We all know about how to take care of our oral health. We have mostly been told since childhood to brush twice a day, and it's backed up by the American Dental Association. The basics are easy and we all want to be protected from plaque and tartar buildup, not just for looks but for the long term health issues those can lead too. But there are some other more interested and let's face it cool ways to help take care of our health. So I want to go over just a few extra things we can all do to keep our dental hygiene in tip top shape.
The next time you are working on your American Dental Association twice a day brushing, maybe add some baking soda. Yes, the stuff you have been keeping in your pantry for years and barely use. Baking soda is actually an effective way to remove plaque without damaging your enamel. There are studies out there that have shown that adding baking soda along with your toothpaste can help fight plaque better than just normal toothpaste. So if you don’t want to manually add it. Try and find a toothpaste that already incorporates it into it. To me one of the coolest parts of Baking Soda is that it helps stop the demineralizing of your teeth.
Which means that it stops your teeth from breaking down and losing enamel. This process of demineralizing occurs when the bacteria in your mouth break down the carbohydrates in your food. That breaking down of the carbohydrates actually causes the food to become more acidic which can cause the erroading of the enamel in your mouth. So using baking soda to minimize that effect can keep your teeth healthy for a longer time. Now some of the bacteria in your mouth are very good and you don’t want to eliminate all of those. So baking soda has been shown to mostly attack only the bad bacteria which is hurting your teeth.
Another really cool thing that can help your dental hygiene is Oil Pulling. This is a new concept to me, but it is the process of basically mouth washing with coconut oil. You can take a tablespoon of coconut oil which warms and liquifies very quickly and then swish it around in your mouth like a normal mouthwash. This has been shown to decrease plaque by up to 50%. That is an incredible number and can really help your health. A quick tip, since it is oil you want to spit it out in the trash or a paper towel. Otherwise you may end up clogging your sink drain over time!
