Fluoride and a new active arginine offer the practitioner and consumers multiple options, including fluoride alone, arginine alone, or the combination of the 2, based on choice and caries risk.
In this video presentation, Dr. Marie E. Ryan, Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer for Colgate-Palmolive, says that globally, an estimated 2 billion people experience caries of permanent teeth and 514 million children suffer from caries of primary teeth. Based on the persistent high caries rates, it is prudent to continue to explore the potential for new actives and strategies for caries prevention. The most widely studied alternative preventive strategy which has been identified utilizes the naturally occurring amino acid, arginine, as a prebiotic to enhance the mouth’s natural defense mechanism against caries by helping to maintain plaque pH in a neutral state while maintaining or fostering the return to a healthy microbiome.
