should brush and floss specifically the key point is the degree to which your mouth is in a demon state or a Riemann State and the degree to which cavities have the opportunity to form is dependent on the amount of time the amount of time in which your mouth is net acidic or net alkaline the amount of time that you are in a demineralization mode or

Demineralization mode. Okay. So it's the amount of time no one no one can avoid having their mouth be acidic every once in a while or ingesting a sugar or a food that strep mutants can feed on and produce acid the key is to try and reduce the amount of strep mutans and reduce the amount of acid in the mouth. That's the best way to reduce cavities and even reverse cavities that have started to form now in a moment. I'm going to tell you about fluoride because I know there are a lot of questions about fluoride but in

Order for you to understand what I say about fluoride and to make the best decision about fluoride both in drinking water and toothpaste etc for you. You have to understand the remineralization process just a little bit just a little bit. So a little bit of chemistry here a little bit structural biology and this will be fun. I promise even if you know biology no structural biology. No chemistry. You're going to like this part and it's very simple.

Those minerals that form the crystals within the enamel and some of the deeper layers of your tooth or teeth rather those crystals formed through a specific type of bond and those bonds are very strong think of them like Lego chains, but these are not, you know, just conventional Lego change. These are Lego chains that when they stick when two pieces come together things are tough to pull apart. They're not indestructible, but they're tough to pull apart and they're also special because unlike a string of Legos like a single string of Legos these

Bonds that form during remineralization of the teeth are interdigitated with one another or rather are at angles with one another that make those bonds especially strong any architect or somebody that understands structural biology. We understand that bonds could be weak or strong depending on whether or not they're linear whether or not they're crossed whether or not they're in lattices. There's a whole bunch of interesting angled forces stuff that the Architects will understand the construction workers will understand at a very intuitive and and concrete level no pun intended.

And on and on but just think about it a bond is only as strong as the number of different points at which it can resist shearing and pressure. So the way that these remineralization bonds form is through the addition of specific minerals at specific angles and the naturally occurring mineral that's responsible for the majority of these Bonds in the enamel and teeth is called hydroxyapatite. What a great name if you're talking about oral health, right because we use the mouth for a lot of things you can think of this.

List or long list of those things there are many of them depending on who you are and what you like to do with your mouth. But the point being that we do indeed eat with our mouths appetite is part of eating. So you just remember hydroxyapatite bonds and they are very strong, but they're not indestructible asset can actually break those bonds. Okay, that's the demineralization process. Now fluoride is a substance that is not a vitamin. It's not a mineral. It is not an essential nutrient, but that in the last century.

it was discovered can actually replace some of the hydroxyapatite bonds in teeth and actually make those bonds hyper strong super physiologically strong now, we'll talk about the safety considerations with fluoride in a little bit because there are some safety considerations, but it was decided en masse in the United States and Europe that the addition of fluoride to the drinking water and too many toothpastes or tooth powder, 's would be useful because it creates these super

Jack Lee strong bonds within the minerals of the teeth and indeed it does it does fluoride gets between those Lego pieces and makes them extra extra strong. And this is why fluoride is added to the drinking water. But and this is very important to emphasize but nowadays there is a really polarized debate about fluoride because some people out there believe that fluoride can disrupt thyroid Health mighty be disruptive.

Of for brain health certainly if fluoride levels are too high and drinking water or any substance. It can be very dangerous. It can be a poison. But of course the dose makes the poison right fluoride itself may not be poisonous at very low levels, but they're really two camps now that have formed and I'll just illustrate those two camps by virtue of what's happening right now right now in the state of California. There is a major lawsuit against the government because people want fluoride removed from the drinking water because of the long list of bad things.

That excessive on a highlight excessive fluoride can do for bodily and brain health, especially in kids, but also in adults at the very same time meaning right now. There is also a major lawsuit this one in Buffalo New York from Mostly parents who are suing the City of Buffalo saying that there was not enough maybe even zero fluoride in the drinking water for some period of time and as a consequence their children's teeth or oral health or both is depleted and they are suing for damages. Okay, so there this is a really polarized camp.

Now I did a full episode of the human Lab podcast all about water and I talked about fluoride levels, which levels are thought by the CDC to be safe, which levels are not thought to be safe. I talked about some of the theories as to how fluoride might disrupt function of the thyroid and some considerations there. Please check out the timestamp in that episode. I linked to that timestamp in the caption this episode, but the important Point here is that if you are at all concerned about fluoride in the drinking water, the simple answer is to just filter the water that comes out of