What does it mean if after flossing you notice a bad smell on the floss and your fingers? (Deborah Boyar)

If you floss less than every 12-24 hours, the odor is probably from the sulfide compounds produced by the bacterial colonies that can form in that amount of time. Cure: floss 1-2 times per day. (If you're eating primarily live foods, maybe floss ain't necessary to prevent odors, I don't know). If you floss MORE than 1-2 per day and still have odor between teeth, I recommend that you get it checked by someone.

What do you use to keep YOUR mnouth clean?

Here's the sheet we give our clients who ask that question:

DENTAL GADGETS --nsd

"So what do YOU use -- and WHY?"

Here's what Dr. Bob's research, observation & experience since '65 have led him to use in HIS mouth (want info on HOW or WHY any of these are used? ask us!):

Brush: Periodontal Health Brush (PHB) (Dr. Bob's used & recommended since '73) -- Why?

1--Bristles are 0.007" diameter, best size for reaching into the groove where the gum attaches to the tooth (& that's why the bristles are soft--stiff bristles have larger diameters)

2--Each bristle is rounded at the tip so it's kind to the gum tissue

3--The bristles point toward the center of the brush to aim at the groove between the tooth & gum

4--The brush is sold with a removable cap that reshapes the bristles after each use & prolongs the life of the brush from weeks to years

5--The brush was developed & sold by Dr. Phillips, a man of integrity & one devoted to helping his patients achieve oral health WITHOUT dentists

6--The brush was designed right & they've not changed the basic design all these years.

Order direct at (619) 756-9528 (or we can supply at NSD).

Floss holder: EZ Floss (used & recommended since '72)--doesn't break & it's small enough to slip into every shirt pocket I own. Order at (800) 227-0208*

Electric: Interplak (since pre-'85) --probably no more effective than PHB; I use it 'cause it's fast (one minute rather than four for a HEALTHY mouth). Purchase at Costco or wherever.

Irrigator: Shower-Floss (since '95)--I've used & enjoyed this appliance every day since 9/95 & I've given my owned-but-seldom-used WaterPik unit away. The ShowerFloss installed in 2 minutes; effective because people actually USE it due to its convenience. Order at (800) 959-3567*.

"KenkoFloss" (since 7/99) Brand new technology added to the ShowerFloss creates the ultimate oral home care device! Magnetic technology was researched & proven by HydroFloss in '93, but has all the inconveniences of the WaterPik. Now you can add the benefits non-carbon chlorine removal AND magnetics with this ingenious device from a multinational health and wellness organization.

CLIFF LINK TO *1F

For more advanced gum disease: Proxi-brush, Baby Yarn



What do you think of dried fruits?

I understand from Covert Bailey that drying fruits converted their glucose and fructose to sucrose and greatly increased their stickiness. Great for MY business, maybe not so good for human bodies? I think dried fruits are "health candy". Since they're "natural", as is botulinus toxin, eating them provides you with "natural" cavities, much preferred to the "unnatural ones obtained from "refined" candy, eh? :-)

Can teeth become sensitive to sugars

Sure, it's their job! Why? Because the sugars are reaching exposed dentinal tubules that are normally covered by enamel or gum tissue. Could be from leaking silver bullets, other leaking restorations, receding gum tissue, fractured teeth, possibly, caries (cavities). I don't know. If everything's intact and none of those problems exist, I'm tempted to think it's the ever-wise body saying "Don't eat that crap just now."

Everyone wants to know about using hydrogen peroxide and baking soda. Please give us the definitive word once and for all!

Not EVERYONE. I'm not particularly interested in it! Peroxide and baking soda are OK for teeth-cleaning, although I favor using only a dry brush. Blot the brush on a paper towel, tap the slobber out on the basin or "sip" the fluids out of the bristles periodically (my preferred technique-& great for those who worry about getting inadequate protein!). To "blot" the groove between the teeth and gums, direct the soft bristles at a 45ø angle beneath the gum tissue and wiggle the handle of the brush back and forth about ten seconds in each area. It's the mechanical action of the bristles that effectively loosens the sticky bacterial colonies in plaque, not so much the chemicals on the brush. Liquid, toothpaste, etc. mainly clogs the spaces between the bristles of the brush that, if left dry, allow plaque to be lifted out of the gingival sulcus (that groove between the gums and the tooth) by capillary action.

H2O2. Hydrogen peroxide. Water with an extra oxygen molecule hanging unstably on it. When it gets in contact with most anything, that extra oxygen molecule splits off, forming a bubble. Thousands of those micro-bubbles shake plaque and bacteria off the teeth and beneath the gums, providing a bit of micro-cleaning. The "something" they react with is generally the cell wall of the bacteria, making the bacteria extremely upset and killing some of them. It's been a folk remedy for decades, promoted by Dr. Paul Keyes of NIDR in the 70's and by Dr. Bob Nara of OraMedics in the 80's. I believe it's not harmful and may even be helpful in cleaning the mouth. It's about ALL that's helpful LOCALLY in cases of ANUG (Acute Necrotizing Ulcerative Gingivitis = "Trenchmouth," so popular in the trenches in WWI and around final exam time in college kids).

My recommendation: "It ain't the meat, it's the motion." It's the MECHANICAL, not the chemical action that's most effective in preventing and controlling gum disease and cavities. Plaque forms in about 24 hours, it's sticky and if you can disrupt it effectively every 24 hours by physically removing it or at least stirring it up once a day, it won't colonize to the point it's toxic wastes can waste your mouth. Get the bristles of the brush to the bottom of every pocket and the floss to the bottom of the pockets between all the teeth you'd care to keep.

To end my questions for you for this month, will you give us an oral Natural Hygiene plan?

Oral Natural Hygiene, my field of expertise!?! For someone who lived the NH lifestyle from birth, never experienced processed sucrose, never let the body become enervated to the point where dentinal tubular flow had stagnated or reversed, never had periodontal disease and its resulting "pockets" and never had dental caries, brushing and flossing would be unnecessary except for cleaning the parts same as we clean the rest of the accessible body parts. For Hygienists with a history of periodontal disease and untreated deep pockets, it might take 30 min/day to control the process with brush, floss, perio-aid, Proxi-brush, etc. For an average, healthy hygienist with SOME history of dental problems, perhaps five minutes per day is sufficient (I spend about three minutes per day) and I'd guess the average "Hygienist," who probably adopted the NH lifestyle well into systemic degeneration and with multiple 4-5 mm "pockets" around the teeth, the fifteen minutes per day would be accurate.

[Bob, I plan to run your questions at the end of both issues.. will also include the address and sample copy information for the M2M.. anything else you want to go both times please tack on at the bottom and so indicate..]

Now that I've answered questions, would you ask your readers to answer some for me? They can send their answers to Dr. Robert Wynman, North Shore Dental, PO Box A, 215 Carnelian Bay Road, Carnelian Bay, CA 96140 or fax me at 916/546-3365 or 581-3755. I'm most interested in the "NH-Dental Connection". Dentists as a group are not quite as establishment-oriented as physicians. Our profession mostly repairs mechanical defects caused by disease and trauma; we rarely actually "treat" disease with drugs, radiation, surgery, as do physicians. Probably we "treat" about 10-20% of our time whereas MD's "treat" probably 90% of their time. Therefore more dentists are interested in prevention, nutrition and alternative concepts than physicians.

1. How are the dental diseases (caries and periodontal disease) explained according to Natural Hygiene theory? Do "real" Natural Hygienists get periodontal disease? Dental caries? I have NO data. Does ANYONE have data?

2. Do any of you who actually LIVE hygienically have stories about dental cavities and/or gum disease related to your lifestyle changes? I'd sure like to hear from you. Every day I see people losing their dental health to unhealthful lifestyle choices and have no specific data to help convince them to alter their lifestyles for dental benefits. It would be great to have a few real people who'd write testimonies to the DENTAL benefits of Natural Hygiene and be willing to communicate with people considering changing their lifestyles.

3. Are ANY dentists accumulating such data? Are any actually practicing NH? (I've talked to several who publish in NH magazines and CLAIM to practice NH, but only Dr. Tom Stone of San Francisco seems to have any concept of the connection between NH and dental diseases).

4. Is there any literature specifically demonstrating the dental benefits of Natural Hygiene? As a dentist, I'm not supposed to advise in the "medical" domain and people sometimes expect specific dental info.

5. Any literature on the details of the relationship between Natural Hygiene and the dental diseases? If this info's already written, it needs to be republished or otherwise made available to interested folks, such as me. If it hasn't already been written, I'll continue to research the literature, collect clinical data and write and publish it myself, perhaps as a chapter in a colleague's Natural Hygiene Book. CONTINUE