Planning To Succeed

Oral Hygiene

I got a serious wake up call this month when I went to the dentist. She told me that I needed my gums cleaned, two cavities filled and root canal for one tooth. I came to her because I knew a wisdom tooth needed extraction. This other stuff was news.

The wisdom tooth needed removal 9 years ago but since it wasn't hurting. I forgot about. Well, it uprooted itself to a point that, unbeknownst to me there's this big hole where food and liquid can easily fall in. It wasn't until this March and again in June that I experienced excruciating pain.

The dentist's diagnosis had me thinking about what I should've been doing for my teeth. I asked what I could do in between seeing her and the oral specialists. She said, "Nothing." I couldn't accept that. I started reading and learned that the teeth and gums impact the eyes, heart, bones, liver, and kidneys. I may be missing something but this list is already long. More reading uncovered extraction, cavity-filling and root canal came with their problems. Basically, it's about bacteria and parasites that can be released into the blood stream through the gums.

Do you see the word, parasites? Just as we have parasites in the intestines, we can cultivate them in the gums. What is the essential oral care regimen? As it's been said before: brush your teeth, at least, after waking up and before going to bed for the night. The mouth is a dark, moist place that cultivates all kinds of amoeba, germs and bacteria. Begin with dry brushing--no water, no paste--and later do the toothpaste. Obtain crushed Neem (aka Peelu) and sprinkle it on the toothpaste or gently roll the toothpaste-ladened tooth brush in the Neem. Neem is a tree twig that gently cleans and polishes teeth and gums. It's very healing to the gums. Follow up brushing with flossing. In between the teeth is where the problems begin for both teeth and gums. When flossing, go easy on the gums and focus more so on rubbing the sides of the teeth.

Brushing the tongue and massaging the gums are also important. You want the blood to circulate in the gums and the tongue, particular the back part gets coated. Beyond a clean smelling breath, I want a cleaner mouth. To get that I came up with a mouth rinse that helps with bacteria, viruses, soothing my gums and giving me a sweeth breath. Fill a 32 oz. bottle with water--ideally spring water but, from the tap has to be okay if that's what you have. In that water put 3 drops of tea tree oil, 3 drops of eucalyptus oil, 4 drops of peppermint oil and some clove oil. Shake it up and take in half a mouth full. Swish a bit and, then, hold it on your mouth for a few minutes. You can swallow it or spit out. I believe drinking a couple of mouth fulls during the day is important for overall health. The tea tree oil and eucalyptus are great antispetics and have various curative powers for the gums, skin and stomach. Other supports include calcium, magnesium and vitamin C intake. Bone support and the total body need the supplementation. When bone loss occurs, it doesn't grow back so fortifying what you have is essential. Other supplements, I'd be remiss in not sharing are oil of oregano and bowel care. Oil of oregano fights viruses, bacteria and germs. You may get a bottle that recommends 4 drops. I suggest 15 drops for those who don't wash fruits and vegetables and enjoy eating out. Who doesn't fit that description?

The bowel care is about helping the lymphatic system. Those lymph nodes get overloaded doing their cleaning job. Cleaning or clearing out the large intestines invigorates the lymphatic system. Think about it: once the lymph nodes have filtered the various liquids in the body, where does it get it eliminated? Through heavy sweating, urination and bowel movement.

What's the culprit in gum disease and tooth decay is the modern diet. We're eating a lot of sugary, starchy and processed foods. More fruit and vegetables are required. Then there's smoking of tobacco, marijuana and other substances. Alcohol, black tea and coffee are hard on the teeth and gums too. There are so many people with bridges, dentures and caps. If we ate better, we'd be better.

Remember I mentioned the connection with the eyes, heart, kidney, liver and bones at the beginning? I'm learning that my upper respiratory condition is the result of letting my wisdom tooth go untreated for so long. I have apologized to my mouth many times. So, I've from this experience that it's not simply the ear-nose-throat connection. It's the teeth-gums-ear-nose-throat-and-eyes connection.

Labels: eucalyptus, gums, holistic health, oil of oregano, oral hygiene, tea tree oil, teeth

posted by Unknown @ 7:30 PM