“ A healthy mouth is a healthy gut and vice versa.”

Nadine Artemis

The health of your gums and teeth often mirror the health of your body. Our teeth are living organs and incredibly responsive the foods and oral hygiene products we consume. One of the many things that’s changed in the past five years is my oral hygiene routine and products. I’ve given up my drugstore fluoride based whitening toothpaste in lieu of products that are much healthier and work much better. I’ve even swapped my floss. Yes, even floss matters.

One of the major parts of my healing process has been detoxification. Not only have I spent several years slowly removing toxic metals and waste from my body but I’ve becoming incredibly aware of what goes in. Your typical drugstore toothpastes, mouthwashes and floss are filled with chemicals which are incredibly abrasive, weaken your teeth and gums, and disrupt your mouth’s microbiome. Anything that comes with the label “May be harmful if swallowed” should raise serious questions and not be consumed.

If you haven’t read my interview with Nadine Artemis make sure not to miss it. She shares so much great information on oral health and it’s impact on breast health. Here’s a clip:

What’s the impact of oral health on breast health?
I think oral health has a significant impact on breast health and probably more than we even know to this day. What we do know is that oral health affects every area of the body. And again what’s your achilles heel? Where will an imbalance in your mouth show up in the rest of your body? For someone it could be arterial plaque shows up and causes a heart imbalance. For another, issues with the mouth microbiome could lead to infertility or an early birth, not a full term pregnancy. For some it could lead to breast imbalances or thyroid imbalances that could then trigger breast imbalances. It can go on and on like that.
One thing that we do know is that 90% of women with a root canal have a tumor in the breast on the same side as the root canal. It doesn’t mean that a root canal will cause a tumor but all women that have a root canal have it on the same side as the tumor. Through testing with thermography, which looks at inflammation heat patterns in the body, we can see a direct correlation with the signature heat lines showing inflammation leading from the mouth right down to the breast where the root canal is. That shows a correlation. There’s also Dr. Joseph Issel’s, who practiced in Europe for decades, working with people who had cancer and he made sure everyone cleared up their root canal before they began their healing journey.

AM + PM Routine

Rinse with a salt water rinse
Scrape tongue 10 times back to front
Floss with a drop of essential oil on your floss
Brush teeth for 2 min.

Salt Water Mouth Rinse: Kills harmful bacteria. Simply combine filtered water and sea/himalayan salt. Up the ante and add baking soda, magnesium, and essential oils like myrrh or frankincense.

Tongue scraping:

Clears toxins & bacteria from the tongue
Helps remove coating on the tongue that leads to bad breath
Helps eliminate undigested food particles from the tongue
Enhances the sense of taste
Promotes overall oral & digestive health
Gently stimulates the internal organs
Increases your awareness of your state of health

Looking at your tongue every morning is simple way to examine your health. A coated white tongue may occur when there’s a buildup of bacteria due to dehydration. This helps me determine if I’ve been drinking enough water.

Activated charcoal: Great for whitening. Removes surface stains by acting like a magnet to remove toxins from the mouth and removes surface stains from teeth. I can’t express my amazement at how well this works. I wish I had known about activated charcoal before diving into the world of bleaching trays and whitening strips. I cringe at the thought of the all the chemicals I used. Many holistic toothpaste formulas include activated charcoal. Note, it can get very messy and does stain. It’s also great for relieving stomach bugs when you’re traveling.

Floss: Most floss brands contain petrochemical waxes. The last thing you want to be putting in between your teeth and into your bloodstream.

Toothpaste: There’s lots of great toothpastes out there but it’s also incredibly simple to make your own. Mix some coconut/olive oil, baking soda and sea salt. Or simply use baking soda. You can also add essential oils such as tea tree, frankincense, mint, myrrh. Add activated charcoal to really pull out toxins, remove stains and turmeric to help reduce inflammation.

Did you Know

The skin inside your mouth is incredibly thin. It’s one cell thick.
Tooth whiteness is determined by your dentin and a deficiency in vitamin D3 and K2 can cause grey, glassy teeth.

Tip

“ Apply baking soda generously to teeth and then add a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar for a frothy, alkaline cleanser that lifts plaque off teeth and gum lines. “ Nadine Artemis

I’ve started doing this once a week. Your teeth feel like you’ve just had a cleaning.

Tools

Interview

Healing Women Series with Nadine Artemis

Podcasts

1. The Lifestylist Podcast #035 – How To Protect Yourself From Dumb Dentistry with Dr. David Villarreal

“So much of your general physical health starts in your mouth. From mercury-laden fillings to infection-causing root canals, fluoride poisoning, and a host of other harmful procedures, we are just now beginning to emerge from the Flintstonian era of ‘mouth medicine,’ and enter into a new era of oral care.”

2. Rewild Yourself Podcast #87 – Successful Self-Dentistry – Nadine Artemis

“Our teeth and gums are alive and capable of being rejuvenated, often without the intervention of conventional dentistry. In this interview, Nadine talks about how teeth are like trees, how teeth and gums can be rejuvenated, mouthwashes that de-forest the flora inside our mouths, restoring the mouth’s micro biome, ingredients to avoid in dental care products and foods to nourish our dental environment.”

Videos

Must Watch

Head over to Living Libations YouTube channel for some great videos on holistic oral care.
The smoking tooth. This video shows how your mercury fillings are constantly giving off harmful toxic gasses.