A New Approach to Better Oral HealthBy Steven J. Edwards, DDS,
BA BiologyWho needs another problem, especially a darn dental
problem? Yet, most people have dental problems,including those who
visit the dentist regularly. Hmmm Whats up with that?But, did you
know that you canEASILYprevent 80% of most common dental
problemswithout a dentistand even in your sleep? Imagine what it
would feel like to have no dental worries. To be in charge of your
oral health. To have your teeth and gums on a healthy autopilot no
matter what you eat or drink. To save money and avoid expensive
dental bills. And to have good checkups whether you visit the
dentist once or twice a year, or even once every 5 or 10 years like
me. Well, its true and I can help you.Sounds weird, I know. But not
only is it possible, good oral health is essential for your overall
health, because dental problems are linked to several medical
problems, the most important include: Diabetes Heart disease Stroke
Pneumonia Alzheimers Erectile dysfunction And every couple years
new links are discoveredTherefore, you cannot be totally healthy
without good oral health.Even though most dental problems are easy
to prevent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and the
American Dental Association: Dental problems in general are the
2ndmost common human affliction (after the common cold) Tooth decay
in America is rampant among children and the elderly Tooth decay is
the most common chronic disease from age 6 to 19 90% of people over
age 20 have some degree of tooth decay 80% of American adults have
gum problems ranging from gingivitis to severe gum disease Dental
problems are a silent epidemic in America despite the facts that:
80% of most common dental problems (cavities and gum disease)
areeasilypreventable 64% of Americas communal water supplies are
fluoridated 57% of Americans have dental insurance About 55% of
Americans visit a dentist regularly in good economic times About
40% visit a dentist in bad economic times America has 190,000
practicing dentists for 321 million people Thats 1 dentist per
1,689 people It takes at least 2,000 active patients to keep a
dental office busyNow, you may ask, if the above is true, then why
are dental problems so rampant? What else can we do? And what are
all the dentists doing anyway?Actually, most dentists are just
fixing stuff every day. Few dentists do anytrueprevention. I
definetrueprevention as education and helping people help
themselves.To be fair, most patients who come to the dentist just
want to be fixed up and get the heck out of the office, so its not
all dentists fault that they dont teach prevention. Besides,
prevention doesnt make money. Also, dentists are not evenly spaced
across the country. Some rural areas, Indian reservations, and
small towns have no dentists, while other regions have an
overabundance of dentists. Everyone blames dental problems on
sugar, fast food, too much fluoride, lack of fluoride, genetics,
lack of insurance, lousy insurance reimbursement rates, bad public
assistance programs, scarcity of dentists in rural and poor areas,
uneven dentist distributions, poverty, etc., etc., blah, blah,
blah.Nevertheless, I have seen similar rates of decay and gum
disease in fluoridated and non-fluoridated areas, in different
countries where you can even buy fluoridated chewing gum, in the
insured and uninsured, and in wealthy and poor areas. Why? Because
people are the same everywhere. Everyone puts off stuff until it
hurts. Everyone does the least possible thing to get by. Rich
people are too busy jet-setting around, making deals, golfing,
sailing, spending money, investing money, too busy to brush or
floss, they rarely use their insurance fully, and often they are
even more cheapskate about their teeth than average people because
frugality is one factor of their wealth philosophy. Poor people
cant afford anything anyway, let alone dental care. And the middle
class is too busy working their butts off, managing kids, soccer,
camp, scouts, etc. Plus, everyone consumes sugar, fast food, sodas,
and junk food. Even athletes suffer decay from eating nutrition
bars, getting dry mouth while exercising, and drinking sports
drinks. Worse, few people brush properly and they actually damage
their teeth and gums from brushing. And 80% of Americans absolutely
guarantee their own dental problems because only 20% of us floss or
clean between our teeth.But the #1 reason for rampant dental
problems is: Misunderstanding of the true causes of dental
problemsand failure to use effective prevention strategies and
productsWe will never control dental problems with more water
fluoridation, more insurance programs, more charities, lower fees,
less sugar and junk food, and more dental professionals. In fact, I
wager that dental problems would still be rampant even if all
190,000 U. S. dentists were evenly distributed and worked for free,
because moretreatmentof symptoms is not the answer.More and
bettertruepreventionis the answer.Helping people help themselvesis
the answer. But to do this, we need a different perspective and
understanding of dental problems.Everyone thinks that sugar causes
decay and that dentists are the center of the dental universe. This
is wrong and is as backward as thinking that Earth is the center of
the universe.The truth is thatyouand themicrobesand thefoodsthat
feed them are the center of the dental universe. Control the
microbes, and you control the diseases. And I can help you.Decay
and Gum Disease are contagious microbial InfectionsMost people,
including many dental professionals, dont address, nor even fully
understand the fact thatdecay and gum disease are actually
contagious, transmissible, microbial infections.This means that if
you harbor enough of certain pathogenic dental germs, you can
suffer dental diseases and infect others. Conversely, if you dont
have enough of the germs, your risk of suffering dental diseases
and infecting others is low or zero. Period. End of story.For
example, consider Tuberculosis. You are currently alive because
either you harbor zero Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria, or if
you do have the bacteria in you, they are not in significant
numbers to cause you any obvious problems or kill you. By the same
token, people will suffer decay and gum disease,or not, depending
upon the quantity and types of bacteria inhabiting their body,or
not.Therefore, the solution to our most common dental diseases
(decay and gum disease) is the control of our oral microbes. In
other words its oralprobiotics,prebiotics,plusOral
Fitnessversuspathobiotics. The internationally endorsed definition
ofprobioticsis live microorganisms(or sometimes killed or merely
attenuated microorganisms)that, when administered in adequate
amounts, confer a health benefit on the host. Prebioticsare defined
asnon-digestible food ingredients or chemicals that stimulate the
growth and/or activity of probiotic commensal organisms (bacteria
and fungi) to beneficially affect the health and well-being of the
host. In other words the foods that probiotics prefer to eat.
Interestingly, prebiotics are generally the types of foods
weshouldeat more of, but we dont eat enough of. As a result, our
Western Diet tends to feed our bacteria (and our bodies) with some
of the wrong types of food (sodas, junk food, fast foods, sugar)
thus selecting for and supporting a number of pathobiotic organisms
that cause us problems. Oral Fitnessis the application of physical
fitness concepts to oral health. (By the end of April 2015 I will
have an online Oral Fitness course with videos, podcasts, and
graphics because the subject is too involved for this paper.)
Pathobioticsareorganisms that cause us problems. I call them
pathobiotics because sometimes they may actually be good microbes
that have just overgrown, as opposed to pathogens, which are always
bad.For you to suffer dental problems, you need all four of the
following factors:1. A proper substrate or environment (tooth,
root, gums, connective tissue, etc.) This is the easiest factor to
control because to suffer gum disease you need a tooth root and gum
crevice for the bugs to infect. Obviously, you cannot suffer
cavities if your teeth are removed. Although this is the easiest
factor, it is the least desirable.2. Time (frequency of exposures
and length of exposures) This is the 2ndeasiest factor to control.
If you were to limit all of your sugar intake to just once a day
and then brush, floss, and rinse immediately after, you would
definitelyloweryour risk ofdecay and gum disease. The worst things
are to continually sip soft drinks intermittently throughout the
day (frequent short exposures), or snack on candies throughout the
day (frequent longer exposures), or worst of all continually chew
sticky, gooey stuff like gummy bears or stuff that turns sticky and
embeds in your teeth, like pretzels and chips (gooey, sticky foods
are like tooth bombs). Sticky stuff basically coats your teeth
almost permanently and feeds the microbes almost forever.3.
Adequate numbers of the causative pathobiotic microbes (bacteria,
fungi, and protozoa) This is the 3rdeasiest factor to control
because most people do only a fair to poor job of oral hygiene.
Oral hygiene controls the bugs somewhat. Oral Fitness is better. If
you dont have the gum disease or cavity microbes in you, then it is
impossible to suffer decay and gum disease. Period. Because, decay
and gum disease are microbial diseases.(I have to repeat this
several times for the concept to sink in, since few people
associate the word infection with decay and gum disease. Its weird,
but when I tell people they have a cavity, they are not as worried
as when I tell them they have an infection, yet cavities are
microbial infections of teeth.)However, in reality, your mouth has
6 billion microbes, and some of themwill bedental pathobiotics.
But, it takes one million Colony Forming Units (CFU) of
Streptococcus mutans per milliliter of saliva to begin having
dental caries activity. Therefore, keep the bugs below that limit
and you can almost forget about decay. Nowadays, you can add dental
probiotics to your mouth and alter your oral microbiota on
demandand lower your pathobiotic count, instead of crossing your
fingers and hoping for salvation.4. Food (the foods that the
pathobiotics prefer to eat) This is the hardest factor to control
As stated before, cavity and gum disease microbes do not eat only
sugar they also eat mucin, proteins, collagen, amino acids,
starches, and even the remains of dead skin cells from your cheeks
and the remains of other bugs in your mouth. And dont forget the
nucleus-sucking, parasitic Entamoeba gingivalis that destroys your
white blood cells that your body sends to fight gum disease! Also,
you must eat. Therefore, you should eat as much as possible the
foods that are beneficial to you and your probiotic microbes, which
means avoiding sucrose and other simple sugars, eating more fresh
fruits and vegetables, eating fiber (soluble and insoluble), and
following an accepted diet, such as an anti-inflammatory diet or
low glycemic diet.If you are missing any one or more of the above
factors, your decay and gum disease risk will be minimal or zilch.
However, you can trulyeliminate only one factor teeth. The rest are
challenging to eliminate or control. Most people would like to keep
their teeth, so the usual advice is to brush and avoid sweets,
because thats about the simplest thing you can say that will
provide some benefits without causing confusion to people. Yet it
is not a good enough approach.For example, our western diet
consists of too many simple carbohydrates such as sugars, high
fructose corn syrup, processed starches, fast foods, junk foods,
and sodas. These foods select for and support the types of
pathobiotic organisms that result in cavities, diabetes, and
intestinal problems. (This is also why we are just about the
fattest nation on the planet.)If instead we regularly consumed high
quantities of prebiotic non-digestible fibers, resistant starches,
fructooligosaccharides (inulin), and other more complex
carbohydrates, our bodies would eventually select for and support
more probiotic organisms in our mouths and guts than pathobiotic
organisms. Better yet, if we intentionally added specific
probioticsplusprebiotics to our diet, we could immediately increase
our probiotic load without waiting for it to haphazardly
occur,andwe could maintain the organisms better.Good sources of
prebiotics include raw and cooked: chicory root Jerusalem artichoke
dandelion greens garlic leek onion jicama asparagus and other
dietary functional fibers including non-starch polysaccharides such
as: arabinoxylans cellulose resistant starches resistant dextrins
inulin lignin waxes chitins pectins beta-glucansIf this sounds too
confusing, you can simply buy a bottle of Now FoodsFiber-3or
KlairesBiotagenpowder and mix it into smoothies, yogurt, or
kefir.Below is a shortened excerpt from Klaire Labs, a well-known
and respected probiotic company:Unfortunately modern Western diets
often lack friendly bacteria that help optimize digestion, support
immune system function, aid in production of vitamins, and defend
against potentially harmful bacteria. Stress, disease, aging,
exposure to toxins, or use of antibiotics and certain medications
can reduce the numbers of beneficial bacteria and set the stage for
digestive disorders, impaired immune function, increased allergic
sensitivity, and inflammation. Probiotics help replenish and
maintain the essential gastrointestinal microflora missing from the
diet or disrupted by antibiotic therapy or other factors. By
blending together various bacterial strains that normally
predominate in the small intestine and colon, comprehensive
benefits for the healthy function of the entire gastrointestinal
tract can be obtained. Probiotics should be used on a daily basis
by children or adults to support gastrointestinal and immune
function and provide probiotic support for those with intestinal
dysbiosis, increased intestinal permeability (leaky gut), viral and
bacterial gastroenteritis, food allergies, eczema, or
gastrointestinal complaints such as diarrhea, constipation or
abdominal pain. Long-term probiotic supplementation can play an
important role in restoring and maintaining a healthy, balanced
gastrointestinal microflora.Whats interesting is that one can apply
the above same concepts of gut health to oral health, because the
mouth is the origin of the digestive tract. The mouth is just a
different gut niche than the stomach, small intestine, large
intestine, or colon. In addition, certain digestive maladies such
as leaky gut syndrome and ulcerative colitis seem similar to gum
disease. With gum disease, gum tissue epithelial lining and
connective tissue can become ulcerated like intestinal lining, thus
leaking bacteria and other substances through the gums into the
bloodstream to cause systemic problems. Therefore, if certain
microbes can improve leaky gut, then it should be possible to
improve leaky gums. And it is possible!Furthermore, many
toothpastes and mouth rinses are broad-spectrum dental germ
killers. Some dental experts suggest that our constant use of
dental germicides such as fluoride, triclosan, peroxide, sodium
lauryl sulfate, cetylpyridinium chloride, essential oils, and
chlorhexidine takes a toll on our good oral microbes similar to
taking antibiotics and altering our gut microbiota. Although most
mouthwashes and toothpastes last only about 15 minutes in the
mouth, chlorhexidine, cetylpyridinium chloride, and triclosan with
copolymer can kill microbes for up to 12 hours. Such long-term
germ-killing is questionable because, like hardy weeds and delicate
flowers, many pathobiotics are hardier than probiotics. Thus, we
are indiscriminately killing many good dental germs along with some
bad dental germs, which allows the surviving bad germs to
eventually overpopulate. Furthermore, few if any of us supplement
with specific dental probiotics, other than possibly eating yogurt
with active cultures. This means that repopulation of good bugs in
our mouth occurs haphazardly at best, or probably very little. And
worse, we eat foods that support the bad microbes, but we rarely
eat foods that support the good microbes. In fact, physicians
recommend taking probiotics and prebiotics while you take
antibiotics, and for at least two weeks longer to try to repopulate
your gut with good bacteria and prevent the bad ones from taking
over.Therefore, just like taking gut probiotics for better
intestinal health, it makes sense to consider taking dental
probiotics for oral health. Consider that you are not taking
antibiotics twice a day for most of your life, but you probably
brush your teeth and use a mouthwash twice a day most of your life.
Therefore, it is probably even more important for oral health to
take dental probiotics regularly. Luckily, many gut probiotics are
actually dental probiotics too. Yet, you eat them instead of
letting them linger in your mouth. In other words, you eat yogurt,
but you dont usually squish it between your teeth and use it like a
mouthwash. Thus, there is a need for specific dental probiotic
delivery systems, such as tablets, powders, and rinses. So, the
trick with dental probiotics is to dissolve them slowly in the
mouth instead of swallowing them quickly, because you want your
dental probiotics to take hold and colonize your mouth. Once they
are in your gut, they are not doing anything for your mouth. Along
with the probiotics, it makes sense to eat prebiotics in order to
support the probiotic organisms, while avoiding foods that support
the pathobiotics.On the next few pages is a short list of important
probiotic organisms that confer oral health benefits. You can
obtain all these probiotics and more by shopping online or at your
local health food store, and/or eating fermented foods such as
kefir, yogurt, sauerkraut, kimchi, and kombucha. For more
information, just Google probiotics for oral health, or visit:Great
Oral Health,Oragenics,Klaire Labs.ProbioticsTargetsPathobiotics
affected
Bifidobacterium bifidum
Gums
Staphylococcus aureus
Bifidobacterium breve
Gums
Staphylococcus aureus
Bifidobacterium infantis
Gums
Staphylococcus aureus
Bifidobacterium longum
Decay
Streptococcus mutans
Gums
Porphyromonas gingivalis
Staphylococcus aureus
Lactobacillus acidophilus
Gums
Porphyromonas gingivalis
Prevotella intermedia
Staphylococcus aureus
Lactobacillus bulgaricus
decay
Streptococcus mutans
gums
Staphylococcus aureus
Lactobacillus casei
gums
Staphylococcus aureus
Lactobacillus gasseri
gums
Porphyromonas gingivalis
Prevotella intermedia
Staphylococcus aureus
Lactobacillus paracasei
decay
Streptococcus mutans
gums
Porphyromonas gingivalis
Prevotella intermedia
Staphylococcus aureus
Streptococcus salivarius
Streptococcus sanguinis
Lactobacillus plantarum
decay
Streptococcus mutans
gums
Porphyromonas gingivalis
Prevotella intermedia
Lactobacillus rhamnosus
decay
Streptococcus mutans
gums
Porphyromonas gingivalis
Prevotella intermedia
Staphylococcus aureus
Streptococcus salivarius
Streptococcus sanguinis
Lactobacillus salivarius
decay
Streptococcus mutans
gums
Porphyromonas gingivalis
Prevotella intermedia
Staphylococcus aureus
Pediococcus acidilactici
gums
Staphylococcus aureus
Saccharomyces boulardii
biofilm
Blastocystis hominis
Candida albicans
Clostridium difficile
Entamoeba histolytica
Escherichia coli
Giardia lamblia
Helicobacter pylori
Hemolytic Aeromonas
Salmonella typhimurium
Vibrio cholerae
Yersinia enterocolitica
Streptococcus salivarius K-12
decay
Streptococcus mutans
Streptococcus sanguinis M-18
biofilm + decay
Streptococcus mutans
Streptococcus thermophilus
decay
Streptococcus mutans
gums
Staphylococcus aureus
The true dental situation:1. Your mouth contains about 6 billion
microbes composed of at least 700 different types of viruses,
bacteria, fungi, and protozoa. Some are pathogenic but most are
beneficial, thank goodness.2. Luckily, only about four types of
bacteria (Streptococcus mutans, Actinomyces, Nocardia, and
Lactobacillus acidophilus) plus a fungus (Candida albicans) seem to
cause any significant dental decay. Furthermore, these microbes are
facultative anaerobes (able to live with or without oxygen) often
living on surfaces exposed to oxygen. Dental decay is fairly easy
to control because of the few types of microbes involved and the
ease of reaching them.3. However, about 60 types of bacteria and
protozoa cause gum disease. The worst ones are generally strict
anaerobes (die in the presence of oxygen) and prefer to live in
deep crevices. Therefore, gum disease is harder to control because
there are so many types of bugs and because of where they live. Gum
disease always starts on the surface and morphs and matures into
organisms that burrow under the gums. Luckily, if you can control
the surface microbes, you can eventually control the subsurface
microbes, because the subsurface microbes survival depends somewhat
on byproducts from their surface co-microbes.4. Our oral microbes
live in various niches:1. On exposed tooth surfaces2. In tooth
cracks, grooves and pits, and even under fillings and crowns3. On
the tongue, cheeks, mucosa, roof of the mouth4. In shallow crevices
between gums and teeth5. Deep in connective tissue between gums,
jawbone and teeth6. Even in the epithelial lining and your own body
cells lining the supporting connective tissue for your teeth
roots7. Worst of all, some of them can infiltrate damaged blood
vessels in your gums and circulate throughout your body, landing on
heart valves, artificial joints, and causing blood clots.So, how do
we get these microbes? Where do they come from?1. Microbes are the
oldest and most ubiquitous life forms on Earth. They are
everywhere, from two miles deep inside solid rock, to the upper
atmosphere just floating around in air. Some have even survived 1
years of exposure to space outside the International Space Station!
http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2010-08/bacteria-survive-553-day-exposure-exterior-iss2.
Our mothers pass the first organisms to us immediately during
birth, then via nursing with colostrum for the first week or so.
Then we get them via kissing, feeding, playing, sticking everything
in our mouth as a kid, etc.3. Within weeks we are populated with
billions of microbes from air, dirt, everything we touch and eat,
and whoever we spend time with and play with.4. By age three our
microbiota (total colonies of organisms) reaches and stays at about
100 trillion organisms in and on our bodies. This is ten times the
number of our own somatic cells. All these organisms contain about
200 times the amount of our own genetic material, so some
scientists believe we should consider our microbiota like another
organ, or maybe even another entity. It almost seems as if humans
have evolved to house and transport these microbes in a symbiotic
relationship. In fact, our mitochondria (the powerhouse or energy
supplier) of our own cells have their own DNA and may have once
been separate organisms that somehow became incorporated as
endosymbionts within our own cells eons ago.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbiogenesis5. Normally, the microbes
that inhabit us multiply until they reach an equilibrium determined
by their environment, available food, host responses, chemical
signaling among one another, and dozens of other limiting factors,
otherwise, we would probably be devoured within a few hours. I
estimate that if you started with onlyonebacterium in your mouth at
night, and if it could multiply without any limitations, by morning
your mouth, nose, and sinuses would contain 281 trillion cells
weighing about 21 pounds, and you would be suffocated. Therefore,
it is not in the microbes interest to kill us (at least that fast),
but rather, they tend to use us for as long as possible, until some
day that our immune systems break down, or we get too old, or
suffer other complications that allow them to overwhelm us. In
fact, our existence is just a temporary victory over all the bugs
that inhabit us.6. Some microbes are permanent residents in and on
us. Others are just passing through, staying awhile, and sometimes
colonizing for good if consumed often enough, or until eradicated
with antibiotics. Our microbial makeup changes throughout our life
depending upon our age, hormones, diet, stress, disease, antibiotic
usage, significant others, where we live, etc.7. Most bacteria,
good or bad, have tiny fibers (flagellae and pili) sticking out
from their cell membranes. These fibers act as little arms, legs,
propellers, and feelersto enable them to crawl, swim, claw,
squeeze, and ooze their way into their preferred niches. Once
installed into their niches, the external fibers act like Velcro
hooks attaching the microbes to each other, biofilm, tooth, root,
skin, intestinal lining, and even to communicate with, or kill each
other.8. Occasionally certain microbes may overgrow or crowd out
others to gain an advantage, which sometimes ends up causing us
humans to suffer inflammation or disease. This overgrowth can
happen if our immunity is compromised due to stress, overwork,
inadequate sleep, improper nutrition, genetic problems, antibiotic
therapy, accidents, and many other situations.9. Gum disease is
caused by at least 60 different types of microbes. It starts as
inflammation at the external-most gum/tooth interface due to
microbial infiltration from overgrown and undisturbed dental plaque
due to poor or ineffective oral hygiene. From there it spreads into
the gum crevices and eventually into the connective tissues between
the tooth roots and bone.10. Most people have no concept of the
microbial world and the tiny sizes and distances involved. To give
you an idea, most bacteria are so small that six billion (the
entire human population of Earth) live just in your mouth. The
average size of a bacterium is about one micron in diameter. A
micron is one thousandth of a millimeter. Therefore, if you laid a
thousand bacteria end to end, the distance covered would be one
millimeter which would be the length of this dash (or 0.0394
inches) when viewing this page at 100% magnification. Likewise, if
you laid a thousand humans (5.28 feet tall) end to end, the
distance covered would be a mile (5,280 feet). Therefore, to a
bacterium, one millimeter is equal to a mile, in human terms. Thus,
if you have a gum pocket of 5 millimeters deep, this would equal
the depth of the Mariana Trench, the deepest oceanic spot on earth
and one of the hardest places to reach! More people have been on
the moon than to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, and its almost
just as hard to clean teeth beyond 5 mm. I hope you can start to
visualize how many bacteria inhabit only your mouth and how hard
they can be to find and kill with traditional means.11. These
microbes crawl, squeeze, and claw their way into the crevices
between gum and tooth as deeply into the crevices as possible, and
even into the actual gum tissues lining the crevices. (These
include beneficial bacteria, pathobiotic bacteria, pathogenic
bacteria, and even parasitic protozoa such as amoebas.)12. Along
their journey, the gum disease microbes consume mostly protein,
collagen, mucus, dead cell byproducts, and body fluids. They
excrete and secrete hydrogen sulfide gas, ammonia, amines, toxins,
enzymes, antigens, phenolic compounds, metabolic byproducts, and
even hydrogen peroxide and alcohol. Their exudates affect other
bacteria as well as your bodys connective tissues, blood vessels,
and bone, and cause inflammatory responses in your body.Notice I
didnt mention sugar. There is the common misconception that sugar
causes most dental problems. This is untrue.Microbes cause dental
problems. Sugar and other simple carbohydrates are the main foods
fordecay microbes, although they can eat mucin, amino acids, and
proteins if necessary. Proteins, collagen and amino acids are the
main foods forgum disease microbes. This is why you cannot gain
total control over decay and gum disease by trying to avoid sweets
because the darn germs can eat other foods too. This does not mean
you can eat all the sweets you want. It means that your most
promising preventive dental choice would be to control the
bacteria. You can do this by pitting beneficial probiotic bacteria
against detrimental pathobiotic bacteria and let the bugs fight
each other. In the meantime, you can feed your probiotics with the
foods they prefer meaning complex carbohydrates, fiber, fresh
fruits and vegetables, and following diets such as the
Anti-inflammatory diet, Paleo diet, Low Glycemic diet, or
Mediterranean diet.13. The entire situation in your mouth is like a
horror movie taking place in a prehistoric jungle with all kinds of
good and bad carnivorous bugs, plants, and beasts lurking
everywhere, fighting amongst themselves and fighting you, or in the
case of beneficial bacteria even sometimes helping you in their own
primitive ways.14. One especially bad pathogenic microbe, the
parasitic amoeba Entamoeba gingivalis found in 95% of people with
gum disease is like a monster out of a horror movie. Like a vampire
or a spider, Entamoeba gingivalis punctures the white blood cells
that your body sends out to fight disease, and devours their
nuclei. The damaged, lifeless, white cell bodies ooze out their
cellular contents and decompose, thus feeding surrounding bacteria,
which release bacterial toxins into your gums. Horrible! If you
want to read a terrifyingly fun book about the microscopic world,
read Micro by Michael Crichton (Jurassic Park author) its kind of
like a Jurassic Park of insects.15. Advanced gum disease occurs in
places too far under the gums for you to reach with any toothbrush,
floss, pick, or irrigator. No matter how hard you try, about the
deepest you can clean under your gums is 2.5 mm, even with the best
electric, sonic, ultrasonic, and ionic toothbrushes perfectly aimed
into the gums and using the best brushing techniques. Therefore, if
you have a gum pocket that is only 5 mm deep, that means two and a
half miles of microbial crud, biofilm, and microbes remain totally
unaffected despite your own best Oral Fitness efforts with the best
equipment and dentifrices on the planet.16. This the main reason
why gum disease is such a stubborn problem to fight. You simply can
never really get to the root of the problem because you at home can
never clean deeper than 2.5 mm. Furthermore, what good is it to
have your teeth professionally deep cleaned 4 days per year, when
for the other 361 days your teeth are virtually wallowing in a
cesspool of microbial biofilm and toxins? Would four showers per
year be of much benefit to you? And worst of all, studies show that
professional dental scaling done by expert dental hygienists is
ineffective beyond 7 mm.17. As for dental decay, fewer microbes are
involved only about four main ones and just one of them is really
bad Streptococcus mutans. A count of one million Colony Forming
Units (CFU) of Streptococcus mutans per milliliter of saliva is
associated with potential caries activity. Fewer than one million,
and you may be cavity-free, or at least have a very low decay rate.
So, you see, you could have decay bacteria residing in your mouth
for a long time and not suffer any decay until their numbers get
out of whack, and then, presto you have a cavity after being
cavity-free for a few years.18. Decay bacteria are aerobes and
facultative anaerobes (meaning they can survive with or without
oxygen if necessary). They prefer to live within biofilm on exposed
surfaces and they dont burrow deep under the gums; however, they
can burrow deep into teeth.19. Dental decay bacteria prefer to eat
simple sugars, and starches, but most people dont know the bugs can
eat proteins and mucus if necessary. When they eat simple
carbohydrates, the decay bacteria excrete various metabolites and
acids, including lactic acid, acetic acid, butyric acid, and
propionic acid. These acids dissolve the inorganic minerals from
our teeth until reaching some organic tissues that the bacteria can
digest. Then the bugs turn on their digestive juices and digest the
organic tooth matrix until reaching too much mineralization to
digest, whereupon their acidic exudates dissolve more mineral,
until reaching more organic matrix, repeating this cycle until
eventually reaching the pulps of the teeth, entering the root
chambers, extruding out the tips of the roots into the jawbone, and
causing abscesses.20. Now, I ask you, are teeth sweet? Is enamel
sweet? Is the dental pulp sweet? Is bone sweet? No to all.
Therefore, does it make sense to say that sugar and
sweetscausedecay? No. The decay microbes can eat your teeth whether
or not you eat sugar. They just dissolve your teeth faster when you
eat sugar. And by the way, not all sweets are food for decay
bacteria. For example, xylitol, stevia, erythritol, and inulin are
all sweet, but are not useful foods for decay bacteria. In fact,
xylitol is really interesting because decay bacteria can actually
eat xylitol, but they cannot make acid nor plaque from it, and they
cant metabolize all of it, so some of the xylitol remains in their
system and builds up until eventually bursting the cells.
Therefore, xylitol is one sweet that everyone should use if they
wish to reduce dental plaque and fight dental decay. Thus, if you
were to avoid sweets, you would be avoiding at least one sweet that
could actually help you prevent decay, yet few people know this,
and surprisingly, not many dentists are knowledgeable about xylitol
either.21. It turns out that our modern western diet of chips,
candy, Twinkies, fast foods, sodas, sugar, junk food, snacks,
cakes, candies, desserts, promotes the growth of cavity and gum
disease bacteria 22. Its hard not to eat these types of food
because they taste good, are easy to keep, store, and eat, and are
so ubiquitous.23. To change our oral bacteria, we would have to
change our diets drastically and eat lots of raw garlic, raw
onions, raw leeks, lentils, beans, sauerkraut, kimchi, cabbage,
kale, and all the other stuff that is a pain in the neck to wash,
peel, prepare, and then deal with the aftermath of garlic/onion
breath, possible gas and bloating, etc.24. Nevertheless, it would
be good to at least try to eat a Mediterranean diet, or a low
glycemic diet for diabetics, or an anti-inflammatory diet and
incorporate some fermented foods and probiotics as well.The
problems with oral health:1. It is impossible to remove all dental
plaque from teeth and gums, even after the most incredible
professional deep cleaning, polishing and irrigation by the worlds
greatest dental hygienist. Even products such as Listerine that
say, Kills 99% of germs, are misleading because, they dont say
which germs are killed, where, and for how long. Maybe Listerine
kills 99% of germs on a few surfaces for 10 minutes, but thats only
one generation of germs. In the next 10 minutes, other germs nearby
can double in number and eventually repopulate. You cannot easily
kill germs that reside within dental plaque, unless you try to
destroy the plaque first with special products and procedures.
Dental plaque is a complicated biofilm structure with channels to
provide nutrients, eliminate wastes, and flush out antagonists,
antibiotics, and antimicrobials. In fact, you might think of dental
plaque as sort-of a colonial organism like a jellyfish or a slime
mold, as the plaque sort of takes on a life of its own, along with
the lives of the cells that inhabit it and produce it. Also, the
microbes within dental plaque operate as if in an interconnected
continuum, which is different from when they are free-swimming
planktonic organisms. Sort-of like theBorgof the microbial world.
Weird!2. Nevertheless, imagine if you can, that your teeth and gums
are perfectly 100% clean of microbes, scum, tartar, etc., and only
pure teeth surfaces and gum epithelium exist.3. The first thing
that happens is that mucus-filled saliva washes over the teeth and
gums, and instantly a viscous mucoprotein called mucin attaches to
your teeth and gums, forming the first foothold for microbes to
begin attaching to your teeth and gums. These initial microbes
reside on your cheeks, top and back of your tongue, under your
tongue, in your sinuses and throat, and even in the air you
breathe, the food you eat, and who you kiss, etc. You cannot escape
the microbes. Resistance is futile. (However, with help, you can
avoid assimilation.)4. Within 9 hours after a dental scaling,
cleaning, or whatever, dental plaque has already formed and
continues increasing relentlessly on surfaces and even into the
crevices between the teeth and gum tissues.5. By day 2, plaque
begins to mineralize and harden into tartar, while new plaque keeps
growing onto old, hardened and hardening plaque in a never ending
cycle.6. Meanwhile, gum disease starts, obviously, at the surface
of the gum and tooth as dental plaque, which invades the first 1 3
millimeters of the gingiva.7. At the initial stage of gingivitis,
the disease is just an inflammation of the gingiva and can be
reversed with proper Oral Fitness.8. However, sometime between
months one and three, the gum disease microbes crawl deep into the
gum/teeth crevices and begin making craters and hiding places under
the gums where toothpaste, mouthwash, floss, brush bristles, picks,
and irrigators cannot reach.9. Once the microbes advance beyond 2.5
mm under your gums, it is impossible to reach the bugs with
ordinary home care devices, because you cannot clean your own teeth
deeper than 1.5 mm unless you hold your toothbrush exactly
perfectly at 45 degrees to the teeth. And even if you brush
perfectly at 45 degrees on every tooth surface, you cannot clean
deeper than 2.5 mm no matter what you do, even if you use a sonic
or ultrasonic toothbrush.10. Also, once a cavity in a tooth reaches
beyond 80 microns (the thickness of one or two human hairs), the
cavity cannot ordinarily be remineralized and will nearly always
proceed to frank decay and will need a filling.11. So, how can you
affect the nasty microbes that live so deeply under the gums or
burrowed into teeth, or residing in biofilm?12. With probiotic
replacement, thats how. Why not regularly send billions of known
beneficial gum microbes deep into the gums, plaque, and teeth to
crowd out the pathogens. Heres how:Materials needed:(You can obtain
some of the products below on ourshopping site.)All of the products
and concepts below are designed to: Penetrate dental plaque Kill
pathobiotics and pathogens within dental plaque Preserve,
replenish, and grow probiotics in favor of pathobiotics and
pathogens Feed the probiotics Make things as easy, simple,
automatic, convenient, no-brainer, safe and effective as possible
Be as cost-effective and/or economical as possible, yet as valuable
as possible Be alcohol-free, sodium lauryl sulfate-free,
toxin-free, fluoride-free (although I believe fluoride is still
useful for many people, yet many other people are against fluoride)
Prevent canker sores and be easy on the mucosa Fight dry-mouth1.
CloSys mouth rinse Get the largest bottle. CloSys rinse comes with
a tiny capsule of mint flavor to add if you like. CloSys is
marketed as chlorine dioxide. Chlorine dioxide (Cl O2) actually
penetrates dental microbial biofilm (plaque) and kills many plaque
organisms. To be clear, and to prevent certain haters from taking
issue with me, CloSys is technically stabilized sodium chlorite (Na
Cl O2), not chlorine dioxide. Chlorine dioxide is actually a gas
that is difficult to store and use easily. In order to create the
gas, you must always mix two components and then use them within a
day or two before the gas degrades and dissipates. This is
problematic and a hassle when trying to create a simple preventive
program. Furthermore, chlorine dioxide gas penetrates dental plaque
and kills some bacteriabut then reacts with dental plaque and turns
into sodium chloritewithin dental plaque. The resultant stored
sodium chlorite inside the plaque turns into chlorine dioxide gas
when dental plaque becomes acidified by your pathobiotic microbes,
such as when eating sugary foods or drinking sugary, acidic
beverages. Therefore, a simpler and easier way to accomplish about
the same results as using true chlorine dioxide is to just rinse
with sodium chlorite which will penetrate the plaque and sit there
until the plaque becomes acidic and turn into chlorine dioxide.
Similar results just easier and simpler.2. CloSys toothpaste3.
Livionex toothpaste As an alternative to CloSys toothpaste. Or
instead of CloSys toothpaste. Or, better yet, in addition to CloSys
toothpaste. This is an amazing toothpaste that absolutely destroys
dental plaque at least 2.5 x better than any other toothpaste.
Plus, it is nontoxic and made of ingestible ingredients. I believe
Livionex is a significant advance in nontoxic, safe,
plaque-reducing toothpastes If you were to alternate CloSys and
Livionex, I dont see how dental plaque could stand a chance of
growing to any significant amount. In fact, although Livionex has a
slightly runny consistency, this is sort of an advantage, because:
you can squirt Livionex into your AirFloss or Waterpik and shoot it
between your teeth for extra benefits you can floss Livionex
between your teeth because it acts almost as a lubricant for
floss4. Two small silicone medicament travel bottles (Bed Bath and
Beyond, CVS) One bottle for CloSys and one for xylitol. I like
things handy. If I have to remove a lid, put the lid somewhere,
find a glass, pour a little into a glass, replace the lid, use the
glass, put the glass back Im already tired. I would rather pour
some stuff into a squirt bottle to use for a week or two and just
flip the top of the squirt bottle and squirt some into my mouth,
flip the top closed, and put the squirt bottle back.5. Sonicare
Flex Care electric toothbrush Dislodges dental plaque and microbes
even in shallow gum pockets and somewhat between teeth if held
correctly. Cleans gum lines 1 mm past the tips of the bristles by
sonically agitating fluids in the gum crevices. You need not scrub
your teeth just aim the bristles 45 degrees into the gums and let
the brush do its job. What could be easier than that?6. BreathRX
tongue scraper The tongue surface area is larger than the entire
palate. Hundreds of millions of microbes live on the tongue. The
tongue is a huge reservoir for bacteria. Therefore, tongue-scraping
is essential for bacteria control, bad breath control, as well as
for repopulation with probiotics. Whats the point of brushing your
teeth but never removing the crud that builds up on your tongue?
Did you ever move into a carpeted apartment formerly occupied by a
smoker or a pet-owner with pet pee and odors embedded into the
carpet? Thats your tongue surface.7. Interdental cleaning is
absolutely essential to oral health. Unless genetically gifted,
whosoever does not regularly clean interdentally might as well
permanently forget about ever obtaining any semblance of good oral
health. Thats a fact. I have a saying similar to famous football
coach, Vince Lombardi: Show me a person who fails to clean between
their teeth and Ill show you a dental failure. Sorry, but its true.
When I tell people I actually floss twice a day, most people look
at me like Im a Martian. I dont get it. Why wouldnt anyone floss
twice a day unless they gag or are paralyzed or disabled. If you
could look over my shoulder every workday and see what I see, you
would definitely floss at least once a day. Glide floss because it
is Teflon and goes between teeth easier than any other floss and
resists shredding and breaking. This works well when flossing
toothpaste between teeth especially Livionex. Sonicare AirFloss (or
a Waterpik) because 80% of people dont floss, cant floss, or dont
floss correctly, or name the excuse. Besides, the AirFloss mixes
air and water or mouthwash to blast bacteria, plaque and food from
between teeth. Remember that gum disease bacteria are anaerobes.
They hate oxygen. That is why they burrow like parasites under the
gums. So, hitting these bastards every day with an oxygenated spray
can make life miserable for them and reduce their growth. You can
squirt the CloSys mouth rinse or xylitol solution into your
AirFloss and blast that between your teeth as an irrigant.8.
Xylo-Sweet xylitol granules 3 to 5 pound bag Spoon a couple
spoonfuls of Xylo-Sweet into your Go-Toob squirt bottle and fill
the bottle with tap water, and presto you have a couple-week supply
of squirtable xylitol. Twice a day squirt some xylitol/water
solution into your mouth and swish it around for at least a minute.
You dont need to swallow it because it does no good for teeth once
its in the gut. Do it while showering, getting ready for work, bed,
etc. Xylitol has a long and proven history of killing Streptococcus
mutans (the main cavity bacterium) and other unfriendly oral
microbes as well. Another benefit is that it can stimulate saliva
formation for some people with diminishedsaliva flow. It seems that
some beneficial bacteria can tolerate xylitol exposure more than
many of the bad ones; therefore, regular, timed exposures
throughout the day can eventually destroy Streptococcus mutans (S.
mutans) and select for more beneficial oral microbes. The problem
is that you have to use at least a gram of it multiple times every
day like 7-10 times a day to be truly effective, which means
morning, after snack, lunch, after snack, dinner, after snack,
before bed. It has been shown that using 7-10 grams of xylitol
every single day without fail for six months straight could
dramatically inhibitS. mutans for up to 2 years by promoting the
growth of good oral bacteria instead of bad ones. (And just to be
absolutely certain, I would add specific, known dental probiotics
instead of twiddling my finders and waiting for the good guys to
come on board by themselves.) Until about the last 5 years,
research on xylitol was performed without subjects taking
additional probiotics. Yet, despite the subjects not taking any
probiotics, merely using xylitol every day managed to allow good
bacteria to gain a foothold against the stronger bad bacteria just
by chance. Now, I notice that many probiotic supplements contain
some xylitol. So, imagine how much better and faster you could
improve if you were to supplement your oral microbiota daily with
known strains of specific beneficial organisms while also killing
the bad ones.9. Xylitol chewing gum Chewing xylitol gum throughout
the day will do the following: Break up newly formed dental plaque
Stimulate saliva flow to neutralize dental plaque acids Dislodge
food particles Coat the teeth in xylitol for about 15 minutes at a
time Helps achieve the 7-10 xylitol doses per day needed to begin
destroying Strep mutans dental decay bacteria10. Probiotics Great
Oral Health dental probiotics Oragenics Evora Plus or Evora Pro
dental probiotics Instead of waiting for some good bacteria to
haphazardly take their time and grow, the idea is to forcibly
repopulate the mouth several times daily with specific bacteria
that are already proven to be beneficial. This is a relatively new
subject and needs more research, but it is very promising, and I
believe this is where much of preventive dental treatment will soon
be heading. People are tired of hearing about communal water
fluoridation and other toxins in our environment. Lets
minimizethese toxins and let the bugs duke it out among themselves.
After all, theyve been battling each othernaturally for billions of
years and they have developed ingenious offensive and defensive
strategies that we are unable to replicate so far other than to
create antibiotics. But look where the double-edged sword of
antibiotics have gotten us drug-resistant superbugs, overgrowth of
bad bugs, etc. Oragenics Evora Plus three types of bacteria two for
gums and breath, and one for decay Great Oral Health probiotics
seven types of bacteria with various functions for gums, breath and
decay You dont need to eat the probiotics you can just dissolve
them or chew them and swish them around and then spit out. The
probiotics are simply live bacteria that you would eat when you eat
yogurt with live cultures, sauerkraut, kimchi, buttermilk, kefir,
certain cheeses, kombucha, etc.Technique and Rationales:1. Fill one
small silicone squirt bottle with CloSys mouth rinse, and then set
it aside for future use.2. Spoon two teaspoons of Xylo-Sweet
xylitol granules into the other silicone medicament squirt bottle
and fill it the rest of the way with tap water, then set it aside
for future use.3. Put a small glob of CloSys toothpaste into your
mouth and squish and swish it around real well before brushing. Or
substitute Livionex toothpaste everywhere you see CloSys
toothpaste.4. Use the Glide Floss to floss the toothpaste between
your teeth and under your gums. Whoever does not floss daily or use
some sort of device or method to clean between the teeth daily
might as well permanently forget about having good oral health.
Thats a fact. Forgive me, but I have another saying, Floss is
dental butt-wipe. So, imagine how it would be if you rarely used
toilet tissue. Now imagine the bugs in the cracks of your teeth and
gums. Sorry, but sometimes it takes some weird visuals to get my
points across. I was able to quit smoking by imagining myself
putting my head over a smoking trash can. To this day, any time I
get the urge for a cigarette, I visualize my head over a smoking
trash can and I actually feel like coughing. When I talk to my wife
about the 100 trillion microbes that inhabit us, she starts getting
itchy. Visuals can be powerful motivators.5. Spit out the excess
and then put another glob of CloSys toothpaste into your mouth and
squish and swish that one around too.6. Brush with CloSys
toothpaste first to remove as much dental plaque as possible before
rinsing. This way, having already flossed and brushed, there will
be less plaque for the CloSys rinse to have to penetrate. Remember,
it is virtually impossible to remove all dental plaque, even with
Livionex. Therefore, because some plaque will always remain, the
CloSys rinse can penetrate it and store the sodium chlorite until
necessary. Genius.7. Rinse out the toothpaste foam with the CloSys
mouth rinse.8. Squirt some CloSys mouth rinse from the silicone
squirt bottle into the AirFloss reservoir and irrigate your teeth
and gums with the AirFloss. Remember floss or irrigate daily the
teeth you want to keep. Whoever does not do some sort of
interdental cleaning every day might as well take every cent spent
on dental care, toothpaste, etc., and flush it down the
toilet.(Actually, if you make a serious attempt to follow the steps
in this program, you could take a day off from interdental cleaning
here and there. Just like with exercise, you need a day off once or
twice a week, and you need a food cheat day once a week but these
concepts are part of my Oral Fitness challenge program on myUDEMY
training website where I can get into more detail.)9. Spit out the
CloSys mouth rinse and then squirt some Xylo-Sweet/water mix into
your mouth and swish that around for a while at least a minute or
so. Try this while getting ready for work, shopping, bed,
whatever.10. Spit out the Xylo-Sweet/water11. Use the tongue
scraper to scrape your tongue at least 4 times top, left, right,
and then top again.12. Wait 30 minutes if possible, then dissolve a
probiotic tablet slowly in your mouth. Swish and squish the
probiotics around and between the teeth occasionally. You could
swallow the probiotic residue, but during pregnancy, there is some
slight possibility of altering the bacteria in your gut, and maybe
having gas or bloating, like if you ate beans. This will not happen
if you merely squish, swish, and spit. For one hour after using
probiotics do not eat, drink, brush, rinse, or use any xylitol
products or you will reduce the probiotic benefit.13. For the first
30 days, use two probiotic tablets per 24 hours one probiotic
tablet in the morning and one at night.14. After 30 days, use one
probiotic tablet per 24 hours preferably at night before bedtime,
and let it work while sleeping. Always let them dissolve slowly, as
the probiotics do no good for your teeth when they are in your
gut.15. During the day, carry xylitol gum with you at all times,
everywhere, and chew it immediately after every meal, snack, drink,
soda, gummy bear, coffee, or anything and everything you might eat.
Consider the xylitol gum as if it were one last bit of food with
every other food you eat, drink, etc. If you do this at least 5
times per day for at least 6 months, PLUS all the other stuff
listed above, you will drastically limitthe dental decay bacteria
and gum disease bacteria in your mouth, AND, you will have a good
chance not to transmit your decay bacteria to your loved
ones!Probiotic ChoicesEvora Plus Mild mint flavor 30 tablets/bottle
$16 $20 per bottle of 30 tablets 300 Million bacteria total per
tablet Dose: 1x/day evening, 30 min after oral hygiene Contains 100
million each of: Streptococcus rattus JH145 excretes alcohol
instead of acid, so it is incapable of causing decay fights S.
mutans via lantibiotics Lantibiotics are a class
ofpeptideantibiotics (bacteriocins) produced by manyGram-positive
bacteriasuch asStreptococcusandStreptomycesto attack other
Gram-positive bacteria. Microbes always must fight for space and
resources, so they have evolved methods of signaling, inhibiting,
and killing other microbes. For example, a type of mold called
Penicillium notatum produces the antibiotic Penicillin, which kills
certain types of bacteria. We already have billions of bacteria in
our mouths, all excreting innumerable acids, toxins, and other
compounds, so this is nothing new. However, instead of leaving
things to chance, we might as well install some bacteria that we
know are beneficial bacteria and that are found in people who have
good oral health. We might as well let the good bugs fight it out
with the bad bugs like they have been doing all along for eons.
Results: S. mutans (cavity bacterium) levels reduced after one
month Streptococcus oralis KJ3 produces H2O2, (hydrogen peroxide)
fights bad breath and gum problems whitens teeth Results reduced
gum inflammation, shallower gumpocket depths within three months
Streptococcus uberis KJ2 produces H2O2, (hydrogen peroxide) fights
bad breath and gum problems whitens teeth Results reduced gum
inflammation, shallower gumpocket depths within three months
Remember that most gum disease bacteria are anaerobic (hate
oxygen), and that 2H2O2breaks down into 2H20 + O2, which is just
water andOXYGEN.Great Oral Health probiotics Two flavors: mint and
strawberry/vanilla 60 tablets $25/60 tabs 3Billiontotal bacteria
per tablet Dose: two per day for the first month, then one per day
in evening thereafter, 30 minutes after oral hygiene 7 types of
bacteria1. Streptococcus salivarius (BLIS K-12) inhibits S.
mutans2. Streptococcus salivarius (BLIS M-18) inhibits S. mutans3.
Streptococcus thermophilus a subspecies of S salivarius4.
Lactobacillus acidophilus inhibits periodontal bacteria, fights gum
inflammation5. Lactobacillus salivarius reduces gum pocket depth,
fights periodontal bacteria6. Lactobacillus paracasei reduces S.
mutans after 2 weeks7. Lactobacillus reuteri reduces crevicular
(gum) fluid, reduces gum inflammation and fights rotavirus (a type
of diarrhea virus) For an excellent explanation, click this link
toGreat Oral Health, and see the graphic below:Summary:Our current
lifestyle, diets, stress, antibiotics, toxins, food preservatives,
processed foods, etc. seem to be capable of affecting our
microbiota (microbial inhabitants of our bodies) in such a way as
to tip the delicate balance toward relatively unfriendly microbes
than are capable of surviving harsh environments. It is estimated
that as long as you have about 85% beneficial microbes
overpopulating the bad ones, you will have improved health in your
gut, mouth, respiratory tract, etc. However, for many of us, this
85%/15% ratio becomes distorted, and the result is disease.By
studying the microbiota of healthy people, we can determine many
types of beneficial bacteria, just like when we discover pathogenic
bacteria from sick people. Therefore, armed with knowledge of good
bacteria (probiotics) we can purposefully try to repopulate our
mouths, guts, etc. with good microbes. And then we can try to
maintain an environment that supports them.Unfortunately, it turns
out that many of the beneficial microbes are a bit sensitive. They
have a hard time living in the stresses, diets, and other issues I
listed above. Also, many probiotics are not indigenous microbes
that stay with us permanently, thus we always need to replenish
them. And since the above-mentioned situations tend to select for
hardier, and often times, harmful microbes, it is easier for many
harmful microbes to carve out their niches within us and defend
them vigilantly.As a result, the beneficial bacteria need to
continually be re-introduced until they can gain a decent foothold.
And even then, they can eventually succumb after a while. So it may
be that, unless our lives change, our stresses dissipate, our diets
revert back to mostly salads, fruits, nuts, and fermented foods
such a sauerkraut and kombucha, or whatever the heck we ate
thousands of years ago when we had to hunt and forage and exercise,
etc., then we will probably have to supplement with
probiotics.Another reason for probiotics for gum health is that at
home, we cannot brush, nor floss, nor irrigate deeper than about
1.5 2.5 millimeters under the gums. So, the bad bugs in gum pockets
of 4 mm+ are relatively unaffected by whatever we do at home. Since
home care is 95% or so of the oral health battle, then we are
failing unless we figure out a better way. Sure, as a dentist, I
can inject Doxycycline or Minocycline antibiotics into the gum
crevices, but these products last only 30 days at the most, and
they cost at least $65 per site of injection! Many times it is
money flushed down the drain. However, if you could repopulate your
gums with beneficial gum bacteria that automatically crawl and swim
and claw their way down into the pockets naturally, and then let
the bacteria duke it out among themselves, and then keep
re-populating, and keep hassling the bad bugs with the good ones,
every day, then there is a very good chance you will see positive
results. And if you keep it up, it should really help.Since I have
been studying probiotics, I have changed my diet a little, so as to
include some fermented foods that already have beneficial bacteria
living in them: sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha, yogurt with active
cultures, certain cheeses, etc. Also, it turns out that we should
eat more PRE-biotics meaning, fiber and complex carbohydrates that
the beneficial bacteria like to digest which means lots of
vegetables and fiber.So the result of studying probiotics is that I
am eating healthier, not only for me, but for my bugs that inhabit
me, and I can say that I have noticed a few percent better feeling
when I actually do eat more of what I should eat but damn, those
chips taste good, and the chocolate-covered almonds too. The cool
thing is that by following my Oral Fitness concepts and using
probiotics, I never worry one iota about whatever I eat or drink,
because I know the truth about oral health and what ruins teeth and
gums, and how to prevent dental problems about 47 X better than
anyone else. And you can too.- See more at:
http://www.oralfitnessexpert.com/a-new-approach-to-oral-health/#sthash.7LyCsX6b.dpuf
WHAT IS ORAL FITNESSAND HOW DOES IT WORK?
The physical fitness concepts applied to oral care include
nutrition, supplementation, exercise physiology, ergonomics, ranges
of motion, paths of motion, injury prevention, disabilities,
cognition problems, and more.If we could distill these concepts
into an OF equation, then it would be written as follows:
OF=M+N+S+Pr+Oc+Pt+Pc.OF=Oral Fitness(1) M=Motivation(2)
N=Nutrition(3) S=Supplementation(4) Pr=PerioRobics (improving
periodontal circulation and fighting stagnation)(5) Oc=OraCise
(exercise physiology, ergonomics, paths of motion, etc)(6)
Pt=Personal training(7) Pc=Professional careVery simply, the basic
physical fitness targets are the following: muscle, fat, heart, and
circulatory systems.Physical fitness basically focuses on 5
actions: safely building muscle, preventing muscle loss, safely
burning fat, preventing fat accumulation, and enhancing
cardiac/aerobic/circulatory performance.Analogously, the basic OF
targets are the following: enamel, dentin, and alveolar bone;
plaque, tartar, and pathogenic microbes; and crevicular fluid flow,
periodontal blood circulation, and saliva flow.OF also focuses on
the following 5 actions:1) building, remineralizing, and
maintaining hard dental structures;2) preventing demineralization
and loss of hard structures;3) safely "melting" or "burning"
plaque, tartar, and pathogens;4) safely preventing accumulation of
plaque, tartar, and pathogens; and5) enhancing periodontal,
crevicular, and salivary circulation.Organizing OF into an equation
with multiple variables, target tissues, and actions allows it to
become essentially digital. Also, by including other actions or
goals such as desensitizing teeth, freshening breath, and fighting
dry mouth syndrome, one could customize the OF equation into
hundreds of permutations for a tremendous improvement over standard
"analog" oral hygiene. In addition, the oral environment safely
becomes clean by default when focusing on oral fitness instead of
hygiene. In fact, standard oral hygiene alone can damage teeth and
periodontium (eg, overzealous brushing and brushing too soon after
acidogenic meals). What's more, even physical fitness without oral
fitness can damage teeth. How? Dehydration during exercise and
multiple feedings throughout the day become multiple cavity attacks
for most people. Therefore, people absolutely need oral fitness
training to protect their dentition.In other words, a person
performing standard oral hygiene is like an untrained person
supposedly exercising at a gym, merely moving weights around,
oblivious to any sort of fitness program, ignorant of nutrition and
supplementation, suffering injuries, failing to achieve desired
results, stagnating, and hitting a wall or impassable plateau. This
describes virtually everyone in America. No wonder our country's
periodontal disease rate of about 75% is approximately the obesity
rate of 66%- because very few people understand fitness,physical
and oral, and most healthy people can simply thank their genetics
or just dumb luck. Just as a fitness trainer helps a bodybuilder
break a plateau, we need to help our patients safely blast past the
plateau at which they have been stuck since the days of "Look,
Ma!No cavities!"WHAT IS AN ORALFITNESS PROGRAM?
A physical fitness program must have at least 7 components:
motivation, nutrition, supplementation, aerobics, resistance,
personal training, and professional care.The table shows the 7
components of a physical fitness program on the left side and an
oral fitness program on the right side, with shared concepts in the
middle. It also shows the relative importance of certain aspects.
(PerioRobics and OraCise are explained below.)THE 7 COMPONENTS OF
AN ORAL FITNESS PROGRAM(1) MotivationWithout motivation, nothing
happens. Find hot buttons, turn-ons, pressure points, fears, needs,
or wants such as whiter teeth, fresher breath, more confidence,
less pain, monetary savings, etc. The basic desires of sex and
money are brooding in there somewhere, so look for tasteful ways to
capitalize on those aspects (like fresh breath for 4 hours on a
date, fresh breath in the morning, more sales, better job).(2)
NutritionThis is such a huge and important subject that improperly
following just this one component can destroy a fitness plan, even
if everything else is followed correctly. Nutrition involves
calories in and out, proteins, fats, carbohydrates, metabolic
rates, timing of foods, and tons more. Dr. Atkins was basically
correct regarding avoidance of simple and high glycemic
carbohydrates. A diabetic diet would be good for teeth as well.(3)
SupplementationOF supplements include many of the physical fitness
supplements of vitamins, minerals, and herbs, plus fluoride,
chlorhexidine, triclosan, sanguinarine, stabilized chlorine
dioxide, iodine, baking soda, casein phosphopeptide, green tea,
coffee, urea peroxide, essential oils, zinc citrate, coenzyme Q-10,
antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, and more.(4)
PerioRobicsPerioRobics is the concept of enhancing the circulation
of periodontal blood, lymph, crevicular fluid, the agitation of
plaque, and disruption of tartar-anything to do with causing
turbulence and preventing stagnation: flossing, water jets, sonic
vibration, ultrasonics, squishing and swishing, etc.(5)
OraCiseOraCise is the application of resistance training techniques
to oral hygiene. This means following proper paths of motion and
ranges of motion of the exercise implements (brush, flosser, tongue
scraper,toothpick, proxabrush, etc); following an organized
program; applying ergonomics, safety, and injury avoidance;
considering disabilities and cognitive problems; etc.(6) Personal
TrainingOF personal training is what the hygienist should do
instead of teaching oral hygiene. It is nonconfrontational, fun,
interesting, and not insulting, unlike ordinary hygiene
instructions.(7) Professional CareThis is dental diagnosis,
treatment planning, guidance, coaching, follow-through, surgical
intervention, restorative treatment, etc. Patients sometimes need a
skilled professional to intervene and restore things back to as
normal as possible. Coaching means we are on the same team as the
players (patients). We have a common adversary (plaque). Coaches
command respect and earn love from their team."TEETH FIRST": A
SAMPLE ORAL FITNESS ROUTINEIn "Teeth First," the teeth take
priority over the body. Flossing comes before showering. Brushing
precedes washing the body. Fluoride outranks shampoo and
conditioner. I hope that future articles will allow more
elaboration; however, suffice it to know that every OF aspect has a
specific purpose and scientific rationale over and above any
product name. Names of products are not to be construed as
endorsements, and all products are picked for dozens of reasons
that include such parameters as fun, ease of use, simplicity,
convenience, cost, drama, safety, effectiveness, substantivity,
etc.The following materials are needed for "Teeth First": bathroom
sink, shower, shower caddy, Glide floss, Colgate Total toothpaste,
Oral-B Cross Action manual toothbrush, Act fluoride, tongue
scraper, and Trident Advantage gum with Recaldent.Method(1) Before
showering, think"Teeth First" and stand in front of the bathroom
sink while squishing and swishing a glob of toothpaste between the
teeth.(2) Squish and floss all the toothpaste between the teeth.
Flossing first with toothpaste dredges out plaque to be brushed
away and replaces plaque between teeth with toothpaste between
teeth. Squishing toothpaste can also prevent toothbrush
abrasion.(3) Step over to the shower and think "Teeth First." Grab
your brush from the shower caddy and brush while the shower warms
up.(4) Continue brushing in the shower while wetting down.(5)
Continue squishing and swishing toothpaste while soaping up the
body.(6) Gargle and spit out before shampooing hair.(7) Think
"Teeth First" and apply Act fluoride to the teeth before
shampooing.(8) Squish and swish Act fluoride vigorously while
shampooing and conditioning hair. Extensive fluoride soaking leaves
teeth electronegatively primed to absorb maximum calcium ions from
Trident gum in a later step.(9) After rinsing off the hair
conditioner, spit out the Act fluoride.(10) Scrape the tongue well
before ending the shower.(11) After exiting the shower, think
"Teeth First" and chew a piece of Trident Advantage Recaldent gum
for 20 minutes to form an extra calcium-fluoride shield of
protection that may last up to 3 days.(12) Keep Trident gum handy
for snacks and between meals and to maintain plaque in an alkaline
condition and remineralize teeth as long and as often as
possible.SUMMARY, ORAL FITNESS CYCLE OF GROWTH, AND THE ORAL
THEORYOF EVERYTHING
Americais the fattest nation on earth and getting fatter. Food,
fatness, and lack of fitness are killing us. Because food passes
through the oral cavity, obesity and dental problems are
intricately connected. Obesity is linked to myriad systemic
problems. Dental problems are linked to several serious systemic
problems, too. Physical fitness improves health but can damage oral
structures. Oral hygiene can damage oral structures as well. OF
blends the best qualities of both and safely improves physical
fitness and oral health. OF is fun, interesting, and unique (as
opposed to oral hygiene instructions). OF reduces stress and
prevents arguments. Patients appreciate learning new things that
will benefit them immediately (eg, fresher breath in the morning,
less sensitive teeth in 5 days).OF generates a dental practice
cycle of growth. Nobody cares how much you know until they know how
much you care; therefore, teaching OF establishes your care for
patients like a coach cares for the team. Care engenders trust.
Trust facilitates patients listening, learning, and accepting your
diagnoses and treatment plans. Educatedpatients make better
decisions about their healthcare and buy more of your services.
Increased trust generally means patients like you more, and
friendly patients are less apt to sue. OF puts the onus on patients
and blows away urban legends because it scientifically proves that
patients are responsible for their oral health and the longevity of
their restorations, which further reduces your liability.OF is a
customer service that demonstrates to skeptical patients that you
are not in the profession just to earn a quick buck, because OF is
the only thing you truly do for your patients as opposed to
everything else that you do to your patients. And therein rests one
of the most important, yet subtle impressions that patients
subliminally perceive. Trusting, happy, educated patients refer
more often and refer more quality people resembling themselves.
OF's newness and uniqueness create a niche for you. Having
something new to discuss about your practice creates marketing
potential and makes you appear better and more knowledgeable than
the average professional. The good referrals grow. Production and
collections improve. Goodwill increases. Practice value increases.
Overhead decreases. Advertising and marketing budgets shrink from
word-of-mouth referrals. Referrals allow the whole process to cycle
continuously. Dentistry as a whole gets busier.People visit
dentists more frequently than they visit physicians. Therefore, OF
offers dental professionals unique opportunities to improve our
country's overall health and fitness while positively affecting
dental practices. OF could just be the oral theory of
everything.