[OliveJewel]

I guess the only way to get the calculus off is to go have it scraped, but the way my teeth are innervated that's like a torture session, which seems to get worse each time. Afterward my body tells me to never do that again.

Will rinsing religiously with pure xylitol be my best weapon (along with brushing, flossing, and brush picking) to keeping my teeth healthy enough? The gums don't bleed ever, but I know the calculus is there and it haunts me. Maybe that's my messenger to just keep on my regime so that the gums stay healthy.

I am getting to the point where I feel like if I really try to divorce the dentist in life, I must then understand that tooth loss and change is an inevitable part of being alive. Intuitively I feel that the dentists hasten tooth loss in their own way. Drilling into teeth probably makes them weaker in the long run instead of fighting the problems systemically.

My husband wants to get dental picks and scrape his teeth himself. Anyone do this?

 

[deditus]

Xylitol did/does help me. I try not to use it because it is so processed but I figure it's better than the alternative. I do use baking soda occasionally because, well, it does do a good job of scrubbing that gunk off. The other thing that REALLY helped me not get plaque in the first place has been probiotics. Reuteri is specifically studied in this regard, but I can't take it because I can't find a dairy free version, but others strains have helped.

 

[JaneS]

Oil pulling with coconut oil and Toothsoap!

Some dietary changes might be in order, see 'Curing Cavities with Nutrition' sticky. Calculus means that there is an excess of calcium in the diet or calcium to the exclusion of other complementary nutrients: magnesium, fat soluble vitamins. Also an acidic ph to the body as a whole.

 

[tanyalynn]

My roommate in college used a dental scraper that her dentist recommended, she built tartar like crazy.

I'd look into the possibility of gut bacterial balance (and either foods or supps to help with probiotics) and the nutrients that work together with calcium. DS, and this is probably not your situation but just as an example, suddenly started building tartar (freaked me out) and stopped when I stopped a supplement that was depleting him of K2. Stuff like calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, and vitamins A, D and K2 work together closely for dental health (other stuff too, but those are biggies).

 

[Koalamom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TanyaLopez My roommate in college used a dental scraper that her dentist recommended, she built tartar like crazy. I'd look into the possibility of gut bacterial balance (and either foods or supps to help with probiotics) and the nutrients that work together with calcium. DS, and this is probably not your situation but just as an example, suddenly started building tartar (freaked me out) and stopped when I stopped a supplement that was depleting him of K2. Stuff like calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, and vitamins A, D and K2 work together closely for dental health (other stuff too, but those are biggies).

What depletes the body of K2?

 

[tanyalynn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bluebirdmama1 What depletes the body of K2?

There's a really cool article on the WAPF site that describes how A, D, and K2 interact--not with amounts, just the general interaction. But really the only way I was able to do that with DS is that it turns out there's an odd thing in my family, we have a tendency toward nosebleeds in childhood, and easy bruising in adulthood (but no one has serious bleeding issues). DS's nosebleeds started after I started giving him cod liver oil, the vitamin A uses up K2 (our bodies use up both in order to do stuff) and the omega-3 EPA is a blood thinner, and I think that's an even bigger factor for the CLO. Since nosebleeds are normal in my family, it took me a while to figure out the connection, and very suddenly during this time period, he started accumulating tartar. I freaked, thought it was decay, but no. And it stopped accumulating really abruptly when I stopped the CLO. I later figured that I could supplement K2 at very elevated levels along with the CLO and he wouldn't get nosebleeds.

Whether this could happen at a more subtle, long-term level, I'm not sure. If there weren't obvious problems somewhat along the lines of what I've shared, I wouldn't expect high doses of K2 to be required, but possibly low doses would help.

 

[OliveJewel]

Thank you for all the responses! Great information!

BUT, what about if you already have calculus? Calculus is the fossilized bacterial "cement" versus tartar, the sticky stuff. Now that I have figured out "the perfect"

tooth hygeine routine (brush, Doctor's brushpick, floss, Biotene--preferably after every meal, but at least twice a day--brush and floss the 5yo twice a day and brush the 2yo twice a day) I believe I have halted further calculus formation or at least cut it down drastically. It *seems* like the calculus is going away a little bit, but I think it would be like trying to remove cement with a wash cloth--yeah, maybe in a hundred years.

So, first of all, did I miss it or has anyone removed calculus at home? And I am thinking that the main "point" of cleaning teeth is to remove the food debris that the bacteria would otherwise consume and to disorganize their organized biofilms. (I know it's not rocket science, but I'm S-L-O-W with stuff that others have no problem with.)

Just googled "oil pull coconut oil". Fascinating! Will definitely have to try that. And perhaps salt rinses? The quest continues...