Open Your Mouth and Say, "Ahhhhhh" - ORAL HEALTH

Shelley Gawith, Functional Nutrition

Do You Look After Your Teeth?

Do you think about your teeth and oral health when you think about your overall health?

Your mouth is your first line of defence against pathogens and bacteria. If your mouth is toxic, it can impact your immune system and drain your energy levels when fighting infections.

In clinic when I ask clients if they floss their teeth, the answer is often, “there isn’t enough time”, or “it’s just another thing to do”.

Which I get. Sometimes, you just want to get out the door to work or hop into bed.

When I was in the States earlier and went to see a biological dentist, they were able to take a sample of my mouth bacteria. I’ve included the video, see all those squiggly lines? You don’t want them. That’s a sign that you have “bad” bacteria in your mouth.

The dental nurse reckons that flossing with baking soda for 6 weeks will change this. New bacteria grows every 24 hours so this has to be a crucial start to your oral health regime. I included this step in Shelley Says So last year (PS: if you want to sign up for next year here you go.)

Okay, so if you are not flossing then that's the first step.

But this year i'm upping the game. I'm obviously not a dentist but I do have a passion for oral health, probably because mine has been so bad. I've had jaw surgery, braces, root canals, crowns and mercury fillings, all of which I wouldn't do again if I could go back in time. Now that I know better, I'm doing everything I can to prevent those things in the future, and now you can too!

Here's our new routine (once again, this is what I am now doing, but you can pick parts of it and incorporate as much or as little as you want. You will definitely see health benefits no matter how much you add.

If you can help your immune system fight infections by flossing your teeth, you will have more energy to do the things you love doing.

Here's this year's eight steps for your morning or evening mouth routine from Nadine Artemis, check her out if you want to learn more about leaky gums and all about our mouth microbiome.

Step 1: A salt or baking soda rinse before you brush your teeth, you can even add an essential oil to this as well. This gets the mouth into a more alkaline state which is what you want before you brush.

Step 2: Scrape your tongue.

Step 3: Brush your gums. Make sure you brush gum down, it's more stimulating for the gums.

Step 4: Polish your teeth. Use baking soda, essential oils and maybe a botanical serum to do this.

Step 5: Flossing!! Yay!! You want to floss at least twice each time so you get everything out. BUT make sure you are not using a floss with chemicals. But remember to get right to the back, the last tooth on each side, you need to get that gum part!!! (don’t make the mistake I’ve been making for years.)

Step 6: You use a ribbed rubber tool to go along the gum line to get all the plaque.

Step 7: The next step is massaging your gums. You want to take a botanical serum or an ozonated gel and massage that into the gums.

Step 8: Pay attention to any special area that needs some TLC

Side note: Remember, the whiteness of our teeth is a reflection of our health on the inside of our bodies.

Did You Take Time To Floss Today?