No I’m not planning on "making over" my teeth. I’m rather
attached to them. But since having kids my cavity-free mouth suddenly is
sprinkled with fillings and partial crowns. I have had gum surgery… and I am
tired of paying for the dentist’s rent.
I have been doing a little research on what I can naturally
do to (hopefully) fix the wanna-be fillings
in my mouth that I can’t afford to pay for and prevent any more issues.
What I found out is that part of the problem can be from my diet and/or my
toothpaste. I am a huge fan of having a clean-feeling mouth and since the
babies have been born I have become that much more fanatical about flossing. I
have floss in my purse, car, kitchen and bathrooms. What more can I do?
Go Natural!
This seems to be a recurring theme on this blog…
I found many options on the subject of homemade teeth
cleaning. Some people just brush with water, baking soda, or hydrogen peroxide.
Some make their own tooth paste. I am feeling the later option; however there are
some times where I just want a quick clean where I have just used water or
peroxide.
This post is the first of two. What I plan to do and if it
ultimately helped.
At the beginning of February I began making my own
toothpaste. I like the texture and how clean my mouth feels afterward. The
ingredients I used include: Baking Soda, Castille soap, coconut oil, olive oil,
hydrogen peroxide, and peppermint extract oil. (I
didn’t include the portions since this is my first go and I think I added too
much baking soda since it’s salty. But generally the coconut oil makes up the
majority and keeps the consistency thicker.)
There are two other things I am doing. First, our hygienist raves
about the goodness of Listerine so my husband has become quite attached to it.
We go through a TON, which means that we spend a lot of money on the stuff! Since
we get the giant jugs at Costco, we have a smaller bottle that we refill and
keep in our medicine cabinet. Don’t tell him – but I have been filling ¼ of the
bottle with Listerine and the other ¾ with hydrogen peroxide. Possible benefit = whiter teeth!
Then lastly—this is where the experiment comes in—have you
ever heard of oil pulling? This is a therapy where you swish olive/coconut/sesame/etc. oil in your mouth
on an empty stomach and spit it out after 10-20 minutes. It is supposed to have
many health benefits and dispose of all the nasties in your mouth. Yes, this is
gross. Yes, it is easy and cheap. I figure it is worth a try…
So in order to keep myself accountable and figure out if
these changes are making a difference, I propose to keep track of any
differences I find. I also have a dentist appointment in a month… so we shall
see!
Oil Pulling links to check:
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for your comments!