Some experts in oral care provide important suggestions beyond those provided by the American Dental Association. In some instances, I don't agree with their entire message and leave it to you to determine what works best for you.
In this blog, I'm including suggestions that expand on what I've already published. I hope you find useful information that will lead to improved general health.
I cannot emphasize enough the importance of oral DNA testing. So many people have "ill-defined" conditions, including chronic pain, lack of energy, sleeplessness, glaucoma, and brain fog. When we do an analysis of labs, lifestyle, infection, and other disease indicators, the common denominator very frequently is some type of oral complaint. In many cases, the individual doesn't have significant surface oral problems. Instead, the problems are "deeply rooted" and may evade detection methods at your regular dental checkup and even in a biological dentist evaluation.
Our experience with the oral DNA test is it is very sensitive to detecting systemic oral pathogens that evade detection by other means. Quince Therapeutics is worth $$billions for the promise of treating Alzheimer's caused by oral pathogens.
If you have an ill-defined condition and you have had ANY type of oral problem in the past or something ongoing as minor as occasional bleeding gums, I suggest you do a "brave" search for the association between your condition and oral bacteria. Here is one such example search for "oral bacteria" and "chronic pain."
From Dr. Ellie:
Daily Oral Care is so important. But before you rush to "brush and floss", consider a few important things about your choice of toothbrush and toothpaste and how (or if) you should rinse or floss.
TOOTHBRUSHES
Clean Your Toothbrush Every Time. Toothbrushes get infected from one single use!
Know THIS If You Have Gum Disease or Cavities. Anaerobic bacteria are the kind of germs that cause gum/periodontal disease and deep cavities. These germs multiply in low-oxygen conditions - especially on toothbrushes that are stored in containers!
Don't Just Rinse Your Brush. Oral bacteria can be difficult to clean, and rinsing your brush in hot water is inadequate.
Bacteria Die When They Dry. Allow your brush to dry for 24 hours between uses in a cup or holder so that air can circulate around the bristles. Yes, this means you need a toothbrush for the morning and another one for the evening!
Never Put Your Toothbrush in a Drawer or Bag. If you are traveling, don't use those toothbrush covers; take inexpensive toothbrushes and throw them away.
Toothbrush Design. It's more important to brush with a good technique than to buy an expensive brush. Battery or sonic brushes help lazy brushers, but they are not superior to manual brushes. If you have a sonic brush, you may want to use it in the morning, but compare it with a good manual toothbrush used at night.
Buy two brushes and allow them to dry for 24 hours in-between uses (you should have an AM brush and a PM brush). I also highly recommend getting new toothbrushes every month if you can or every 2 months at the most.
Video on how to bring circulation to the gums as your brush:
When Your Dentist Suggests a Bite or Night Guard, your real problem may be a toothpaste that is too abrasive or one that contains peroxide, baking soda, or glycerin. Baking soda and hydrogen peroxide can damage the protective protein layer of dental enamel, allowing minerals to leach out and weaken enamel, which will then be easily brushed away or abraded. This can lead to occlusal wear or the creation of a sensitive groove at the gum line.
Whitening Pastes. Whitening products are generally too aggressive for enamel and can lead to erosion and fracture after long-term use.
If Your Teeth Fracture or Fillings Fail. The problem may be glycerin in your toothpaste. Glycerin/glycerol seems to interfere with the natural repair and replacement of minerals in teeth. The long-term effect can be soft teeth that are easily stained, fractured, or darker in color.
Sensitive Toothpaste. Sensitive pastes often contain stannous fluoride - a tin-based product designed to block pores or holes in teeth. These holes formed from the loss of minerals, and these pastes provide a quick fix, not a solution, to the sensitivity problem. Sensitive pastes often make teeth feel powdery and rough and may make your mouth feel dry and uncomfortable, leading you to buy more expensive products marketed for dry mouth! Don't get into this cycle of ongoing problems!
Plaque Control Toothpaste and Rinses. Plaque control toothpaste may sound like a good idea but be careful. You may think the goal is to eradicate disease bacteria, but we now know that having a population of healthy bacteria in our mouths is vital for optimal oral health. Some toothpaste is designed to dissolve the proteins that are an essential component of a healthy mouth ecosystem. Triclosan, a common ingredient in plaque-control toothpaste, has been shown to interact with chlorine in tap water to form chloroform and to disrupt important hormones potentially.
Acidity. Any liquid that takes your mouth pH below 6.5 will damage the roots of your teeth, and at a pH of 5.5, minerals will be stripped from teeth, making them softer and more likely to stain. Many well-known mouth rinses (even "healthy" ones and ones advertised for dry mouth) are acidic, some with a shocking pH as low as 3.3! Whitening products can be acidic with a pH below 2.0.
Our Saliva. Our own mouth liquid can be the perfect and most healing mouth rinse. Allow teeth time to interact with your saliva - especially in the afternoon when its composition is the most healing. At night our saliva usually becomes acidic. This is why preparing our teeth well before going to bed at night is vital and using products that promote mouth health and natural repair (especially if you are a mouth breather or snore).
Who Should Floss? I do not believe people with an infected mouth should floss as there are safer and more effective ways to improve mouth health. On the other hand, if you have a healthy mouth and get food trapped, floss may be used as a tool to help release the food. I do not recommend flossing for mouth health; just for food removal in a healthy mouth. Dr. Ellie insists these people stop flossing and use good rinsing or xylitol products to clean away food particles. Oil pulling may quickly eliminate superficial pathogens, and then flossing may be resumed.
Other biological dentists disagree with this recommendation and feel the best way to floss is with tape followed by rinsing with water or hydro flosser of some type.
A solution to Sensitive Teeth:
In the United States, 40% of adults between the ages of 20 and 50 report sensitive teeth. If you Google “tooth sensitivity,” you will find a laundry list of top-selling toothpaste to cover up your pain, but they won’t solve the underlying problem. In fact, Glaxo Smith Klein (GSK), the makers of Sensodyne toothpaste, state on their website that sensitive teeth can never be reversed or disappear. If you want to prove them wrong, you need to make a few simple changes and add xylitol to your day – so that sensitivity problems will reverse and disappear forever!
Oral health is a dynamic process that fluctuates from one direction to the other as things tip this balance between health and disease. We are the ones who develop habits and decide how we care for our teeth, so reversing sensitivity is under our control. When your mouth is healthy and correctly balanced, teeth will not be sensitive but will feel shiny, smooth, and comfortable.
The goal for anyone with sensitive teeth is to promote and sustain the formation of a thin, invisible protein layer called a healthy biofilm. This biofilm naturally covers our teeth and gums when they are healthy. This layer is strong and protects our teeth from temperature changes, chemical attacks, mechanical damage (from tooth grinding or brushing), and infection by harmful bacteria and viruses.
Healthy biofilm develops from a mesh of saliva strands that weave themselves into a thin, translucent film. This film covers our teeth and gums to guard them against sensitivity, staining, wear, cracking, cavities, and plaque formation.
The best way to regain and re-establish healthy biofilm is:
Frequent use of xylitol oral health supplements that help develop a healthy biofilm. Zellie’s mints are convenient and will give you an adequate dose if you take 2 mints after each meal, snack, and drink (2 mints = 1 gram of xylitol x 6-10 times daily = 6-10 grams of xylitol daily).
Use of oral care products that work in harmony with xylitol. Sensitivity will decrease more quickly when you use certain products that support the development of healthy biofilms, like my Complete Mouth Care System.
Stop flossing and increase the time intervals between dental office cleanings if possible (to encourage the development of healthy biofilm).
Limit acidity exposure. Eat and drink at meal times. Limit constant sipping and snacking throughout the day.
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Stay Well