OPTIMIZED ORAL CARE: PRACTICE, PROTOCOLS, and PEPTIDES
We have been taught to brush twice daily, floss, and visit the dentist to prevent tooth decay, yet the staggering number of cavities, crowns, root canals, and extracted teeth confirms that something is amiss. Although there are a plethora of periodontal promises ranging from fluoride floss to minty mouthwash, there is more dental decay now than in any previous century. Receding, bleeding gums are the norm. Unexpected cavities form, and millions of root canals are performed. The definition of insanity, doing the same thing and expecting different results, applies to our current state of dental care.
The mouth is the principal portal into our bodies; it interfaces, absorbs, and assimilates our world. The endocrine, immune, and digestive systems are intimately bound to the microbiome of our mouths. By understanding the human microbiome, we understand that our health depends on a thriving microbiome; and as human hosts to this bacterial banquet, the key to vitality in our bodies and mouths is bacterial balance.
What we now know is that many of the periodontal procedures and medicants of modern dentistry disrupt the beneficial bacteria of our gums and mutate our mouth’s microbes. Instead, we need to reconcile with our bacterial community. We need to abandon the products, practices, and antibiotics that are making our microbes mutate, mottling our teeth, and deforesting the flora of our oral ecology.
This is the triple threat to our mouths: harmful dental procedures, a poor understanding of the tooth-nurturing dentinal fluid, and the periodontal scorched-earth policy on bacteria. This trifecta is the perfect periodontal storm that fosters endodontic entropy, dental decay, and a system that settles for Band-Aid solutions of bleaching, gum grafts, veneers, and fillings.
DETRIMENTAL DENTAL PROCEEDURES
Now let’s look at some of the most common dental procedures and why they may be problematic.
Silver Fillings
Silver-colored dental amalgams have been used to fill cavities for more than 150 years. They are made from a combination of silver, copper, tin, and mercury. These fillings are more economical and durable than other filling materials.
Why Fret the Fillings
Dentists must drill away healthy bone to prepare the tooth for silver fillings. These eighteenth-century dental solutions are 50 percent mercury, one of the most toxic substances on the planet. Yet even though this toxicity is scientific fact, mercury is implanted in multitudes of mouths in the form of fillings. It is also a cumulative toxin that passes through the blood–brain and placental barriers. It tenaciously binds to tissue, altering DNA, nerves, cell membranes, and mitochondrial function. Mercury toxicity is linked to dementia, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s, and other degenerative disorders.[i] Mercury is also linked to periodontal disease, receding gums, and skin hyperpigmentation.[ii]
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) claims that the highest body-burden of chronic mercury toxicity comes from silver fillings. In addition, when mercury fillings are removed, even though there is not a metallurgic change to the mercury, the EPA considers it toxic waste, and fillings must be handled with a strict no-touch protocol to protect dentists and the environment from mercury poisoning.[iii] The FDA states, “A person with four fillings has enough mercury to make a 20-acre lake unfit for fishing.”[iv] Yet, somehow, it is still okay for our mouths and tongues to touch it daily, and it is still not universally banned in dentistry.
Both old and new mercury fillings release vapors twenty-four hours a day, with a 500 percent increase when chewing, teeth grinding, and drinking hot fluids. According to the Journal of Dental Research, gum chewing increases mercury-vapor release considerably! [v]
Wisdom Teeth
This third set of molars generally develops in the late teens and early twenties. These teeth are considered best to be removed as prophylactic prevention to avoid impacted teeth, and partially erupted wisdom teeth may be hard to clean or may affect neighboring teeth.
Unwise to Remove Wisdom
Some researchers are beginning to ask if it is wise to remove molars that we may need later in life for chewing surfaces. A report published in the American Journal of Public Health deemed that 6.7 million out of 10 million preventive wisdom tooth extractions are unnecessary.[vi] The British National Health Service stated that the practice of prophylactic removal of pathology-free impacted wisdom teeth should be discontinued. There is insufficient evidence that impacted wisdom teeth cause problems, and the expense and risks of the surgery are not justified.[vii] Additionally, wisdom extractions also alter the structure of the neck, jaw, and mouth and may change the shape of the face.
But that’s not all. Multiple pathological bacteria are often found in the jaw on wisdom-tooth extraction sites. This is because it is standard protocol to leave the soft periodontal ligament in after extraction. This leftover ligament causes a sluggish area in the bone marrow where virulent bacteria gather and eat away at the jawbone creating cavitations.[viii]
These jaw cavitations are a hidden consequence of wisdom-teeth extractions, as most of the time there are no visible symptoms. When a jaw cavitation shows up on an X-ray, the bone has already eroded by 50 percent.[ix] These areas in the jaw are medically referred to as osteonecrotic lesions. Dr. Hal Huggins’s research institute revealed that these jaw-cavitation sites are sanctuaries for serious pathogens that can lead to an array of autoimmune diseases.
Biological dentists can check for cavitations by making a small incision in the gum of the extraction site and examining for mushy pockets in the jawbone. If there is decay, a simple procedure can clear it up: the site is opened, the decay is scraped off the bone, bacteria are thoroughly removed, blood flow to the area is reestablished, and the site is treated with ozone. If you do need a tooth extracted, including a wisdom tooth, be sure to work with a dentist who will also be sure to remove the periodontal ligament as part of the protocol.
Through the dedicated research of dentists Weston Price[x] and Ralph R. Steinman[xi], we now know that proper nutrition is the key to keeping wisdom teeth. When enough nutrients are supplied to the jawbone during pregnancy and childhood, all thirty-two teeth have enough space in the mouth without crowding.
Root Canals
A root canal is a procedure for infected teeth that kills the tooth by removing its internal structure, including the nerves, pulp tissue, and blood vessels. The hollowed-out tooth is rinsed, filled with latex and cement, and then topped with a crown. The purpose of a root canal is to hermetically seal the tooth and save the chewing surface.
Clinical Consternation of Canalling
Theoretically, a root canal seems like a good idea, but, clinically, it is a bacterial horror story. The whole goal of a root canal is to have a noninfected, sterile tooth; but the exact opposite is created. After a root canal, the dead tooth remains in the mouth as an incubator of infection, a bacterial breeding ground, and a necrotic nest for pathogens to grow and spread. Each tooth contains three miles of microscopic dentin tubules that are impossible to sterilize. With the blood vessels removed, neither antibiotics nor white blood cells can reach the location to fight infection. Every time a root-canaled tooth is used to chew, bacterial toxins are squirted into the bloodstream. These toxins that flow from the anaerobic infection silently spread to the gums, ligaments, and jawbone. Because the nerve tissue is removed in the procedure, there will be no pain indicating infection.[xii]
Dr. Stuart Nunnally, a respected and pioneering biological dentist, conducted independent tests on root-canaled teeth.[xiii] To qualify, the teeth had to be symptom-free and show zero signs of pathology on an X-ray. One hundred percent of these root-canaled teeth, upon surface inspection and in X-rays, were textbook-perfect root canals, yet lab tests revealed that the teeth harbored severe toxic pathogens. While this type of information has not permeated into every dental practice, and with the knowledge comes some ethical decisions for dentists about how to approach diseased teeth, thankfully there is vibrant discussion in endodontics journals about the impossibility of sterility in root-canal-treated teeth.
If you have a root canal and this information is unnerving, it is important to know that although root canals become focal infections that feed anaerobic bacteria 100 percent of the time, not all root canals are causing systemic health issues, because of an individual’s epigenetics and because each person handles toxicity differently. If you are experiencing a decline in health (especially in the months preceding the procedure), or if you have an autoimmune issue, you may want to explore having root-canaled teeth extracted and the periodontal ligament removed. This is an easier decision if it is a back molar, as the space can be left as is, yet a difficult decision with a front tooth, as you may then need to explore a bridge or a zirconium post implant tooth. Titanium posts are commonly used, though they may deposit alloys and ions in the surrounding tissues that can lead to inflammation, bone loss, and implant failure.
Fortunately, some dentists question these methods, and there are new frontiers in dentistry that can help us all rectify the damage of previous decades of dental procedures. Some biological dentists use platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy to stimulate growth factors, and ozone injections and gels to clean infections and infuse surgical sites with a “breath of fresh air.” These dentists are also leading the way with more biocompatible material choices.[xiv] Dentists that are leading the field with these innovations will be among the first to integrate successful stem-cell therapy for tooth regeneration, which will be a reality in the very near future. It takes due diligence to find a great dentist - discover what questions to ask a dentist before you book an appointment.
THE INVISIBLE TOOTHBRUSH
Teeth are fed through their roots by the dentinal-lymph system. The dentinal-lymph flow is a toroidal system; lymph-liquid spins inward and upward into the tooth’s core, the pulp chamber. It flows through the tooth and out onto the enamel. This microscopic flow of fluid in the teeth originates near the intestinal area and flows upward and outward through the teeth like microscopic sweat, flushing out toxins, providing nutrients for the teeth’s mineral matrix, and repelling microbial biofilm on the tooth surfaces, preventing tooth decay and gum disease.
When this dentinal-lymph secretion is properly metabolized and functional, it acts like an invisible toothbrush, preventing systemic decay, inhibiting the penetration of pathogens, and neutralizing acids on the tooth’s surface. However, this dentinal-lymph flow can stagnate and even fully reverse. Certain chemicals and medication, as well as a diet of processed food, sugar, and carbohydrates that spikes insulin levels and disharmonizes hormones, cause the dentinal-lymph system to reverse. When this happens, the capillaries in the tooth suck in bacteria like a straw, and cause infection and biofilm formation within the pulp chamber and dentin tubules. This self-contaminating system causes a “leaky tooth,” and it is the genesis of cavity creation.
A cavity is an infection in the tooth. Like all wounds, it has the ability to heal. Teeth are alive! The current condition of your teeth and mouth can evolve. Dr. Ralph R. Steinman, the same dentist who scientifically proved the existence of the dentinal-lymph system,[xv] showed that including dietary magnesium and phosphorus reduced the decay rate by 86 percent.[xvi] Dr. Melvin Page confirmed this by finding that when phosphorus blood levels drop below 3.5, cavities begin to form.[xvii] Additionally, the former president of the ADA, Dr. Weston Price, concluded that fat-soluble vitamins K2 and D3 reversed and inhibited decay. Fillings are Band-Aid solutions and are susceptible to recurrent decay. Yet, when the underlying causes of cavities are addressed and the dentinal-lymph flow is restored, teeth will remineralize and be more resilient to cavities in the future.
THE MOUTH’S MICROBIAL MENAGERIE
There are more bacteria in a kiss than there are people on the planet. Our mouths are a microbial menagerie. As holobiont human hosts to these microbes, we have forged an elaborate evolutionary and ancient alliance. A good host provides a stable, loving home and nourishing food for their flora friends. In return, these microbes micromanage our bodies by digesting food and secreting beneficial biochemicals. They are also sentient sentinels that strengthen our immunity while preventing pathogenic periodontal party-crashers from proliferating and from excreting endotoxins and colonizing the community.
The key to oral health is maintaining an ecologically balanced and diverse microbiome. Contrary to this, we have been caught in the dross of carpet-bombing the biome—practicing a scorched-earth policy of periodontal care. Chemicals in teeth bleaching, fillings, rinses, and fluoride; the sudsy surfactants of toothpastes; the antibiotic atomic bombs on bacteria; masticating meals of glyphosates and pesticides; root canals festering focal infections; the metallic mass of mercury, titanium, and nickel—these have all scorched the hive intelligence of our oral habitat.
Just as toxic food and chemical irritants induce leaky guts by microscopically perforating the intestines, the scrubbing and rubbing of our gums with mutating medicants and caustic chemicals cause leaky gums. Bacteria from our mouth does not normally enter our bloodstream, but dental procedures and products can perforate the epithelium, the skin in our mouths, which is only one cell thick, providing a port of entry into the bloodstream. When the bacteria and plaque that cause tooth decay and gum disease enter our circulatory system, they cause a cascade of inflammation, releasing cytokines and C-reactive proteins.
Healthy mouths contain a population of pathogens; the beautiful balance is to have the good bacteria far outnumber the bad. Normally, pathogens exist in a free-floating planktonic state in our body’s ecosystem. But when they grow in numbers, they are able to gain traction by communicating, enabling them to colonize into a biofilm. Under healthy conditions, an oral-ecological balance of bacteria keeps biofilms healthy and stable.
Dental plaque is an ideal nest for germs, so we need strategies to inhibit bacterial communications that create biofilms, yet balance bacteria in lieu of destroying the microbiome. In various studies, essential oils such as cinnamon, peppermint, tea tree, frankincense, and clove showed promising results. In one study, clove oil bacterial activity by up to 70 percent! [xviii] These essential oils indicate anti-infective activity that can coexist with our flora while cleaning up periodontal pathogens. Now we have scientific studies confirming the ancient wisdom of using botanical-biotics to maintain oral ecology.
ELEVATE ORAL ECOLOGY: STOP, SEAL, and SEED
A few updates to your oral care and health routines, you can elevate your oral health and invest in your innate immunity.
STOP
Stop the daily and dietary habits that are compromising to healthy oral ecology. Whatever improvements you make to your mouth will benefit your body’s well-being as well.
• Stop eating the endocrine inhibitors of processed food, sugar, gluten, corn, and glyphosate irritants
• Stop phytic acid consumption. Phytic acid is an antinutrient that plunders phosphorus stores in the body. Soak and ferment gluten-free grains, legumes, and nuts to reduce this antinutrient.
• Stop spikes in blood sugar: maintain blood sugar around 80.
• Stop mouth breathing.
• Stop the microbe mutators of excessive antibiotics, glyphosates, surfactants, and fluoride toothpastes.
• Remove mercury fillings. Be sure to see a qualified biological dentist who follows the removal procedures of the Hal Huggins institute for your safety and the dentist’s.
• Stop using synthetic products. If toothpaste is the magic cleaner for our teeth, then why are cavities at an all-time high, and why does toothpaste come with a big warning label: “May be harmful if swallowed”? [xix] It is best to be a purist about oral health and diligently care with a toothbrush and a dab of salt or baking soda and a pure botanical serum… and they are quite safe to swallow!
SEAL
Bleeding, inflamed, and receding gums are signifiers of bacterial imbalance and that bacteria may be entering the bloodstream. Restore integrity to the oral epithelium by sealing leaky gums.
Gum Sealers are soothing serums with vulnerary botanical-biotics —Seabuckthorn, Rose Otto, Frankincense, and Myrrh—diluted in a lipid, such as coconut or MCT oil. You can make your own or try Happy Gums Clay Toothpaste or an ozonated oral gel, such as Ozonated Happy Gum Gel. These botanical-biotics are known for their ability to heal tissue, restore skin cells, foster phospholipids, and nurture the epithelium. When these soothing serums are applied, people often find a reduction in gum bleeding overnight.
Seal the Guts with diet, herbs, and probiotics for optimal oral. Our teeth are connected to every organ and gland via the bloodstream. Any infection that the mouth harbors, any metals, and any toxins in our mouths affect our overall health.
Oral Alkalinizers of baking soda, sea salt, and magnesium are soothing in mouth rinses and effective as toothpastes due to their alkalinizing-exfoliating action that gently removes plaque. Healthy saliva, a sea of saline alkalinity, contains chemicals and enzymes that exist solely to take care of the teeth. If saliva is too acidic, it dissolves the enamel on your teeth and creates an environment that supports bacteria. With decay, saliva jumps into action to coat the tooth with its beautiful healing fluid. The quality and quantity of saliva also hinge on hydration, so drink up!
Paul H. Keyes, DDS, clinical investigator at the National Institute of Dental Research, advised regular brushing with baking soda as it prevents all destructive periodontal disease. [xx] It is also significantly less abrasive than the cleaning agents of chalk and silica that are used in commercial toothpastes.
You can make your own Oral Alkaliniziers with baking soda or try Frankincense Fresh Sensitive Toothpaste.
Mouth Swishers, (also known as oil swishing or oil pulling), are an ancient Ayurvedic medicinal practice used to detoxify the mouth, teeth, gums, and the entire oral cavity. A small number of studies have been conducted on oil swishing and its impact on halitosis and oral health. Researchers concluded that oil swishing may eliminate the bacteria that cause oral issues.[xxi]
It is best to oil swish first thing in the morning before you eat or drink. Measure about twenty drops of coconut or MCT oil and two drops of an essential oil or Happy Gum Drops + Oil Swishing Serum and swish in your mouth for up to fifteen minutes, and then spit it in a trash can to protect your pipes.
Whiteness comes from within! Tooth enamel is actually transparent, and gray, glassy teeth denote a deficiency in the body of vitamins D3 and K2. These fat-soluble vitamins nourish the dentin, creating shiny, white teeth. Polish off plaque that can get stained by food pigments with one-half teaspoon of three percent food-grade hydrogen peroxide mixed with a teaspoon of baking soda on a dry electric toothbrush once or twice a month.
Botanical-Biotics The aromatic compounds of essential oils act as bacteriostatic microbiome regenerators and biofilm disrupters. They effectively reduce biofilm formation, specifically biofilms formed by S. mutans. In research, Cinnamon essential oil has demonstrated the unique ability to penetrate pathogenic biofilms to clean up bacteria. [xxii]
Thyme, Cardamom, Clove, and Cinnamon oils can be used in diluted forms to brush teeth, as a rinse with oil or water, and in tooth serums to massage into the gums. A drop of Spearmint, Rose Otto, Tea Tree, Peppermint, and/or Frankincense, can be used directly on the toothbrush, massaged right into the gums, or spread along a piece of floss to upgrade your flossing routine. Yogi Tooth Serum, Neem Enamelizer Liquid Toothpaste, and Mint + Myrrh Tooth Serum contain potent combinations of these essential oils for bacterial balance and super-sweet breath. Or, you can try making your own botanical serum.
SEED
With the depletion of microbial diversity, we need to build our oral bacterial bank account and fund it with investments of diverse flora.
Prebiotics and Probiotics
Prebiotics and probiotics are microbial multipliers. A probiotic-dairy combination was found to reduce the cavity- and periodontal-disease-causing bacteria in the mouth. Providing Lactobacillus reuteri to children from the last trimester through the first birthday has been found to reduce cavities at nine years old. It can also help heal damaged gums and gingivitis.[xxiii]
Successful experiments at some dental practices have applied a mixture of probiotics after scaling and root planing called Guided Pocket Recolonization.[xxiv] This can be safely and simply carried out at home with a blunt-tipped syringe filled with a mix of probiotics and a carrier oil, such as MCT.
Preparing for a Dental Appointment
When we do go to the dentist, there are steps we can take before we go to prepare our mouths, health, and immune systems for this type of intervention. Depending on your overall oral health or what the dentist will be doing, preparing with the following eight simple steps to successful self-dentistry for 3 weeks to 3 months prior your appointment is key.
Pre-prepping the mouth’s microbiome and immune system will make your appointment more successful, most likely less expensive, and have smoother immune results. Preparing for an appointment may seem over the top, yet it is important because after a deep scaling by a hygienist, oral bacteria are dislodged and flow into the blood stream, challenging the immune system. The body responds to this perceived attack by releasing white blood cells to combat the invading microbes, and one of the results is systemic inflammation. This is why donating blood is not allowed for 48 hours after a dental cleaning because the blood is likely to be full of bacteria.
Begin with the classic immune boosters: vitamin D from sunshine, iodine, NAC, and glutathione. Also add 1000 to 2000 mg per day of vitamin C, depending on your health and bowel tolerance. If you are going to the dentist for more serious work than a cleaning, be advised that taking vitamin C orally reduces the numbing effect of Novocain and anesthetic.
Peptides
Peptides are precise and practical options for periodontal care. Peptides are naturally occurring regulatory signaling cells that promote the body’s own healing system.
There is a trifecta of peptides that I find to be foundational to all aspects of oral care: thymosin alpha-one, BHP-157, and thymosin β4.
Thymosin Alpha-one
Thymosin alpha-one is the immune superhero and is great for pre- and post-dental visits, extractions, cavitation clean-ups, and minor procedures. Research shows that TA1 modulates the immune by enhancing T-cell function (T-cells are big players in the immune system), and by regaining control of cytokines that have “stormed” and are attacking the body in lieu of boosting immunity.
BPC-157
BPC-157 seals and heals tissues, gums, and guts. BPC is a complex composition of 15 amino acids found in human gastric juice. It plays a significant role in healing various wounds, and researchers think it may help cure periodontitis. When it was administered to rats with periodontitis, their oral health improved enough to have scientists conclude that “BPC 157 may represent a new peptide candidate in the treatment of periodontal disease.” [xxv] It works on multiple pathways in the nucleus of the cell directing the silencing of genes that continue inflammation and promoting the genes that direct blood vessel, connective tissue, fascia, and nerve repair.
Leading edge biological dentists are having success with this very specific, revolutionary peptide protocol with BPC-157 for receding gums. Inform your holistic dentist about this protocol in advance. Dentists can reach out to the International Peptide Society for more information.
Here is the protocol:
• Dilute BPC-157 (5mg vial of peptide powder) with 1ml NaCI 0.9 (do not dilute with regular bacteriostatic water as that is too painful for gum injections). Note: NaCI will cause a suspension effect and you will see suspensions of particles with this reconstitution.
• Apply a drop of organic Peppermint essential oil to the gum/injection site to clean and provide a subtle anesthetization.
• Inject 0.25 ml in the receding gum area (4 injections total: two in upper gum tissues, two in the low area) using smaller dental needles.
• Repeat protocol in 3 weeks.
• Monitor. Repeat a third time if needed.
• Measure gum pockets before and after.
• Effect may be visible in 10 days.
BPC is also available in powder form (which is rare for a peptide), and this powder can be added to baking soda to make pastes (see below) and tooth-masks. It is also awesome added to oil pulling.
Thymosin β4
Thymosin β4 occurs naturally in the human body as an all-around repair molecule, especially soft tissue repair. It is a hormone secreted from the thymus and calms inflammation, stimulates the production of T-cells, and is released by platelets at the site of an injury to trigger the cascade of healing activities. Thymosin also assists in the development of B cells to plasma cells to produce antibodies. It accelerates skin healing in preclinical animal models and in patients. Builds bone health.
Use these three peptides subcutaneously in the months leading up to your appointment and then focus dose before and after appointments, deep cleanings, dental surgeries, and extractions.
Our bodies are brilliantly designed! When we multiply our mouth’s microbiome and activate our invisible toothbrush by eliminating what hinders the innate functioning of our bodies, the external maintenance of brushing and flossing is so easy, because our teeth are alive and will respond to our efforts! The current condition of our mouth can evolve, as enamel can be restored, dentine can be reactivated, saliva can remineralize, and gums can be rejuvenated.
A mouthful of bustling bacteria just might keep the dentist away.
MAKE YOUR OWN
ALKALINIZING TOOTHPASTE
Liquefy coconut oil in a double boiler and add in the other ingredients.
Mix together, pour into jars (a different jar for each person in the family),
and pop in the fridge to solidify.
Once solidified, it can be keep out of the fridge.
• 30 ml Coconut Oil
• 20 ml Baking Soda
• 20 drops Peppermint
• 10 drops Frankincense
• 10 drops Sweet Thyme
Fun and Effective Options:
5ml activated charcoal, or
6 capsules powdered BPC 157 peptide, or
4 capsules of powdered probiotics
FRANKINCENSE TOOTH SERUM
This concentrated chrism is to be used sparingly by the drop to deeply clean between teeth with floss, in a blunt-tipped syringe for cleaning the gum line, and dabbed on cankers or massaged onto gums for extra care. This mix is therapeutically concentrated, so do a patch test before using.
• 20 ml MCT Oil
• 5 ml Frankincense
MINTY MOUTHWASH
Make a strong saltwater rinse by dissolving salt in warm water. You want it to taste as salty as the ocean. Baking soda is also a good rinse. Saliva is similar biochemically to baking soda, and baking soda is also alkaline, which is exactly what the saliva needs. Adding frankincense and peppermint boosts botanical-biotic action. Shake before use.
• 10 ml Sea Salt or Baking Soda
• 500 ml Water
• 2 drops Frankincense
• 2 drops Peppermint
Additional Resources
Huggins Applied Healing
The International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology
International Academy of Ceramic Implantology
International Society of Metal-Free Implantology
International Peptide Society
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Nadine Artemis, the founder of Living Libations, is the author of Holistic Dental Care: The Complete Guide to Healthy Teeth and Gums, and Renegade Beauty: Reveal and Revive Your Natural Radiance, which was named one of “The Top 10 Books on Skin Care” by The Strategist of New York Magazine. She is a respected media guest and contributor, and her products have received rave reviews in the New York Times, LA Times, Elle, People, Vogue, and Hollywood Reporter. Described by Alanis Morissette as “a true-sense visionary,” Nadine crafts elegant formulations and healing creations from rare botanicals that have skin glowing around the world. Her concept of Renegade Beauty encourages effortlessness and inspires people to rethink conventional notions of beauty and wellness.
[i] James Wynbrandt, The Excruciating History of Dentistry: Toothsome Tales & Oral Oddities from Babylon to Braces, 1st ed. (New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2000), 181.
[ii] “Amalgam/Mercury—Dental Filling Toxicity,” Huggins Applied Healing, www.hugginsappliedhealing.com/amalgam-mercury.php, accessed December 2012.
[iii] U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “Mercury Releases and Spills,” www.epa.gov/mercury/spills/.
[iv] Parin Shah, January 22, 2004, www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/dockets/06n0352/06N-0352-EC22-Attach-6.pdf.
[v] G. Sällsten, J. Thorén, L. Barregård, A. Schütz, and G. Skarping, “Long-Term Use of Nicotine Chewing Gum and Mercury Exposure from Dental Amalgam Fillings,” Journal of Dental Research 75, no. 1 (January 1996): 594–598.
[vi] Jay W. Friedman, “The Prophylactic Extraction of Third Molars: A Public Health Hazard,” American Journal of Public Health 97, no. 9 (September 2007): 1554–1559.
[vii] Ibid.
[viii] Corinne Vizcarra, “Incidence Levels and Chronic Health Effects Related to Cavitations,” www.biodentistrydrvizcarra.com/?s=8&sub=8.
[ix] The Tooth Truth: Cavity-Free Conversations with Dentists, Doctors and Health Heroes (White Lake, ON: The Raw Divas, Inc., December 1, 2012), www.wishsummit.com/book.
[x]https://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/dentistry/diet-in-relation-to-dental-caries/
[xi] Find a list of Steinman’s research at www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/39704414-Ralph-R-Steinman
[xii] In an interesting correlation, physician Josef Issels in forty years of treating cancer, found that 98 percent of his patients had root canals. He insists that his patients remove root-canaled teeth before starting treatment.
[xiii] Stuart M. Nunnally, “In Vitro Enzymatic Inhibition Associated with Asymptomatic Root Canal Treated Teeth: Results from a Sample of 25 Extracted Root Fragments.” Journal of Minerals, Metals, and Materials Society. Vol. 27, no. 3 (2012): 112-116 https://iaomt.org/wp-content/uploads/Nunnally-RC-Enzyme-Inhibition.pdf
[xiv] See Nadine Artemis, Holistic Dental Care: The Complete Guide to Healthy Teeth and Gums (Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books, 2013) for questions to ask your dentists before making an appointment.
[xv] For further scientific research, explore the book about Dr. Ralph R. Steinman’s pioneering work: Clyde Roggenkamp, Dentinal Fluid Transport (Loma Linda, CA: Loma Linda University Press, 2005).
[xvi] Ralph R. Steinman and John Leonora, “Effect of Selected Dietary Additives on the Incidence of Dental Caries in the Rat,” Journal of Dental Research 54 (May 1975): 570–577.
[xvii] Melvin Page, Your Body Is Your Best Doctor, rev. ed. (New Canaan, CT: Keats, 1991).
[xviii] Shodhganga, “Summary,” http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/63580/18/18_summary.pdf.
[xix] Dig deeper into oral ecology, self-dentistry, and botanical oils for the mouth in my book Holistic Dental Care: The Complete Guide to Healthy Teeth and Gums.
[xx] For more information on the Keyes Method, the Saturday Evening Post has an interview with Dr. Thomas Rams, the Paul H. Keyes Professor of Periodontology at Temple University School of Dentistry in Philadelphia: www.thefreelibrary.com/ /taking+the+bite+out+of+gum+disease %3a+an+interview+with+thomas+Rams,...-a0160421172.
[xxi] Poonam Sood, Aruna Devi, Ridhi Narang, Swathi V, Diljot Kaur Makkar, “Comparative Efficacy of Oil Pulling and Chlorhexidine on Oral Malodor: A Randomized Controlled Trial,” Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research 8, no. 11 (November 2014): ZC18–ZC21.
[xxii] Titik Nuryastuti et al., “Effect of Cinnamon Oil on icaA Expression and Biofilm Formation by Staphylococcus epidermidis,” Applied Environmental Microbiology 75, no. 21 (November 2009): 6850–6855.
[xxiii] Matthews, The Symbiont Factor, 205.
[xxiv] W. Teughels et al., “Guiding Periodontal Pocket Recolonization: A Proof of Concept,” Journal of Dental Research 86, no. 11 (November 2007): 1078–1082.
[xxv] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20388954/