Joanna Cosgrove07.01.08
Anti-Cavity Lollipops
A sweet, functional treat that kids (and their parents) will enjoy.
By
Joanna Cosgrove
Online Editor
“Tooth decay and periodontal disease are bacterial infections but we’ve been using mechanical removal methods to control the disease, which has been largely ineffective,” comments Dr. Wenyuan Shi, a medical microbiologist at UCLA. “Over the last 10 years, we’ve been developing modern diagnostic and therapeutic tools, finding the pathogens responsible for tooth decay. and stopping them before they do the damage to teeth.”
Dr. Shi (in partnership with Los Angeles, CA-based research company, C3 Jian) began his quest with the idea that a nutraceutical approach might be more expeditious since pharmaceuticals tend to take many years before ever reaching the consumer. “That’s why we turned to nutraceutical products, especially Chinese medicinal herbs, which have been treating disease for thousands of years,” he said.
The team culled more than 2000 Chinese herbs and screened them using a high throughput method, which allowed for thousands of experiments to commence concurrently. The experiments consisted of using donor saliva to cultivate plaque in “artificial mouth systems,” tracking the volume of bacteria responsible for tooth decay and its response to various herbal extracts.
Dr. Shi estimated that in total, the team conducted over 50,000 experiments before arriving at the herb that had true biological activity they were in search of. “To our great surprise, the top hit was licorice,” he said. “But we shouldn’t have been too surprised. Historically, many cultures—Chinese, Europeans and American Indians—have chewed licorice root to promote oral health.”
In February 2006, the team published its first paper in the Journal of Natural Products, which analyzed the active ingredients in licorice root and identified a brand new compound—Glycyrrhiza uralensis—and its ability to kill the bacteria responsible for tooth decay (streptococccus mutans or S. mutans).
The researchers then devised a way to extract the compound in large quantities for use as the active ingredient in the candy. The next step was finding an appropriate and widely accepted delivery device that would appropriately address the two most dental-problem-plagued populations: children and the elderly. “In talking to my dental colleagues, we realized that one of the biggest problems in dentistry is compliance. Most people don’t have the time, energy or interest in brushing and flossing,” he said. “One of the problems [of both populations] is sucking on too much candy. We thought using the very thing that was causing the problem as our delivery device would be ideal, but we had to make sure that the candy itself was sugarless and tasty. That involved quite a bit of development.”
Dr. Shi eventually connected with Dr. John’s Candy, a Michigan company headed by Dr. John Bruinsma, a dentist, and his wife Debra, a dental hygienist, and committed to offering the excellent-tasting, “gourmet,” sugar-free candy to dental practitioners, their patients and diabetic consumers. The cavity-fighting extract was formulated into an orange-citrus flavored lollipop and is currently sold in bags of 20 ($10) and in 2.5 pound bulk bags ($50).
“Dr. John’s had been making sugar-free lollipops for some time, but when we added our herbal ingredient it made for a perfect marriage,” commented Dr. Shi. “There has been a huge demand by the market. Right now the lollipops are only available online but we’ve gotten interest from all of the major drug stores and are in active negotiations to market the lollipops at retail. If everything goes well, by this fall they will show up in CVS, Walgreens, Target and Wal-Mart.”
The recommended dose is to consume two lollipops per day for 10 days. “We have several finished clinical studies showing that with this dose, over 10 days, more than 80% of the subjects experienced a very dramatic reduction in their cariogenic (or tooth decay-causing) bacteria,” he said adding that he is currently examining other lollipop flavors and the possibility of formulating a safe and effective, higher-dose lollipop to decrease the daily dosage compliance.
The bigger picture, he said, is to continue researching this type of medical approach, and to develop better, more effective diagnostics to deal with other dental issues such as halitosis and gum disease. “This is one of many compounds to come,” he promised.
Dr. Shi’s broad evaluation of herbs has already led to the establishment of an herbal library that has proven useful to researchers studying a host of other diseases. And his work with licorice extract has had a ripple effect on other groups at UCLA, who have been studying its benefits with regard to the immune system, cancer and aging.