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Waterluvian

I just learned about this 5 mins ago and did some basic research. Here's what I found:

- Sensodyne Repair and Protect contains 'NovaMin' (possibly only in some markets; check the ingredients!)

- NovaMin is the brand name for calcium sodium phosphosilicate

- It reacts with saliva to form a physical layer of hydroxyapatite on your teeth

- This layer blocks the tubules that trigger pain from temperature and such

- It also supports remineralization (how exactly?)

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You have to get the European version of Sensodyne Repair and Protect to get NovaMin. It's not in the US formulation.

The Canadian version I just bought also seems to have 5% NovaMin.

as the sibling comment notes, the Canadian version also has it:

https://www.jeancoutu.com/en/shop/categories/personal-care/o...

https://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/Sensodyne-Repair-Protect-Sensit...

The German version also seems to have stannous fluoride instead of NovaMin, like in the US.

Mine says "NovaMin" right on the front. There are multiple types of Sensodyne.

Btw, what really drives me crazy is that Elmex sells multiple different sorts of tooth paste with the colors green and violett, each. How can a company confuse their customers so much that they buy a tooth whitener paste instead of a remineralizing one? Did the mistake twice...

Stannous fluoride works well for me, how does it compare to NovaMin?

Please share your experience if you've tried both.

The nova min version is called Clinical Repair in Germany

Thanks!

Looks like you can get the versions with NovaMin in the US on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Sensodyne-Protect-Toothpaste-powered-...

Note the recent spate of 1 star reviews angry that what they received is not the Novamin version.

Can anyone explain why people in the USA aren’t allowed to buy this easily?

TLDR: regulations

The toothpaste maker wants to claim something like "Novamin is useful". In the EU this is treated as for cosmetics, so relatively low bar to clear. In the US this is treated as pharmaceutical, so a high bar to clear. The manufacturer has decided that passing that bar is not financially sensible for them.

Would you know where to get NovaMin mouthwash?

hydroxyapatite is a mineral like your tooth, that's how it supports remineralization.

It's actually great stuff and works wonders for tooth sensitivity above and beyond fluoride shellac. I also order it from the more civilized world.

BioMin is available in the US and is similar, but I don't find it works better and I don't like that it doesn't have fluoride. (I live in an area without fluoride in the water)

Biomin F does have fluoride, but you need to import it.

Due to GSKs patents only repair and protect outside of the US has novamin in it.

You can buy it from overseas.

Because it keeps coming up there is an anti-Novamin crowd that says it’s useless and Biomin is the true re-enamelizer.

Interesting. A very rudimentary web search begins suggesting that Biomin is the more suspicious of the two. It has a very weird Internet footprint of being this somewhat obscure-looking expensive "Health" product. I really can't find any recognizable sources on the product name. Maybe the obscurity is part of the exotic allure for some?

I used BioMin F for about a year, and I think it did something, but I'm not sure I'm qualified to evaluate its effectiveness.

Unfortunately it isn't actually available where I live (US), and I had to buy it from Canada... from a shop that hasn't had stock for more than a year now. I've tried ordering from other countries, but haven't found anyone else who will ship to the US.

I've tried the "BioMin Restore" toothpaste that is available in the US, and I don't feel like it's doing much of anything, but... again, not sure I'm qualified to evaluate.

If you have sensitive teeth both nHAP and novamin toothpastes help a lot there. I've tried both. nHAP is easier to get in the USA, there are several brands, for some reason some go nuts over the imported ones from Japan.

If you're going to use nHAP, get Apaguard from Japan. Their nHAP is rod shaped, not jagged. They were the first to make rod shaped nHAP and have been doing it for decades. It's not a great idea to introduce cheap/jagged nHAP into your mouth. Sharp nanoparticles tend to cause cancer.

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