This is a very exciting time for dentistry.
It seems like there’s always something new developing, from increased awareness about topics like the oral microbiome and the oral health / systemic health connection to scientific advances like the not-too-far-off application of stem cells for regrowing teeth.
Today, let’s focus on ozone gas (which we feel is a quantum leap forward for dentistry) and how each of us can benefit from our dental team using this tool in their practice.
Ozone is an old technology that the field of dentistry (as a whole) hasn’t yet fully adopted. Our hope is that by increasing public awareness of the benefits of ozone in dentistry, we can encourage dental professionals to embrace this superior technology for daily use in their practices.
Where we learned about ozone in dentistry
While exhibiting at a recent biological dentistry conference, we learned that Dr. Julian Holmes (our dentist friend and one of our mentors on using ozone in dentistry) had passed away.
For those of you who haven’t heard of Dr. Holmes, he coauthored the book, Ozone: The Revolution in Dentistry. As you may have guessed from the title of his book, Julian was a very strong proponent of the benefits of using ozone in dentistry and medicine.
We interviewed Dr. Julian back when we produced the HealThy Mouth World Summit in 2013.
As a tribute to the work that Dr. Holmes did to help ozone gain better traction in dental offices worldwide, we’re offering you free access to our expert interview with him. See the interview video below (and please overlook our old logo, etc. 🙂 ).
Ok, back up. What is ozone?
We normally think of ozone as a component of the earth’s atmosphere (and that’s accurate).
Ozone (also known as O₃ or trioxygen) is a naturally occurring gas comprised of three oxygen atoms. As we all recall from high school chemistry, oxygen likes to hang out in pairs. When three atoms of oxygen are together, it’s really unstable. So, that third oxygen atom splits off really quickly and easily.
This free atom oxygenates anything that it touches. More on how ozone works and why it’s so effective in a minute…
“Why should my dentist use ozone?”
When we interviewed Dr. Julian, we asked him about the dentistry applications for which ozone shows promise.
He replied, “Well, it’s probably easier to turn the question slightly around, Will, and say, ‘Which area of dentistry doesn’t ozone have a part in to play?’ And, I can honestly tell you there isn’t a single facet of dentistry where ozone doesn’t have a part.”
In other words, dentists could be using ozone in their practice with nearly every patient.
Here are some reasons why we feel it’s best to find a dentist who is well versed in using ozone.
#1: To help stop active decay (without a drill)
As a gas, ozone is naturally able to travel much farther into the interior of the tooth.
When ozone gas is applied to an area of active decay, rather than just disinfecting the surface, it can also travel into the micropores of the tooth and address the tooth-decay-causing thug bugs in the subsurface tooth structure.
Dr. Julian shared with us that some dentists actually redesigned their business model and had patients come in every 3 months for an ‘ozone treatment’.
What they found was that by exposing all teeth to ozone gas through a customized tray that they used in their office, the dental team could actually move beyond the ‘drill and fill’ dental model.
Let’s stop and think about the implications of a dental office not drilling and filling as their only treatment model…
Putting a drill to a tooth should be a last resort.
Simply put, once you’ve drilled a tooth, you’ve altered the natural tooth structure and drastically increased the chance that you’ll have to drill that tooth again at some point in the future.
As we explore in our article, “Does tooth decay follow a pattern?“, some dentists feel that drilling a tooth compromises its native integrity and dooms it to future dental work.
So, a dental team that uses the preventive power of ozone in their practice would be a complete blessing for anyone, young and old alike.
And even if the dental team didn’t go so far as to use preventative ozone treatments in their office, it’s still a blessing to find a dentist who at least uses ozone during dental restoration procedures (because ozone is way more effective at cleansing any areas that are being prepped for a filling, crown, etc.).
Using ozone gas allows the dentist to effectively sterilize the filling prep surface (and under the surface) better than water-based treatments. This helps reduce the risk of unintentionally trapping active thug bugs under the new filling.
#2: To help remove inflammation-causing thug bug waste
Ok, so we now understand that ozone helps to kill thug bugs. However, ozone also addresses the thug bugs’ waste as well as the tissue that thug bugs have damaged.
Thug bugs cause damage in several ways, including:
- Actively destroying tissue
- Leaving behind acidic waste products that are the culprit behind tooth decay
- Triggering an inflammatory response from our immune systems (also thanks to the waste products that they leave behind)
That’s why chronic exposure to thug bugs can contribute to all sorts of issues including heart disease, cancer, and autoimmune diseases.
So, it’s important that the dental team not only kills any thug bugs at the site of a filling, but that they also remove thug bug waste and clean up any diseased tissue (otherwise, the decay might continue underneath the filling that they install). Ozone can help tremendously with this.
#3: To help stimulate immune system response rather than suppressing it
Many of the disinfecting products that dentists use contain some form of chlorine.
If you’ve ever heard your dental team mention the common antimicrobial compound chlorhexidine, you may have recognized the “chlorine” in that compound’s name.
When our bodies are exposed to chlorine, they recoil as they endure the exposure.
Chlorine naturally oxidizes almost anything it touches.
That’s why it’s so commonly used as pool and laundry disinfectants. If you’ve ever been to an indoor public swimming pool and your eyes burned just walking in the door, that’s chlorine at work.
As an antimicrobial, ozone is actually 1.5x stronger than chlorine.
However, unlike chlorine compounds that stress and compromise the immune system, ozone gas actually helps activate our immune systems and stimulate biological antioxidants in our bodies.
That’s why medical ozone applications are revolutionizing how doctors practice medicine, too.
How to find a dentist that uses ozone
Feel free to check out our article, “Helpful resources to find a qualified dentist to assist you“. It contains links to various holistic oral health organizations, including the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology (IAOMT).
The IAOMT database provides an excellent tool to search for dentists worldwide. Their database even allows you to select various modalities that you’re looking for in a dental team. In this case, you can select ‘oxygen/ozone’ and that will be a good place to start.
From there, you’ll want to come up with some good questions to ask your prospective team.
Questions to ask a dental team about their use of ozone
In the spirit of full transparency, not all dentists are created equal.
Also, the dental industry has its share of ‘greenwashing’ going on–some conventional dentists have begun using a few holistic protocols and marketing their practice as ‘biological dentistry’ so they can fetch a higher fee for their services.
So, it’s up to each of us to ask questions that will assist us in determining whether a prospective dental team really understands these tools and uses them in a way that can help.
Here are some questions to help you assess the team.
Do you use ozone in your practice?
No? Say, “Thank you” and hang up. Yes? Proceed to the next question. 🙂
If yes: How do you use ozone in your practice / for what procedures?
We want to hear a list of ways that the dental team uses ozone. Hopefully they’ll talk right over your head sharing the 6-8 ways that the team uses ozone every day.
Does the dentist use ozone gas chairside or just ozonated water?
While there are applications for ozonated water, the gas tends to be superior overall. However, ozone gas requires the dentist to adapt their tech skills a bit.
If they use ozonated water: How often does your team make the ozonated water that you use in your office?
This is a really helpful question to determine how well the dental team understands the use of ozone in dentistry.
Ozone is very unstable, which means it loses its power quickly.
As a gas, ozone loses half of its ‘oomph’ in 40 minutes.
In water it can last a little longer, and ozonated oils retain ozone very well and can be viable for much longer (but as a side note, ozonated water and oils don’t work their way into the micropores and tubules of teeth as well as ozonated gas does).
What you want to hear is that they make ozonated water at least multiple times per day. Ideally, they’d say they make it right before each treatment.
If they say they make it once in the morning and that’s it, we question the efficacy of this choice. After all, how effective would that ozonated water still be by the time the first couple of appointments have passed?
If you would like to read more well-thought-out questions to ask a prospective dentist, please go download our “OraWellness Guide to Safe Dentistry” free eBook.
In it, we share many more questions that you can ask to help you determine whether the dental team you’re considering is optimally trained to support your family’s oral health goals.
Taking a deeper dive…
Here’s the 2012 interview that we conducted with Dr. Julian Holmes, who was one of the top experts on ozone:
Wrapping up…
We hope this article has provided some insights that you’ll find helpful as you continue on your path to greater oral health.
Does your dentist use ozone in their practice? If so, how?
Going forward, would you like to hear more about the benefits of using ozone in dentistry?
Would you like us to create another expert interview with a dentist who is currently using ozone in their practice?
Please tell us in the comments section.
If enough of you say you’d like to hear more, we’ll arrange it. Thankfully, there are several dentists in our community who would love to help us continue to raise awareness about the benefits of ozone in dentistry. 🙂
Helpful, Related Resources:
OraWellness Guide to Safe Dentistry [Free eBook]
How to balance your oral flora [article]
Is Alzheimer’s actually caused by gum disease? (and what you can do about it) [article]
Are stem cells the answer to healing existing cavities? [article]
HealThy Mouth World Summit [information product solution]
Does tooth decay follow a pattern? [article]
Does flossing really lower my risk of a heart attack? [article]
The role of oral health in developing and reversing cancer [Free expert interview]
4 steps to stop gum disease from causing an auto immune disease in your life [article]
Helpful resources to find a qualified dentist to assist you [article]
IAOMT dentist database [searchable database]
Sources:
Ozone in Dentistry – International Neuroradiology
Ozone Therapy in Dentistry – Journal of Natural Science, Biology and Medicine
Dental Ozone – Dental Economics
T
Yes, please more ozone info
I have heard that breathing ozone gas is not too good for the lungs. Do you still feel comfortable having ozone gas treatments?
Aloha Sheryl,
Great question!
You’re correct that inhaling ozone isn’t good for lung tissue. Despite this, we here at OraWellness still feel comfortable having ozone gas dental treatments because we intentionally breathe through the nose to avoid ozone inhalation.
Also, any medical/dental ozone unit should have a way to remove the ozone from the patient’s mouth or at least a dental suction device close by to evacuate the ozone from the mouth after it has circulated a bit in order to minimize ozone exposure to lung tissue.
Feel free to reach out with any other questions, Sheryl. 🙂
so what you say is that with ozone treatment we can save our natural teeth for the rest of our lives because it heals tooth decay without the need for a drill and fill , somthing similar to stem cell healing teeth? tank you!
Aloha Yo,
Thank you for your question.
Ozone gas can certainly play a role supporting the health of one’s natural teeth by helping to thoroughly reduce the thug bugs implicated with tooth decay. By thoroughly reducing the thug bugs implicated with tooth decay through preventative ozone treatments, the likelihood that one would need to resort to drilling and filling a tooth (and consequently compromise its structure) would be diminished.
I hope that helps! Aloha. 🙂
im waiting for stem cell natural healing existing cavities …. when will it be available ? is there any coutry around the world using it today ?
Hi Yoav,
Thank you for reaching out.
Yes, stem cell treatments are on the horizon, but we can’t determine when they will be commercially available. It’s a very exciting time to be alive for the tech developments occurring in the field of health.
I would love to hear more about ozone treatments and root canals! Love all the information you share with us (and all your products!)
Aloha Susan,
Thanks for stopping by and adding your support and input to this discussion!
Great to hear that you’d appreciate to hear more about ozone and root canals! We’ll add it to the ‘to write on’ list and if you’re on our mailing list, you’ll know when we publish something related to this subject.
Thanks again!
Hi again, Katie here 🙂
I should’ve specified – Dr. Shepard DeLong in Portland, OR uses ozone gas. He knows his stuff and I’m grateful.
Hey Kathryn!
Thanks so much for stopping by and adding your voice to this discussion! We know Dr DeLong and agree. He does know his stuff!
Thanks again for being a part of our community!
Hi everyone! I’m a holistic nutritionist and healer in practice in Portland, OR, and my dentist here uses Ozone (in order to forego doing root canals, he uses ozone on teeth that would need that, to try to save it the truth from having to go through that). He speaks internationally about many cutting edge things going on in dentistry.
He could be a great resource for someone to interview. He’s passionate about all this, like we are (he also uses healing lasers in his practice, which are wonderful too, just like ozone).
I have been incredibly helped by ozone and I love that OraWellness is helping to get the word out. I’ll do my part too!
Thanks a bunch! Katie Heath
Is there a way to buy ozone or ozone water for personal use? Where I live, you get a select few who are in your network.😣
Hi Melody,
As ozone is a very unstable molecule, it doesn’t last in water or gas form. So, if you wanted to be able to use ozone water, the best way to go about it would be to purchase a home ozone generator. We don’t have any specific affiliation for generators, so be sure to do your due diligence if you choose to purchase one.
We hope that helps!
can ozone treatment really heal existing cavities ? is there any studies about it ?
i will be happy to know more about ozone therapy , thank you!
Thanks for asking!
Yes, ozone treatment on teeth can help teeth remineralize by stopping decay even under the surface of the teeth. This allows the natural ability of the body to remineralize to occur. However, ozone itself does not directly remineralize. It simply stops the decay process. I hope this helps!
I am a dental hygienist and have worked for dozens of dentists throughout my career and not one of them use ozone. Now all I hear about is ozone in dentistry! After we all get back to work, I think we know that the landscape has to change. Implementing ozone in the dental practice looks to be part of the change. I am excited to learn more about this. Thank you for a well written article. I shared it on my page:)
Thanks for your support Annamarie!
It’s always an honor when professionals in the field to take a moment and say hi here. Yeah, ozone in dentistry is a fundamental shift that is long overdue. Thankfully, there is plenty of information out there to help professionals like you to implement these shifts in your practice.
Bless you in your work.
Thank you so much for this interview. I will look for biological dentists using ozone and suggest it to our current dentist!
Thanks so much for this write up!!! I’d love to learn if ozone gas treatments can help with fighting recessing gum lines please!!
Yes, please shower us with more Ozone and any other type of healthy dentistry! This article was rich with information that my family will adopt. We’re immediately looking for a Dentist office who uses Ozone therapy in ways suggested in your article! Thanks so much!!
Thanks so much Monica! We already have a dentist in mind to interview! 🙂
Thanks you Will and Susan for presenting the interview with Dr Julian Holmes.. As a healthy 58 yr old, I was not aware an option existed for oral x-rays, I will seek out dental practioners in my area who utilize intra-oral cameras vs ionizing radiation. Also, I plan to explore the use of ozone for oral health as it appears to be a potential preventative care measure. As implied in the interview, the medical community seems to lack interest or stability in performing long term case studies which link or implicate oral and digestive health issues with disease. Yes, there are some studies, but not nearly enough. Keep up the good work of sharing vital knowledge and information !!
Thanks for your kind words Frank!
It’s such an honor to serve you and our community! 🙂
Thank you for your great dedication on the topic! I am not an US citizens. So do you have also resources and addresses of ozone dentists in europe?
Thank you!
Hi Niko,
Yes, the link in the article from IAOMT has a world wide database that you can search for dentists by many different criteria.
We hope that helps!
Is using ozonated oil a viable home preventative treatment? I realize it wouldn’t work as well as ozone gas at a dentist office but perhaps it could help. In the article you said ozone kills the ‘ thug bugs’ and their waste. Does ozone leave the good bugs alone?
Hi Sue,
Thanks for reaching out. Great questions!
So, ozone oil isn’t really going to be a replacement for ozone gas. Yeah, it could help, but honestly, we’re not fans of exposing the respiratory system to ozone over a period of time that using an ozonated oil in the mouth would require. I suppose if you were going to treat infected gum pockets, using ozonated oil could super charge that. But I really prefer the idea of dentists using the gas in their day to day treatments.
And yes, ozone does not discriminate what it wipes out. It oxidizes everything.
I hope that helps clarify this for your path a bit.
Thanks again for such a great question!!
I have a lot of experience with using ozone water in my home. I do not use fresh ozone water to rinse my teeth because it’s hard on the gums. I use fresh ozone water which is highly oxidative in my Orajet water flosser to clean it, Then I let it sit for a while before using it in my mouth. This way the Orajet does not get moldy from being wet all the time.
Depleted ozone water is safe to drink but I don’t think drinking fresh ozone water is a good idea. When the smell of the water goes back to normal, the flavor is normal also and you can kill any unwanted microbes in the water that way.
Great ideas here for the use of ozonated water Sara!
Thanks for sharing!
Hi, I use your toothbrush and shine regularly… I have a question..
My 21`yo daughter has a baby tooth that has an identified cavity under the tooth.. told she needed bridge or implant.. BIG decision.. we’ve learned she doesn’t want titanium (she can’t even wear metal earings of any kind) …
We did find a Dentist that uses Ozone…. IS there any way to save a baby tooth w/ cavity UNDER it? that you know of.. We’re in Idaho.. Thanks
Hi Joan,
Thank you for reaching out to us. I’m sorry to hear of your daughter’s and grandchild’s challenge. In the spirit of full transparency, I do not know a single reason that I would consider an implant or a bridge for a 21 month old child. Now, I haven’t fully studied this specific subject, but the idea of it is ludicrous to me on the surface.
If I lived in Idaho, I’d go to Dr Steve Hubert. I believe you can find him by searching locally in the greater Boise area. If you end up going to see Steve, please tell him Will from OraWellness says ‘Aloha’ (he used to live in Hawaii also)
I hope that helps Joan!