Dental Health

Now, I am not the best one to go to for advice about teeth, because mine are a mess, but as a person with messy teeth and still having most of them, this takes work! I have always enjoyed brushing my teeth, so that was never a factor, but I was a fat kid and I ate a lot of sugar in my life before my teeth started hurting! Years ago I went to a dentist and she told me I needed a root canal in one of my teeth and it is starting to smart now, but if I could manage to keep up a good routine, I can win against this decay! First, fluoride is bad - it has never been good for us, it is a poison and dangerous. You want fluoride free everything and if possible, a shower filter if you live in the city. No tap water drinking unless you live off a well or have a stellar filtration system. Fluoride is not just bad for your teeth, it is bad for your entire body including your brain, but we will get into decalcifying the pineal gland on another day!

For years I used Tom's of Maine fluoride free toothpaste, but there are still silicates in their formula that I would prefer to avoid, so I began making my own. There are many different recipes online, but I prefer the following recipe:

5 tbsp coconut oil
5 tbsp baking soda
15-20 drops of peppermint essential oil

Some recipes include stevia as a sweetener, but I am not a fan of the taste of it. This mix is a bit salty at first, but after a week of using it, I can't even taste the baking soda anymore. If I had some hydrogen peroxide, I might add a little, but that tingling can be a bit disconcerting. Unbeknownst to many, coconut oil can help rebuild your teeth! If I had the money, I would add some bentonite clay, which is also purported to help rebuild your teeth, but as yet I cannot afford it - soon!

If you have tooth or gum pain and inflammation, the best natural soother would be clove oil. I have never had to use it, but it is something I keep in my brain arsenal in case of extreme pain. When my teeth or gums start to hurt me I have a formula that works every time since I figured it out.

The first step is oil pulling. This is a practice that we should all practice every morning, but I admit that I don't  do it every day. I forget to do it, but when your gums tingle, you will remember! So when you wake up in the morning you would go straight to the oil of your choice; different oils have different properties, which I will detail shortly. You take about 1 or 2 tbsp of oil into your mouth and swish. The real key is to try and keep the oil from trying to slide down your throat, because if you gag you have to start over. Swish that oil as long as you can stand it before spitting it out - I try to average about 2 minutes. When you spit out the oil it should have a white foamy appearance, sometimes it is a little more yellow. The more often I do it, the less white it becomes, so I assume the white are the "poisons" being drawn from the body. Either way, I am on day 3 of the toothache and it is diminished and almost gone. After oil pulling, I brush with a liberal amount of my paste to make sure that coconut oil gets all the way into that tooth root! My final step is to use a peroxide mouthwash and again I will admit that I have cheated with this up til now - I use Colgate Peroxyl, but I just found an awesome page with DIY peroxide mouthwash recipe (http://frugallysustainable.com/2012/02/antiseptic-homemade-mouthwash-recipe/)  and I will be switching to that! Later OTC chemicals!

Types of Oil for Oil pulling and their Effect:

Sesame Oil: This is one of the two highly suggested oils, make sure to get only organic cold pressed oils for all of your oil pulling. Sesame oil pulling not only helps detoxify the whole body, but is said to be especially helpful to those with troubled skin. This is the oil I use most often.

Sunflower oil: This is the second of the two highly suggested oils. There seem to be a lot of things this can help with per the people over at Earth Clinic, so this may be the one to try if you are not sure where to start. One person even said it cured their arthritis and suddenly I need some sunflower oil... Also, they seem to be hardcore swishers! Some people claim to oil pull up to 20 minutes a day and now I need more focus ;)

Olive Oil: I have not tried this oil, but per many testimonials it is the easiest oil to swish for people afraid of other oils and it improves mood. Some claim it can alleviate depression and of course, it still works for your teeth, too!

Coconut Oil: With as much coconut oil as I deal with every day, one would think I would try this, but I have not yet. Coconut oil as stated above helps rebuild teeth, so I can only imagine this would be amazing to try!

Safflower Oil: I don't know if it is true, but someone on Earth Clinic states that they cured their Rheumatoid Arthritis with oil pulling safflower oil, and if it is true I say may as well try it!

All detoxing can have some side effects, so if you have worsening of symptoms give it a little more time, because it could be your body just purging all the icky stuff that has stored up inside (healing crisis)! The oil pulling will also promote sinus health, so if you have a full nose be ready for a possible spill!

Anyway, I am sure there are so many more things we could go over - like the time I heard that baking soda and apple cider vinegar will help clean your gum line, but I can't attest to it, as I have not tried it yet :) Let me know if you have any successes or additions to this blog :)

Love and light <3 Psynn
http://oilpulling.com/oilpullingmethod.htm
http://www.earthclinic.com/Remedies/oil_pulling.html
http://www.oilpulling.org/method-of-doing-oil-pulling/frequently-asked-questions-faq/