One of the most common questions we receive about our HealThy Mouth Blend is why we chose each ingredient for the formula.
So in this article, we’d like to share our HealThy Mouth Blend’s backstory, the role of each ingredient in the blend, and some of the formula’s various beneficial elements.
In the spirit of full disclosure, this has been a learning process for us.
Back when we first created the formula, we weren’t aware of all of these benefits that we’re going to share with you today.
Over the years, we’ve discovered more and more reasons why our HealThy Mouth Blend is such a helpful tool for supporting greater oral health. Some of these reasons came from customers who let us know how they had benefited from using the blend.
First off, we should make clear that we were blessed with much of the initial formula work.
At the risk of sounding ‘woo woo’, it was as if God’s hand was in the whole process. Actually, we have no doubt that God’s hand was in the whole process!
We essentially asked a question and waited for the answer to show up in our lives:
“How can we make a product that will effectively help others to have a healthy mouth and prevent the damaging progression of gum disease?”
Then we waited.
Why organic?
We knew the ingredients had to be organic.
For many years, we had already been living a ‘beyond organic’ lifestyle.
We knew that organically-grown plants don’t contain pesticides or GMOs. Also, the research had already resoundingly shown us that organically-grown plants are nutritionally superior to plants that are grown with conventional farming methods.
In particular, organic plants have 20-40% more antioxidants than plants that are grown conventionally. Since the phytonutrients (antioxidants) are concentrated in the production of plant essential oils, organic was one of our requirements as we developed our HealThy Mouth Blend formula.
It makes sense if you think about it.
Organically-grown plants have to be provided with the actual nutrition that’s necessary for them to thrive, so the nutrients that are provided to them wind up in them.
On the other hand, conventionally-grown plants are ‘propped up’ by pesticides and manufactured fertilizers. This produces an artificial environment where the plant doesn’t require as much nutrition to thrive, so fewer nutrients wind up in these plants.
We are proud that we were able to stick to our values and make a product from 100% organic ingredients. If you’d like to read about this journey, be sure to check out our article, “The HealThy Mouth Blend’s Long Road to Organic Certification“.
Why a balanced formula?
We knew we wanted to make a balanced formula.
Given our background in the Chinese Longevity Arts (we actually met in a kung fu school and have been studying the arts together since 1985), we are well aware of the concept of yin and yang, natural balance.
Since this product was going to be used in the mouth (and the mouth is the main pathway for introducing ‘new stuff’ into the rest of the body), we knew the formula had to be a balance of warming and cooling herbs.
That way, we wouldn’t be causing any imbalances ‘downstream’ from the mouth.
For example, we had heard of people who had progressively damaged their health over the years by repeatedly using products that contained only cooling (mint family) ingredients in their oral hygiene routine.
The habitual cooling of one’s ‘stomach fire’ can cause all sorts of digestive problems down the road.
On the flip side, using only warming ingredients (cinnamon, clove, etc.) can ‘overheat’ the digestive system.
So, given that one of the fundamental principles of OraWellness is ‘do no harm’, it was critically important to us that we create a balanced formula with both warming and cooling elements.
With these guiding principles in place, we took several deep dives into the scientific research (along with lots of time behind our own microscope) to confirm the effectiveness of the HealThy Mouth Blend.
Here’s what we found…
Why peppermint and spearmint?
The mint family has long been used to cool inflammation.
In addition, scientific literature shows that both peppermint and spearmint are very effective in reducing certain oral pathogens, particularly those that are related to gum disease. (1, 2)
Common sense says that there’s a reason why so many toothpastes are mint flavored.
However, in the process of trimming costs, mainstream oral hygiene product manufacturers sacrificed real mint for artificial flavors. Unfortunately, in doing so, they lost the healing benefit of the mint family.
Why cinnamon (leaf)?
Cinnamon contributes to the warming profile of the formula.
Also, the literature suggests that cinnamon essential oil is the most effective in stopping streptococcus mutans, the main thug bug implicated with tooth decay. (3)
And what’s the second most common toothpaste flavor? Cinnamon!
We are honored to be one of the many small businesses that are returning to traditional ways, relying on components of nature and ancestral strategies to support greater health (especially greater oral health 🙂 ).
Why clove?
Clove plays several crucial roles in our HealThy Mouth Blend formula.
First, clove has long been used in traditional medicines around the world to alleviate oral health issues. Research shows that clove helps balance the oral microbiome by reducing the presence of the thug bugs associated with gum disease.
Second, like cinnamon, the nature of clove is warming, so it also offsets (or balances) the cooling mints in our formula.
To understand the third important role that clove plays, we need to take a quick detour to discuss how periodontal pathogens (the thug bugs that are implicated with gum disease) do their dirty work.
While it may seem strange to consider, different species of thug bugs communicate and coordinate with one another to collectively undermine the health of the host. This ability to communicate across species is called ‘quorum sensing’.
That’s where our good friend clove comes in to help us.
You see, researchers have found clove to be effective in disrupting quorum sensing. (4) Think of it like scrambling the communications of the enemy, which supports our oral health by helping to maintain balance in our oral flora.
Another benefit of the clove in our HealThy Mouth Blend is that it contains a compound called ‘eugenol’. Eugenol is also a good buddy of ours because it helps to soothe any distressed or painful nerves.
When nerves are assaulted often enough (as they are when we’ve got a chronic bacterial infection, like gum disease), the nerves can become super hair-trigger sensitive. They can even get stuck in a constant ‘on’ state.
Clove helps to unwind frazzled nerves so the area can rest and restore itself to health.
Why myrrh?
Myrrh has been used since before Biblical times to help heal a wide array of health issues. Treating everything from hay fever to herpes, myrrh has a wide appeal thanks to its tissue-healing support.
While myrrh does also help to balance the oral flora, we actually included myrrh in the formulation because of one of its other attributes: myrrh speeds the healing process by increasing blood flow to compromised tissue.
Why manuka?
Manuka has a special role in the formula.
Scientific literature states, “
In other words, manuka makes it more difficult for ‘thug bugs’ (and the plaque that they create) to cling (or ‘adhere’) to teeth and gum tissue.
That’s why so many of our customers rave about how their teeth feel so clean and fresh after using the HealThy Mouth Blend.
Manuka also happens to be the most effective plant essence for managing the toughest of the ‘thug bugs’ that are associated with gum disease.
Note: Manuka is a plant, and our HealThy Mouth Blend contains the essential oil of that plant. Most people associate the word “manuka” with the honey that’s produced from the same plant (manuka honey is honey produced by bees that have gathered pollen from the manuka plant). Our HealThy Mouth Blend does not contain any honey or bee products, but it does contain the essential oil that’s derived from the manuka plant.
Concentrations that are ‘just right’
Once we had identified the components of the formula, getting the concentration ‘just right’ was the next step in the process.
You see, we call it HealThy Mouth Blend because it’s just that, a blend. It’s not 100% essential oils, as that would be much too strong and would almost certainly damage the sensitive tissues in the mouth.
What are the carrier oils?
We chose two different carrier oils to bring the blend to that ‘just right’ concentration.
Our original HealThy Mouth Blend has always been made with certified organic sweet almond oil. Almond oil is a super mellow oil that has beneficial qualities of its own, but we chose sweet almond oil because its color is very, very light and the flavor helps harmonize the other flavors in the formula.
A number of years later, some folks with nut allergies asked us if we could make a nut-free version of our HealThy Mouth Blend. After some research, we decided to use certified organic jojoba oil as the carrier oil for our nut-free version of the blend.
Quick note: there has been a recent increase in awareness of the capacity of phytic acid (found in grains, seeds, and nuts) to disrupt our ability to absorb some nutrients from food. Because of this, we have received questions regarding the amount of phytic acid that’s in the sweet almond oil in our original blend. It’s really a non-issue, as the phytic acid is found mostly in the skin and the
A positive shift in cultural perspective…
The internet has been very active concerning the relatively new information pertaining to maintaining balance in the human microbiome. As such, we are starting to see a cultural shift away from the ‘scorched earth’ policy of using multi-spectrum antibiotics to kill everything in sight.
Instead, we see more of an attitude of being a good steward of our precious microbiomes. At OraWellness, we refer to this as ‘being a good conductor of the symphony in our mouths’, and we speak quite a bit about how to balance our oral flora.
Part of the elegance of the HealThy Mouth Blend formula is that it’s ‘just right’ in its concentration. If there aren’t enough essential oils, the result is an ineffective product. However, if the essential oils concentration is too high, it creates a product that’s too strong and that could be downright dangerous.
We pored over books and scientific studies, making sure our formulation was potent enough to be effective but diluted enough to be safe (after all, anything that goes into the mouth spreads to the rest of the body).
Ultimately, we had to see the effectiveness with our own eyes, and we spent plenty of time staring into our microscope.
Continuing on the path to ‘just right’
No one ingredient in our blend is so strong that it can stress sensitive oral tissues.
Using a wide array of plant essences and a carrier oil base, we are able to maintain safe levels of the essential oils while ensuring that the blend is still very effective.
Again, we aimed for a perfectly balanced product to assist each of us in balancing our oral flora. So, the HealThy Mouth Blend formula is strong enough to effectively prevent gum disease and even help stop already-existing gum disease, yet gentle enough to soothe stressed tissue.
Here’s what one study had to say regarding essential-oil-based oral hygiene products: “Long-term use of an EO [essential oil] mouthwash is microbiologically safe…and no evidence of antimicrobial resistance.” (6)
If you’re on the fence about essential oils in oral hygiene products, we invite you to check out our article, “Are essential oils safe to use in the mouth?“.
How have others benefited?
Here are just a few ways that customers have benefited from using our HealThy Mouth Blend:
- “Our breath smells better and our teeth are so much whiter!” – Paula N
- “I got a ‘thumbs up’ from my dentist! Oh, and my teeth are even whiter! yayyy!!!” – Rick B
- “My hygienist said yesterday, ‘This is the best your gums and teeth have ever looked.‘” – Rosita R
- “Our gums are no longer bleeding…” Charletta T
- “…now I just no longer have any receded gums.” – Laura H
- “The dentist has confirmed that the decay on our son’s front teeth has stopped!” – Sayuri G
- “…it appears as though my gums have begun to regenerate.” – Lara T
- “…the canker sore healed in a fraction of the time it normally would have taken to heal.” – Jan S
- “A drop rubbed on a cold sore a few times a day shortens the healing time significantly.” – Angela E
- “…I have no more tooth sensitivity…” – Heidi F
- “OraWellness is truly my healing miracle.” – Susan H
Other customers have even reported improvements with seemingly unrelated issues, from arthritis to brain fog. This makes sense given that gum disease is a major contributor to systemic inflammation. We
While we’re here, if you have an OraWellness product success story to share, please send it to us here and we’ll even give you a gift for sharing your story with us!
Benefits summary
So, after many years of studying the literature and hearing customer testimonials, here’s how we have come to view the main benefits of the HealThy Mouth Blend:
- Increases adhesion inhibition – makes it more difficult for thug bugs to undermine our oral health.
- Disrupts quorum sensing – scrambles the communication between different thug bug species.
- Balances oral flora – targets specific thug bugs without compromising the diversity of the oral microbiome.
- Reduces plaque formation – helps us be a ‘good conductor of the symphony in our mouths’.
- Increases saliva production – critically important to stop tooth decay and gum disease.
Wrapping up…
We hope this article has provided some helpful insight into the thought/prayer/research process that went into creating our HealThy Mouth Blend.
And remember, if you’ve benefited from using our products, please share your experience in the comments below so others who are reading this can hear from you directly. It’s always so much more powerful when we can read testimonials directly from the happy customer! Also, you can submit your testimonial here if you’d like the chance for us to highlight your success story with our community.
We always love to hear how you benefit from our products!
Helpful, related resources:
“Why do I need an alternative to toothpaste?” [[article and video tutorial]]
The HealThy Mouth Blend’s Long Road to Organic Certification [article]
Can some plaques actually help our teeth stay healthy? [article]
How to balance your oral flora [article]
Are essential oils safe to use in the mouth? [article]
Is a major cause of disease hiding right under our noses? [article]
Customer testimonials for HealThy Mouth Blend [customer testimonials]
OraWellness HealThy Mouth Blend [product solution]
OraWellness Nut Free HealThy Mouth Blend [product solution]
Sources:
1. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4054083/
2. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4606594/
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15943766
4. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4336667/
5. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14678476
6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12787197
At the risk of sounding woo woo? 😊
Acknowledging our amazing Creator’s hand in this process is absolutely fitting and right. This blessed me so much to read in your explanation. Makes me want to endorse your company even more!
Never make apologies for giving credit to our Maker. “Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.”
Continued blessings upon you and your company, Colleen
Shall I just use Heal thy mouth blend for my dogs .. Doni brush or can I put on my finger and rub on my dog’s teeth… once daily or less ?
Aloha Ray,
Great question!
Feel free to check out our pet resources landing pagefor some helpful info on how to use our products with your four-legged friends!
I hope that helps! Holler with questions, anytime.
Aloha!
Hi Will and Susan, thank you so much for your amazing products! Day one brought immediate results with a cleaner feeling mouth, and improved whitening of my teeth!
My question is about use of the oil blend and Shine in conjunction with each other. How often can or should I use the Shine , and do I use it immediately after using the oil blend? Or should I use it in between usage of the oil blend ? Also , to what extent does remineralization of the teeth occur? Does it completely restore the enamel in my teeth and if so over what length of time? I am 58 and wish I had your products as a young person.
Aloha Cora,
Thank you for your positive feedback!
Great questions!
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. 🙂
Shine is a toothpaste alternative that can be used with the HealThy Mouth Blend or on its own. Many of our team members use both products at the same time every time they brush (twice daily). Most of our customers use these products instead of conventional toothpaste, but some folks do use our products in conjunction with toothpaste.
The two products work really well in harmony with one another. To use them both together, some folks put 2 drops of HealThy Mouth Blend on their toothbrush, then put a scoop of Shine in the palm of their hand. Then they do the ‘dip, brush, re-dip’ technique we show in this video: ‘How to Use Shine’.
Feel free to check out this resource for more helpful info: “Can I use the HealThy Mouth Blend and Shine together?”
Regarding tooth enamel, it is our understanding that once it has worn away, there is no regrowing it, but Shine can deliver minerals back to the teeth and strengthen the remaining tooth structure.
A great resource to answer your questions about remineralization is our free eBook that you can download here: How to Stop Tooth Decay and Remineralize Your Teeth
I hope that helps! Aloha 🙂
I don’t purchase anything that originates in China or any communist nation so would you please tell me where each ingredient comes from? God bless you.
Aloha Mike,
We appreciate you sharing your sourcing preferences. Since our highest priority is in sourcing 100% organic herbal ingredients for our products, we aren’t able to buy our oils only from US farmers. They just aren’t grown here in the quantities and quality we require. So, we source globally for our organic ingredients, but we do not source any of our oils from China. Our current sources for organic oils are Sri Lanka, India, Morroco, New Zealand, and the USA. However, we rely on an American oil importer to make our blends. Our whole team is US based and our manufacturing and distributing houses are in the US. We hope that helps!
Thank you for stopping by. 🙂
Hello,
I have recently begun to suspect I may be sensitive to salicylates. I am assuming that salicylates would be present in your healthy mouth blend but I might be wrong – do you know?
Thanks!
Elly
Aloha Elly,
Thank you for reaching out to us. 🙂
If you are sensitive to salicylates, you may want to get our clove-cree custom HealThy Mouth Blend (feel free to call us at 808-892-3274 for more info on our custom blends). That said, the amount of clove bud oil in our regular HealThy Mouth Blends is rather small (because a little goes a long way) and clove bud oil doesn’t have many salicylates in it. So, it’s a matter of whether you’re looking to limit your exposure to salicylates or eliminate them altogether.
This link shares some more info that you may find helpful:
Salicylate Sensitivities and Essential Oils: What you need to know!
I hope that helps!
Will and Susan,
I want to thank you both for developing and selling the HealThy Mouth Blend, your other products and all of the articles and videos you have posted. I’ve been using your products since July and this morning noticed that my back left molar with the missing half crown has enamel growing out of the inside rectangular breakage of the molar. I’ve had two half crowns at great expense to date on that molar, and I’m absolutely delighted to have your products and website information available to learn techniques and details about the flow of dentin which is driven by having enough phosphate in the blood stream vs. too much calcium, cholesterol, triglycerides and glucose. It has only been in the last month that I started taking fat soluble vitamin K2-7 and increased my other fat soluble vitamins
A, D, E, and K. Again it was Will’s interview with Kiran Kirstan that turned me on to the health benefits.
How long does one bottle last? I am curious to know I have just recently bought one for the first time.
Aloha William,
Thanks for reaching out here and asking such a good question.
It really depends on how someone uses the blend. For example, if someone brushes 2x daily with 2-3 drops, one bottle will last 2+ months. However, just increasing the number of drops to 4 will naturally reduce the number of applications you get from the bottle. It’s truly just a ‘number of drops’ issue. So, find what works for you and go with that. We know of one family on a tight budget who have been able to stretch one bottle to last 6 months for their family!
I recently received this product and love it already. Thank you! And thank you for your work and research on the vital issue of oral health. All best, Patricia
I love hearing the details behind the choice of ingredients in the HealThy Mouth Blend! I’ve been using it for about 4 years now and I can’t do without it! Even though I have nice straight teeth thanks to orthodontics, I had bleeding gums for almost my whole life (!!!) and this has been the only product that’s worked for me. I also have some recession from poor brushing technique and since using the blend and learning the Bass brushing method, it has not progressed any further. My gums look much healthier as well and I’ve only had one TINY cavity since using the blend. I threw away all my other toothbrushes years ago (including the electric brush, which I think caused more problems than it solved) and have used only your brushes ever since. I know that my recession began at an early age and was in part because I was only told to “brush my gums” but barely shown HOW to do so, and the techniques I was shown weren’t very effective.
My daughter will be 5 and I would like to teach her good brushing habits but it’s tricky at such a young age since she is pretty squirmy and rough with the brush when she does it herself. She also finds the HealThy Mouth blend to be too strong of a flavor. I’ve tried blending it with coconut oil to see if she’ll use it that way, but so far it’s a no go. I’m hopeful that she’ll change her mind soon since she does like “warming” foods. Personally, I LOVE the taste.
Keep up the amazing work with this product! I don’t want to think about what my oral health would be like if I had started using it! XOXO
Aloha Vanessa,
Thank you SO much for stopping by to share your story with us and give us some love here.
We are honored to be part of your healing journey. I’m so glad that you find such benefit from our products and information.
Stay with it with your daughter. Be patient. Continue to demonstrate good habits and she will follow in your footsteps. Together we can help future generations have a better start with their oral health.
Thank you and Aloha!
Thank you, Will & Susan!
Hi! I love your blog and have benefitted by your good advice over several years. So it is with some reluctance that I’m about to ask these questions/make these comments, but here goes. First, I’ve tried to use the healthymouth blend several times, but always stopped after using it a short time. Why? First, it’s that clove smell. I understand why clove is beneficial and used in many tooth products, but I just find it to be quite a sickening smell, and it doesn’t diminish quickly. In a perfect world, my wish would be that you could make an alternative blend without the clove! Second, my teeth look weirdly shinny after using the blend. It’s just kind of odd. I also wonder if having the teeth constantly coated with oil is a good idea? Can the tooth surface still “breathe”? Lastly, (and this is just a straightforward question): if there are so many ingredients that interrupt the “bad bugs”, what do they do to the “good bugs”? Are they affected as well? Sorry for my slightly downer comments–paradoxically, i do love what you do and hope you continue!
I love to read a reply to these questions, too!
Me too!
I found your link through Welness Mama blog site. I was looking for a tooth powder recipe to help my aching, gum diseased mouth. I have had degenerating gums for many years and couldn’t figure it out as I’ve taken good care of my teeth and gums. So thankful to have found you! Within 3 weeks of using Healthy Mouth blend I saw my hygienist. The pockets on my gums had begun reversing. My gums are no longer inflamed and red but a healthy pink! I have some pretty severely recessed gums on my upper molars and am beginning to see some change in the recession. I am so excited! Thank you for sharing your research! It’s definitely a savior for this diseased mouth!
Hi Kathleen,
Did you had any deep cleaning done?
My dentist want’s to do the deep cleaning on me in 3 days time, but I don’t know if it the right thing to do.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Corné
Thanks for another great, informative article! My acupuncturist has helped me understand how many unbalanced herbal products are out there. It’s incredible.
P.S. Love using your HealThy Mouth Blend!
How does the blend help prevent cavities and decay? Is it simply by reducing plaque or does it help reduce acidity in the mouth?
Aloha Amy, Thanks for reaching out to ask!
The HealThy Mouth Blend helps restore the natural balance of microbes that live in our mouths and can stop tooth decay by making it more difficult for microbes to attach to the teeth. The blend also increases saliva production which can help remineralize tooth decay.
Here’s a link to learn more about what’s in the HealThy Mouth Blend? (And why is it so effective).
Hope that helps!
Thanks, great informative article. Have been using the healthy blend for a number of years, but this provided some background info on the ingredients I wasn’t aware of. Interesting and fascinating. BTW, unfortunately my teeth don’t seem to be whiter using the blend, but it’s nice to know other people have experienced whiter teeth.
We have replied earlier when we made our first purchase recommended by one of your Virginia users. We were extremely pleased then, and that has become a way of life for us. It is truly a great product and we feel very blessed that we can be one of your customers. Thanks so much for all the beneficial information. Yes, God’s Hand was in the formulation and research.
Thank you for stopping by and sharing your story with us Kathaeryne!