Thursday, March 20, 2014

How to whiten teeth naturally for a happy healthy smile.


Between my husband and I, we have had more then our fair share of "tooth issues" over the years. Knowing what I know now about how diet, specifically grains and other inflammatory foods, affects the body, and seeing how much our health has improved by removing almost all grains/legumes and vegetable oils from our diet, and consuming properly soaked nuts instead of un-soaked,  it's no wonder we have dealt with quite a few cavities in our time (before said new diet). Sugar is not the only villain in tooth decay, phytic acid (mostly found in grains, legumes and nuts) and gut imbalances play a huge role as well. We have been on a mission in the past few months to remineralize our teeth (that sounds weird at first, but your teeth are bones, and your bones remineralize- like when you break a bone and it heals, or you work on adding bone mass when you have osteoporosis). The remineralizing protocol is for another post, but introducing it is pertinent to this post- I also wanted to whiten my teeth, and after reading about some of the ingredients in my "super clean hippie" toothpaste (I was using Desert Essence SLS/Flouride free with tea tree oil and neem oil), I decided I was going rogue and getting rid of the toothpaste for good. Screw putting questionable ingredients into my mouth just to give me a false sense of protection from decay! Side note: Please don't use commercial toothpastes - Crest, Colgate, etc- they are full of plastics (yep), chemicals and sugar (seriously) and do more harm then good.

So then, what are we doing to naturally clean and whiten our teeth?

It's super simple. And I promise you, my mouth is just a clean and fresh and tingly as it was when I was using store bought toothpaste- more so, actually.

My tooth whitening/chemical free tooth care regiment:

MORNING:
1. Tongue scrape first thing in the morning. LITERALLY first thing. I wake up, go to the bathroom, and scrape my tongue. It is a key player in maintaining a healthy mouth- there are a lot of toxins and gross things that accumulate on your tongue in the night, and you want to clean it off first thing (before you eat or drink anything) so that you don't swallow them back into your body.

2. Oil pull. I am currently using sesame oil (helps to warm the sinuses and clear sinus congestion) but coconut oil is great for overall mouth health and whitening. I have dedicated a whole blog post to oil pulling, so if you want details check that post out. This step is a huge part of the whitening.

3. Floss and brush. I floss with silk floss (no plastic!) and then brush. Right now I am using my remineralizing tooth powder that I make at home (which I will follow up this post with info on that), but you can easily replace toothpaste with baking soda and peppermint essential oil. Take your clean toothbrush, wet it, dip it in a jar of baking soda (aluminum free) and then put one drop of essential oil (spearmint and clove oil work well too) on it and brush away. It will feel very different the first few times you do it, but I promise your mouth will feel nice and clean. The baking soda is a mild but enamel safe way to clean and lighten teeth, and the essential oil is antibacterial.

4. Rinse with homemade mouthwash: 3 parts water to one part hydrogen peroxide and 2-3 drops essential oil (I use peppermint, it is refreshing as hell). The peroxide naturally whitens, and the essential oil leaves you fresh and minty.

EVENING:
1. Brush with activated charcoal. Here is the real whitening superstar! Activated charcoal is something we should all have in our medicine cabinets. You can use it for poisoning situations (food poisoning, actual poisoning, etc), and it absorbs toxins from the body rapidly, then moves them out of your body without harming you. The same is true for your mouth- when you brush with activated charcoal, it binds to all the crap deep down inside your (porous) teeth and in your gums, and pulls it out. Who doesn't want that? The only funny thing is that you look kind of crazy, like a little kid who ate a bunch of oreos and it's all over their teeth. Brush brush brush, spit, rinse (be careful in your sink- porous material will soak it up and it can stain!) and then move to the next step...

2. Brush and floss and rinse as outlined above. I swear the charcoal will come out of your teeth entirely, and you won't look like a very scary person with black teeth. But you will look like a person with a fresh, white smile that was obtained without using really scary bleaching chemicals!

Simple as that. I have noticed a huge difference, and my mouth feels great. I feel better knowing I am not putting anything questionable into my mouth (therefore my body), and that I am not spending a bunch of money on scary chemicals to assuage my vanity. Let me know if you try it, and good luck not laughing at yourself in the mirror when you have black teeth!

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for this post! I just received activated charcoal from Amazon, and am going to start following your routine tonight. Since I have a filling that fell out but doesn't hurt (and I have no intention of going to a conventional dentist again--waiting to find a functional dentist), and I want to improve the overall quality of my teeth, I use Wellness Mama's re-mineralizing toothpaste recipe Without the xylitol powder, & I add peppermint essential oil, and I am very pleased with it (I'll include the link below). I've also done occasional oil pulling with coconut oil, but I will add it to my tooth-care routine as you suggest. My teeth are definitely whiter than they were before I started these things.

    A side-note: about one year ago I started eating paleo and organic and grass-fed, using organic cosmetics and home-made organic body products, and using organic home-made cleaning products. Prior to that I was using every tooth-whitening product I could get my hands on, starting with cheap ones and gradually escalating in cost, with very small results. Since going paleo/organic my teeth have become white without trying to do anything about that. I do drink red wine, so my teeth are a shade or two off what they were when I was a kid, so I'm happy about trying your routine. Thanks again.

    http://wellnessmama.com/2500/homemade-remineralizing-toothpaste-recipe/

    P.S. I searched and searched by month to find your oil pulling post, and did eventually find it. Maybe you would consider adding a "Search This Blog" feature?...

    P.P.S. I did graduate work in San Jose, and enjoyed the beauty of your area of the country.

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  2. Glenda- Thanks for your comment! We actually use Wellness Mama's remineralizing tooth powder as well (I love her blog) and I am hoping that it helps remineralize a cavity I have- we'll see! I have had the same experience as you re: changing diet, etc and seeing whiter teeth without doing anything other then lifestyle changes. I was just feeling vain and wanted to try getting my teeth a shade or two whiter without chemicals, and so far the activated charcoal is working! I am so glad you are enjoying my little blog, I very much appreciate hearing from people! As far as the search this blog feature, I will get on that- I am absolutely terrible with computer stuff, but have been meaning to put that feature in for awhile- I know it is annoying to have to go back through all the months. Please keep reading and let me know how the charcoal goes! Take care,
    Stepheni

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