b'icine,thereisnocompletetreat- tiststreatwithchlorinedioxide, menttechniqueforperiodon- like bad breath, is not considered titis.Theyarewrong.Dentistsa disease.knowchlorinedioxideisawon- Because of this biofilm-control derfullyeffectivetreatmentthatproperty, chlorine dioxide mouth-can ward off deadly heart and vas- washgetsteethsqueakyclean cular diseases by rooting out oneas the film pellicle that forms on of the fundamental causes of theseteeth(responsibleforplaquead- Julia Roberts Uses Sodium nightmarish diseases that start inherence)breaksdown.Itseffec- Bicarbonate (Baking Soda)the mouth. As we shall see furthertiveness for whitening and fresh- JuliaRobertsisfamousforher below, sodium bicarbonate is alsoening does not come from magicbright smile, and the actress says she morethanhelpfulincontrollingbutfundamentalchemistry.Butowes it to her grandfathers tip of us-the mouths environment. evenmoreimportantly,chlorineing baking soda. I brush [my teeth] dioxidemouthwashusedovera Chlorine Dioxide 7-dayperiodeffectivelyreduceswithbakingsoda.Mygrandfather Doctorsneedtostudywhatplaque,tonguecoatingaccumu- would put a big, heaping mound on dentistsarealreadydoing.Theylation, and the counts of Fusobac- his toothbrush. He had only one cav-are using chlorine dioxide to mit- terium nucleatum in saliva. As oneity in his entire life, Roberts said.igatesevereperiodontaldisease.would expect, it is also effective atHergrandfatherwasaroundin Chlorine dioxide (ClO2), a potenteliminating bad breath. the early days of medicine when so-biocide, has disinfected municipalWhat it does in the oral cavitydium bicarbonate made by the Arm water for many years. Dentists areaffects the entire body; you do not& Hammer Baking Soda Company intelligently using it to affect con- havetoswallow.Aswewillseewas in its heyday, publishing about ditions in the oral cavity. inachapteronchlorinedioxidehow baking soda can be used as a Medical science openly recom- andatherosclerosis,justputtingmedicine.Yes,itkeepsherteeth mends chlorine dioxide for woundthis substance into the mouth getswhite, but it does much more than irrigationandoralhealthissues.itabsorbedquicklyviasublin- that.Sodiumbicarbonate,usedin CLO2isprobablythemostex- gualpathways.Chlorinedioxidemore and more kinds of toothpaste tensively testediswidelyusedasamouthwashand the newer dental teeth-cleaning disinfectantinalongwithDSMOindentistry,devices, is the very best agent for the history.Itisaand some companies have createdmaintenance of oral health because safeandeffec- CDS mouthwash products. it changes pH, radically disrupting tivebiocideDr.SyedAhmedRaheelwrites,the constantly rising tide of bacteria much safer thanAqueouschlorinedioxide(ClO2)andfungithatthreatenthehealth chlorine.Ithassolutions have been effectively usedstatus of the entire body.beenusedtoasanantiviralpreventiveproto- With ample brushing, sodium bi-eliminatewa- colinmouthwashforalongtime.carbonate can break through patho-terpathogensThisaqueousClO2caninactivategen films, called biofilms, that sticky and is excellentalltypesofpathogensintheoralstuff that turns into hard tarter your forattackingcavity. Noss et al. (1986) showed thedentistmuststruggletoremove biofilms. That is why it is used inactions of ClO2 on viral capsid pro- while you grin and bear it.commercial water-cooling towers. teins, namely cysteine, tyrosine, andBicarbonatehasbeenshownto Itworkssowellthatpharma- tryptophan, as they readily reacteddecrease the acidity of dental plaque ceuticalcompanieshadtocon- withClO2.Ogata(2007)listedtheinduced by sucrose, and its buffering vincegovernmentsworldwideantimicrobial activity of ClO2 main- capacityplaysasignificantrolein to make it illegal to treat diseaselyduetoproteindenaturationfol- preventingdentalcavities.Studies because it would put them out oflowed by oxidative modification ofhave shown that bicarbonate inhib-business. Promoting it as a medi- tyrosine and tryptophan. Garglingits plaque formation on teeth and, in cine is unlawful, but dentists usewith iodine has also been helpful inaddition,increasescalciumuptake itlegallytohelptheirpatients.containing COVID and other patho- bydentalenamel.Thiseffectofbi-This is because much of what den- gens in the oral cavity. carbonate on teeth is so well recog-H ealtHF reedomN ews /w iNter2024 13'