Gum Disease Leading to Alzheimer's (with transcript)

Janice King, co-founder and CEO of TRI-OLOGY, a breakthrough oral
health product focused on strengthening oral health for overall systemic health. Janice is a 20-year researcher in the area of oral health and the oral-systemic connection, a formulator with three U.S. patents and co-founder of NOWsystem, Inc. With a grant from the National Science Foundation, Janice and co-founder Dale Winetroub are currently researching the risk factors relative to age-related Alzheimer’s Disease.

Transcript

Frank Samson:  Welcome to Boomers Today. I'm your host, Frank Samson. Of course, each week we bring you important, useful information on issues facing baby boomers, their parents, and other loved ones. We have a great guest with us today. Her name is Janice King. She's co-founder and CEO of TRI-OLOGY, a breakthrough oral health product focused on strengthening oral health for overall systematic health. Janice is a 20 year researcher in the area of oral health and the oral systemic connection, a formulator with three US patents and co-founder of Now System Incorporated. With a grant from the National Science Foundation, Janice and co-founder Dale Weintraub are currently researching the risk factors relative to age related Alzheimer's disease. So Janice, thank you so much for joining us on Boomers Today. I really appreciate it.

Janice King:      Oh, thank you Frank. I appreciate you having me on your show today. I'm excited.

Frank:               Yeah, it's a just such an important subject matter, and I'm pretty anxious to kind of get into the meat of it. But maybe my first question is just maybe you could help educate us a little bit more about your organization, TRI-OLOGY.

Janice:             Oh, thank you. Yes, this all started back in 2000 when the US Surgeon General Report came out on oral health in America, May, 2000. And in his report he said we were in a silent oral disease epidemic here in the United States, and that sparked my interest. And so that's when I started researching, and then Dale and I combined our efforts in doing more and more research. And we actually went before the Kansas Dental Board in 2003 and said, "We'd like to start a research project to have non dental services.” These would be services that could be done, things that you do in the privacy of your own home. But we would do them in a setting similar to a dental office. There we would really dig down into what could be the root cause of the breakdown of the gums that then allows bacteria to move into other parts of the body creating systemic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, cardiovascular disease, and Alzheimer's. 

The Kansas Dental Board gave us the permission to do it, and we conducted a four-year study of talking to people when they come in for appointments. We talked about everything in their life that they're doing, they're having children, their ages, are they married, divorced, widowed, their employment, their dietary supplements, their medications, their sleep patterns. Quickly we could start assessing how people's lives impacted their health. 

For instance, we know that the body intelligently shuts down the functions you don't need. And this is what stress does. Caring for your elderly parents could be one thing that’s creating a lot of stress in your life. 

Frank:               Yeah, that's hard.

Janice:             After four years of interviews, we had some better idea. We shut down the research project and focused on looking for ingredients that promoted could oral hygiene. We started working with whole plants, things that the body immediately recognizes, and knows how to utilize in the repair of tissue. For instance, the body knows how to use antioxidants. It knows how to use vitamins. It knows how to use whole plants. It really doesn't know how to use these manmade chemicals, which can actually then prevent the healing of tissues rather than help. So that's what TRI-OLOGY is, we're a plant-based topical application for the oral environment to aid the body in doing what it was already designed to do, and that was to heal and maintain health. We've got three US patents on our formulas. 

Frank:               And are you taking your products to dentists all over, to utilize these products?

Janice:             Yes. When we developed a formula, we were working with Indiana University on testing the different variations of the formula. We finally got it down to the most affective formula for using in the oral environment, and then we started working with dentists. We had a group of really great dentists that were new trying the products, and seeing the results they were getting.

Early on we had a dentist and The Dental Arts is the name of the dental practice and Dr. Jeremy Bowen had a patient on a Friday night, he was professional hockey player. He got hit in the jaw by the puck, and it broke out all his lower front teeth. That night, Dr. Bowen is doing surgery on the hockey player, and he broke his own jaw as well. The doctor used Trilogy, because he's been working with the product, and sent the hockey player home with Trilogy, a fluid, kind of the same type of viscosity as your saliva. The hockey player used this product until he came back in on Monday, and the healing was remarkable. The doctor said he saw in just those three days what normally they would see in about 10 to 14 days.

Frank:               Is there a product that the consumer can use directly? If somebody went to their local pharmacy, what is the product called?

Janice:             It's called Trilogy.

Frank:               Oh, it is? Okay.

Janice:             Yeah, and the reason it's called TRI-OLOGY is because ology is science, and we feel like we've taken biology, and we've taken it to the next level by, again, the old adage of let medicine be thy food and thy food be thy medicine. And that's really where we're at, is keeping our formulation in a way that the human body, again, can immediately recognize what it is, and immediately utilize it in the repair of tissue.

Frank:               Should someone with very strong or healthy gums be utilizing this product too?

Janice:             Yes. We have people that when they have babies, they immediately start using it in their infants, to help them establish a healthy microbiome in their mouth. So it's used from what we say from cradle to death, because it's safe for everyone. And it really helps keep that with that micro-biome, the family of bacteria that live in our mouth in balance. And what typically happens when someone gets gum inflammation is there's been a break in the gums, and it can be from brushing your teeth, it can be from flossing, eating, just the act of chewing will put micro cuts in your gums. And generally in a healthy person, who's under the age of 40, and they're not on medications, their saliva will just immediately go in and repair that damage, put down a barrier, and just constantly is repairing these micro cuts.

As we get older, or we're under a lot of stress, there's things in our life now that are influencing the saliva's ability, the saliva glands' abilities to bathe and protect the mouth. These micro cuts do not heal. When it doesn't heal, when there's failure for the tissue to heal, then it becomes chronic inflammation. And it's the chronic inflammation that now sets the stage for the gums not to heal, the imbalance of bacteria.

And the reason there's an imbalance of bacteria setting in now is because there's a byproduct of inflammation. It's called a cytotoxin, but it is a food source for a particular backup bacteria called P. gingivalis. And when the inflammation becomes chronic, this food supply for P. gingivalis goes way up. And therefore the colony, the community of P. gingivalis, is overgrown. Now your microbiome is no longer in balance, but because the gums now are damaged, and they're open, the bacteria then flow into the gums. They get into the blood system, the nerve system, and the lymphatic pathways. When this happens it's often associated with causing rheumatoid arthritis, and cardiovascular disease, and Alzheimer's.

Frank:               Right? So what would be the suggestion then, you would give to families? All right, when they hear what you're telling them, they're saying, "Okay, I want to decrease my chance of getting cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer's, all the things you just mentioned," what should I do day-to-day with my mouth to help in preventing that from happening?

Janice:             Well, we really recommend eating lots of dark raw green vegetables. Part of that is just because they're full of the antioxidants and nutrients from the polyphenols, and everything you need. And as you're chewing them, you're releasing those into the mouth to help with the repair of the tissues. So everybody should have a great diet of these dark, raw green vegetables. The reality is, it doesn't happen. It doesn't happen. And so you really need to be looking at a topical supplement, if you're not having that diet that's rich in raw dark green.

You can use it like a mouthwash and then it'll stay there in the mouth for 12 hours. Essential oils will literally cling, just like your saliva will cling on the gums. We also have now with what we call a brushing gel. You can replace your regular toothpaste, which is mostly manmade chemicals with a plant-based brushing gel. And again, it lays down those any oxidants and provides all the nutrients. It actually re-mineralizes natural teeth, so you don't have any tooth sensitivity, so you don't have mouth pain.

But then we also have things like the Extreme Dry Mouth Solution. It can be put on a sponge and sucked on to help relieve very dry mouths. 

Frank:               I'm seeing as I go and visit assisted living locations, and other senior living communities, there seems to be a trend of dentists or dental assistants coming into the assisted living locations to do basic work on people. This happens especially when it's maybe not so easy for them to go out and go visit their dentist on a regular basis. So what are some of the things you're seeing to help in the prevention of those getting various diseases like you spoke about, like Alzheimer's disease?

Janice:             Well, we're seeing a trend towards not only having the dental professionals and the dental hygienists being able to come into these care facilities. In Kansas, we still have not passed the law to allow dental hygienists to come in and do basic hygiene services for patients. Some of the more progressive states like Arizona and California allow it, and I think it's definitely a benefit, but we need to do more on a daily basis, because this is a daily concern.

And what we've found in a lot of the longterm care facilities is that they're now actually allowing the care providers in these facilities to provide oral hygiene care. So even if the resident isn't able to brush their teeth, or cleanse their mouth, they can still use these sponges on a stick to maintain dental hygiene. And this really helps keep the microbiome in balance, prevent mouth sores. It's a terrible problem when a loved one gets a mouth sore, because they will usually stop eating due to the pain. And so daily, we have to provide care that will prevent these mouth sores, and TRI-OLOGY is excellent for that. We see them used in the intensive care units of hospitals, to swab out the mouth, and prevent the mouth sores, and keep it moisturized, and keep the bacteria in balance.

A dentist that was going in home care to his ALS patient, and she actually had bulbar syndrome, which means her jaw was locked open. And the medical doctor had put her on the medication to completely stop her saliva, which they do, because if they don't, then there's the drooling, and then the drooling can cause skin irritations and stuff. But she had extremely dry mouth, and it was a very painful thing for her. And she could communicate through using her retina to a computer. But the dentist brought TRI-OLOGY in on one of his visits, and he sprayed his gloves with the liquid, and then went into her mouth. And she gave him the report by the computer afterwards, the first time in years that she had had relief from her painful mouth.

So whether it's in-home care with someone with advanced ALS disease, or someone in an assisted living center, it's still important that we pay attention to the mouth, and prevent the mouth sores. Because again, mouth sores can stop a person from eating or drinking, because it just becomes so painful. And using TRI-OLOGY then restore that balance. The mouth sore is generally healed, his pain has gone immediately. It's generally healed in about 48 hours completely, and they can resume back to their lifetime of pleasure.

I had a story about a registered dental hygienist, and her 19-year-old son goes off to college. His health is perfect when he goes to college. He comes back at Christmas time and the first thing she sees is that he's got these swollen gum  and he's also brought home his adopted American bulldog. The dog was a rescue dog, and she couldn't understand how this 19-year-old child, who'd been raised in such an environment of health for your mouth, and your teeth, how he could let himself get this inflammation. Well, we were working on some research for a paper, and we suggested to her, "Have you looked at the dog's mouth?" And come to find out, this rescue dog had periodontal disease, a huge imbalance of bacteria in his mouth. And being an American bulldog we asked, "Has the young man slept with it?"

Frank:               Oh my God. Oh, no.

Janice:             It’s big old tongue licking his face shared the bacteria with the teenage young man, and they both ended up with periodontal disease. But it wouldn't have to stop there, because the mother was very smart about oral hygiene or what was going on, and I was able to put ... we put the links together for her. She was immediately able to stop it from spreading to the rest of the family members, because this is a community-shared disease. 

Frank:               Is that why it's such a high percentage of people have periodontal disease?

Janice:             Yes, yes, because if you work, you're going to share it. Where you live, you're going to share it. And it's in every water droplet. You can see pictures of this in the dentists’ office which illustrate this in great detail. And you see all this mist of saliva coming out of the mouth as we talk. You don't feel it. You don't see it, but it covers our hair, our face, our skin, our clothing, and it just is a fact of life. And so, if you are with a coworker who's got periodontal disease, and that's because they have an overgrowth of an imbalance of bacteria that is now an opportunist. The bacteria doesn't cause the disease, it waits for an opportunity to when there's an infection, or a break in the gum. And then, the byproducts is what allows it to overgrow as population. But once it's overgrown, it loves it when it can spread to somebody else and start the process all over again.

Frank:               So, in the remaining minutes that we have, can you summarize what your studies show?

Janice:             Okay. What studies are showing, this was one that was published in May of 2019. It was not our study, but it was a study done on the bacteria that is found in amyloid plaque. And they knew it was P. Gingivalis. Many, many studies out there have shown that P. Gingivalis is a very aggressive bacteria in the amyloid plaque of Alzheimer's patient's brains. Through DNA testing, they were able to trace that very specific strain of P. gingivalis bacteria back to its source. Where did it come from within the body? And it comes the mouth. And that's very big evidence now, because now that they know for sure it's not coming from the gut, it's not coming from anywhere else in the gut digestive track. It's only coming from the mouth. Now, it's even more important to keep the gums strong and healthy. But what else they've learned is that in age-related Alzheimer's disease, the amyloid plaque will be appearing in the brain 20 to 30 years prior to the outward symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.

Frank:               Wow. So it could happen at a young age, and affect you later on, yeah.

Janice:             Exactly. So every time you have this mouth sore or a chronic inflammation, it's laying down the plaque in your brain. It's allowing that bacteria to migrate, and go into the brain through the nerve pathways and lymphatic pathways, because they're a great blood barrier. So it's not through the blood barrier. It's going through the nerve pathways and the lymphatic pathways. So it's not something now that we have to think, "Well, how did my mom or my dad develop Alzheimer's disease at 65?" Well, it didn't develop at 65. It was laying down the foundation year after year for at least the last 20 years. Back in your 40s, there's an effect that happens to the saliva glands and all the glands. And this is when people start complaining about dry eyes. And that's one of the first things they notice is their eyes are so dry. Well their saliva is also declining.

It's a natural part of our aging as we go into our 40s. Bottom line is if you want to have a healthy body, if you want to have a healthy brain, you must have healthy gums. You just have to.

Frank:               Right. Janice, I could talk to you for quite a long time on the subject manner, because it's so important, but unfortunately we're out of time. But I just wanted to thank you so much for joining us. So just share with everybody how they could learn more about TRI-OLOGY.

Janice:             Oh please, thank you. If you go to triologycare, and that's T-R-I--O-L-O-G-Y, triologycare.com, and go to the educational page. And there'll be videos. There's articles that I've written, there's the study that was published here in 2015, just lot of information to help you. There's a chat site that you can get online and chat with someone in our company. And there's a phone number. And we are here to help educate people. Yes, we have formulation that really, really works, but our mission is to just educate people that to prevent disease, you must protect your mouth.

Frank:               Great, thank you so much for joining us, Janice. I really appreciate it.

Janice:             Oh, thank you, Frank for having me on today.

Frank:               Yeah, well thank you, and check it out triologycare.com, and thank you everybody for joining us on Boomers Today. Just be safe out there, and we'll talk to everybody real soon.