The purpose of this thread is to shine a light on the importance of proper oral health, as well as share a few protocols and tools for improving oral health and drastically reducing the number of cavities that need to be drilled and filled.
To kick this off, let's remind ourselves that cavities are essentially holes that go through the outermost layer of the tooth (enamel) and reach into the second layer - the dentin. If those holes go sufficiently deep into the dentin, then the cavity more often than not needs to be drilled into and filled with a UV-sealed polymer.
But it's not just about the teeth. Our gums are also incredibly important. The healthier they are, the less bacteria is able to pass through them and into the deeper tissue layers, down into the bone and from there into the bloodstream. There's evidence that poor gum health, paired with poor general oral and saliva health, lets bacteria through that gets into the bloodstream and can often cause not only periodontal disease, but actually cause Alzheimer's disease, as well as some cardiac and metabolic health issues.
All that is to say if we follow the correct practices as frequently as recommended, we can avoid all of those issues and give ourselves excellent general and oral health with barely any need for cavity drilling, filling, and, of course, billing.
Our mouth is in a constant state of demineralization (demin) or remineralization (remin). When it is in a state of remin, new crystalline latticed structures fill up the existing cavities, thus reducing the extent to which they can damage our teeth. Yes, our mouth actually heals up cavities. It's important to understand that we're always either in a state of demin, or remin, and never in both of them. Which of the two we are in largely depends on the amount, PH and mineral content of the saliva in our mouth.
So, let's remind ourselves how cavities form. The primary actor in that process is a bacteria called Streptococcus mutans. There are a few others, but this is the major cause in most cases. It's a communicable bacteria, meaning it's not endogenous to our mouth, it gets there by way of us sharing a glass or bottle, eating utensils, or kissing someone that carries it in their mouth. When it gets in our mouth, the only thing this bacteria looks for is sugar, and it's not particularly picky what type it is. Any sugars coming from fruit, beverages, starches, carbohydrates - it will eat it all. And when it eats sugar, it literally poops out acid. That acid then eats through our enamel and consequently causes cavities to form.
Even if one were to go on a completely carb-free diet, there's some proof that strep. mutans can dynamically adapt to consume other foods to sustain itself, so fighting against it in that way is fighting a losing battle. It's also worth noting that the more acidic your oral environment is, the quicker the acid produced by strep. mutans can eat through the enamel, so it's a compounding negative effect worth keeping in mind.
It's very important to understand the following - the degree to which your mouth is in a state of remin or demin depends entirely on the net amount of time your mouth is alkaline or acidic, respectively. The more time your mouth spends in an acidic state, the more time it will spend in a state of demineralization, the more damage the step. mutans acid will do to your enamel, and vice versa.
Now let's talk about the remineralization process a bit more. To understand it, we can imagine the minerals making up our teeth as being comprised by very strong latticed, interlocking bonds. The main mineral responsible for those bonds, which also represends 70% to 80% of the mass of our dentin and enamel, is a calcium phosphate mineral called Hydroxyapatite (HA). The bonds created by HA are very strong, but definitely not indestructible, and acids produced by bacteria like step. mutans eat through them quite effectively.
One surprisingly effective way to combat that is with fluoride. Even though there are some safety considerations with it, mostly related to the amount of it you consume, it has been proven that fluoride interlinks with those hydroxyapatite bonds and makes them supraphysiologically strong (i.e. stronger than anything our body would naturally be able to produce). In essence, fluoride turns our enamel into super-enamel, and it does that very efficiently and effectively. This is the reason why fluoride is present in our tap water, as well as in many toothpastes on the market.
Whether fluoride's benefits outweigh any hypothesized drawbacks and considerations regarding thyroid and brain health is a different topic entirely. If you're someone that is concerned about fluoride, then of course you can filter your tap water and avoid toothpaste that contains it. In high dosages fluoride is certainly a poison and will cause a lot of damage to the body and brain. In appropriate dosages, however, it's incredibly beneficial for teeth.
Now let's cover a few do's and do not's of remineralization.
Remineralization do not's:
Remineralization do's:
There's a period of time in the 24 hour circadian cycle where the mouth produces the biggest amount of saliva (usually during the middle of the day), and that's our best opportunity to offset any damage done by keeping the saliva in optimal PH levels. Eating can potentially change the PH to more acidic, and as such, intermittent fasting provides a very good opportunity to offset that by not eating until, for example, later in the day.
At night the mouth produces the least amount of saliva, which means the most important moment to brush your teeth and floss is in the evening after your last meal. I do not recommend that, but even if you were to brush your teeth only once a day, it's best to do that in the evening. Making sure there's as little food for strep. mutans as possible in your mouth means the decreased amount of saliva will be able to keep up with the PH state of your mouth and keep it in a state of remin.
And now a few words about brushing and floosing. Brushing with a hard toothbrush has been shown to disrupt the interface between the tooth and the gums, compromising the security of that barrier which is oh so important, as discussed earlier. Thus, soft toothbrushes are the best option, as they still manage to remove as much (and sometimes even more!) of the biofilm covering our teeth compared to a hard and even a medium toothbrush, without damaging the gums at all. If teeth sensitivity is present, dentists recommend also brushing the gums with a soft toothbrush, as this encourages bloodflow into the gums and then into the deeper parts of the teeth themselves, which increases their overall health.
Flossing's primary goal is obviously to remove any food stuck between the teeth. There are plenty of videos on the correct flossing technique. However, if bleeding is present when correctly flossing, then dentists seem to collectively agree that it's encouraged to floss twice a day, one of which is before bed.
Now let's go over something very interesting related to xylitol - one of the more popular artificial sweeteners out there. When strep. mutans eats xylitol it doesn't produce any acid. On top of that, it actually dies. Furthermore, xylitol has been shown to reduce the inflammation of gums and other soft tissue in the mouth. That means consuming a couple of xylitol mints or chewing a gum after each of your meals gives you a 3-in-1 tool that greatly benefits your oral health. One additional effect of chewing a xylitol gum or mint is that it makes your mouth produce more saliva, which is beneficial always beneficial, provided our saliva is with a healthy PH.
Now we can discuss toothpaste and mouthwash a bit. Considering all of the above, the ideal toothpaste would contain fluoride (provided you're not concerned about it), hydroxyapatite, and xylitol. Bonus points if it has some mild abrasive agent that facilitates the detachment of the biofilm from our teeth when brushing with a soft toothbrush.
Most mouthwash on the market, but especially those that contain alcohol, are TERRIBLE for oral health. They deplete certain components of the mucosal lining of the mouth and disrupt the oral microbiome, as well as reduce the amount of nitric oxide (a very important vasodilator) in the mouth. There are certain antiseptic mouthwashes (those containing stuff like chlorhexidine) that are sometimes prescribed for serious bacterial infections in the mouth. If one really wants or needs to use a mouthwash, the best option would be a non-alcoholic, non-antiseptic one, or if it needs to be antiseptic, at least it should be non-alcoholic.
For the purists out there, dentists agree that normal baking soda is pretty low on the abrasiveness scale and is perfectly capable of breaking up that biofilm on the teeth when used with a soft toothbrush that causes step. mutans to form colonies and destroy the enamel. As such, a paste made from water and baking soda (with optional xylitol added for even more benefits) can be an excellent substitute for market-bought toothpaste.
Some people in certain alt-groups have discussed an alternative for mouthwash consisting of baking soda, water and a little bit of hydrogen peroxide, but it's highly inadvisable to put hydrogen peroxide in the mouth as it's far too abrasive and can cause damage not only to the soft and hard tissues in the mouth, but also severe damage to the gut microbiome, from which can follow a myriad of negative effects on the immune system and others.
If you want to stay away from store-bought mouthwash, you could go for something that is surprisingly effective in promoting the development of healthy bacteria in the mouth, as well as controlling the PH of your mouth and the damage step.mutans can inflict - saline solution. Just dissolve as much salt into water as it can take, then after brushing your teeth swish your mouth with the salty water, spit out, then rinse with clean water.
And finally, if you also want to clean up your tongue from any harmful bacteria that do in fact grow on it, tongue brushing is best done with a medium toothbrush that would ideally be separate from the toothbrush that you use for your teeth, to prevent forcibly jamming the bacteria from your tongue into the crevices between your gums and teeth. All toothbrushes can be sanitized from time to time with concentrated alcohol - just dip them into the alcohol and leave them for a minute, then rinse them well with water to eliminate all bacterial growth on the toothbrush heads.
And this basically concludes my personal guide on excellent oral hygiene. A lot of the above has been sourced from the content of people like Dr. Kathryn Mueller, Dr. Ellie Phillips, Dr. Mark Burheene, and Dr. Anastacia Whitman.
I hope this provides a clearer idea of just how important oral health is, and really how easy it is to keep it at an optimal level that will save you not only a lot of money, but also a lot of unpleasant sensations and will improve many aspects of your life.
Brush on and be well!
To kick this off, let's remind ourselves that cavities are essentially holes that go through the outermost layer of the tooth (enamel) and reach into the second layer - the dentin. If those holes go sufficiently deep into the dentin, then the cavity more often than not needs to be drilled into and filled with a UV-sealed polymer.
But it's not just about the teeth. Our gums are also incredibly important. The healthier they are, the less bacteria is able to pass through them and into the deeper tissue layers, down into the bone and from there into the bloodstream. There's evidence that poor gum health, paired with poor general oral and saliva health, lets bacteria through that gets into the bloodstream and can often cause not only periodontal disease, but actually cause Alzheimer's disease, as well as some cardiac and metabolic health issues.
All that is to say if we follow the correct practices as frequently as recommended, we can avoid all of those issues and give ourselves excellent general and oral health with barely any need for cavity drilling, filling, and, of course, billing.
Our mouth is in a constant state of demineralization (demin) or remineralization (remin). When it is in a state of remin, new crystalline latticed structures fill up the existing cavities, thus reducing the extent to which they can damage our teeth. Yes, our mouth actually heals up cavities. It's important to understand that we're always either in a state of demin, or remin, and never in both of them. Which of the two we are in largely depends on the amount, PH and mineral content of the saliva in our mouth.
So, let's remind ourselves how cavities form. The primary actor in that process is a bacteria called Streptococcus mutans. There are a few others, but this is the major cause in most cases. It's a communicable bacteria, meaning it's not endogenous to our mouth, it gets there by way of us sharing a glass or bottle, eating utensils, or kissing someone that carries it in their mouth. When it gets in our mouth, the only thing this bacteria looks for is sugar, and it's not particularly picky what type it is. Any sugars coming from fruit, beverages, starches, carbohydrates - it will eat it all. And when it eats sugar, it literally poops out acid. That acid then eats through our enamel and consequently causes cavities to form.
Even if one were to go on a completely carb-free diet, there's some proof that strep. mutans can dynamically adapt to consume other foods to sustain itself, so fighting against it in that way is fighting a losing battle. It's also worth noting that the more acidic your oral environment is, the quicker the acid produced by strep. mutans can eat through the enamel, so it's a compounding negative effect worth keeping in mind.
It's very important to understand the following - the degree to which your mouth is in a state of remin or demin depends entirely on the net amount of time your mouth is alkaline or acidic, respectively. The more time your mouth spends in an acidic state, the more time it will spend in a state of demineralization, the more damage the step. mutans acid will do to your enamel, and vice versa.
Now let's talk about the remineralization process a bit more. To understand it, we can imagine the minerals making up our teeth as being comprised by very strong latticed, interlocking bonds. The main mineral responsible for those bonds, which also represends 70% to 80% of the mass of our dentin and enamel, is a calcium phosphate mineral called Hydroxyapatite (HA). The bonds created by HA are very strong, but definitely not indestructible, and acids produced by bacteria like step. mutans eat through them quite effectively.
One surprisingly effective way to combat that is with fluoride. Even though there are some safety considerations with it, mostly related to the amount of it you consume, it has been proven that fluoride interlinks with those hydroxyapatite bonds and makes them supraphysiologically strong (i.e. stronger than anything our body would naturally be able to produce). In essence, fluoride turns our enamel into super-enamel, and it does that very efficiently and effectively. This is the reason why fluoride is present in our tap water, as well as in many toothpastes on the market.
Whether fluoride's benefits outweigh any hypothesized drawbacks and considerations regarding thyroid and brain health is a different topic entirely. If you're someone that is concerned about fluoride, then of course you can filter your tap water and avoid toothpaste that contains it. In high dosages fluoride is certainly a poison and will cause a lot of damage to the body and brain. In appropriate dosages, however, it's incredibly beneficial for teeth.
Now let's cover a few do's and do not's of remineralization.
Remineralization do not's:
- Alcohol - drinking alcohol has been proven to disrupt the oral microbiome, as well as alter the PH of saliva, making it more acidic, thus putting our mouth in a state of demineralization
- Stimulants (any drugs that increase the amounts of epinephrin and norepinephrin in the system - meth, cocaine, adderal, etc) - two reasons:
- Chemical reason - stimulants change the PH of the saliva making it more acidic, stimulating the growth of strep. mutans and encouraging demineralization
- Mechanical reason - the effects of stimulants encourage mouthbreathing, which causes dryness of the mouth, decreasing the amount of saliva, thus encouraging demineralization
- Smoking/vaping/quidding tobacco and tobacco-derivative substances also makes our saliva more acidic and can cause damage to the healthy bacteria in our mouth, which gives step. mutans the upper hand
Remineralization do's:
- Following the consumption of any sugar, try and make a habit of rinsing the mouth with water (even better if there's a bit of salt in the water)
- Following the consumption of any acidic foods or beverages, try to reduce the overall amount of time the mouth is in this acidic state (meaning try and eat or drink whatever it is you're eating or drinking faster), and once done, rinse your mouth out, again preferably with a slightly saline water
There's a period of time in the 24 hour circadian cycle where the mouth produces the biggest amount of saliva (usually during the middle of the day), and that's our best opportunity to offset any damage done by keeping the saliva in optimal PH levels. Eating can potentially change the PH to more acidic, and as such, intermittent fasting provides a very good opportunity to offset that by not eating until, for example, later in the day.
At night the mouth produces the least amount of saliva, which means the most important moment to brush your teeth and floss is in the evening after your last meal. I do not recommend that, but even if you were to brush your teeth only once a day, it's best to do that in the evening. Making sure there's as little food for strep. mutans as possible in your mouth means the decreased amount of saliva will be able to keep up with the PH state of your mouth and keep it in a state of remin.
And now a few words about brushing and floosing. Brushing with a hard toothbrush has been shown to disrupt the interface between the tooth and the gums, compromising the security of that barrier which is oh so important, as discussed earlier. Thus, soft toothbrushes are the best option, as they still manage to remove as much (and sometimes even more!) of the biofilm covering our teeth compared to a hard and even a medium toothbrush, without damaging the gums at all. If teeth sensitivity is present, dentists recommend also brushing the gums with a soft toothbrush, as this encourages bloodflow into the gums and then into the deeper parts of the teeth themselves, which increases their overall health.
Flossing's primary goal is obviously to remove any food stuck between the teeth. There are plenty of videos on the correct flossing technique. However, if bleeding is present when correctly flossing, then dentists seem to collectively agree that it's encouraged to floss twice a day, one of which is before bed.
Now let's go over something very interesting related to xylitol - one of the more popular artificial sweeteners out there. When strep. mutans eats xylitol it doesn't produce any acid. On top of that, it actually dies. Furthermore, xylitol has been shown to reduce the inflammation of gums and other soft tissue in the mouth. That means consuming a couple of xylitol mints or chewing a gum after each of your meals gives you a 3-in-1 tool that greatly benefits your oral health. One additional effect of chewing a xylitol gum or mint is that it makes your mouth produce more saliva, which is beneficial always beneficial, provided our saliva is with a healthy PH.
Now we can discuss toothpaste and mouthwash a bit. Considering all of the above, the ideal toothpaste would contain fluoride (provided you're not concerned about it), hydroxyapatite, and xylitol. Bonus points if it has some mild abrasive agent that facilitates the detachment of the biofilm from our teeth when brushing with a soft toothbrush.
Most mouthwash on the market, but especially those that contain alcohol, are TERRIBLE for oral health. They deplete certain components of the mucosal lining of the mouth and disrupt the oral microbiome, as well as reduce the amount of nitric oxide (a very important vasodilator) in the mouth. There are certain antiseptic mouthwashes (those containing stuff like chlorhexidine) that are sometimes prescribed for serious bacterial infections in the mouth. If one really wants or needs to use a mouthwash, the best option would be a non-alcoholic, non-antiseptic one, or if it needs to be antiseptic, at least it should be non-alcoholic.
For the purists out there, dentists agree that normal baking soda is pretty low on the abrasiveness scale and is perfectly capable of breaking up that biofilm on the teeth when used with a soft toothbrush that causes step. mutans to form colonies and destroy the enamel. As such, a paste made from water and baking soda (with optional xylitol added for even more benefits) can be an excellent substitute for market-bought toothpaste.
Some people in certain alt-groups have discussed an alternative for mouthwash consisting of baking soda, water and a little bit of hydrogen peroxide, but it's highly inadvisable to put hydrogen peroxide in the mouth as it's far too abrasive and can cause damage not only to the soft and hard tissues in the mouth, but also severe damage to the gut microbiome, from which can follow a myriad of negative effects on the immune system and others.
If you want to stay away from store-bought mouthwash, you could go for something that is surprisingly effective in promoting the development of healthy bacteria in the mouth, as well as controlling the PH of your mouth and the damage step.mutans can inflict - saline solution. Just dissolve as much salt into water as it can take, then after brushing your teeth swish your mouth with the salty water, spit out, then rinse with clean water.
And finally, if you also want to clean up your tongue from any harmful bacteria that do in fact grow on it, tongue brushing is best done with a medium toothbrush that would ideally be separate from the toothbrush that you use for your teeth, to prevent forcibly jamming the bacteria from your tongue into the crevices between your gums and teeth. All toothbrushes can be sanitized from time to time with concentrated alcohol - just dip them into the alcohol and leave them for a minute, then rinse them well with water to eliminate all bacterial growth on the toothbrush heads.
And this basically concludes my personal guide on excellent oral hygiene. A lot of the above has been sourced from the content of people like Dr. Kathryn Mueller, Dr. Ellie Phillips, Dr. Mark Burheene, and Dr. Anastacia Whitman.
I hope this provides a clearer idea of just how important oral health is, and really how easy it is to keep it at an optimal level that will save you not only a lot of money, but also a lot of unpleasant sensations and will improve many aspects of your life.
Brush on and be well!