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What Toothpaste Do You Use

Obviously you can go the cosmetic route which does whiten them effectively, but it costs and the process has to be repeated.  Visiting the dentist may help to remove plaque and residue on the teeth, but personal responsibility on a day-to-day basis is a must.  That means that monitoring your intake of coffee/sugar/ darker foods or foods that are coloured (beetroot/turmeric/dark green foods even though these can be healthy, they can stain the teeth).

After the initial results, cosmetic whitening needs topping up or repeating because the teeth naturally get stained with food and tea/coffee.  This again is costly, including the whitening gels which you can get (so you keep the gum shield and top up with the gels).  I dont want to know what was in the gel, but lets just say that keeping a bleaching agent on your teeth for 8 hours a night cannot possibly be good for you).  Little did I know the affect that this was actually having on my teeth.

Therefore, I decided to go on a quest to find the perfect whitening solution.  It was not until 2009 did I discover oil pulling and after that I didnt go back to the cosmetic gels.

The teeth are made up of an inner layer of dentin an outer layer of enamel which is harder and a dental pellicle forms on the surface of the enamel which is a protein.  You may have seen plaque also present on the teeth which is bacteria that builds up and is quite difficult to remove.  If you think about cosmetic whitening all it is actually doing is bleaching the colour of the plaque and the teeth and not actually removing it!  That would be like spraying a surface with bleech without actually wiping up the mess!

So during my research as I have blogged before, I found a brilliant book by Dr Bruce Fife:

Oil pulling is actually an Ayurvedic medicinal practice which must give it some credence.  The idea is that the oil is swished around the mouth and by pushing and pulling the oil swishing it through the teeth the oil magnetizes the bacteria and after about 15 minutes the oil can be rinsed out along with the bacterial load.  This makes a lot more sense rather than just plastering over the issue with bleach.  What results from oil pulling is absolutely astounding.  Not only do the gums tighten up; the body can start to eliminate further disease from the body.  Dr Fife says "all disease starts in the mouth" and with that said he states that "The human mouth harbors over 600 types of bacteria.  The total amount of bacteria is estimated to be around 10 billion".  He goes on to say in his Oil Pulling book that "brushing only reaches 60 percent of the surfaces of your teeth, leaving plaque in hard-to-reach areas such as in-between teeth."

We have to ask ourselves if we intend to whiten our teeth, maybe its not just about getting rid of the stains but minimizing the bacterial load.

After reading the book Oil Pulling Therapy, I chose to use coconut oil to oil pull as this seemed the most optimal oil, plus it is white and therefore would not stain the teeth in the process.  My initial reaction was astounding.  Not only do the gums feel tighter, the teeth started to become whiter in colour, and I felt like I was detoxing physically!  This was to be a positive tool to implement on a daily basis.

"Oil pulling is a tool that is useful for removing harmful bacteria from the mouth." ~ Dr Bruce Fife

However it does not solve all problems.  As the bacterial load may be reduced your bodys natural defense system has then to jump into action.  The oil may remove the bacteria and to some extent the plaque, but the body itself has to clean house, not the oil!  So it really is about the body and the mouth being in harmony by using a natural tool that can help eliminate a health problem.

Using coconut oil when oil pulling is also just as good as using a mouthwash.  Coconut is anti-microbial anti-fungal and therefore is an excellent oil to for this purpose.

Now here comes the tricky bit:

You have have to swish the oil around the mouth for at least 15 minutes before a meal (preferably in the morning).

You must not swallow the oil because it contains all the bacteria you are getting rid of!

You cannot put this oil down the sink because it will block the drain (so best off putting this oil in the bin!)

You still need to brush your teeth!

You need to do this on a daily basis for at least one month to see a difference.

So overall it is a little bit more time consuming than a quick fix gel tooth whitening experience or even whitening toothpaste, but the results are more natural and in the process your body can naturally detox and heal.

Other helpful ingredients that naturally whiten teeth include:

• Sodium Bicarbonate

To get rid of further bacteria, iodine can work efficiently:

Posted by Unknown at 10:31 PM

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