I have literally been waiting months to write this blog! No kidding.
Do you like going to the dentist? Most of us don’t. I have a great mercury free dentist: he’s open minded to natural approaches to dentistry and some of his hygienists are knowledgeable about natural health, too, …but I’d rather only visit them for my routine cleanings – nothing else!
Going to the dentist can get expensive – even with dental insurance. So I determined after my last visit to make a concerted effort to take better care of my teeth. Mind you, I was pretty conscientious, but saving money is a huge motivator for me.
I thought about all the things they check during a routine cleaning and what my results were. How could I improve?
When you go to the dentist for your a cleaning, do they measure your periodontal pocket depth? If they don’t, you might want to get a different dentist!
Basically, it checks your gums for periodontal disease. What is that? It’s a topic for another blog, but Mayo Clinic defines it this way:
“Periodontitis is a serious gum infection that destroys the soft tissue and bone that support your teeth. Periodontitis can cause tooth loss or worse, an increased risk of heart attack or stroke and other serious health problems. Periodontitis is common but largely PREVENTABLE”…..(Emphasis mine!)
The health of your gums says a lot about the health of your body. Bad gums = poor health.(Ultrasonic Cleaner)
I knew my oral health needed to be a priority, because aging has its challenges. (And yes, there was that saving money motivator, too!) So I set three goals for myself:
1) Floss every day.
I know, it’s a no-brainer, but it is important. I was pretty good about flossing most days, but still got lazy on occasion. Natural Healthy Concepts has a great Tea Tree Oil Dental Floss!
2) Use my GUM Soft-Picks? every day. (alan dental australia)
If you don’t know about Soft-Picks (they’re the little green things in the middle of the picture for this post!), you’ll want to add them to your daily hygiene routine ASAP. The hygienist at my dentist’s office tipped me off to them. You use them in addition to your dental floss.
When I first started using them along with the floss – they did make a difference at my next cleaning! According to the package “Clinical data show that Soft-Picks are as effective as string floss in removing interdentally plaque and reducing gingivitis.” Gingivitis is a fancy word for inflammation of the gums and is a precursor to periodontitis. You don’t want gingivitis!
3) Try oil-pulling until my next dentist appointment.
Oil-pulling, If you’re new to the natural health arena, this might be foreign to you, but it’s quite popular. When Dr. Mercola devoted an entire blog post to it, I knew it had some merit. Read his entire post below, and I’ve linked to other posts on oil-pulling. They all have their own spin to it, but the bottom line is it works!
I followed Dr. Marcela’s instructions and committed to doing it a minimum of 5 days a week….and I did.  Since I’m an early riser, it was actually quite simple once I got into a routine.