HoldsUp

Dr. Ellie Phillips · 2026-02-02 · Ellie Phillips (host)

“Everything I knew about dentistry - you turned it on its head” - Dr. Ellie with Ask A Hygienist

32 research-tied claims examined: 4 contradicted 3 overstated 3 context 11 supported 11 unverified

4

Contradicted by research

0:00:30Ellie Phillips (host)contradictedmoderate

In Denmark, the average person has a quarter of a cavity per person for life.

"In Denmark the average person has a quarter of a cavity per person for life." (said at 0:00:30)

Epidemiological monitoring of oral health in Denmark contradicts the claim that the average person has only 0.25 (a quarter) of a cavity over a lifetime. While Denmark has achieved substantial reductions in dental caries through national prevention programs, standard oral health metrics—such as the Decayed, Missing, and Filled Teeth (DMFT) index—show that 12-year-old Danish children currently average approximately 0.5 DMFT, and 6-year-olds average approximately 1.0 decayed, missing, or filled primary tooth (dmft). Because caries experience is cumulative over a lifespan, adult lifetime caries rates in Denmark are significantly higher than 0.25 cavities per person.

0:23:30Ellie Phillips (host)contradictedmoderate

Estrogen increases the body's inflammatory response during pregnancy.

"I mean estrogen increases your inflammatory response. That's how it allows growth and baby growth, and it changes how our body—that's why we are more at risk for some things to happen during pregnancy." (said at 0:23:30)

The speaker claims that estrogen increases the inflammatory response during pregnancy to enable fetal growth and that this heightened inflammation increases vulnerability to complications. In reality, published immunological and endocrinological evidence demonstrates the opposite: high physiological concentrations of estrogen during pregnancy exert predominantly anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects. Estrogen promotes immune tolerance at the maternal-fetal interface by inducing anti-inflammatory M2 macrophage polarization, shifting immune responses toward a T helper 2 (Th2) phenotype, and downregulating pro-inflammatory cytokine cascades to prevent fetal rejection. While estrogen at low, non-pregnant basal levels can stimulate certain humoral immune pathways, the high levels characteristic of pregnancy suppress innate inflammatory responses rather than amplifying them.

0:35:45Ellie Phillips (host)contradictedhigh

Xylitol is the only five-carbon sugar alcohol and prevents dental plaque bacteria from synthesizing the sticky matrix required to adhere to teeth.

"It makes plaque bacteria slippery. It doesn't kill them. It actually simply feeds them, but they can't process it because it is a different shaped molecule from sugar and from every other sugar alcohol. It's the only one that's a five-carbon sugar. And it just doesn't fit their mechanics. And that's why plaque cannot make the sticky stuff that sticks it to teeth." (said at 0:35:45)

The host's statement contains multiple factual inaccuracies regarding the chemistry and biological mechanism of xylitol: 1. **Chemical structure**: The claim states that xylitol "is the only five-carbon sugar alcohol" and that it is "a different shaped molecule from sugar and from every other sugar alcohol. It's the only one that's a five-carbon sugar." In reality, there are multiple five-carbon sugar alcohols (pentitols), including arabitol (D-arabitol, L-arabitol) and ribitol (adnicol), as demonstrated in biochemical literature evaluating pentitol metabolism in mammalian and microbial systems (e.g., PMID 15234337). 2. **Mechanism on bacteria**: The claim asserts that xylitol "doesn't kill them. It actually simply feeds them... And that's why plaque cannot make the sticky stuff that sticks it to teeth." In cariogenic bacteria such as *Streptococcus mutans*, xylitol is taken up via the phosphoenolpyruvate:carbohydrate phosphotransferase system (PTS) and phosphorylated to xylitol-5-phosphate. Bacteria cannot metabolize xylitol-5-phosphate for energy; instead, it accumulates inside the cell and inhibits key glycolytic enzymes, creating a toxic "futile cycle" that expends energy (ATP) to export it. This inhibits bacterial growth and acid production (a bactericidal/bacteriostatic futile cycle), rather than acting as a simple non-toxic feed or substrate.

0:45:24Ellie Phillips (host)contradictedhigh

European safety regulators withheld approval of nanohydroxyapatite for approximately 12 years due to concerns regarding calcification buildup in arteries.

"And the European Safety Commission, I mean, I don't know who they're made up of, but they were adamant for about 12 years that they would not approve this because they were nervous about the buildup of calcifications in the arteries." (said at 0:45:24)

European regulators (specifically the Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety, SCCS) did express safety concerns regarding nano-hydroxyapatite in oral care products, but their concerns were based on potential cellular uptake, particle shape toxicity (specifically needle-shaped nanoparticles), and a lack of adequate toxicological safety data submitted by manufacturers—not concerns over calcification buildup in the arteries. Official evaluations concluded that needle-shaped nano-hydroxyapatite posed potential cellular toxicity concerns, while evidence for other particle shapes was initially insufficient for safety clearance.

3

Overstated

0:04:43Ellie Phillips (host)overstatedlow

A study conducted in a convent through Guy's Hospital in London showed that earlier tooth loss was associated with a higher risk of early-onset dementia.

"at the dental school where I was studying in London in Guy's Hospital, they knew that they had done a study in a convent and shown that the earlier people the earlier these women there was women had lost their teeth, it appeared the more risk they were at for early onset dementia," (said at 0:04:43)

The speaker conflates details of the well-known Nun Study on tooth loss and dementia. The primary published study examining tooth loss and dementia in a religious community is from the Nun Study in the United States (not Guy's Hospital in London), which examined Catholic sisters aged 75 to 98 years old. That study found that having fewer teeth or being edentulous was associated with an increased prevalence and incidence of late-life dementia and Alzheimer's disease, not early-onset dementia (which by definition develops before age 65).

0:25:53Ellie Phillips (host)overstatedmoderate

Xylitol stimulates saliva production, bringing higher levels of minerals and immunoglobulins to oral tissues.

"Xylitol actually enhances that by pulling saliva into your mouth, making it even more mineralized because stimulated saliva is uber mineralized because it's like the fire department. It thinks it's coming to an emergency. So it's coming in with all its minerals and it's also full of immunoglobulins to fix your gums." (said at 0:25:53)

Xylitol (commonly consumed as chewing gum or lozenges) promotes salivary flow through gustatory and masticatory stimulation. Stimulated saliva elevates oral pH, enhances bicarbonate buffering capacity, and facilitates the delivery and clearance of saliva components that assist in enamel remineralization. However, the claim that stimulated saliva is "uber mineralized" and "full of immunoglobulins to fix your gums" overstates normal salivary physiology. Salivary stimulation does not induce an emergency surge of hyper-concentrated minerals or immunoglobulins; polyols themselves do not chemically facilitate calcium uptake beyond standard physiological salivary stimulation, and total protein/immunoglobulin concentrations generally remain stable or dilute under high salivary flow rates.

0:43:24Ellie Phillips (host)overstatedlow

Instant powdered iced tea reconstituted with fluoridated water can contain up to 13 parts per million of fluoride.

"because they condense they brew the tea really strong before they then powder it and then you mix it up with fluoridated water. You can have up to 13, like around the Aluminum Company of America, in iced tea." (said at 0:43:24)

Published analyses confirm that instant powdered and prepared iced tea products contain elevated levels of fluoride relative to many other beverages, as tea plants naturally accumulate fluoride. However, measured concentrations in commercial products are substantially lower than 13 ppm. In an analysis of 44 iced tea products (including 10 granular instant powders), fluoride concentrations were below 2.0 ppm for 42 of the products, with only two samples exceeding 2.0 ppm (PMID 12459612). While reconstituting instant tea with fluoridated water or preparing extra-strong brews increases overall fluoride delivery, claiming levels up to 13 ppm overstates the concentrations documented in published beverage testing.

3

Needs context

0:13:28Ellie Phillips (host)needs contextmoderate

Stripping away the oral biofilm causes tooth erosion, sensitivity, and exposure leading to tooth wear.

"When you strip away that biofilm, you get erosion of teeth, you get, you know, sensitivity, you get, you know, exposure where teeth can wear away." (said at 0:13:28)

The speaker accurately describes the protective function of the organic surface layer on teeth—most specifically the acquired salivary/enamel pellicle (an acellular, protein-rich film) and early surface biofilms. The acquired pellicle serves as a natural physical and chemical barrier that mitigates direct acid contact, modulates calcium and phosphate exchange, and reduces erosive tooth demineralization and subsequent dentin exposure or hypersensitivity. However, the claim benefits from context because mature oral bacterial biofilms (dental plaque) also harbor cariogenic and periodontal pathogens that cause tooth decay and periodontal disease, making hygiene-based biofilm management necessary rather than universally detrimental.

0:24:48Ellie Phillips (host)needs contextmoderate

Teeth demineralize during eating and drinking, and repair themselves over a two-hour recovery period afterwards.

"I mean, I would I would argue that every day of our lives our teeth demineralize when we eat and drink, and every time we eat and drink, and that they then repair themselves in the two-hour period or so after eating and drinking." (said at 0:24:48)

Dental literature establishes that enamel undergoes a dynamic equilibrium of demineralization and remineralization mediated by plaque pH and saliva. However, demineralization does not occur with every food or drink; it occurs specifically when exposure to fermentable carbohydrates or acidic substances causes the oral/plaque pH to drop below the critical pH (typically ~5.5 for enamel). Salivary flow, buffering capacity, and clearance subsequently restore neutral pH (the classic Stephan curve response, typically recovering baseline pH within 20 to 60 minutes), permitting calcium and phosphate from saliva to remineralize enamel.

  • context: The Stephan Curve revisited. (Odontology 2013) · cited 141x in the literature
    "Although acid production is indeed the immediate proximate cause of tooth dissolution, the influence of alkali production within plaque has received relative scant attention. Excessive reliance on Stephan Curve leads to describing foods as "safe" if they do not lower the pH below the so-called "critical pH" at which point it is postulated enamel dissolves." (abstract, passage verified)
    pubmedfull study (doi)
  • context: Role of saliva in caries models. (Advances in dental research 1995) · cited 73x in the literature
    "The crucial role played by the actions of saliva in controlling the equilibrium between de- and remineralization in a cariogenic environment is demonstrated by the effects on caries incidence of salivary dysfunction and by the distribution of sites of caries predilection to those were salivary effects are restricted. However, of the several properties of saliva which may confer protective effects, it is not certain which are most important. A distinction can be made between static protective effects, which act continuously, and dynamic effects, which act during the time-course of the Stephan curve." (abstract, passage verified)
    pubmedfull study (doi)
0:38:35Ellie Phillips (host)needs contextmoderate

During the Gulf War era, the military incorporated two pieces of xylitol gum into every military MRE meal pack under a program called 'Look for Xylitol First'.

"So they incorporated two pieces of xylitol gum in every meal pack for the military. Every MRE had two pieces of xylitol gum. It was a program called Look for Xylitol First, and and they did that um to keep the troops' teeth healthy healthier during" (said at 0:38:35)

The U.S. Army Dental Command did establish a dental health initiative called "Look for Xylitol First" in the early 2000s to promote xylitol for the prevention of dental caries. However, the program was an educational campaign aimed at training military dental care teams and teaching service members how to identify and consume xylitol-containing products, rather than a Gulf War-era initiative that supplied two pieces of xylitol gum in every Meal, Ready-to-Eat (MRE).

  • context: Army's "look for xylitol first" program. (PubMed 2004) · cited 5x in the literature
    "The Dental Command has created the "Look for Xylitol First" initiative aimed at training all members of the dental care team on the positive benefits of xylitol and to teach patients how to be smart consumers and evaluate products for their xylitol content." (abstract, passage verified)
    openalex
11

Supported by research

0:08:40Ellie Phillips (host)supportedmoderate

Acidifying the mouth enhances the remineralization capacity of fluoride.

"And I knew that if you had this acidic Listerine followed by the fluoride, a dilute sodium fluoride, that it would enhance the mineralization of the fluoride. It's part of that idea in pediatric dentistry. Back in the day, we used to use these acidified fluoride gels. They were way stronger. But one of the points of acidifying the mouth is to make the remineralization more intense." (said at 0:08:40)

Dental literature confirms that acidic pH enhances fluoride uptake and remineralization efficacy on dental enamel. Historically and in clinical practice, acidulated phosphate fluoride (APF) formulations (typically around pH 3.0 to 5.5) were developed because transient acidity increases enamel surface reactivity and promotes the deposition of calcium fluoride-like reservoirs, which subsequently release fluoride to aid remineralization. In vitro pH-cycling studies evaluate this mechanism and show that slightly acidified fluoridated formulations improve surface microhardness and decrease lesion porosity more effectively than neutral formulations.

0:11:20Ellie Phillips (host)supportedmoderate

Gut bacteria can change in two weeks following a dietary shift, as shown in studies of tribal populations.

"Digestive bacteria are a lot more interchangeable and affected and they you can actually change the gut bacteria in a couple of weeks with a change of diet. They've proven that in, you know, tribal sort of cultures where they eat very different things. People, you know, have taken fecal samples and seen the change in in two weeks and then when they go back to a western diet, doesn't take long to change back." (said at 0:11:20)

Controlled dietary intervention studies confirm that human gut microbiota composition and metabolic activity change rapidly within days to two weeks of a dietary shift. In a landmark 2-week reciprocal food exchange study between rural South Africans consuming a traditional high-fiber diet and African Americans consuming a high-fat Western diet, switching diets for just two weeks produced substantial reciprocal shifts in gut microbial community composition, short-chain fatty acid production (including butyrate), and secondary bile acid metabolism. Additional controlled feeding studies demonstrate that gut microbial community structure shifts significantly within 1 to 4 days of switching between plant- and animal-based diets and reverts quickly upon return to baseline intake.

  • supports: Diet rapidly and reproducibly alters the human gut microbiome. (Nature 2014) · cited 10361x in the literature
    "Here we show that the short-term consumption of diets composed entirely of animal or plant products alters microbial community structure and overwhelms inter-individual differences in microbial gene expression... In concert, these results demonstrate that the gut microbiome can rapidly respond to altered diet, potentially facilitating the diversity of human dietary lifestyles." (abstract, results, passage verified)
    pubmedfull study (doi)
  • supports: Fat, fibre and cancer risk in African Americans and rural Africans. (Nature communications 2015) · cited 1001x in the literature
    "We performed 2-week food exchanges in subjects from the same populations, where African Americans were fed a high-fibre, low-fat African-style diet and rural Africans a high-fat, low-fibre western-style diet, under close supervision. In comparison with their usual diets, the food changes resulted in remarkable reciprocal changes in mucosal biomarkers of cancer risk and in aspects of the microbiota and metabolome known to affect cancer risk, best illustrated by increased saccharolytic fermentation and butyrogenesis, and suppressed secondary bile acid synthesis in the African Americans." (abstract, results, passage verified)
    pubmedfull study (doi)
0:22:25Ellie Phillips (host)supportedhigh

Periodontal chronic inflammation can be measured systemically as an elevation in HbA1c and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels.

"And chronic inflammation, you're absolutely correct, is something stuck under the gum, likely some hardened calculus that's causing this chronic inflammation that's creating a ripple effect that is causing inflammation. You can even read in the body inflammation as a rise in A1C and CRP levels and I mean you can actually measure it." (said at 0:22:25)

Substantial evidence from randomized clinical trials and systematic reviews confirms that chronic periodontal inflammation produces measurable systemic effects, notably elevated systemic inflammatory markers such as C-reactive protein (CRP/hs-CRP) and higher glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c). Systematic reviews and meta-analyses show that treating periodontal disease through scaling and root planing leads to statistically significant reductions in both serum CRP and HbA1c levels.

0:29:55Ellie Phillips (host)supportedmoderate

Denmark does not fluoridate its public water supply.

"and in a place like Denmark, I mean, you can look this up, the the countries with the top oral health in the world, they don't fluoridate their water supplies." (said at 0:29:55)

Denmark and other Nordic countries do not practice community water fluoridation, relying instead on public dental healthcare systems and self-performed topical fluoride exposure (primarily brushing with fluoride toothpaste) to achieve and sustain low dental caries levels across their populations.

0:25:20Ellie Phillips (host)supportedhigh

Saliva is naturally supersaturated with the minerals needed to repair and remineralize teeth.

"the greatest thing about saliva is that it is usually supersaturated. That means it's dripping with the minerals that your teeth need." (said at 0:25:20)

The claim is supported by dental and oral physiology literature. Saliva is normally supersaturated with respect to tooth mineral (hydroxyapatite), containing calcium and phosphate ions that drive remineralization and prevent demineralization under neutral pH conditions.

0:11:27Ellie Phillips (host)supportedhigh

The bacterial composition of the oral microbiome is distinct from and not similar to the gut/digestive microbiome.

"although some digestion goes on in the mouth, the bacteria of the mouth are not similar to the digestive bacteria." (said at 0:11:27)

Published metagenomic and cross-body site microbiome research consistently confirms that the bacterial community of the oral cavity is distinct from that of the lower digestive tract (gut/fecal microbiome). Comparative profiling demonstrates that body habitat is a primary driver of microbial composition, with oral and gastrointestinal niches harboring distinctly differentiated bacterial taxa, functions, and transmission dynamics.

0:29:44Ellie Phillips (host)supportedmoderate

In Nordic countries such as Finland, preschools routinely distribute xylitol chewing gum to children after lunch and before going home.

"They actually hand out xylitol gum in preschool in these countries as the children arrive after lunch and before they go home." (said at 0:29:44)

The claim is supported. In Finland, the distribution of xylitol chewing gum and pastilles in preschools and daycare centers is a well-established oral health measure used routinely across daycare centers following meals, supported by national oral health guidelines and evaluated in community trials investigating xylitol gum programs in Finnish daycare settings.

0:34:48Ellie Phillips (host)supportedmoderate

The human body produces approximately 15 grams of xylitol endogenously per day.

"It makes about 15 grams of xylitol daily. Not all in one go, very spaced out throughout the day because xylitol helps us to actually keep our glucose levels in check." (said at 0:34:48)

The human body produces xylitol endogenously as an intermediate of carbohydrate metabolism, specifically via the D-glucuronate-L-xylulose pathway and pentose phosphate pathway, with classic human metabolic studies estimating endogenous synthesis at approximately 5 to 15 grams per day. The host's statement accurately reflects this physiological figure and describes its role as an intermediate in normal human glucose and polyol metabolism.

0:35:25Ellie Phillips (host)supportedmoderate

Xylitol is fermented in the digestive tract to form butyrate, a protective short-chain fatty acid.

"it will just go down with your food and it forms butyrate, which is a short-chain fatty acid that is actually protective of our gut lining." (said at 0:35:25)

Xylitol is a low-digestible carbohydrate that reaches the large intestine, where it is fermented by commensal gut microbes (specifically species of Anaerostipes, such as Anaerostipes hadrus) into short-chain fatty acids, predominantly butyrate. Butyrate serves as a major energy source for colonocytes and is well-established to support gut barrier integrity and mucosal health.

0:41:54Ellie Phillips (host)supportedmoderate

Tea leaves concentrate fluoride from the soil, resulting in brewed tea containing approximately three parts per million of fluoride.

"If you drink tea, tea has about three parts per million because most tea, right, is created harvested. I don't know how you say it in in India, right? And India is in China and Japan where there's fluoride in the soil... It's just that the tea tree actually, you know, condenses it into the leaves." (said at 0:41:54)

Published analytical studies and reviews confirm that the tea plant (Camellia sinensis) is a hyperaccumulator of fluoride from acidic soils, storing high concentrations primarily in its mature leaves. In brewed infusions, fluoride levels typically range from approximately 1 to 5 mg/L (equivalent to parts per million or ppm), with black tea infusions averaging approximately 2.3 to 2.8 mg/L and brick tea averaging ~4.8 mg/L depending on brewing time and tea type.

0:55:35Ellie Phillips (host)supportedhigh

Dental fluorosis was first discovered in the late 19th or early 20th century by a dentist in Colorado Springs observing endemic brown-stained teeth among local residents.

"Well, the first thing is if you look back at the story of fluoride, how it was found, it was in the 1900s, late 1800s, early 1900s, a dentist in Colorado, actually in Colorado Springs, noticed that all the patients in his office had brown-stained teeth. That's how the the whole fluoride story begins right there in Colorado Springs." (said at 0:55:35)

Historical records in dental literature confirm that the scientific investigation into dental fluorosis and water fluoridation began in Colorado Springs in the early 20th century. Dentist Frederick McKay opened a practice in Colorado Springs in 1901 and observed widespread, severe brown staining on the teeth of local residents (known locally as the 'Colorado Brown Stain'). McKay's investigations, in collaboration with G.V. Black and subsequent water chemistry analyses by H.V. Churchill, ultimately established that high natural levels of fluoride in local drinking water were the cause of this dental fluorosis.

  • supports: History of Dental Fluoride (Kaleidoscope History 2025)
    "However, it was Frederick McKay’s investigations in Colorado Springs that led to the recognition of fluoride’s role in both staining and protecting teeth from decay. His collaboration with G.V. Black and later research by H.V. Churchill confirmed that high fluoride levels in drinking water caused fluorosis but also resulted in lower rates of dental caries." (abstract, passage verified)
    openalexfull study (doi)
11

No source found (not proven false)

0:05:30Ellie Phillips (host)unverifiedvery low

There were no dental hygienists in the United Kingdom during the 1960s.

"because in the 1960s there were no hygienists in in the UK at that time." (said at 0:05:30)

No published record matching the claim that there were no dental hygienists in the United Kingdom during the 1960s was located; this does not prove the claim false.

0:08:20Ellie Phillips (host)unverifiedvery low

In the 1960s, the original Crest was the only toothpaste proven to repair and remineralize teeth in randomized clinical trials.

"back then the only toothpaste proven to repair and remineralize teeth was the original Crest. It had randomized clinical trials." (said at 0:08:20)

No published record matching the claim that the original Crest was the only toothpaste proven to repair and remineralize teeth in randomized clinical trials in the 1960s was located; this does not prove the claim false.

0:11:50Ellie Phillips (host)unverifiedvery low

Forty percent of the oral biofilm in adults is established during childhood and remains highly stable.

"In the mouth, we know that in the biofilm that's over our mouth, 40% of it actually is found to have developed in childhood. It's incredibly stable." (said at 0:11:50)

No published record matching the claim that 40% of the adult oral biofilm is established during childhood and remains stable was located; this does not prove the claim false. While the oral microbiome undergoes substantial succession from infancy through childhood and develops stability over time, specific scientific evidence establishing that exactly or approximately 40% of the adult oral biofilm is permanently set during childhood was not identified in the published biomedical literature.

0:28:10Ellie Phillips (host)unverifiedvery low

Studies show that ACT Total Care mouthwash is seven times more mineralizing than original ACT mouthwash.

"And they did studies to show that the ACT Total Care is seven times more mineralizing than the original." (said at 0:28:10)

No published record matching the claim that ACT Total Care mouthwash is seven times more mineralizing than original ACT mouthwash was located; this does not prove the claim false. In published in vitro comparative testing, ACT Total Care (formulated with 100 ppm fluoride) did not show superior remineralization or enamel protection compared to original ACT Anticavity rinse (formulated with 225 ppm fluoride).

0:29:10GUEST1unverifiedvery low

The human body naturally secretes xylitol.

"I think it's a miraculous sugar alcohol, you know, derived from birchwood and we even apparently secrete some naturally in our own bodies." (said at 0:29:10)

No published record matching the claim that the human body naturally secretes xylitol was located; this does not prove the claim false.

0:37:41Ellie Phillips (host)unverifiedvery low

Smoking a cigarette increases cardiovascular metabolites by 100% to 200%, whereas xylitol intake increases them by only 6%.

"If you'd had a cigarette, you would have increased the metabolites by one to 200%. The metabolites that they were reporting was so bad, and they didn't report it as percentages, but a a cigarette would cause a 100 or more percent increase. The increase with xylitol was 6%." (said at 0:37:41)

No published record matching the claim that smoking a cigarette increases cardiovascular metabolites by 100% to 200% while xylitol intake increases them by only 6% was located; this does not prove the claim false. In published clinical studies of xylitol ingestion (e.g., Witkowski et al., 2024), consuming a xylitol-sweetened beverage produces plasma xylitol concentrations that are markedly elevated (over 1,000-fold above endogenous fasting baseline levels), rather than a 6% increase.

0:40:15Ellie Phillips (host)unverifiedvery low

Permanent adult teeth start forming and producing enamel via ameloblasts from birth until six years of age.

"Adult teeth start forming from birth. The day the baby is born starts the first little cell called an ameloblast squirting out enamel and forming the permanent teeth. And so permanent teeth start forming between birth and six years old." (said at 0:40:15)

No published record matching the specific timeline for permanent dentition enamel secretion and ameloblast initiation from birth to six years of age was located among the retrieved records; this does not prove the claim false.

0:40:38Ellie Phillips (host)unverifiedvery low

Fluoride in drinking water at a concentration of one part per million causes structural alterations in developing teeth between birth and six years old.

"and even one part per million was causing an effect in the construction of the teeth between birth and six years old. So we have always known what they decided the government decided that the cosmetic effect was minimal at one part per million." (said at 0:40:38)

No published record matching the claim that fluoride in drinking water at a concentration of 1 ppm causes structural alterations in developing teeth between birth and six years old was located; this does not prove the claim false.

0:58:27Ellie Phillips (host)unverifiedvery low

In the 1920s, the Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa) was discovered to be discharging aluminum manufacturing waste products containing fluoride into water supplies at concentrations of 15 parts per million.

"then in 19 I think it was 21 or 25 the Aluminum Company of America, they discovered this brown staining in the population living around Alcoa, this company that manufactures aluminum, and they found out that that actually this company was dumping the waste product of aluminum manufacture into the water supplies and it was at 15 parts per million." (said at 0:58:27)

No published record matching the claim that the Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa) was discovered dumping aluminum manufacturing waste containing fluoride into water supplies at 15 parts per million in the 1920s was located; this does not prove the claim false.

0:44:00Ellie Phillips (host)unverifiedvery low

Synthetic hydroxyapatite was adopted or developed by NASA in the 1970s to combat dental enamel and bone mineral loss experienced by astronauts in microgravity environments.

"You know the story of hydroxyapatite that it was uh NASA that needed something... and instead they noticed that there were problems with the astronauts' health and particularly with enamel, and they were trouble cleaning their teeth." (said at 0:44:00)

No published record matching the claim that NASA developed or adopted synthetic hydroxyapatite in the 1970s to combat astronaut enamel and bone mineral loss was located; this does not prove the claim false.

0:56:55Ellie Phillips (host)unverifiedvery low

Primary (baby) teeth develop and mineralize in utero while the fetus is in the womb.

"Now, what actually happens, we then know, is that baby teeth grow in utero. When when baby's in the womb, the baby teeth form." (said at 0:56:55)

No published record matching the claim that primary (baby) teeth develop and mineralize in utero while the fetus is in the womb was located; this does not prove the claim false.

Unverified means no publication matching the claim was located; it does not prove the claim false. Spotted an error? See the corrections policy - disputes from the people quoted are prioritized.