Going to the dentist elicits about as much excitement as lawyers, taxes and emergency rooms. As with many things in medicine, our understanding of the importance of dental health, techniques and procedures has improved greatly. It is now well known that dental disease, including mild gum inflammation, has a direct relation to more serious problems like heart disease, stroke, and chronic inflammatory diseases. Simple things like brushing and flossing have substantial impact on your general health and well-being. Probably one of the greatest “Return on Investment (ROI)” things you can do is take care of your teeth and gums. With very minimal cost and time you can have phenomenal benefits. Many studies have shown that poor dental health translates to trillions of dollars spent world wide treating preventable serious medical issues.
As most of us know our bodies harbor a host of other organisms. The most common and well known are bacteria. They are a necessary part of our health and unfortunately disease. In the mouth there are over 700 types of bacteria. You can never get rid of them but you can affect the balance and interaction between them, and their effect on us. In the mouth, not just on the teeth, the bacteria form colonies called plaque. It is a soft film that develops and is the primary thing we reduce brushing our teeth. Some bacteria are a source of bad breath, cavities, gum disease and tooth loss. When they build up around the gums (gingiva) your body sends out chemical signals to the immune system alerting it of an invader that has to be dealt with. You get a typical inflammatory response of chemicals and cells that are transported there by the blood system to attack the bacteria and repair any damage.
At times the bacteria or viruses overwhelm the system, which can result in death. In chronic, long term inflammatory situations it is a varying battle between health and disease. One of the most common examples of this is basic gingivitis, mild gum disease. This is an infection in the gums surrounding the teeth. In an average person, if you take the total surface area of 3mm surrounding every tooth you have an area about the size of the palm of your hand. In situations of even mild generalized gingivitis you may have an infection that large in your mouth.
Even with low-level chronic infections your body is continually sending signals, fighting, and working to repair the area. In the mouth the gums are very vascular. Bacteria and toxins get into the blood vessels, and are carried throughout the body but especially to the heart and lungs. Also flooding the system are the inflammatory response cells and chemical triggers. All of these things can lodge anywhere it is carried in the body telling your response system to attack these areas. Over time areas like the heart, brain, lungs, gut, etc. become compromised and may fail.. By removing and / or changing the bacteria around the teeth you can limit the infection and corresponding response. This has been shown to dramatically improve health and reduce your risk of many serious diseases.
Numerous factors can affect the bacteria and the corresponding inflammatory response in the gums. The two most beneficial things that we have seen in our practice to reduce inflammation and infection are using a power tooth brush and reducing the acidity of the oral environment with salt or baking soda rinses. Every person we have seen switch to a power brush from a manual brush has had notable improvement in their oral health. Similarly, rinsing with salts or baking soda greatly reduces the incidence of cavities, gum inflammation, and bleeding.
There are a number of companies selling power brushes with many models and features. Prices range from $10 to over $500. There are two basic technologies.
One is the high vibration back and forth and the second is rotary. There are all sorts of apps that show how you are brushing or have features like songs to make the process more enjoyable. Most have rechargeable batteries with a stand for the brush or USB connectors. The cheapest ones use AA batteries. Many offer subscriptions for new brush heads, toothpaste and floss. We will discuss the pros and cons of these later. With all the brushes you need to let the brush do the work. The lighter you push and the less you move them the better they work.
Changing the acidity (pH) of the oral environment can have extremely positive effects. The majority of disease processes occur in an acid environment with a pH less than 6.5. The simplest way to reduce acidity is with salt or baking soda rinses. There is no magic amount or way to do it. We suggest 25% salt or soda to 75% water in a glass container and rinse 1 min., 1-2 times a day. Any salt will work but they do have different tastes and effects. Clean sea salts seem to taste the “best”. I use Epsom salt because it is magnesium and not sodium. The magnesium has more beneficial effects than regular salts which are sodium. Please note that some individuals may be on salt restricted diets. While you are not ingesting the salts and absorption is minimal, you should consult your doctor if you have any concerns. Also, some individuals are more sensitive to specific salts or concentrations so you might start with lower concentrations and work up depending on your individual concerns and response.
These very simple and cheap techniques can really promote optimum oral health with subsequent very positive effects on your general well-being. They take only a few minutes a day, and anybody can do them easily. There are very few things in life that can give you such a great return with so little cost or effort. It future articles we will dive deeper into the power brushes, features and technical use. We will also discuss the mechanisms of action of the salts and soda.
To Your Health