Dr. Mark Burhenne
“My entire career, I’ve been frustrated with the toothpaste options on the market. I was given the nickname "Mr. Consumer Reports" in dental school for my obsession with researching everything from toothpaste to stereos to car seat safety.
Even hydroxyapatite toothpaste had ingredients I did not stand behind—like emulsifiers, surfactants, and essential oils.
After selling my private practice in 2019 after 40 years of dentistry, I started to see what impact I could make on the toothpaste industry. I emailed manufacturers and urged them to make a new kind of toothpaste—something remineralizing but also oral microbiome-nourishing—but no one wanted to do it. They said it was impossible.”
Catharine Burhenne
“As a new mom of two, and with a dad for a dentist, I’m acutely aware of the lack of dental education for new parents and what I call, ‘the nightly brushing battle.’” Knowing what I knew from building Ask the Dentist, I was frustrated that there weren’t better options for my babies–even the toothpaste that my dad recommended, he acknowledged, was “a compromise.”
After my daughter was hospitalized with a kidney infection and had to undergo months of IV antibiotic treatment, I threw myself into the research for microbiome health. No surprise, but the oral microbiome was at the front and center of that research, and reestablishing and nourishing a healthy oral microbiome for my daughter was critical after she recovered from surgery.
We all chose the name Fygg because we dreamt of starting a movement. “Feed Your Good Guys” is a call to action for all of us to think differently about our mouths and oral health. The oral microbiome has always been an afterthought—until now!”