Hydroxy-what? Hydroxyapatite: The Secret Ingredient That Will Transform Your Oral Health
Hydroxyapatite (HAp) is a relatively new ingredient that is taking traditional and holistic dentistry by storm! This powerful ingredient is naturally produced by the body and makes up 97% of the calcium found in your enamel! So, if you want to obtain strong, healthy enamel that protects your smile from dental illnesses such as cavities, a yellow appearance, or even gingivitis… it only makes sense to implement HAp into your daily oral care routine!
So, what is Hydroxyapatite exactly?
According to Dr. Tutut Ummul Habibah; Dharanshi V. Amlani; Melina Brizuela, “Hydroxyapatite (HAp) is an inorganic mineral that has a typical apatite lattice structure as (A10(BO4)6C2) where A, B, and C are defined by Ca, PO4, and OH. Pure HAp contains 39.68% by weight calcium and 18% by weight phosphorus.” In order to understand the significance of the benefits of HAp, it is important to understand the structure of the tooth and how dental illnesses occur.
Tooth Structure:
The tooth is essentially made up of four layers, including the enamel, dentin, pulp cavity, and root canals. See the picture below for a visualization of these four layers.
Understanding the enamel is key! The enamel, at a nanoscale level, “comprises tightly bunched oblong crystals that are about 1,000 times smaller in width than a human hair. These tiny crystallites are made mostly of a calcium- and phosphate-based mineral called hydroxyapatite.²” Other elements found in the makeup of enamel include magnesium, fluorine, and sodium.
The enamel serves as the protector of your tooth and your oral health! As you can see, it is the outermost layer of the tooth. When the enamel is weakened, and plaque builds up, your tooth begins to decay. When the tooth begins to decay, your mouth becomes threatened by cavities and other dental illnesses.
Understanding how cavities and other dental illnesses form:
Cavities are typically caused by a mineral deficiency in the mouth. Mineral deficiency essentially refers to a lack of minerals being present in the mouth, which leads to weakened enamel by excess acid build-up, resulting in tooth decay.² When the enamel becomes weakened, your mouth becomes cavity-prone. See below for a visual representation of how a cavity forms through the stages of tooth decay and mineral deficiency!
There are several factors that lead to the cause of cavities and other dental illnesses. Other factors include your diet, the pH of your saliva, and your dental hygiene! If you’d like to learn more about how cavities and other dental illnesses form, check out the link here. These effects can also affect your entire body! If you’re unsure about how your oral health impacts your overall health, click here.
Now that you are able to recognize the significance of the enamel and the importance of minerals in your tooth structure, you will be able to acknowledge the importance of implementing Hydroxyapatite (HAp) into your dental routine!
Brushing with Hydroxyapatite:
Due to hydroxyapatite's vital role in the makeup of the tooth’s enamel and the protection it provides in preventing (and in many cases, reversing) dental illnesses, it only makes sense to brush with it! Brushing with hydroxyapatite also serves many other benefits as well.
These benefits include, and are not limited to: remineralization, strengthening the enamel, and whitening the appearance of your teeth by bringing back the natural whiteness of your tooth’s enamel!
When you brush your teeth with hydroxyapatite, your teeth are able to retain the same minerals that they are made of. It’s like brushing with the minerals that make up the enamel! This process of remineralization also serves in strengthening your enamel because your teeth are able to retain the same minerals and nutrients that they are made up of. Moreover, when you work to remineralize and strengthen your enamel, the appearance of your teeth also becomes whiter and stronger! How many people do you know have teeth that look white, but also show a transparent or brittle appearance? It is likely that these people also experience sensitivity and struggle with cavities and other dental illnesses. How you treat your enamel impacts more than just your teeth - it impacts your entire body!
How Primal Life Has Used HAp:
At Primal Life, we’ve decided to use nano-hydroxyapatite as a fluoride alternative. Nano-hydroxyapatite at a molecular level, is much smaller than hydroxyapatite. We did this because your enamel is made up of tiny crystallites of Hydroxyapatite. So, in order for these minerals to be absorbed by the tooth’s enamel, it has to mimic the structure of the tooth!
Along with ensuring the hydroxyapatite is suitable for the structure of your tooth, it is also important to ensure that your mouth’s environment is suitable for retention! This means, your oral pH must be alkaline for the remineralization process to occur through hydroxyapatite and other mineral-rich sources such as clay.
Baking soda is alkaline in nature. So, when you find (aluminum-free) baking soda in your ingredients list of your Toothpowder or Toothpaste, this indicates a “green light” that your products will serve to support an oral alkaline environment and pose to neutralize your oral pH via your saliva.
Learn more about the role of saliva in the remineralization process, here.
Where to Find HAp:
Hydroxyapatite is found in a culmination of Primal Life Dental Products! We’ve included this powerful ingredient in our Dirty Mouth Toothpowder, Dirty Mouth Toothpaste, and our Real White Teeth Whitening System.
If you’re just starting out with our dental products, we highly recommend a Dental Detox Kit. This kit comes with all of the tools you need if you’re looking to remineralize your enamel, create an alkaline environment in your mouth, detoxify your mouth tissues of any unwanted bacteria and/or toxins, soothe gum inflammation and/or irritation, and more!
It is also helpful to use a toothbrush with ultrasonic vibrations as it is more effective for your oral health compared to using a standard toothbrush. Click here to learn more! We created our Real White Sonic Toothbrush, so when you brush your teeth with powerful ingredients such as mineral-rich clays, hydroxyapatite, baking soda, and essential oils, your toothbrush will be more effective in cleaning by better assisting in penetrating plaque on the teeth and gum line!
For Optimal Results:
If you’re still with me, it’s most likely because you want to see results and see them FAST! We love that about you!
In addition to using products that support all of the information we’ve shared above, there is still more that you can do to take your oral power back! This includes your diet.
Dr. Westin A. Price studied the human diet and its effect on dental health, where he came to the result that your diet plays a HUGE role in your oral health as well! Click here if you’d like to see this study for yourself!
In this study, he focuses on the diet of people from all over the world and the impact on oral health. He ultimately came to the realization that processed foods, more specifically sugars and acidic foods, pose a threat to your oral health! We’ve recognized his work and created an entire Dental Health Guide based on the conclusions he was able to find from his extensive research.
So, if you’re also interested in learning more about which foods to gravitate towards and avoid when improving your oral microbiome, click here.
References:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK513314/
https://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/dentistry/guide-to-holistic-dentistry/
https://www.primallifeorganics.com/blogs/primal-life-organics-blog/improve-your-oral-health-at-sonic-speed?_pos=1&_sid=7e83984be&_ss=r