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To make sure that your teeth stay firmly in your mouth, well into old age and beyond, there are three main areas for consideration:

 

• Internal Care or How you Eat

 

We all know that sugary foods lead to tooth decay, even natural sugars from fruits. Although honey is oft included in here, if you eat raw honey - honey that has not been heat treated to remove it from the hive - it does not have the same effect. If your sensitive teeth jump when you eat overly sweet things, you will find that with raw honey this does not happen!

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We tend to view our teeth in the abstract, rather than as an integral part of our body like our fingers and toes. Yet the same principles for keeping our body in optimum health, apply in creating strong teeth and healthy gums. Alongside the reduction or elimination of sugary foods you need to consider removing acid forming foods from your diet, such as meat and grains.

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Yet it is not simply a matter of cutting out or down, on the foods that have a negative impact on our teeth, but also of introducing ones that positively aid the development and re - mineralization of our teeth. Any foods that cleanse our blood stream of toxins and bring about cell regeneration and increased oxygen circulation are going to benefit the whole body.

 

Natural plant foods such as wheatgrass, barleygrass, and the blue green micro algae’s AKA spirulina and chlorella are all hugely cleansing, and can be taken as powders in a smoothie or juice. When your body is fed super nutrients, it affects all parts of you, including the cells that are part of gum and tooth tissue.

 

• External Care or How you Clean

 

Caring for your teeth externally is more than just brushing. Indeed, it may be wiser to brush less not more. Many of us over brush using too much pressure, and in conjunction with abrasive natural cleaners such as sea salt or bicarbonate of soda, this can wear away the enamel coating. Both sea salt and bicarbonate of soda are excellent tooth whiteners but need to be applied with a light touch. Using a damp cotton bud for example, and dipping in either and rubbing around the base of each tooth, will eliminate any gathering plaque formation.

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One of the best tooth cleaning procedures is oil pulling, using either coconut oil or sesame oil. By swishing a teaspoon or two of oil around the mouth and through the teeth, all miniscule food particles are pulled out, plus the gums are strengthened. This is a far more effective way to clean all surfaces of your teeth then flossing, which is actually considered damaging by some dentists because of it often cutting into gums when used. Gums of course, are a major part of oral health, and as oil pulling removes bacteria, it benefits gums too.

 

• Choose your Dentist Wisely

 

This is a hugely important part of keeping your teeth into old age and not in the way you may expect if you listen to standard dental care! If at all humanly possible choose a holistic dentist. These dentists are genuinely concerned with keeping your teeth and not using invasive methods of treatment if these can be avoided. We need to rethink all we have been brought up to believe about standard dental care. It has fittingly been referred to by some as drill, fill and bill.

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Author of ‘Cure Tooth Decay,’ Ramiel Nagel, reports that use of the standard high speed drill, ‘creates high friction and raises the temperature of the tooth nerve causing irreversible damage in 60% of cases.’ Meanwhile, holistic dentistry considers not just the impact on the tooth, but on the whole body and how it is affected by any tooth issue. Each tooth is aligned or related to a body part, so, for example, a pain in your right leg can be part of an issue with your right wisdom teeth. By using ozone therapy and special enzymes, holistic dentistry works at preserving and healing any tooth infection, with minimal disturbance.

 

Your holistic dentist therefore, not only will help you keep your teeth into old age, but will contribute to an extended lifespan. Which by any reckoning is win, win all round!

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https://www.naturopathy-uk.com/resources/resources-dentists

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