Brushing Teeth

I was thinking about the importance of dental hygiene now and later. For sake of discussion I don't use toothpaste. I use powdered black walnut hull, we the brush dip it in and do a good brushing. Sometimes I use baking soda but mostly black walnut hull powder.

 

Good morning Randy,


A few weeks ago I posted something about field dental hygiene involving a new proxy brush ideal for the field.

I assign much importance to this. Believe it was our Old Geeser who told us that dental hygiene goes well beyond the teeth. The bacteria filter into the bloodstream and cause many of the medical problems.

Even in the field I use baking soda and hydrogen peroxide.

 

I am with Lone Wolf on this one. I'm sure the natural remedies work. As long as the walnut trees produce you will have toothpaste. I have gone the Wal-Mart route, and bought a lifetime supply of toothbrushes and toothpaste.

Old Geezer is right. Dental hygiene can cause other health issues. This year my wife had a severe lung infection; developed into an abscess. The pulmonary specialist thought it was caused by a gum infection. Nothing to take lightly.

 

Good morning Lone Wolf,

My use of H2O2 to make toothpaste was per health care provider, both periodontist and dentist instructions, to address a gum infection. True, H2O2 is toxic to human cells but it's the classical tradeoff. Think of surgery cutting healthy skin and meat to reach the unhealthy section.

I had an experience like Mrs Morgan 101 had. A medical matter related to oral hygiene.

Had already written here at forum why I do not have a late model F-250 Ford pickup truck with 100 gallon gas can. The health care was/is expensive - but I'm still here.

Non-related foot note:

A great bumper sticker I once saw circa the time of Obama Care proposed legislation:

"If you think health care is expensive now, wait until it's free."

 

Randy, I think even using inner scrapings from the bark of a black walnut tree, if no hulls are available, would also be a good substitute. Even drying the leaves and grinding them up to a powder would probably do the trick. If we're talking eotwawki then we're going to need something to brush with.
Remember black walnut hull, bark and leaves powder are useful in expelling worms when taken internally.

 

I use baking soda. ..too...

Also toothpaste...and stock up on toothbrushes....

But after I get done rinsing the toothpaste or baking soda out of my mouth I use peroxide...the 2 or 3 percent stuff...to rinse out my mouth...after re brushing my teeth and gums...tongue.

My breath stays fresher much much longer and it also cleans up my tooth brush...at the same time.

I don't get that awful good morning breath when waking up like I used to do.

My non Ishmaelite .02,
Watcherchris

 

This is always included in my kit

 

I know that tea or tincture made with black walnut hulls is highly medicinal, but myself, I would never use the powdered hull on my gums. It is too abrasive which will eventually cause the gums to pull away from teeth and contribute to periodontal disease in the future. It will also contribute to staining of the teeth.

For centuries, many cultures around the world have used softened twig brushes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teeth_cleaning_twig


"To make a twig toothbrush, simply cut a green twig about the diameter of a pencil and just as long. Pound the end of the twig with a clean, smooth rock. Then chew this end for a minute to moisten and soften the bristles; and finally, brush away.

You can even bend the end of the twig at a 90 degree angle to get the backs of your teeth as well..."

https://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/survivalist/2012/02/survival-skills-how-make-toothbrush-field/

My personal choices: willow and oak twigs, for their medicinal and astringent actions.


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Me too. In every kit I have, and one in my desk in my office.

 

Good afternoon Watcherchris,

Believe the "awful good morning breath" is part of what's called "the aging process".

 

The dried walnut hull powder is a recommendation from my amish herbalist. To me the baking soda is far more abrasive than the hull. TBH I have a lot of faith in my herbalist, I guess time will tell so far so good.

 

It got me to wondering if the advise from my herbalist is flawed so I did a web search and found lots of info.

Here is one I randomly pulled off. I want to add too, just because it's on the internet doesn't mean it's true

https://merrilynhope.com/black-walnut-for-restoring-tooth-enamel/

 

Maybe so, for some people. I have never noticed this problem in anyone that I know. My family has had some really old folks, lol. High nineties up to 104 years of age, and their morning breath was not offensive at all.

I suspect diet and lifestyle may have something to do with it? I dunno, but I have noticed some pretty rank "morning breath" in some residents of nursing homes.


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Personally, I would rather have peroxide in my mouth than fluoride. I also use baking soda and peroxide. I have for over 25 years now.

 

I admire many of the Amish people's ways because they ascribe to The Old Ways so well. Because they live healthy lifestyles and don't eat processed foods that contain harmful pesticides, dyes, and preservatives, they are usually healthier than most of our modern population.

Unfortunately, some of their ways are not the healthiest. For example, pick up any Amish cookbook and you will find a LOT of sugar is used in their recipes. Sugar (especially that much of it) is the "new smoking" in terms of being harmful to health, so there's that.

Their use of herbs is largely rooted in tradition, some of which has been validated by modern research. On the other hand, there are some "old wives tales" that DON'T bear up under scientific scrutiny.

That's why whenever I learn of a new-to-me herbal trick, I do my research, but stay away from most blogs and websites that mostly parrot information that is found in every other blog and website...

As you can imagine, good research takes a bit of digging!

.

 

Gingivitis can cause systemic infections. Men who floss their teeth reduce their risk of arteriosclerosis by 60%.

Flossing does the most work gets you the best benefit. Brushing with baking soda is a good practice.

I keep extra dental tape all over the place, work, truck, home. You can use dental tape for all kinds of jerry-rigging and fixing things. Baking soda has many uses. Broken-down toothbrushes make great scrubbers for cleaning. I trim the old bristles short to get the most rubust scrubbing done on grout. Cleaned innumerable firearm parts, bolts, magazines using old toothbrushes.

Dental floss is too thin. Find and use dental tape.

 

Good morning all,

Believe the professional and lay literature will say it's the opposite.

Can't address the British population.

 

I floss even more than I brush. Why is floss too thin? Let me say that, having stopped using fluoridated tooth paste over 30 years ago, I still have all my teeth except 1 molar knocked out in a bar fight in the gut of Naples Italy in 1985.

 

I thought AFSOUTH prohibits rude behavior.

 

LOL. What does that have to do with sailors on liberty doing stupid shit?

 

I’ve often worried about dental post TEOTWAWKI. I had a route canal about 2 years ago. Not a good experience.

 

Good afternoon Alaska John,

I do volunteer responder work with dental responders. The portable and transportable dental clinic trailers are fully functional. We have well-rehearsed support services for the dentists and their professional staff.

Is the entire nation ready ? You don't worry alone.

My 2 pfennigs of advice: place dental health on ultra-priority list and maintain dental hygiene kit -even if a component of other kit(s) - to get max attention.

 

That's funny. Personally know several dental hygienists and dentists and they also say flossing is very important. What happens without flossing? Everything you eat gets wedged between your teeth, works it's way down into the gums, causing halitosis, tooth decay, gingivitis, possible infection and can even get into the blood stream, go to the heart and actually cause life-threatening situation.

I say floss floss floss.

 

Nearly every practicing modern dentist in the USA ascribe to the maxim, "Floss only the teeth you want to keep!"

Maybe dentistry is different in the entire UK? Or maybe it is just a local opinion-thing? Please do tell!


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If that is true, maybe you should reconsider flossing as a recommendation for your children/grandchildren?

 

Nieces? Nephews? Close friends with young'uns?

 

Was thinking that normally ...and daily ..I often chew a lot o gum...I like to chew....helps keep me awake when driving long distances. I do not chew or pinch tobacco...only chewing gum.

Not sure how good it is for dental hygiene but I figure it cannot hurt...however I don't believe this will be sustainable in SHTF or TEOTWAWKI.

MY non Ishmaelite .02,
Watcherchris

 

I've chewed spruce pitch gum, it's gnarly at first and a bit sticky but it mellows out, certainly not juicy fruit.

 

As far as oral hygiene in the health sense, all you need is a toothbrush and floss. The various toothpastes and things such as baking powder are strictly used to polish the teeth to make them pretty or make your breath smell nice. The peroxide is only useful when you have some sort of oral infection.

A toothbrush is useless to reach in between and under the gum lines. If you allow the plack to build up there it will irritate your gums and lead to infections, recession and eventually loss of teeth. If you have to choose between a toothbrush and floss choose floss. You can "brush" your teeth with a rag or a twig that you chew the end of to make it into a brush.

My wife is a dental hyginist. I am 66 years old and have all my teeth and have only had two cavities in my life. I think that Americans do take better care of their teeth than a lot of other people. We also spend a lot of money straightening our teeth.

I will tell you this. Dentists, if allowed, would never advise anyone to floss. They much prefer selling dental work and false teeth than encouraging people to take proper care of them. There are dentists here like that but they usually are just in the poor parts of the cities and nobody with any money goes to them. I often note that when British people are shown on TV that their teeth don't look well cared for. Crooked, dark and missing seems to be common.

Health issues aside personal appearance is very much a cultural thing. Hair and where it should be and where it shouldn't be is variable. Clothing is variable even in regional differences in a country. When I go to LA my cowboy boots and bull rider belt buckle sort of stand out. I don't usually wear a cowboy had because they are a pain in the butt on an airplane. In East Texas, flannel shirts are in style from October through March. Most of our ladies shave their legs and arm pits. these things are just customs and localized preferences.

 

Damn, I am sorry to hear that.

 

Good morning TexDanm,

"In general one should not generalize." Anon.

After dental visits, the hygienist offers me a small dental floss container and a toothbrush.

I do volunteer field support work with a dental org. One of the "handouts" is the small sample size dental floss.

All these handout programs are established by the dentists.

 

That is what I would expect when you go to a reputable dentist. Hygienists are especially oriented towards taking care of your teeth. It is what they are taught in school and part of their licensing tests. Unfortunately, not all dentists are reputable people. Since my wife retired from the state she had done a lot of work for a dental temporary service. She has had dentists tell he not to clean below the gum line and not to do any oral hygiene instruction. She refused to go back to those offices. The problem is that the ADA will not require dentists to actually do as they should and are more likely to support a dentist if he is sued than try to correct his bad practices.

I think that people that are in the business see more of the problems caused by poor dentistry than most people. I believe that most dentists are pretty good but they need to try harder to require ALL dentists to do good work and NEVER encourage practices that harm or damage a patients teeth. The underside of the dental industry is like all industries and has a lot of bad things that are never allowed to be made public.

I will generalize...People, in general, will do what is easiest, most profitable and most advantageous to them. If they are not overseen it is just too easy to give into cutting corners and if you keep cutting corners you eventually run out of corners to cut. No single cut is lethal but if you are cut enough you will be harmed. Some people cut so many corners that their work is useless at best. This can be true of any profession.

 

Good morning TexDanm,

I do agree with your above commentary.

The dental response program I'm involved in, I believe, is an innovative state program developed for the other states also. I mention this because for eg SHTF responses, aforesaid program effectively replaces the state National Guard and eclipses ADA from the scene. Part of the Virginia program is to upgrade hygienists to dentists if they elect to enter this program.

As far as "Not all reputable"; reminds me of something related as per a quick short story:

In the 19th century, one of the most powerful persons on the planet was the Queen of England. At this time, so it was reported, the Queen experienced a problem. She had her staff arrange a meeting for her with her secular leader.

At the meeting, the Queen of England said: "Mr Prime Minister, there are not many good theologians within my realm".

Gladstone replied: "Madam, there are not many good anything."

 

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