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Anybody into toothcare stuff other than the usual Crest, Colgate and so on? For instance, “hippie” toothpaste brands, tooth powders, something I saw once called “remineralizing tooth drops”?
I tried out a nonfluoridated “hippie toothpaste” (Jason brand) a while back and was surprised that I liked it a lot more than the normal kind. I had just happened to be at a grocery store that carried the hippie stuff but not the conventional. My gums were much nicer on the natural stuff … I think the other stuff might be a little bit caustic on the gums for me. Likewise baking soda by itself or as an ingredient, which I know is old school and nearly free … but way too irritating for me. Anyway, I haven’t been to the dentist since switching, but I don’t have any evidence of cavities, like toothaches or sensitivity.
Although I’m usually lucky with teeth, my boyfriend has tended to get cavities easier, and if the other stuff is any good, it might be worth a try for him. He’s scared to branch away from the conventional brands, given his history.
Anyway, just curious if anyone has experience with the more exotic stuff like tooth powders and drops and so on.
I fucked up my teeth good doing stupid things like brushing with xylitol granules (lol) and washing with peppermint oil after soaking my brush with peroxide to sterilise it (Wtf is foaming up so well… Apparently it’s my TEETH?).
I did manage to fix the thinning and demineralisation with Ellie Philips’ system, which concludes with not fully rinsing out a fluoride mouthwash. If you search Ellie Philips cliff notes there should be a PDF with the gist of it.
For people with bad teeth I think fluoride isn’t such a bad idea. The chapter from her book on fluoride is available somewhere too…
I’m no longer so adventurous with my dental habits. Currently I dissolve and rinse my mouth with xylitol after everything I eat, then at night I rinse again with xylitol and brush with Sensodyne Classic for the strontium.
I am “alternative” on this site in that I actually think topical fluoride is probably a good thing for teeth. I have been actually using a non-fluoride paste (Dr. Collins) recently that I wanted to try because it’s a reminieralizing paste with calcium and phosphate and stuff. It seems pretty good. I really have no problem with the old-school crest either which I used to use for years and seemed fine.
I echo Esqueleto in that I would be cautious with tooth powders and soaps and things. I’ve heard a lot of people say they damaged their teeth using them.
I’ve at times used salt or a blend of salt and baking soda, and it’s very effective at getting that ‘just left the dental office’ clean feeling. But after using it regularly for a couple months, it did seem to be wearing down my enamel. I haven’t done it in a while, but I think every so often, once every few weeks or month or so, is probably fine, and does clean teeth nicely.
These days I just use Dr Bronner’s soap diluted with water. Works well and cleans effectively it seems.
And I don’t brush every day, maybe two or three times a week, when it feels right. I do floss more often, and generally, just rinse my mouth to keep clean.
My toothcare regimen:
- Floss every night
- Brush twice daily with EcoDent Toothpowder
- Occasionally brush Black Walnut Hulls powder
- Occasionally gargle with Hydrogen Peroxide
How the hell do you guys get by with brushing every few days? Why do you do it? Even if you don’t get cavities, looks like your breath would stink. Why does The Real Amy use fluoride toothpastes?
I brush twice a day, every day, with a soft toothbrush. Floss once a day.
I use fluoride toothpaste usually because I think fluoride in toothpaste is good for teeth based on the research I’ve seen. I don’t think fluoride ingested (like in water) is good for people, but I think used topically (like in toothpaste) it helps reduce cavities and probably has minimal health downsides. And honestly, it’s something I just don’t want to stress about. It’s a lot easier for me just to use normal toothpaste rather than go source tooth powder and figure out how to use it.
Thanks everybody! Good info! Sounds like we’re fine sticking to some of the basics, although it’s cool to read about the stuff you use, Thomas. I never thought of using old Dr B’s — I have a bottle of it in the shower, love reading his enthusiastic theology every now & then.
The Real Amy, could you take a picture of your mouth and post it, so that I can see if you suffer from fluorosis? I’m concerned.
I think the real problem is the glycerin in most tooth pastes. Natural tooth pastes were extra gross for me and left my teeth super grody feeling, but I wasn’t down with the fluoride so I tried Eco-Dent tooth powder. I love it. I had what felt like a cavity coming in but then I started brushing with eco dent and using clove oil on it and it went away. By the time I got to the dentist she said everything was all clear.
Glycerin in toothpastes and mouthwashes coats your teeth which prevents your saliva from getting in there and remineralizing the enamel, or so the story goes. I’m apt to believe that.
I’m no slave to it though. I brush my teeth with the powder sometimes or sometimes with straight salt or straight baking soda or a blend. Or like lately, I sometimes just get down with the phenylketonurics and just chew sugarless gum. My goal is to keep my teeth from being fuzzy and my breath from being gross, that’s about it!
When I looked into the glycerine thing it seemed to come back to a quote from one alternative dentist guy. I’d be interested if someone could find something more on that. It hasn’t been my experience, though. On the two seperate occasions I had to remineralise my teeth I used once glycerin and once non-glycerin toothpaste, and achieved similar results with both. However I did use Listerine and a fluoride rinse after, so maybe that dealt with the glycerine.
I don’t think topical sodium fluoride, rinsed out promptly is really a risk to anyone. Fluoride is at least preferable to a lifetime exposure to filling materials and adhesives. It depends how good your teeth are, but don’t be afraid to reintroduce fluoride toothpaste if things go downhill.
The most disturbing thing about water fluoridation is the use of compounds like hexafluoroaluminate putting aluminium into our brains. Hello, dementia…
I often do oil pulling in the morning, that cleans my mouth and teeth pretty good. I also use toothpowder. Triend regular baking soda but it felt too abrasive.
Anybody have some info about glycerin? Like Esqueleto I’d be interested in that too.
I didn’t use toothpaste for years because an oral hygenist told me when I was a kid that I didn’t have to. A couple decades later, I realized how much cleaner I can get my teeth with something on the brush. I’ve been trying to figure out something that works for me. Tried salt, but it tears my gums up and isn’t very fun. I like salt, but no that much. Have tried various toothpastes. I tried grinding it fine too, but still didn’t like it. tried baking soda. it works ok, but doesn’t taste great. Tried plain soap, no abrasive and tastes crappy. I do like something that has a very mild abrasive effect like most toothpastes.
I think the best so far was making a tooth powder from finely ground and sifted charcoal with some aromatic herbs or oils added. I used it up, but have been meaning to make more because it worked very well. I’m using a tube of Jason right now, but it’s extremely foamy. Too foamy. My primary motivation though is to buy less land fill crap. I feel like an asshole buying all these plastic tubes and throwing them out. There has to be a better way.
What works really well, is to cut a small stick to a wedge shape, chew the end to fray it up, and brush with that. It’s awkward to get everywhere, but damn does it clean like nothing else. Much of the world does it that way. I do on and off. I’d like to do it all the time, but I just don’t pull it off.
As someone who has always had great teeth until I discovered sugar a year an a half ago at 32, I am almost at the point of giving up sugar just because my teeth have become such a mess. I currently use tooth powder and it cleans well, but it is certainly not improving tooth pain or cavities. The thing that I have found that works the best for cleaning is bar soap. It tastes terrible, but I have examples of two old people that died with a full mouth of teeth who used it. Gerard Judd is the one that is probably being referred to in previous posts. I believe that he died several years ago and claimed to have perfect teeth. He self-published a book called Perfect Teeth From Birth to Death and advocated bar soap and derided glycerin and acids. My brother-in-laws grandfather died in his mid-80s with perfect teeth and he used bar soap his entire life. Apparently the funeral director said that he was the old person that age that he had ever seen with perfect teeth.
I believe that everyone here is against consuming fluorine compounds in any amounts, but the debate is to whether topical fluoride is ok. Going back to Judd, who had a Ph.D in chemistry, he said that topical fluorine will attract calcium due to its chemical instability, but that it will cause a lower quality of bone. I remember another anti-fluoride activist, maybe Paul Connett or Hal Huggens, who said that it decreases the rate of cavities slightly, but the rate of tooth breakage increases.
I should also add that Dr. Judd said that sugar had little to no effect on cavities. Maybe I should try his protocol more strictly:
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