The Role of a Healthy Mouth

For anyone working in the natural health field, one particular conclusion is easy to come to: it is safe to say that many people's chronic health problems are coming from their mouth.

One of the biggest health regrets of my life is that I went so many years without flossing. I kick myself (repeatedly) that it took so long for me to get it (I didn't start until I met my wife in 1988). How I missed the importance of flossing—for decades!—is just one of those embarrassing brain breakdowns I can not explain. It is an oversight that ended up costing me over $20,000. So, for anyone still in this brain freeze, you need to read this article by one of the best holistic natural dentists in the US, Dr. Ray Behm, DDS.

I came across this article a couple years ago, and was happy to see that I've been using much of his protocol (including the hydrogen peroxide swish) for 12 years. It not only has kept me cavity free, but it keeps my mouth healthier than it's ever been, and it whitens teeth. It's the most complete method for mouth care I've ever read in one succinct article.

I called Dr. Behm, and he was kind enough to allow us to reprint his article here. For more information, please visit his site.

Enjoy,

Scott

"What is it about the mouth that makes this hazardous waste non-toxic?" - Sandra Denton, M.D.

"If I was diagnosed with an incurable degenerative disease, I would definitely extract any questionable teeth. The infected tooth you leave in could be the one that is killing the patients." - Harold Ravin, D.D.S

The "Secret"
by Ray G. Behm, Jr DDS, from his great site, SaveYourTeeth.com.
Reprinted by permission.

The Secret to Healthy Gums (or How to keep your teeth for the rest of your life!)

Over 90% of all gum and teeth problems begin BETWEEN the teeth. If you don’t believe it, I dare you to run a piece of floss between any two molars (back teeth) and see what you pull out. Notice how it smells! Decide for yourself if you want that in your mouth!

There are two stages of gum care: therapeutic (treatment, repair which occurs before the next stage) and maintenance (maintaining wellness or maintaining that which you have repaired). If you have any doubts as to your condition then you should consult with a professional to help you determine the magnitude of your problem.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that if your gums are puffy, red and bleeding, this can mean infection is present; and then you will know you are probably in the therapeutic stage.

The SECRET was developed to enable a person efficiently and inexpensively improve the condition of their own gums no matter what the condition. This system improves redness, swelling and bleeding of the gums, and minimizes the need for surgery. We said improve and minimize because this system should improve all but the worst areas in the mouth. The bottom line is, as long as you are able to break up the formation of the plaque and bacteria that forms around the teeth and gums once every 24-hours, you can better control your own gum condition at home (if you don’t, or can’t, break up the accumulation every 24 hours, you need to consult with a dentist who may recommend gum surgery or a method to prevent need for surgery).

This system is for those who want to take the responsibility to eliminate the disease process themselves, and obtain a fresh start with their gums and teeth. So, care about yourself and read on.

The Story of Dental Disease

Around each one of your teeth there is a natural space between the gum and the tooth. The depth of this space is important. If it’s too deep, it becomes a breeding ground for bacteria and disease. Disease is diagnosed by redness, swelling, bleeding, odor and pocket depth. The presence or absence of gum disease is a reflection of an individual’s ability to withstand the negative influences of improper teeth care, daily eating, drinking, and even by the content of one’s own saliva.

Resistance to gum and tooth problems consists of one’s habits and lifestyle along with genetic inheritance.
Habits and lifestyle are, of course, the easiest of these influences to control. The good news is that habits and lifestyle can win over genetic deficiency in most cases.

Our main focus is on the space between the gum and the tooth, which extends all the way around the tooth. This is similar to a trough or rain gutter around a roof. In dentistry this space is called the sulcus.

Perhaps you’ve seen weeds growing out of a rain gutter. They look a little out of place, don’t they? Well, the reason they’re growing there is because there is nutrition and a favorable environment for them to grow. A similar thing occurs in the sulcus. The more space, the more it will support the growth of life that shouldn’t be there, as this is a warm, wet, no oxygen environment with lots of food that’s already been chewed!

It takes only about 24 hours for the bacterial deposit to form into colonies around the teeth and gums. When these bacterial colonies build up they become stronger. It just so happens that when life is left to breed in the sulcus for more than seven to ten days, it can form bacterial organisms (called anaerobic) that don’t like oxygen. In fact, they require NO oxygen to live. They are very happy to live in this warm, dark, wet environment that lacks oxygen.

The by-products (waste or excrement) of this bacteria is toxic or poisonous to our body. The natural reaction of the body is to separate itself from these poisons through the inflammatory process (which an immune system response of the body), which results in bleeding, swelling and redness of your gums. This is your body’s way of trying to heal itself. However, if the bleeding, swelling and redness do not clear up after a reasonable amount of time the bone around the teeth are affected. That’s why teeth are eventually lost – starting with even minor gum problems: the body needs some help to repair the situation.

If you had a swollen place on your arm that was red and bleeding, wouldn’t you be concerned? If you had a place on your lip that was swollen, smelled and was bleeding, wouldn’t you want to spend some time to fix it? If you think you have a problem with your gums, then you probably do. It only becomes a further problem if you ignore it and don’t change your habits. The SECRET was designed to help people who don’t want to ignore the problem and who want to help themselves. The SECRET will help you change your habits to ones which promote healthy gums and teeth.

To control dental disease it is necessary to break up and remove the colonies of bacteria from around the sulcus and teeth area once every 24 hours by alkalizing and oxygenating this area.

To do this requires more than just brushing your teeth. You must stimulate the gum tissue to increase the flow of blood (which brings nutrition and oxygen to that area). Stimulating the gum area also removes waste from the tissue.
You don’t have to do this to all your teeth and gums, only the ones you want to keep! And we hope you want to keep all your teeth.

Please note: This remedy for your gums works best when preceded by a thorough, professional dental cleaning which removes hardened plaque (tartar or calculus) from your teeth. If a prior cleaning is not possible, it is still beneficial to follow this program, but results may vary and may take longer to achieve.

"The SECRET" REVEALED

There are three main instruments (along with some options if your budget allows) to be used as part of your home remedy. All three instruments are to be used as therapeutic as well as maintenance tools. Plus a “healthy gum recipe,” which is The SECRET that makes it all work. The SECRET is the combined use of all or part of all these that create health – the signs and symptoms are gone.

Tool #1 - THE BRUSH

The first instrument is a toothbrush - a child's small, soft, three-rowed brush (we suggest Butler’s #114, Garfield, which is available at our office). You are going to use this brush to apply the following Secret recipe to your gums.

HEALTHY GUM "SECRET" RECIPE:
The Secret consists of both DRY AND WET ingredients.

Dry ingredients:
• Baking Soda (sodium bicarbonate) – either regular or pharmaceutical grade (available at our office). If you are sensitive to sodium, then use potassium bicarbonate. AlkaMax is a good substitute.

Plus ONE of the following:
• Bio-Salt (available at our office), or
• Himalayan salt, or
• Celtic salt, or
• Regular table salt, or
• Parkelp, a granulated kelp, available in a package or bulk at health food stores, or
• Sodium-free (potassium) salt for salt restricted diets.


Combine your dry ingredients in a small jar with a lid:
• three (3) parts Baking Soda
and
• one (1) part salt
Shake this dry mixture to blend well. Keep this dry mixture in your bathroom. You will be using this every day.

When you’re ready to apply the SECRET RECIPE, pour between a teaspoon and a tablespoon of this DRY mixture from the container into your palm.

Wet ingredient:
Liquid will be added to the dry mixture in your hand to create a paste each time you’re ready to do “The Secret.”
For liquid, you can use either:
• Colloidal Silver - safe if you still have mercury amalgam fillings, or
• Hydrogen peroxide - only if you have no metal (mercury/amalgam) fillings in your mouth, or
• Aloe Vera
Adding such products as Amazon Herb’s Una de Gato (a natural antioxidant) will help too.
Drop a bit of the liquid into the dry mixture in your palm to create a thick paste. You will learn from experience on how much of your RECIPE to use.

Again, the key items are Baking Soda, Salt, Hydrogen Peroxide (or Colloidal Silver if you have metal amalgam fillings).
a. Load a bunch of the mixture onto the soft brush. Angle the brush 45 degrees to where the tooth meets the gum (the sulcus junction).
b. Push the loaded brush as far as you can into the area where the tooth meets the gum (sulcus). Do not cause yourself pain.
c. Use a vibrating motion (very small wiggling motion) so that the bristles that are forced into the sulcus remain there as you vibrate. It’s an agitating type of motion. Do not use wide circular motions like scrubbing a floor or washing a window.

Repeat this action as you move along the gum line for three to five seconds at each spot on both the cheek and tongue side. As you apply more of The SECRET mixture to the brush, be sure to continue where you left off on the gum line. Repeat this procedure until you have completed both upper and lower gum lines. Whenever necessary spit out the mixture and saliva. There is no need to rinse afterwards, unless you want to.

The soft brush is the applicator/loading instrument that is used to get the recipe into the sulcus. The recipe does the work, not the brush; the brush forces the recipe into the sulcus.

Doing the above on a gradient approach will obtain healing in the sulcus. Do it once a day until you can gradually increase to twice a day. When you are able to do it twice a day for two weeks in a row, your gums should have become very tough (this is good) and should have a pink-white color (this is also good).

The healthy gum recipe creates an environment in and around your teeth in which the harmful bacteria can’t live (they can’t stand oxygen and/or silver water). The recipe neutralizes the acid environment in the sulcus (which is created from the waste products of the bacteria). These harmful bacteria don’t like the alkaline, or neutral, environment created by the salt, baking soda, colloidal silver and/or hydrogen peroxide.

Tool #2 - The BUTLER RUBBER TIP STIMULATOR:

The second instrument you need to improve your gums is the Butler Rubber Tip Gum Stimulator.

It will be much more efficient using the Rubber Tip after you can brush twice a day with the recipe above your gums are then tough and a pink-white color. This would minimally be two weeks after you start this program.

Do not begin using the Rubber Tip until you can brush twice a day with the recipe above and your gums are now tough and a pink-white color. This would minimally be two weeks after you start this program.

The rubber tip is used to shrink the swelling around the teeth. This swelling redness, bleeding, odor, etc. is referred to as periodontal disease. Periodontal refers to ‘existing around gums and teeth.’ Use the rubber tip on both the cheek and tongue side with maximal contact of the rubber in the triangular portion of the gum between the teeth.

This instrument serves the same purpose as the muscles do in your body. You are literally exercising your gums. Here’s how it works. Blood carries food to the cells and takes waste away from these same cells. Without the muscles, the blood would merely pool in the body because of gravity. As you exercise the gums, nutrients and blood are carried to the gums and then away from the gums creating strong circulation and therefore good, healthy, long-living tissue.

It’s true that the heart (a muscle) is the main pump for this system, but in no way can it do the complete job. The muscles play a major part in helping to carry nutrients and remove waste. This is why it’s important to stay physically fit if you want to live a long life. Staying physically fit means keeping one’s muscles toned so they can apply pressure and thus motion to the blood vessels that carry the supplies to, and the waste away from, the cells.

So, when a person has the symptoms of diseased gum tissue, it generally means that he is not getting enough food to, or waste from, the gum tissue. For disease to be present, this lack of circulation has been present for a long time.
It is known that the gums have an extreme power to rebound back to health within a few short weeks, if regular and proper attention is given to them. That is why the rubber tip is one of the keys to The Secret.

How to use The RUBBER TIP:

a. Push the rubber tip in between the teeth – straight in – at the triangular piece of gum between the teeth, so that it slides up on top of this gum triangle.

b. Push down (lower teeth) or up (upper teeth) as hard as you can, within reason. Do not cause yourself pain. Some discomfort may be felt, however.

You’ll notice that the tip of the stimulator is at an angle. This is so that you can lay the half inch of the tip against the flesh between the teeth. Lay the rubber tip against the gum so that all of the rubber part is against it and stimulate. You’re not just putting the tip end between the teeth. THIS IS A VERY KEY POINT. Then gently massage the V-shaped gum area with the tip.

NOTE: Imagine rubbing a small spot on your arm for a minute or two. It will get red, after you quit. What you have done is brought blood to that area. That is what you want to do with the rubber tip.

c. Then, gently massage the V-shaped gum area with the tip. Push the rubber tip up, down or sideways left and right, circular for (10) ten seconds. Do this on the inside and outside of the row of teeth, wherever there is gum that lies between your teeth.

Move to your next tooth and begin the stimulating process again. If you still have all your teeth, you would have 60 places to rub (inside and out). So 60 x 10 seconds is 600 seconds, or at least 10 minutes of treatment time.

Now, before you decide that this is too much time, realize that after you learn how to do this, it could easily be done while reading, watching TV, while being driven in a car (we suggest you only do this in front of close friends) or after your evening meal. Time does not have to be your enemy. Be creative in finding the time to improve your dental health.

Note: To take a few minutes each day to properly care for your teeth and gums will save you many hours in a dentist’s chair.

Tool #3 DENTAL FLOSS (DENTAL TAPE, RIBBON or STRING):

The third instrument is dental floss, also known as tape or ribbon.

The reason flossing is the third instrument recommended (and not the first) is that flossing is not therapy, it’s a maintenance procedure. The brush, along with the recipe and rubber tip, provides therapeutic healing. By the time you get to using floss, you are healed and can now maintain that health.

With regard to flossing, the thicker the string, the more surface area that can contact the interior of the sulcus - this results in a more thorough cleaning. It’s true that you can break up and remove a lot of the bacterial colonies with the brush, but nothing gets in between the teeth like dental floss, it’s just a mechanical fact.

Here’s how to floss:
a. Pull out 30 inches of floss. Wind most of that around the middle finger of one hand, and the tail-end around the middle finger of the other hand
b. Pinch the string between the thumb and index finger of both hands, leaving one to two inches in between. As you floss, continually unroll a one to two inch span of clean string from the finger that has the most string over to the middle finger of the other hand. Be willing to waste a few feet of floss so that you can practice.
c. Use your thumbs to direct the string between the upper teeth. Use your index fingers to direct the string between the lower teeth. The key to the whole process is the ability to use the index fingers and thumbs to manipulate the string into a C shape halfway around the tooth so that it maximally contacts the outline of the sulcus between the teeth. The string must go beneath the gums and as deep into the sulcus as possible while still not cutting the gums.
It does indeed take some practice. As you are flossing, notice there’s a squeaky sound. This is good, it means they are getting clean. Don’t hesitate to ask your dentist or dental hygienist to show you how to floss effectively. There’s no substitute for a hands-on demonstration.

OPTIONAL INFORMATION:
WATER IRRIGATION
This step is recommended. If you cannot afford to add this step into the program, do not let it stop you from experiencing the benefits of the first three steps.
The fourth instrument we recommend is the HydroFloss, a hydromagnetic oral irrigator or a Viajet oral irrigator that can drastically inhibit the formation of plaque (thick sticky substance caused by leftover food particles and bacteria) and tartar (hard yellowish substance). As time goes by, plaque, if not removed, turns into tartar. Oral irrigation rinses away bacteria with the force of its stream/pulse of water.
Whether brushing and/or flossing, you will not thoroughly clean pockets of 4 mm (millimeter) or more. A toothbrush is not designed to clean anything more than 1-3 mm, which is a normal healthy gum condition. Therefore the Hydrofloss or ViaJet is necessary to reach those pocket areas that cannot be maintained with the toothbrush and floss alone.

TIPS and TRICKS

Apply these remedies on a slow gradient—take a step-by-step approach, both in the application of the information and intensity of force used with the instruments. You’ll know that you are using the instruments too forcefully if your gums still hurt five or ten minutes after you finish, or if the next day you can’t brush, or you can’t use the rubber tip or floss in a particular area because it hurts too much. In this case, use the instruments more gently – drop back a couple of notches of force.

Expect your gums to bleed mildly for at least the first week or two while you are following this program. After about ten days this bleeding should cease, as the pockets will close and form a seal in the sulcus and stop leaking blood. The stronger the seal, the greater the barrier to prevent the spreading of bacteria and toxins into your bloodstream. So, you see, improving your dental health may improve your overall physical health.

You now know the steps to acquiring healthy gums, along with maintaining them. After a little practice your gums will acquire a certain feel and you’ll learn how to fully utilize these instruments on both sides of all the teeth in your mouth. With a high degree of expertise, your control and use of these tools will become almost an art form.

The baking soda will turn the gums a white-ish color, then they will turn gradually a very white pink as they toughen up!
You now know the steps to acquiring healthy gums, along with maintaining them. After a little practice your gums will acquire a certain feel and you’ll learn how to fully utilize these instruments on both sides of all the teeth in your mouth

With a high degree of expertise, your control and use of these tools will become almost an art form.
The purpose of applying these techniques is to reduce (shrink) the depth of the sulcus in the therapeutic phase, so that later, when you’re in the maintenance phase, you can thoroughly clean your teeth and gums on a daily basis with ease. If the pocket depth is not adequately reduced to enable you to remove accumulation once every 24 hours, you will definitely not be able to control your dental disease by yourself and should seek professional care.

But, with this system, you’ll begin to see real shrinkage. The key point is that if your situation can be handled, it will be handled. If your condition is too advanced, you will need to seek professional care. The only one who can determine this is your dentist. Unfortunately, in some cases, there is no substitute for periodontal surgery if the patient wants to obtain a fresh start and full pocket elimination.

It’s up to you. You’ve heard it before. But in the end, it’s up to you to look, listen, and feel and then implement those habits and lifestyle changes that can keep you healthy. Who cares the most about your health? Of course, it’s that person who looks back at you in the mirror every morning.

Here’s to saving your teeth through healthy gums and acquiring the best of physical health.

If you wish to have healthier gums, then START!!

"The Secret" to healthy gums was compiled, tested and refined over the years by Ray G. Behm, Jr DDS. Visit his site at SaveYourTeeth.com

© 2005 by Ray G. Behm Jr DDS
Ray G Behm Jr., DDS • Natural Dentistry
127 No Garden Ave, Clearwater FL 33755
Phone: 727 446.6747