Taking care of your teeth and gums is a big contributor to overall health. Plaque forms on the teeth as bacteria build up which can lead to cavities, bleeding and receding gums, tooth loss. Gum disease can increase the risk of illnesses like heart disease and diabetes. You can’t have optimal health in the rest of the body if there are bad bacteria in the mouth causing problems.
Products used to protect teeth and gums can also contribute to health issues by killing off good and bad bacteria. Fluoride in excess amounts can cause neurological issues, high blood pressure, etc. It can also slow down the thyroid. A study between drinking water with fluoride and tsh levels found that tsh levels were higher in those who drank fluoridated water than those who didn’t. Guess what’s in all of the recommended dental products? Yeah, fluoride. I’ve started using Tom’s of Maine fluoride free toothpaste. I mainly switched to it to help with thyroid health. Not sure if it helps, but it’s worth a shot. A company called Bite also makes these fluoride free toothpaste tablets that you bite into. I haven’t tried them yet though.
I also make my own mouth rinse:
1 1/4 cups water
5 drops peppermint oil
5 drops tea-tree oil
plus 1 tsp xylitol
I used to have really bad gum disease with receding gums and some bone loss. There is an Ayurvedic (natural remedies originating in ancient India) practice called oil pulling where you swish your mouth with an oil like coconut, sesame oil or sunflower oil for 20 minutes in the morning. It is supposed to detoxify and pull out the bad bacteria. Maybe it’s a fluke, but after I started doing this, which was about 8 years ago, the gum disease I had was reversed. I swish with a small drop of coconut oil from Aldi’s while I make breakfast. It’s pretty simple and easy to do. I recently had a dentist appointment and the gums are still healthy. Before I started oil pulling with coconut oil, the dental hygienist thought I needed to visit a periodontist for a deep cleaning, which sounded expensive and scary.
Holistic dentists seem to be rare. I don’t have any in my area, so it’s important to do your own research. Weston Price was a dentist who found links between diet and oral health. When my son was little he had a few cavities. A pediatric dentist wanted to put him in the hospital, knock him out with anesthesia and fix the cavities. I basically ran out of the office and never went back, lol Luckily I found a dentist who was willing work with him. A baby tooth eventually rotted out, but the dentist was able to fill the others without a problem after a while when he was a little older. During that time, I came across Weston Price’s work. He thought Vitamin A and D were important for oral health, in addition to Vitamin K. He recommended whole foods, full fat, high quality grass fed butter and krill oil. There is a book called Cure Tooth Decay: Heal And Prevent Cavities With Nutrition – Limit And Avoid Dental Surgery and Fluoride by Ramiel Nagel I read that goes into details. It’s highly recommended if you are having oral health issues.
Brush daily in the morning and at night with non fluoride toothpaste, use non fluoride mouth rinse, oil pull and most important of all, eat a whole foods diet.
FYI, when toothaches do occur, a drop of clove oil can be put on a q-tip and dabbed on the tooth to help with the pain until a dentist can take a look at it. If a toothache is bad and doesn’t go away, it’s probably best to get it looked at as it could get infected and cause further issues.
Challenge:
Give oil pulling a try. Do it before breakfast and before brushing your teeth in the morning. Try it for a week or two for a few minutes and work your way up to 10 – 20 minutes as a part of your daily dental care routine.
Resources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5805681/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5198813/
https://www.westonaprice.org/book-reviews/cure-tooth-decay-by-ramiel-nagel/#gsc.tab=0
https://www.healthygoods.com/blog/dr-weston-prices-diet-for-curing-tooth-decay/