Derek Lacarrubba is brushing his teeth.. and treating his allergies at the same time.
"It feels, tastes and works exactly the same."
The 31-year-old is allergic to dogs, cats, trees and dust. He's one of 12 patients testing the toothpaste called allerdent at Weill Cornell Medical College.
The toothpaste is custom made for patients and contains extracts of what they're allergic to.
"If you can contact those extracts with the lining of the mouth then you can desensitize a patient to those allergens and essentially cure them of their allergies."
Dr. William Reisacher developed the toothpaste. He's studying whether allerdent is more effective than weekly allergy shots or daily allergy drops.
"People forget to do it and also it's difficult for small children to keep a liquid under their tongue for 2 minutes."
The toothpaste can treat up to 10 different allergies at one time. There can be side effects including itching and tingling in the mouth.
Lacarubba says allerdent has helped with his stuffy nose and his snoring and sleep are better.
"I can breathe through my nose on almost all mornings."
And he can even take his dog for a walk outside, and enjoy it.
Allerdent is currently available by prescription in seven states (NY, NJ, CT, PA, WI, MO, FL).
Dr. Reisacher is a founder and Chief Adviser of the company that makes the toothpaste.
