Tips For Better Oral Health
I share these tips with my patients, friends, and relatives, and I practice them Every day.
Good Nutrition/Remineralization
Healthy teeth are closely linked to good nutrition, which is vital in remineralizing teeth.
An effective oral hygiene routine is essential for preventing tooth decay, but it is just one of several important factors. I recommend following the dietary guidelines set by the Weston A. Price Foundation; however, individual needs may vary. It's advisable to consult a health practitioner or a nutritionist to determine the right diet for you and to conduct the necessary tests to ensure your gut can properly absorb nutrients.
Measure The Ph Of Every Beverage
It is essential to know the pH of every beverage you like to have an objective measurement and make wise decisions.
An acidic pH feeds the bacteria in our mouths, making them more toxic and eroding our enamel. Our teeth need a neutral pH to maintain their integrity. Try to drink 6,8 to 8 pH and swish 4-5 times with neutral water after each acidic drink to raise the pH again.
Dry Brushing Before Colored Food And Colored Beverages
Colored foods and beverages, such as blueberries, blackberries, coffee, black tea, etc., stain our teeth; when they get stuck in the plaque, they cause stains. Dry brushing before meals and beverages prevents them from attaching to plaque, diminishing the chance for the colored food to stick on the plaque and stain the teeth. When you plan to have any colored food, use a dry toothbrush without dental toothpaste to prevent stains, but enjoy the flavor.
Brush Right When You Wake Up
When we sleep, the bacteria produce acid all night, consequently making the plaque sticky. Therefore, we must remove it before breakfast or any beverage intake to prevent the food from sticking and producing decay, inflammation in our gums, and stains. Please brush without toothpaste as soon as you wake up to enjoy the taste of your food/beverages in your breakfast while improving your oral health.
Keep Your Oral pH As Neutral As Possible
Rinsing food away inhibits bacteria's fermentation, keeping plaque immature.’ Mature plaque is full of bacteria and is much more toxic to oral health.
After a meal or drink, rinse your mouth vigorously with neutral-to-alkaline pH water four times. Ideally, the water should be 6,8 or 8 pH. You can swallow it or spit it out, whichever you prefer.
Salt Rinses
Understanding the benefits of raising our pH can benefit our oral health. Our pH is most acidic at 2 a.m. and more alkaline at 2 pm (because of our physiological cycle), so practicing good oral hygiene before bed will raise your pH, which is essential for good oral health.
Salt raises the pH level in our mouth, starving the bacteria and further enhancing the health of our teeth and gums. You can mix 1/8 tsp of salt in 8 oz. of water. Stir with your toothbrush, take a sip, and switch. Salt can dry the mucosa, so be sure to dilute it more if needed. It should feel nice instead of gritty. Having pH strips would help ensure the pH is between 6.8 and 8. Please do not rinse with water afterward.
Avoid Electrolytes In Your Water
It has become trendy to dilute electrolytes in water to sip during the day.
While electrolytes are essential for hydration, it is important to consider that they may make your water acidic. This feeds the bad bacteria in our mouths, helps the inflammation of the gums, which is high risk for decay, and affects our bones. The recommendation would be to take a tablet of electrolytes and drink neutral water during the day instead. It is good to have pH strips to measure the pH before and after the electrolytes to have an objective measurement and choose wisely.
Safely Drink Carbonated Drinks.
There is a safe way to enjoy carbonated beverages. Carbonated drinks such as soda, kombucha, sparkling water, beer, apple cider vinegar, lemon water, etc, have a low pH. Low pH is harmful to teeth's enamel. For instance, a good-quality kombucha should have a pH between 2.5 and 3.2. To avoid damaging your teeth's enamel when drinking carbonated or acidic drinks, follow these tips:
1. Use a straw: This will prevent the acidic drink from staying on your teeth for an extended period, thus dissolving your enamel. Place the straw so it goes to the back of your mouth, close to your throat.
2. Drink quickly: Don't sip on your drink throughout the day. This will prolong the acidic pH in your mouth, causing harm to your teeth's enamel. Enjoy your drink, but try to finish a 12-ounce glass in 10 minutes or less. It's better to sip 6.8-8 pH water during the day to keep the plaque diluted. This will make brushing at night more effective since the diluted plaque will be easier to remove.
3. Rinse your mouth: After drinking a carbonated or acidic drink, rinse your mouth at least five times with neutral-alkaline pH water. This will help restore the pH level in your mouth to neutral. Remember that bacteria thrive in acidic pH. Switching water keeps the plaque diluted, which makes brushing at night better since the diluted plaque is easier to remove.
4. Avoid brushing your teeth immediately after drinking carbonated or acidic drinks. The acidic pH weakens the enamel; brushing it immediately will only remove more minerals from the tooth surface. Rinse with neutral-alkaline pH water immediately, but wait at least 30 minutes before brushing your teeth.
Safely Drink Coffee And Tea.
To help prevent teeth staining, add a tablespoon of cream, coconut oil, or MCT oil to your drink.
Some people may experience stomach discomfort when adding coconut oil to their coffee. MCT oil is a good alternative. Always consult your medical doctor before adding either to your diet. If you prefer bulletproof coffee, starting your day with collagen, butter, and MCT oil can fuel your brain. When drinking coffee, avoid adding sugar. Use stevia as a sugar substitute if you can't resist. Remember that coffee can raise the acidity of your mouth's pH level, so limit your intake to 6 oz every 4 hours instead of sipping 24 ounces during the day and rinse your mouth with water afterward to help restore your pH balance.
Wait At Least Three Hours Before You Begin Eating Again.
The buffering capacity of saliva takes approximately 3 hours.
Buffering capacity is saliva's ability to neutralize acids in the mouth. Our pH becomes acidic before any meal or drink except water. Rinsing with neutral water, swishing, and waiting at least 3 hours to eat again will allow the buffering capacity of the saliva to take place in our mouth, which stops the harmful effects of bad bacteria.
Combine The Right Foods And Eat Them At The Right Time.
Eat protein with your snacks and main meals. If you like fruits, combine them with a protein.
Start eating it with protein if you feel daunted by giving up sugar. The sugar in the blood won’t be that high, and the pH in your mouth won’t be as acidic as if you ate the sweet alone.
Take The Right Supplements For You.
The older we get, the more minerals we lose.
Good food alone is often insufficient to meet our nutritional needs. Therefore, taking supplements can be beneficial. However, I always advise my patients to consult their medical doctor first to determine their deficiencies and ensure they take the correct supplements. We must be sure that our bodies can absorb nutrients.
Practice Your Best Oral Hygiene Before Bedtime!
Our oral pH is more acidic at 2 am, so we should have the best oral hygiene routine before bed!
PLEASE DO YOUR ROUTINE AS SOON AS YOU ARE DONE WITH YOUR DINNER. DON’T WAIT UNTIL YOU ARE READY TO GO TO BED BECAUSE USUALLY, AT THAT TIME YOU'RE TIRED AND YOU WILL FAIL TO DO ALL THE STEPS. Following these steps will guide you toward better results.
Here's a recommended oral hygiene routine: After your evening meal, floss with Smart Floss. Brush your teeth using the right toothpaste(please ask us which one we recommend for your specific case). Finally, rinse your mouth with neutral water or a rinse that raises your pH, such as baking soda, saline, or an alkaline rinse(ask us which one we recommend for your specific case). This sequence of steps ensures a comprehensive cleaning of your teeth and gums.
Flossing, we recommend starting with dental floss. It is beneficial for cleaning teeth and gums. In doing so, we keep the bone (which holds the teeth) healthy. In addition, our immune system gets stronger when we use dental floss. When we don’t floss, gums become inflamed, and our anti-inflammatory cells rush to help, which wastes their energy. When you use dental floss, the inflammation decreases or disappears, and our body uses that energy for more important things we can’t control ourselves. Please use it around each tooth with a C shape and side-to-side buffing movements, and then continue with the adjacent tooth. Please remember to use dental floss on the back teeth in each arch.
Brushing with an adequate toothpaste: manual and/or electric toothbrush. We will guide you on which toothbrush, toothpaste, dental floss, and brushing technique would be better for your needs. We recommend a proper toothpaste for your specific needs. For instance, we recommend toothpaste with hydroxyapatite if you have sensitive teeth. If you are at high risk for decay, we recommend one toothpaste with antibacterial properties. If you tend to have inflammation in your gums, we will recommend a product with ozone in it, etc. We will guide you on which toothbrush and toothpaste to use after the new patient exam. Tooth powders are very abrasive. The best way is to dilute the powders in water, dip your toothbrush in the mix, and then brush your teeth.
If you have orthodontic appliances, bridges, or prosthetics, please use a Waterpik in addition to flossing. Those retain more plaque, enemy number 1 of our teeth, gums, and alveolar bone. Be sure you have a periodic exam and a cleaning. We highly recommend 2X/year, but sometimes, 3X/year is necessary with orthodontic appliances.
Oral probiotics are live bacteria similar to the beneficial microorganisms found naturally in your mouth. Adding oral probiotics to your oral care routine can restore the natural balance of beneficial bacteria. Oral probiotics are different from regular probiotics. Probiotics are a good example of an oral probiotic.