Here is a thought-provoking Newsletter
Hi again,
Following on from my recent Newsletter, I write about some concerns I have regarding various ingredients commonly used in dental products that are sold in the marketplace.
For over 35 years, I have been a strong advocate for: oral, hair, skin, personal and nutritional products that have no potentially harmful ingredients in them (particularly alcohol in Mouthwashes and SLS or SLES in Toothpastes). In the last 15 years, I have extended my recommendations to using Certified Organic products that are environmentally friendly. In the last 10 years, I also recommended that products are made in Australia because of the high quality control measures in place.
It is particularly distressing to me that many commercial cosmetic products continue to have ingredients in them such as: Sulphates, Biocidal preservatives, Artificial fragrances, Synthetic colouring, Silicones and Petrochemicals.
I particularly suggest avoiding the following ingredients:
·??????????????????????????????Sodium Lauryl Sulphate (SLS)
·??????????????????????????????Sodium Laureth Sulphate (SLES)
·??????????????????????????????Alcohol
·??????????????????????????????Propylene Glycol
·??????????????????????????????Formalin (Formaldehyde)
·??????????????????????????????Parabens
If you click on the links for SLS, SLES and Alcohol, you will see why I feel these ingredients are most undesirable – particularly in oral care products. Yet many (perhaps most?) Toothpastes that are commercially available still have SLS or SLES in them as a surfactant, but they are acknowledged as irritants and on the TGA Poisons List.
There will be more information on this topic to follow in future Newsletters; but in the meantime, you might be stimulated to carry out a Google search on these (and similar) ingredients.
You might also like to consider a few thoughts I have…
In the early 1990s, I was introduced to the concept that many topical cosmetic products (manufactured for all members of the community) possibly had undesirable ingredients contained in them (I point out that Toothpastes and Mouthwashes are considered to be cosmetic products). Some claims were made that such ingredients might be carcinogenic due to the metabolites that might be formed (e.g. dioxane). I was not necessarily convinced of such extreme claims, but I became cautious about using products containing these ingredients – in fact, I never used such products again.
My investigations uncovered several important points. Firstly, SLS had been used as a known “control” irritant in animal testing for newly developed cosmetic products (i.e. - it was generally accepted as an irritant substance). Secondly, dental texts and scientific publications have mentioned for multiple decades that alcohol intake has a direct association with oral cancer.
Consequently, I questioned why SLS was used in Shampoos, Toothpastes and Mouthwashes, and why alcohol was used in Mouthwash solutions. In the 1990s, most Shampoo manufacturers said there was no problem with SLS or SLES, however after 20+ years it is interesting to observe that the inclusion of SLS or SLES in Shampoos has drastically reduced. Also, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) eventually added SLS and SLES to the Poisons List (because of their irritant character). Recently, the publication quoted above also alludes to alcohol use in Mouthwashes and recommends against it due to a probable correlation with oral cancer. So I have to ask: Why have high concentrations of alcohol been used in commercial Mouthwashes?
My anecdotal observations and questions are these:
It is interesting that many people who suffer from dandruff do not seem to continue having such a problem after they stop using Shampoo containing SLS or SLES. So is the irritant effect of SLS a possible cause for dandruff? Similarly, some people with general dermatitis seem to get some relief when they stop using soaps or cleaning gels containing SLS or SLES.
Further, I totally agree that alcohol in Mouthwashes is likely to be a significant factor associated with oral cancer. However, I also wonder what the consequences of long-term application of an irritant (SLS or SLES) are on the oral mucosa? A point to ponder is that people are now keeping their teeth longer (hopefully for a lifetime) and one could therefore reasonably expect that they clean their teeth/gums for more years (i.e. more exposure during their lifetime) than in previous decades. So could a longer period of exposure to SLS or SLES in Toothpaste contribute to problems in the mouth?
I hope this Newsletter has been thought-provoking for you. I have worked on solutions for these issues for many years in order to help as many people as possible. I therefore want to inform you of what I have been able to create – and I will aim to do this in my future posts.
Until then…
Kind regards