Is Brushing and Flossing Enough?

When we consider the sheer volume of food debris, living and dead microorganisms, odors, sloughed off skin cells, and toxins that build up in that space (sulcus) under the gums around our teeth, it takes careful attention to a program to keep that toxic waste in the sulcus from setting off periodontal disease.  It is estimated that 100,000,000 Americans have moderate to severe periodontal disease, so it doesn’t take too much guess work to figure out what might be elevating CRP in much of the United States population.  One of the keys to keeping CRP at the lowest levels is to control what goes on in the sulcus.  The dentists at Preston Road Dental Care, PA, (PRDC) recommend the following techniques and materials as required for genuinely effective oral (and systemic) health maintenance, a higher standard of care than is currently recognized in most dental offices today.  Oral and systemic health can largely depend on how clean you keep your mouth, and brushing and flossing can’t do the job adequately  by themselves.

Oxyfresh 3000 hydromagnetic irrigator – will allow you to really begin to take control of cleaning your mouth under the gums where gum disease can establish itself if allowed to do so. This critically important home-care step is the most overlooked and probably the single most important element in preventing periodontal disease on the home front.  It is accomplished by using the highly effective cleansing ability of a pulsing oral irrigator, which has ionized water jetting through one of a variety of tips.  This cleansing activity offers substantial health benefits by allowing the user to cleanse the sulcus on a daily basis.  The same machine can also be used to deliver a number of substances into the sulcus that can kill microorganisms, eliminate odors, reduce inflammation, and flush the toxic stew out from under the gum.  We recommend a shot-glass sized quantity of Oxyfresh mouthrinse be added to the reservoir of warm water to bring the anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant rich nutrients into the sulcus where any inflamed tissue can benefit from it.  Studies have shown the Oxyfresh hydromagnetic irrigator to be more than twice as effective in removing plaque as the nonmagnetic water pic varieties.  We recommend cleansing the sulcular groove around and between the teeth at least daily since the user will be capable of doing a much more effective job of cleansing that area than brushing and flossing alone could ever accomplish.  

Tongue scraper -  a daily health-maintenance procedure that removes the same kind of toxic stew on the tongue as is found in the sulcus.  The tongue does not have a smooth surface.  It is covered with thousands of little worm-like projections called papillae,  that resemble a shag rug.  Whether the toxic stew is on the tongue or trapped in the sulcus makes little difference.  It still sticks, causes soft tissue breakdown, and creates inflammation.  The tongue may be tender when first beginning to scrape it, but that usually abates fairly quickly once the tongue gets cleaned daily.  When scraping the tongue , it is very important to make sure you scrape as far back as possible.

Mouthwash – PRDC recommends Oxyfresh mouthwash as an organic and safe product that is highly effective in the homecare armentarium.  Used initially in the oral irrigator, then one capful vigorously swished for one minute after tongue scraping is a particularly effective way to enhance breath by  removing additional organisms and neutralizing odor.

Toothbrush – PRDC recommends only soft bristle toothbrushes be used in the mouth, and leave those medium and hard bristle ones for cleaning the tiles in the shower or the edge of the kitchen sink.  We further recommend that the Sonicare electric toothbrush is consistently more effective than is handbrushing.  Its’ built-in 2 minute timer ensures  the proper amount of brushing time, and the built-in stall feature keeps one from brushing too hard.  When aimed at a 45 degree angle to the tooth – gum interface, and then across the chewing surfaces at a very slow rate of moving the brush is very effective. 

Toothpaste – PRDC recommends the organic Oxyfresh toothpaste as safe, effective, and not containing “the nine untouchables”.  A small pearl sized amount of toothpaste is all that is necessary.  More is not better!  Although spitting the excess out is fine, we do not recommend that you rinse the toothpaste out of your mouth.  Teeth should be brushed three times a day.

Dental gel – PRDC recommends that a pearl sized drop of the organic Oxyfresh dental gel be wiped along the gumline and around all accessible surfaces of your teeth.  Again, spitting is encouraged, but rinsing out the gel should be avoided, as well as eating or drinking for 20 minutes after applying the dental gel.

Flossing – done at this point in the sequence outlined above, delivers the residual Oxyfresh toothpaste and dental gel to the areas under the gum where the floss is able to reach and has therapeutic benefits.  One should be gentle in flossing such that they do not injure the gum, lifting over the gum to floss the adjacent tooth surface.  This should be done on a daily basis. 

The regimen outlined above done on a daily basis will help one win the periodontal/systemic disease epidemic so prevalent in this country today.  Those wanting improvement in their oral/systemic health would be well advised to choose their oral health products and devices carefully.  Once you get control of your mouth,  you will never want to go back to how your mouth feels when the microorganisms are winning. 

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