Here is an easy, quick tool that drastically supports greater oral health while increasing our immunity as well!
Just to make sure weสผre all on the same page, letสผs cover the statistics according to the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research.
- ย 92% of adults have tooth decay
- ย 42% of children have tooth decay
- ย greater than 90% of adults have gum disease
- ย 65% of 15-year-olds have active gum disease (YIKES!)
So, given these sad stats, what can we do to support our children in creating greater oral health for their lives?
How saliva benefits oral health…
1.ย Saliva is the way teeth remineralize!
There is such a buzz about remineralizing teeth in the whole real food movement today.
What is important to note is that the teeth are remineralized through the saliva being washed over the teeth! Clearly, we must have sufficient nutrition in our diet in order to have the necessary minerals present in the saliva to support remineralization. That said, saliva plays a key role in remineralizing the teeth.
The benefits of increased saliva production for the prevention of tooth decay are well established.
Whether you believe general dental theory that decay occurs due to acids from bacteria in the mouth digesting sugars or prefer the theory most recently brought to light by Rami Nagel in his book, Cure Tooth Decay, tooth decay occurs when there is an imbalance between the demineralization of the enamel surface and remineralization produced by the return of mineral ions into enamel.
The frequent stimulation of saliva, especially after the intake of sugars, will help to dilute and buffer plaque acid, bring extra mineral ions into the plaque fluid and thereby promote remineralization.
2. Saliva reduces the thug bugs that cause gum disease and tooth decay…
Research shows a clear relationship between the fact that saliva production declines with age and the fact of an increased risk of gum disease with age. Saliva has present within it a whole host of สปfirst respondersสผ for our immune system.
For example, lactoferrin is one compound naturally found in saliva. Lactoferrin is part of our innate immune system and is one of our key front lines of defense to help us live healthy lives. Lactoferrin binds iron in the mouth and thereby deprives the ‘thug bugsสผ that cause the damage of gum disease of the iron necessary for them to flourish.
Enzymes also play a key role in creating greater oral health. Of the salivary enzymes involved in maintaining the ecology of the mouth, one of the first to be recognized was the enzyme lysozyme, which appears to work by destabilizing the cell wall of bacteria that cause tooth decay and gum disease.
3.ย Saliva re-establishes healthy pH in the mouth…
To maintain an optimal oral ecology is really key in creating greater oral health.
While we can most effectively address optimizing the pH of the mouth through immune supporting protocols like a nutrient dense diet, restful sleep, and healthy coping tools for stress, saliva clearly plays a key role in the actual mechanism of establishing what the pH of our mouth is going to be at any given time.
How to increase saliva production…
The principle โUse it or Lose itโ applies when discussing saliva production. We must exercise our ability to produce saliva or suffer the fate of a dry mouth and the ails that come with decreased saliva production.
While we can eat to produce more saliva, the extra benefits to our health of the increased saliva are offset by the main job of saliva during eating, to begin the digestion process. Therefore, letสผs discuss a strategy how to increase oneสผs saliva production without eating.
Mouth Probiotics! (AKA Exercise your spit!)
Step 1: Gather any saliva in your mouth into a pool on your tongue. Now using the musculature of the throat, draw the saliva back and forth from the back of the tongue to just behind the front teeth then back again several times (we recommend 30-50 repetitions). With practice, this action will increase the amount of saliva present in the mouth.
Step 2: Once you have a pool of saliva on your tongue, give your teeth and gums a bath with your increased saliva! We call swishing with saliva สปswashingสผ because itสผs like you are swishing and washing at the same time. Swash with the increased saliva for a minute or two then swallow it down and let the saliva now support greater digestion in the stomach!
This is such a simple technique even young children can do it.
Here’s a link to a free video tutorial exploring these saliva increasing techniques we have coined ‘Mouth Probiotics’.
An interesting side note, many customers use our OraWellness HealThy Mouth Blend as an organic toothpaste alternative.
A bunch of these folks have reported to us that they are surprised to notice that using our blend increases their saliva production for hours after brushing. Not only does the blend of organic essential oils effectively stop the thug bugs and help re-establish a healthy mouth pH, it also increases saliva production!
So, give Mouth Probiotics a try and share this simple technique with your family. Doing so can help everyone navigate to greater oral health through the quickly approaching สปsugar seasonสผ.
Also, if youโre ready to take your oral health to the next level and gain a complete understanding of how to stop tooth decay and reverse cavities, feel free to check out our Shine Remineralizing Tooth Whitening Powder and download our FREE eBook, โHow to Remineralize Your Teethโ.
Sources:
J Dent. 2005 Mar;33(3):223-33. Epub 2004 Dec 19. Health benefits of saliva: a review. Dodds MW, Johnson DA, Yeh CK.
I’m ordering Shine. I also need a mouth spray. I can’t find any information about Spry ingredients. as far as if the xylitol is birch or corn sourced. I use it to keep my mouth wet after having oral radiation and tongue graft. Do you carry a xylitol mouth spray?
Aloha Dani,
Great question!
At this time, we do not carry a xylitol spray. While we canโt speak to the origin of the xylitol in Spry, we can tell you that the xylitol in Shine is non-GMO, sourced from birch trees, and produced in North America.
Also, you might find it helpful to know that our HealThy Mouth Blend can help increase saliva production in the mouth. Feel free to check out this article that explains the different ingredients in the blend and how they can balance your oral flora: Whatโs in the HealThy Mouth Blend? (And why is it so effective?)
I hope that helps! Aloha! ๐
what ingredients arr in the swishing formula? Organic?
Aloha Andri,
Thanks for stopping by!
For clarity, the โswishing formulaโ we talk about in this article is actually simply oneโs own saliva. ๐
You see, teeth are remineralized when saliva washes over them.
In addition to swishing with your own saliva, you can also swish with a small amount of water + a few drops of our HealThy Mouth Blend. You can read more about that here: https://orawellness.com/support/can-i-use-the-hmb-as-a-mouthwash-should-i-use-mouthwash/
Feel free to contact us with any other questions, Andri; weโre here to help!
Hi,
If a person thinks they have an infected tooth, say under a crown, would swishing with your own saliva be a bad thing? Would this spread the pathogenic microbes? Thank you!
Aloha Jami,
Good question!
We here at OraWellness aren’t medical or dental professionals, so we can’t treat, diagnose, advise, etc. Instead, what we can do is share information with you to help you become self-empowered on your journey. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s see what information we can share to help. ๐
If the infection is under a crown, weโre not sure how the infection would spread through the act of swishing (because presumably the infection is trapped between the tooth and the crown itself, so it wouldnโt be exposed). Also, itโs our understanding that saliva actually has enzymes in it that help to reduce harmful bacteria that can cause gum disease and tooth decay. And, saliva also helps teeth remineralize. So, even if one has an infected tooth, swishing with saliva should still be beneficial for their overall oral health.
Also, in case you’d like to work with a dental professional, hereโs our main article that shares how to find a dentist: Helpful resources to find a qualified dentist to assist you
Finally, to learn why itโs important for dentists to use ozone in their practice to thoroughly reduce oral pathogens, feel free to check out this article too: 3 reasons why you want your dentist to use ozone in their practice
I hope that helps! Aloha ๐
Thanks for sharing your blog with us,Oral health is very important specially in kids ,My 9year boy and 5 year girl they like to eat choclate very much ,after that I consult a special oral health coach for their problem . So its very important to to maintain oral health .
Thanks for this post… I’ve been wondering this question for a while now. Is homeopathy and using this dental oil compatible? I read mint can render homeopathy ineffective, and the oral wellness blend does have peppermint in it. Any info or guidance on this? I currently use homeopathy on my 2 year old son, and he uses the dental oil.
Aloha Christine,
Thank you for reaching out to us. We have heard that people using constitutional homeopathics should avoid peppermint as it can disrupt the effectiveness of the homeopathic remedy. Feel free to email us directly if you’d like to order a custom blend for your son. While custom blends like this aren’t ‘balanced’ (which was a primary intent in our formulation process many years ago), they are still very effective in addressing the bad bugs implicated with tooth decay and gum disease.
As always, holler with any other questions Christine, we’re here to help. ๐
This is great info. what do you think of remineralizing tooth paste? My dentist is recommending I use it and I’m wondering if I should use it in conjunction with your blend or just ditch the tooth paste my dentist recommended. Thanks for making such an awesome product!
I never thought that saliva has a lot of benefits when it comes to oral health. Thanks to this post! I really learned a lot! But, I find it awkward to practice how to spit. HA HA.
Aloha Jeraldine!
Hehe, with practice, exercising your saliva really pays great dividends! ๐
Thank you and Aloha!
Good day! This is my 1st comment here so I just wanted to give a quick shout out and tell you I
genuinely enjoy reading through your posts. Can you recommend
any other blogs/websites/forums that cover the
same subjects? Thanks for your time!
Saliva was is nature’s way of keeping our teeth clean! Obviously saliva isn’t the only thing we need to keep our teeth clean but a dry mouth is prime breeding ground for bacteria that can ruin your teeth!
Thanks for offering your input here Dr Tagliarini! We agree that a dry mouth is a great breeding ground for bad bugs!
Great article, it is true that saliva is a huge factor in your oral health! As a Park Ridge dentist I love telling my patients how important the saliva is to the oral hygiene process and that the start to a good mouth is good saliva. And good for Will to confirm that oil pulling would work because I was just about to tell Chris the same thing.
Hi will, Would oil pulling work, because after 20 plus min. the volume in the mouth seems at least doubled. The other half being increased saliva. The only thing is you spit it out after, and rinse.
Yep Chris, I agree with you… After oil pulling the amount of fluid in the mouth has doubled (thus the reason you begin with less oil). Yes, spit and rinse after oil pulling.
Holler with any others! ๐
SO great!! Thanks for sharing your wisdom (and humor!)
ILY~
Thanks for the supportive comments Lara! ๐
I wish you could make your OraWellness Blend without the mints. Those of us who use homeopathy cannot use your product, since mint counters many of the remedies.
Aloha Sherri,
Please consider reaching out to us directly via email. We have custom blended our healthy mouth blend without mints in the past for special customers like your request. If you would like this, please holler via email! ๐
Thank you!
I have a problem at night my mouth opens my mouth dries out bad what can I do? I’m 51 years old have been using Ora Wellness for a couple of months and have some problem areas.
Aloha Mary,
You may want to look into myo-functional therapy or buteyko breathing method to help with the open mouth at night. This commonly is a circumstance that can be fixed with practice. Once the mouth can stay closed at night, the problems will most likely wane as there is a direct relationship between mouth breathing and gum disease. Using our blend surely can help. Be sure to watch our newer video tutorial titled “how to use the OraWellness blend” to see all the ways to use it.
Thank you!
Have you heard of mouth taping? I think you just use a piece of skin-safe tape to gently hold your lips shut. I haven’t tried it, but have heard it recommended.
Aloha Ali,
Thank you for sharing that mouth taping may help! ๐
If anyone is interested in learning more about mouth taping, it might be helpful to do a Google search for “mouth taping for sleepโ.
And, speaking of sleep and oral health, some of the information in ourย expert interview with Dr. Mark Burhenneย might help too.
I have a question…
Both my 9 yr old and 6 yr old were told by our dentist that they produce a large amount of saliva. The dentist used this to explain the tartar build up on the children’s lower front teeth. I’ve always thought that tartar build up is bad, so this doesn’t jive with what you are saying. Can you help me understand better?
Aloha Susan,
I have to respectfully disagree with your dentist that saliva causes tartar. Dr Weston Price proved some 75 years ago that insufficient dietary intake of vitamin K2 causes increased plaque in the mouth (tartar is simply another name for hardened plaque). So, be sure your kids eat plenty of the highest quality butter you can get your hands on as quality butter is one of the foods with higher K2. When we have sufficient K2 in the diet, plaque levels drop by 95%!
More on this soon!!!
Hello and thank you! Same for I have a lot of saliva as well and build up (what Iโve been told is) tartar lower front teeth. Iโm starting to wonder, if it could be an over abundance of calcium adhering to my bit of Exposed Dentin there instead of penetrating my tooth…Is there even calcium in our salvia? Maybe Iโm crazy, lol. But it builds up very fast, probably within a few weeks. My Saliva PH Is about 6.5
Do you have any suggestIona to follow the RDA for Vit K or a different amount? Thank you so much! Love your applicator! I Have used it as much as possible (busy family life!!) for the past 5 or so years. Thank you for what you do!
Aloha Caitlin!
Thanks for leaving a comment!
It’s our understanding that the microbes in our mouth will use minerals from our saliva to build plaque fortresses to protect themselves. The key is to maintain microbial balance by taking consistent daily action to disrupt their colonies and thin out the biofilms that they’ve been working on. Here are a couple of articles that you might find helpful:
How do I remove plaque from lower front teeth?
Can some plaques actually help our teeth stay healthy?
Also, in our expert interview with Dr. Kate Rheaume-Bleue (author of the book, Vitamin K2 and the Calcium Paradox), Dr. Kate talks about the two different types of vitamin K2 as well as the dosages and timing for taking each type. The FAQ section of her website also talks about dosages.
We hope that helps!
Aloha!
What do you think of the habit of swishing coconut oil upon awakening in the morning for 20 minutes for healthy teeth?
Aloha Suzanne,
We think oil pulling is a great practice! Here’s our article on the subject…
What is oil pulling?