3 Natural Ways To Supplement Your Daily Tooth Cleaning
Posted on: 20 June 2018
Brushing and flossing are the great pillars of home care for teeth, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't look around at supplementary options that can boost the effectiveness of your daily cleaning regimen. Here are three natural ways you can add to your tooth cleanliness.
1. Using a mouthwash
Whether you choose a storebought minty-fresh mouthwash or a DIY option with essential oils and no added chemicals, a mouthwash can help in a couple of different ways. First, it can kill bad bacteria (although antibacterial mouthwash products tend to kill good bacteria as well). Second, it can neutralize the PH in your mouth, which reduces the amount of acid erosion your teeth suffer after each meal (if used directly after eating). Be careful though, because some storebought options can actually be acidic, rather than alkaline. To make your DIY mouthwash alkaline, just add a few pinches of baking soda.
2. Supporting your teeth with vitamins and minerals
One of the natural processes that occurs in your mouth is called remineralization. This is the process whereby your tooth structure is replenished with minerals carried through your mouth by your saliva. Some of these minerals are more usable if you have plenty of vitamins in your body too. For example, in order to use the calcium in your diet most effectively (which includes supplying it to your teeth), you need to also have plenty of vitamin D and K2. So talk to your doctor about a good vitamin and mineral supplementation regimen to support your dental health and overall health.
3. Using xylitol gum to reduce bacterial activity
Xylitol-containing gum can be a great thing for dental health. While humans can ingest small amounts of xylitol usually with no harmful side effects (unless there's an allergic reaction), it's not actually a sugar. However, the bacteria in your mouth may think it's a sugar and try to eat it. This wastes their energy and doesn't allow them to create the acid byproducts that occur when they eat real sugar. Xylitol can also, reportedly, make it harder for the bacteria to latch on to your teeth, keeping the teeth cleaner and reducing plaque buildup.
Just be extremely careful with xylitol if you have any pets, because animals can have an even worse reaction to xylitol than bacteria do. In fact, even a tiny stick of xylitol gum could put a dog in the hospital, and the reaction can even kill dogs and other pets such as rabbits (less information is available about its effect on other types of animals, but theoretically it could harm them as well).
These are just three ways you can help your teeth get cleaner and stay cleaner. Be sure to talk to your dentist before making any big changes in your dental hygiene. You can also visit sites like http://www.newimagedental.com to learn more about dental care.
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