I’m not one to shy away from random things I find on the internet, so when I came across the Scott Alexander article on a discovery in the 80s about people who don’t get cavities, my first thought was “how far is Honduras from Houston?”
So on February 28th, my friend Rene and I became the 50th and 51st people to get our normal mouth bacteria scrubbed away and hopefully replaced by a genetically modified strain of Streptococcus mutans that doesn’t turn sugar into lactic acid. A nice sabbatical jaunt.
In the 9 weeks since, no teeth have fallen out, I haven’t gotten any cavities, really the only noticeable change is that I seem to have less bad morning breath, though I still wholeheartedly recommend SmartMouth mouthwash and travel packets.
The company is working on making it more widely available without travel to another country, and if that works it will be interesting to see how long this takes to spread. Will it be adopted quickly or be like the lemon juice cure for scurvy that took 42 years to become policy? In the meantime, the weather in Roatán is warm!
If you’d like to learn more Cremiux Recueil also has a pretty good deep-dive.
Interesting! I’ve been told people have either acidic or basic saliva leading to a bias for either cavities or gingivitis and gum recession. I did not think the oral flora might cause this, but of course it makes sense. It’s also an important immunological defense layer.
Kudos for living out ACX interests. Keeping dental floss picks in my car have stopped my wife and I’s cavities. They also give me something to do when stopped in traffic.
I spent a week in Roatan back in 1990. My father and I did a world tour of Honduras that summer. The diving is incredible with 100 feet visibility on the reefs… and the slowness and the stillness of the days takes your breath away… Relaxing indeed!