Speaker 1: This is pet Life Radio. Let's talk pets.
Speaker 2: Hello, pet lovers, Welcome to best That's for pet I'm
your show host Michelle Burns. So, what is one of
the things that pet parents hate besides picking up poop?
Brushing teeth? Oh so difficult. I can't even do it
for my cats. For my dog, it was always is
you can eat the toothbrush or my finger, or can
I get some dental work done in there? But my
guest today created a product that is simply incredible. Well,
I'll introduce you tour right after the break. We'll be
right back.
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Speaker 4: Let's talk pets on Petlifradio dot com.
Speaker 2: Welcome back everyone. I'd like to welcome Lindsay Campbell. She
is the co founder of Teeth for Life. Welcome Lindsay, Hey,
thanks for having me. I'm so glad to have you,
actually say, have you back, because you've been on Best
Pets before. I've been doing it so long. It's all
a blur. It's close to four hundred different products, maybe
four fifty because in the beginning I did two per show,
so many products ago. But welcome, welcome.
Speaker 5: Thank you.
Speaker 2: So can you share your background with us and then
we'll get into how you came up with Teeth for Life.
So what is your background?
Speaker 5: Yeah, so my background is in marketing, sales, business development. Basically,
Emily's the brainiac behind the product. She's the microbiologist immunologist
who invented the technology, initially for her grandmother when she
was back. I was back in about twenty twelve. Her
grandmother had a really major stroke after having a two
six traction and Emily was at Berkeley at the time.
I was out at USF and that's how we met.
We can get into that later. But basically she flew
back to Lacrosse and wobbed her grandmother's mouth after her
tooth extraction in her basically her stroke because she knows
her background is again microbiology, but she also has some
rheumatology studies in there from Stanford, and she has a
really unique understanding of the component of microbes to systemic
health and the likelihood of actually cardiac episodes will go
up fifty percent after a major dental procedure and that
lasts for up to like three months following that procedure.
So she understood that connection of the microbes entering the
bloodstream and the systemic effects of that. So she went
brought it back to her lab in California and just
started kind of biohacking her for lack of a better term,
and she wanted to use nutrients that were you know, safe,
didn't have any contraindication with medications or anything like that,
and basically discover a combination that was able to steer
microbes toward more health promoting behaviors instead of killing them
because we need them. Like as much as we think
they're gross and detrimental, there are actually good microbes we
want to survive there. So long story short. To answer
your question, I met Emily back in two thousand and three.
Basically we've been friends for a long time and she
knew my background and this was such a passion project
for her with her grandmother and then also her dog
had some dental issues that she had to solve for.
But she wanted to bring me on as a co
founder to literally bring this technology to the world which
gravely needs it.
Speaker 2: Thank you for that. Let's talk about microbes for us
people that are not scientists. What are they those.
Speaker 5: Other little gross, little guy germs, right, we've all been
raised to know them as germs, right, and basically in
the mouth they're over like I can't remember her numbers,
but it's like three billion different types of microbes and
it's just littered with bacteria, so there's also fung guy,
there's all sorts of different bugs in there. So the
problem when it comes to dental health, and especially today
with very high carbon, high sugar diets, the imbalance starts
to happen where the bad microbes will start to outgrow
the good and that's called dysbiosis. So basically the idea
is to re establish balance between the good and the
bad so that you have kind of these protective microbes
also working for you against the bad.
Speaker 2: Okay, I just had something major dental think. I'm not
past the three month thing, but who knew. I mean,
I know the mouth has a lot of germs and bacteria,
but hearing that makes you never want to kiss anybody again,
because right, that's exactly what came in my mind. It's like, oh,
you know, I mean, I know that cat's mouths are
super dangerous, and you know, cat bites can be fatal,
but it's rare, but it can cause you know, arms
to swallow up and even become amputated in extreme care.
So I know that with cats. I don't know that
dog's mouths are as germy, but I know that they're germy.
Human mouths probably even more so because we eat so
many different things and stick our fingers in our mouth.
All these stick their paws in their mouth and they're
there tongueys and weird places and everything. So okay, so
we know the mouth is gross.
Speaker 5: Yours are really fun fact really quickly, Okay, because I
just learned this at an event that we went to
and it was just Emily and I manning the table
and basically she was telling somebody that you swap and
share those microbes between humans and pets. So if your
pet has dental disease and they're licking your face, those
germs are transient to your oral micro biome. So that's
also kind of a scary reality. So it's important to
kind of treat both all miles in the house. Yeah,
that those transient bacteria.
Speaker 2: You know, I know some people and I know some
listeners out there, they're into like their dogs licking their
mouth and licking their foods, and I've just never been
into that. To me, it's a little germy. So yeah,
and after pandemic, more and more of a germ phobe.
Not a germ phobe, but you know, you've got to
be aware of these things absolutely. So what is teeth
for Life? And I love that? So it's teeth how
most of us day say teeth, but it's te f
for life? What is that?
Speaker 5: Well, So we were just trying to come up with
a fun name because we knew that the science is
can get kind of deep with what we're doing with
our product. It is it is different than anything else
that's out there. So we wanted an inviting name, one
that was cute and approachable. And when we talk about
when I talk about my dog's teeth, i'd call it
them teeth first, kur teeth, right, they got the cute
little and their lip curls up above their teeth. And
then so it just kind of it struck a chord
with us to just call it something fun and then
people want to dive into the science behind it. They
can do that, but we wanted it to be a memorable,
you know, cute name upfront. That was the point.
Speaker 2: And why did you create it? Why'd you decide the
world needs this product?
Speaker 5: Well, so, and that goes to the next story of
Emily's experience. She also four years after her grandmother rescued
a ten year old Cocker Spaniel and she went to
a rescue in Washington and started driving her back down
to the Bay Area where she was living. And basically
during that two day trip, when she'd picked her up,
they said that she needed dental cleaning, but it turns
out that her dental decay and gum disease was so
bad that the dog actually Tinsley was her name, developed
sepsis on the ride home, so she was getting blood
poisoning from the decay in her mouth, so she had
to make an emergency stop at the vet. She had
to get twenty one teeth extracted, three months of antibiotics
and IVY treatment, and then like six thousand dollars later,
the dog's fine. But I mean that was that was
also a close encounter, just like it was with her grandmother.
So I think these events just kind of spoke to
Emily to say the world's not doing this right right now.
We need to solve for this. So that's again why
so we took the human formula quite literally and took
out the flavorings, and that's where we came up with
our first flagship product, Protection forty two. That was for
dogs specifically, but I mean cats and humans can use it.
But that's where we just started on the pet side.
Speaker 2: Okay, and how does it work. We have a couple
minutes before our break, but I think we can get
it in. It's in a powder form.
Speaker 5: The easiest way to describe it, So it's a concentrated
powder form. So it's just a tiny little bit you
need to put in their water or on their food,
or on a lickpad or whate however you want to
get in their mouth, it will be beneficial. But basically
what the technology does is it puts oral microbes on
a keto diet, So we're stopping them from eating carbs
and sugars using a post biotic ingredient called powder cellulose.
It's like a soluble fiber, and then we have two
prebiotic ingredients that kick in the ability of beneficial bacteria
to grow in that environment and out compete the bad naturally.
So it's a very different approach of literally again, just
a ketodiet for bacteria. Stop eating garbage, start eating a salad,
and they actually will behave better and those byproducts aren't
acidic and destructive or smelly. Their byproducts will be much
healthy for the host.
Speaker 2: So if you eat a salad a day, is that
the same for humans?
Speaker 5: Well, yeah, it's diets, right, because a diet will determine
your output, your entire systemic health. So it's the same
thing for microbes. They work, you know, it's kind of
ridiculous to think about, but they work the same way
we do, and they live in little communities in your
mouth called biofilms, which is as we know it, plaque
and tartar. But they take up residents in those films,
and if you get too many of the bad guys
living there and eating poorly, that's when the problems start happening.
And then if you can switch them to like a
better diet, they behave better too.
Speaker 2: Wow. Okay, we're going to take a short break and
we'll be right.
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Speaker 1: Let's Talk Pats lived only from pet Life Radio, Let's.
Speaker 2: Talk past Let's Life Radio, Heat Life Radio.
Speaker 7: Pet Life Radio dot Com.
Speaker 2: Welcome back everyone. We're talking to Lindsay Campbell. She's the
co founder of Cheeth for Life. So what about with brushing?
Could you just sprink all Teeth for Life in the
water or maybe their food and then not have to brush?
Or can you put it on a toothbrush and brush.
Speaker 5: If you can put it on a toothbrush and brush, great,
I know that's not really feasible for a lot of
pet owners. It's not for me anyway. I've tried time
and time again.
Speaker 2: It's so hard and try with pats forget it. No,
I like arms my fingers, so you know, no, it's.
Speaker 5: Just not realistic, right yeah, So you know, I mean,
we never will promote it as a replacement because if
you can brush, great, if you can do both even better.
But basically what we're doing is making the microbes do
the brushing for you. So that's kind of how we
look at it.
Speaker 2: Okay, so we'll talk about how it works. But I
also want to mention that keep for life. It's good
for teeth, but it's also a probiotic as well.
Speaker 5: Prebiotic. A probiotic is new bacteria. So you're with a probiotic,
you're introducing strains of microbes into whatever admirement. A prebiotic
are the nutrients that feed bacteria to grow. So again,
we kind of have a dual approach where we have
our post biotic and post biotics are made by bacteria
as a defense mechanism to blame their territory and keep
other microbes from taking hold. So I don't know, am
I getting a little too deep here?
Speaker 2: He's We're good. Hey, I just learned that, you know,
dust mites poop, so I knew that, So this is
very interesting.
Speaker 5: Yeah, well, if it lives and breathes, it does that right,
And the idea is to just give them the nutrients
to make those byproducts less toxic and destructive. So, like
I said, again, that's what we're doing is we're not
necessarily killing bacteria. We're just persuading them to better behaviors
and better cells. That's usually what pet parents will notice
first is that it helps with breath within the first
like five days for breath.
Speaker 2: Okay, so how would you introduce it to your dog
or cat? And is it good for kittens and puppies
or do you want to wait a few months before
you introduce it to the little ones.
Speaker 5: So anytime you introduce something new into your pet's diet,
it's always good to just really start slow. You'll laugh
at that statement, knowing how you know, minuscule the amount
is that we recommend that you give daily. But we're
treating microbes, not pets. So that's the important thing to
remember because a lot of people will get the product,
they'll put the powder in the jar and they'll be like,
that is such a small amount of powder, But trust me,
it's thirty servings or ninety or one eighty, whatever you order,
but it's the correct amount. And basically we're just putting
it on things and once it gets on that mouth's surface,
it will start treating the microbes. So that's that's a
good thing about it.
Speaker 2: Okay, and you suggested putting it in their water not food, Well.
Speaker 5: You can do it in anything anything that's getting in
their mouth, maybe once or twice a day. We recommend
water with our concentrate because we also have like lickable
dental treats. Now it's like a treat powder that's protein based,
but the concentrate, it's preferred that it's in water because
there's that daily administration throughout the day. So they go
get a drink. They're putting those microbes on that keto diet.
They're keeping them on that keto diet.
Speaker 3: Right.
Speaker 5: That's good. But it also we have data as showing
that even if you're doing it like twice a day
on dry food or wet food, some people are putting
a scoop in a syringe with water and squirting it
in there that way. Some people make ice cubes. The
cool thing about it is that you can get creative
with it.
Speaker 2: Okay, to the dogs and cats, I'm sure you've flavor
tested it, especially with cats because they're the picky ones.
Speaker 5: Yeah, so it is odorless and flavorless. There are maybe
one percent of customers or pets that can detect something.
When it comes to cats, it seems to be far
more common to basically put it on food because they
don't drink a lot of water.
Speaker 2: You know what. That's funny mine do maybe because we
have fountain, but they've always been big water drinkers.
Speaker 5: Okay, but note on that if it has a filter,
it will filter out the molecule.
Speaker 2: Rout so it has to be in a static bowl.
Speaker 5: Stagnant.
Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, stagnant. Okay, so how often before I ask
how often when you're introducing it, you're doing it really slow.
You said, whatever the amount is, you should I don't know,
half it or quarter it and just what three or
four days like super tough bit and good it. Maybe
a little binded.
Speaker 5: It with the half the recommended amount, whether using the
treats or the concentrated powder, just to be you know, safe,
as far as if they have some like tummy issues.
There's also like the formulation in our treat powders is
forty two K, which is just the three ingredients. It
doesn't have sodium bicarbonate, so it's super easy to introduce.
So if people have puppies and things like that, I
think that I would just recommend forty two K the
all pet version because it is sodium free. But as
soon as you can get your pets started on it,
the better.
Speaker 2: So let's talk about your treats. The lickable treats. What
form are they in? They squeeze up, which is pretty common.
Speaker 5: It literally looks like a seasoning you'd keep in your cupboard,
so it's it's just in a jar. It's mostly you know,
we've got beef, liver or salmon, and it's premium freeze
dried proteins that are mixed with our formulation so that
it's kind of a it's a functional treat with benefits.
Speaker 2: Treat with benefits. You can't beat that.
Speaker 5: Yeah, and just sprinkle that on food. Some people just
put it on a lickpad alone, and that's actually a
really good method of administration because then it does really
coat the tongue a lot because they're looking it for
a while until it's gone, So it's it's a really
good good way to administer.
Speaker 2: And what about size? Does it matter as far as
serving wise goes? Does it matter for size? So if
you have a Chuawa, they just get a tiny mid.
If you have a great Dane, you know much more.
Speaker 5: It's a great question. They get the same amount, to
be honest.
Speaker 2: Well mouths, I mean they're big or smaller. But I
guess you're going after the germs.
Speaker 5: So yeah, we're targeting the microbes, right, So smaller dogs
tend to have a higher burden of microbial overgrowth in
their mouth anyway, so you kind of do want that
higher concentration for them.
Speaker 2: I'm not surprised because they say smaller dogs have more
dental issues too, and I'm not sure why. Maybe they're
that's an emily question. Yes we can ponder. I wonder
if it's because they have a smaller tongue, but you
know they have smaller mouths. I don't know. That's something interesting,
you know, lindsay, this has been so informative and so interesting.
Where can people purchase TEF for Life?
Speaker 5: Our website is teef t E E F Health h
E A l t H dot com. We have an Instagram,
we have a TikTok, we have a Facebook page. We're
also available on Amazon and Chewy, should you want to
go there. Basically, I'm thinking we could give a little
like discount code to listeners.
Speaker 2: Thanks for offering a discount for all our listeners. And
it's going to be how long is it good for
and what is it?
Speaker 5: So? The discount code is p l R for Pet
Life Radio fifteen for fifteen percent off your first order.
Wonderful and it's good for probably.
Speaker 2: A year, okay, so till approximately June. Okay, so it
would be good till June twenty twenty six. Perfect PLR
fifteen for fifteen percent off your first order of Teeth
for Life, Lindsay, thank you so much for coming on
Best Bets for Pets.
Speaker 5: Thank you so much for having me. It's been fun.
Speaker 2: I hope you all enjoyed the show. So interesting. Who
knew all of those microbes and germs and stuff were
in your mouth? But what a great find for your
dog or cat to make their dental help much better.
Teeth for LFE promo podas pl R fifteen Thanks to
my cat crew. They had a great time sampling Teeth
for Life and let me tell you, if you've ever
tried to brush a cat's teeth, this is way easier.
So thank you, Dennis, Charlotte Molly. Thanks to my guest
Lindsey from Teeth for Life for coming on Best Bets
for Pets. Thanks to everyone listening to Best Bets for
Pets for fifteen years. Thank you so much. I appreciate
your listenership, and a huge thank you to my producer,
Mark Winter for making me and my guests sound great.
And remember you never know what will have next on
Best Bets for Pets.
Speaker 4: Let's Talk Pets every week on demand only on Petlifradio
dot com