Dr. Lewis Gross, director of the Tribeca Center for Integrative and Holistic Dentistry, will speak on Preventing Tooth Decay without Fluoride, from 1 to 2 p.m., June 10, at the Green Festival at Javits Convention Center. His booth will offer free saliva pH screenings, a tool he uses in his practice to guide patients toward better oral health.

Gross has been a pioneer in mercury-free, BPA-free and fluoride-free dentistry for 35 years. He recommends natural prevention of tooth decay through good hygiene, a healthy diet and the creation of an alkaline salivary environment.

“Fluoride is useful for children but does little for adults,” he says. “There is no benefit in swallowing fluoridated water, other than it passes the teeth.” He believes that the present concentration of fluoride in tap water is unnecessarily high and has contributed to the increase of fluorosis—mottled tooth enamel—from 37 to 57 percent in people aged 6 to 19.

Oral saliva has a pH of 7, but in a more alkaline environment, teeth and bone remineralize, Gross says. He has developed a mouthwash, Alka-White, designed to reverse early decay and whiten the teeth without fluoride.

For more information, contact Gross at 212.732.2200 or [email protected].