By: Deborah Johnson Wood
Last week, Dr. John’s Candies LLC introduced its new sugar-free herbal lollipop to the dental health community at the Michigan Dental Association’s 2008 Annual Session. Made with an extract of Chinese Licorice Root that attacks damaging bacteria, but leaves healthy bacteria untouched, just one Dr. John’s Herbal Lollipop twice a day for 10 days will prevent tooth decay for three to six months.
Dr. John Bruinsma and his wife, Debra, a former dental hygienist who now runs the candy company, founded Dr. John’s Candies LLC to provide patients with tasty sugar-free alternatives that satisfied sweet cravings without contributing to tooth decay.
Scientists developed the extract for the lollipop by researching 2,000 herbs the Chinese have used for healthcare for thousands of years. After an eight-year process, they narrowed the bacteria fighting properties to two herbs. The scientists discovered Dr. John’s Candies on the web and asked Dr. Bruinsma to consider their extract for use in a lollipop.
The Bruinsmas worked for over a year before they settled on a recipe that tasted good and still allowed the herb to be active.
The lollipop has garnered international media attention, including a feature last month on Good Morning America. Since then, the lollipop’s web site has logged over a million hits.
“We’re selling it all over the world,” says Deb Bruinsma. “We hope to have a lot more people who have decay problems using it. We want to develop it into other candies, too.”
While the average cost of a cavity filling is $160, a 20-pack (one dose) of lollipops runs $10.
Source: John Bruinsma, Beckwith Family Dental Care; Debra Bruinsma, Dr. John’s Candies; Michael Zalewski, Seyferth Spaulding Tennyson
Deborah Johnson Wood is the development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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