Natural Oral Health
The mouth is the window to our overall health. The health of the mouth is indicative of your wider health and keeping the mouth healthy can keep you healthy beyond just your oral wellness. Recently, there have been studies that link poor oral health with a higher risk of Alzheimer's and mental decline (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10669972/)
So, how do we take the best care of our teeth? Well, I can tell you the practices I've developed. Every evening, I floss with a natural floss that uses essential oils rather than artificial flavors and scents. Many essential oils have been shown to improve tooth health including the all popular Peppermint, which has antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral properties – but you may not be getting these benefits if you're using products with artificial flavorings and scents. After I floss, I brush my teeth using a natural toothpaste. I actually like to rotate the toothpastes that I use, so I have more than one container of toothpaste open at a time. Right now, I'm using a charcoal based toothpaste and an Ayurvedic toothpaste I buy at the Chatham Co-Op. Charcoal can have a brightening effect, but it is a little rough on the teeth, so I think it's better to not use it every time I brush. I time my toothbrushing at 2mins, I literally have a timer that goes off. I do this because sometimes I have found I would rush brushing my teeth and think in 30 seconds I'd gone 2 minutes because I would get bored with the activity, having the timer keeps me present and helps keep my teeth healthy and clean. After I brush my teeth for 2 minutes, I use mouthwash. I swear by VITA-MYR's mouthwash. It has just a few simple ingredients: zinc, folic acid, clove oil, myrrh and distilled water. I really dislike mouthwash that has alcohol and I've heard of the benefits of clove and myrrh for mouth health, so this mouthwash is a perfect blend for me and the essential oil has that clean feeling in the mouth. I've decided to start selling VITA-MYR here in the shop because it is not very widely available and I can vouch for it's effectiveness - you can come here to get the best mouthwash around! To finish out my dental routine, I also brush for 2 minutes in the morning and follow that with mouthwash after. I keep mouthwash at work and occasionally use it if my mouth feels icky. If I have something that feels off in my mouth – like maybe sore gums, or a tooth that hurts – then I'll Oil Pull for a while until it clears. Oil Pulling is taking an antibacterial oil such as Coconut Oil and swishing it around in your mouth for 20mins and then spitting it out. Oil Pulling cleans your teeth and pulls toxins out of your body, some people like to do it every day.
My Nutritional Therapy course started this week which is really exciting. This is the year-long course in which I'm enrolled to become a certified Nutritional Therapy Practitioner. The Nutritional Therapy Association was founded by the Weston A. Price Foundation and teaches science-backed nutrition based on the findings of Dr. Price. Weston A. Price was a Dentist, he is famous within alternative health circles for studying cultures around the world and how their dental health related to the foods that they ate. He deeply believed that by looking at someone's mouth you could ascertain their level of broader health (interestingly, in Chinese medicine you look at the tongue to determine imbalances). His studies are a reminder that our health is attributed to our lifestyle, the foods that we eat and the general lives that we lead. We can take preventative and restorative measures to help maintain our wellness, but ideally we live in a healthy, well aligned way every day, so that the lives we lead are ones that are health-producing, requiring less additional or specialized inputs to be healthy overall.
If you want to start learning more about natural methods for maintaining the health of your mouth, you could start with borrowing the book Dental Herbalism: Natural Therapies for the Mouth from our Twin Wolves Lending Library. Did you know we have a Lending Library? Well, we do. And you can take out books here if you're interested in learning more about particular health and nature topics.
Does all this information feel daunting? Then just start simple. Find a natural toothpaste and mouthwash with minimal ingredients and brush twice a day for 2 minutes, following the brushing with mouthwash. Floss once a day with a floss that is natural, but if you don't find that easily, just use an easily found floss – that's better than not flossing at all! Healthy habits often start with baby steps - doing one thing towards a goal is better than doing nothing at all. You can also reach out to me, I’m here to help on your healing journey!