Natural Dental Care and Dreaded Dental Problems: Gingivitus/Gum Disease, Root Canals, Periodontal Disease, Bone Implants......
None of us are immune to dental problems, no matter how good we are at brushing and flossing. My family has been incredibly blessed with strong teeth and few cavities. Unfortunately, as I have grown older, bleeding gums and my first toothaches ever have caught up to me.
Over the years, I have been able to head off the occasional tooth irritation with essential oil and peroxide mouthwash / spray that I mixed up in spray bottles. I have shared it over the years with a variety of friends and family with everyone reporting excellent results (find my tooth and mouth spray recipe here).
My luck ran out last winter, in the middle of a trade show. I got a toothache that got progressively worse over two days. I ended up with an infection that my natural mouthwash mixture couldn’t cure. I was told by my dentist that I had an infection, periodontal disease, loose teeth, needed implants and would have to have a bone implant. The tooth would have to be pulled immediately and there were no “natural dental ” options. I got a second opinion but to no avail. The tooth would have to come out within two weeks or I would have constant tooth aches and infection.
Being a skeptic of mainstream anything, I went home to research the problem. Unfortunately, there is very little scientific research on natural solutions to any of the above. What I did find was people (who were not scientists nor dentists) who had experimented on themselves with more natural solutions and had varying degrees of success. MSM, turmeric, activated charcoal, coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), probiotics, tea tree oil, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, oil pulling, and calcium were the most commonly used natural approaches.
Most people seemed to have the greatest results with high dose Vitamin C. The best source for this kind of Vitamin C intake is bulk sodium ascorbate, as it is buffered and doesn’t cause the acidity/stomach upset that can be a side effect. After looking at hundreds of testimonials and stories from people (on websites that were not marketing certain products), I decided to try high dose Vitamin C, even though science didn't back it up. I took the plunge and started on 12,000 to 20,000mg per day, tapering off to 4000 - 5000mg as my teeth and gums got steadily better. I should state that I thought I was getting sufficient Vit C everyday as I drink fruit juice, eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, and make at least one fresh made smoothie 6 days a week.
The results spoke for themselves. Within 4 days, my gums had stopped bleeding. Within 8-10 days, my loose teeth were once again rock hard. I was back to having healthy, pink gums, no pain from any teeth, no infections and gums slowly increasing. At the time of writing this article, I've been doing this for nine months and counting. I will go in for a check up to see what the dentists think after a full year of this protocol. A full year of testing is what good science is all about! ;)
My Natural Dental Care Protocol:
Vitamin C (sodium ascorbate): 4000mg to 20,000mg per day mixed in a little juice
Coenzyme Q10 Supplement (CoQ10)
Vitamin K added to my smoothies
MSM
A probiotic from NAKA (added to juice and Vitamin C mixture)
Why don't we use more glass for packaging our products? Is glass more environmentally safe than other options or is there a lot of greenwashing (making something look great while ignoring problems or distracting attention) going on?
