Mouthwash, Toothpaste, Flossing, Gargling

About

Instagram

YouTube

Disclaimer

Thankful 2 Plants

›

Diseases

›

Dental Health

›

Mouthwash, Toothpaste, Flossing, Gargling

28 Feb 2019

Disclaimer

A few weeks ago, I browsed through NutritionFacts looking for dental health videos. I found several interesting ones!

Mouthwash Videos by Dr Greger

Around 2017, I was inspired by Dr Greger's videos (see below) explaining a mouthwash recipe with green tea (cold steeped in water) and amla (gooseberry) powder! Why is this better than commercial mouthwash? Dr Greger explains:

Article: Making Your Own Mouthwash (2016)

(2012) Don't Use Antiseptic Mouthwash

(2 mins) Transcript. Dr Greger's summary: "The natural flora on our tongue (lingual bacteria) are essential for the athletic performance-enhancing effect of the nitrates in vegetables such as beetroot."

In the video, Dr Greger explains the nitrates in veggies → nitrites → NO → arterial health pathway. And he describes intriguing experiments that demonstrated how this pathway works! Worth watching to grasp how commercial mouthwash may reduce the efficacy of this pathway.

This video is part of a 16-part video series on nitrates by Dr Greger from 2012.

(2014) What's the Best Mouthwash?

(6 mins) Transcript. Dr Greger's summary: ""

Dr Greger outlines a mouthwash formula that has been shown to outperform commercially available mouthwash; it has green tea and amla (Indian gooseberry). See video for details.

(2011) Cold Steeping Green Tea

(2 mins) Transcript.

Mouthwash Recipe

Mouthwash Ingredients?

Starwest Botanicals Organic - Gunpowder Green Tea (1lb for $11.49 in April 2018).
Terrasoul Organic Amla (Gooseberry) Powder (12oz for $11.49).

Before buying any teas, please read Dr Greger's Where to Buy Tea Low in Lead (2018).

Recipe? From Dr Greger's videos (listed above), the exact ratios of green tea, amla and water were not clear to me. My guess is that we should mix 4-5 spoons of green tea and 1 spoon amla (gooseberry) powder in 32oz water (mason jar capacity) at room temperature for 2 hours (see Cold Steeping Green Tea), then remove the green tea leaves by straining. Keep the mixture in the fridge. Squish and swallow a few times a day. We can also gargle with this mixture.

Insight: A comment in What's the Best Mouthwash? that I found fascinating:

There are two important things to learn here:

The sublingual area (just beneath the tongue) and the mucosa lining the whole buccal cavity is so rich in vascular supply that this route becomes ideal for delivering medicine in cases of emergency (such as in case of a heart attack or very high blood pressure risking a brain hemorrhage) life saving medicines (such as nitroglycerine to rescue ischemic myocardium and a number of meds to lower blood pressure). It is through this rich vascularity that makes sure medicines are quickly absorbed (far better than other routes including Intravenous) and safely reach the area where needed.

Now take a moment to think how much "topical Fluoride" and other chemicals in any tooth paste and mouth wash (such as Chlorhexidine) will get absorbed in those 2 minutes of brushing ... and that too on a daily basis!!!

There is absolutely no way to isolate teeth for a topical application without all the vascularity of gums, sublingual and buccal areas.

Fuoride is a known Neurotoxin and a Cardiotoxin and plenty of medical studies have established this fact. Topical use of fluoride may be a beneficial for teeth keeping them strong and stain free .... but is that tiny benefit worth the mega risk involving other important parts of the body like nerves and heart ?

Neem Powder? Extracts and Mouthwash also advocates green tea for mouthwash. It cites the Herbal Mouthwash Study (2013) which compared green tea and neem powder with commercially available mouthwash. Green tea was found to be most effective.

Toothpaste

Some videos by Dr Greger explaining why we should be wary of certain chemicals added to commercial toothpaste.

Articles by Dr Greger:

Videos by Dr Greger:

(2016) Antibacterial Toothpaste: Harmful, Helpful, or Harmless?