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Rant
February 17, 2009

Last summer (2008) I ranted a little about the issue over glycerin.  You can click the link and read the comments about it if you like.  A few days later the soap folks put out a newsletter slamming me for disagreeing with their 'sacred cow,' chemist Gerald F. Judd, PhD.  Oh, well.  I don't have a problem with people disagreeing with me, but please realize that there is a whole awful lot of credible research out there that dwarfs Judd and I think it is important that people know this, because I get calls and email all the time regarding his 'research.'   Read more on glycerin here.

I receive a lot of health/nutrition newsletters too. One particular author has been around for a long time and he has been an online pioneer promoting health and nutrition.  What I thought was strange was in the last issue I received from him he had a feature advertisement for the soap to brush your teeth with.  That's all well and good, but if the reader is lead to believe, which I feel is happening, that to simply brush with soap will make all of your dental problems will disappear, then I have a problem with that. 
He writes, "I attribute my healthy teeth and gums to the fact that I've been brushing with a product called Tooth Soap
® instead of toothpaste since 2003."

Now, this fellow has been promoting this soap dentifrice for quite a while (it is very expensive soap and a good money maker), so one might assume that he agrees with Dr. Judd as well.  That surpises me because he is also promoting a book containing an archive of past newsletters, including a VERY lengthy interview with Dr. Robert Wynman DDS.  You can read this interview here.  I found it very informative.  Whether I agree with everything there or not isn't the point (He brings up a lot of really interesting aspects of the disease in fact... and he has his theories as well.).

Now, to me, this interview throws Judd's work, in large part, straight out the window.  I feel that Dr. Wynman has a good grasp on tooth and gum disease, since he had dealt with it, FIRST HAND, over his years of practice...  just like my 'scared cows,' Nara, Keyes, Loesch, Landers, Baldwin, etc.  

My point is, there is a LOT more to having healthy teeth or trying to heal damaged gums than brushing with some paste, powder or soap.  And this is what I was trying to point out in my view on glycerin, mentioned at the beginning of this article.  Of course I sell products myself.  They are all over this site and marketing them allows me to be able to do what I enjoy most - broadcasting this message - but if I tell you that using them or any one product in particular is going to solve all of your dental problems, I'd be a liar or an ignorant fool.  In large part, IT'S THE MECHANICS OF THE BRUSHING, FLOSSING AND/OR IRRIGATING which is going to give you the greatest benefit.  Dr. Nara (yes, one of my sacred cows) has written this, Wynman indicates this several times in this interview with him from 1994.  My products are good adjuncts to the process, but they are adjuncts, nonetheless.

As I mentioned, there's more to it, of course - lots more.  Another view that is (still) in fashion is that nutrition alone will heal your teeth and gums and is the most important factor in the whole scheme of things.  NUTRITION?  Boy we are treading on some sacred ground here, eh?  This is based on Dr. Westin Price, his study of people with healthy teeth living in primitive cultures and his theory that their teeth were healthy because they had not been exposed to modern, refined foods.  This is being touted in a recent book, 'Cure Tooth Decay: Heal and Prevent Cavities with Nutrition.' Nutrition certainly is a factor, but again, hardly the only one.

My question is and always has been, "If Dr. Weston Price considered that since these primitive cultures had not been introduced to our refined foods because they had not been exposed to 'modern man,' is it not possible, then, that these primitive folks had also not been exposed to the pathogens which cause the tooth and gum diseases so rampant among modern man?  (Here's where the Judd folks scream, "It ain't the bugs!  It's the acids they produce!!"  Yea, we know that... and where do the acids come from?)  I'll argue that, if they had, they could eat all the fresh, healthy pineapples and bananas in the world and their teeth would rot!  Why?  Because the ferment-able sugars in fruits, healthy veggies, honey... its like pouring gasoline on the fire.  The bugs thrive on it.   Once the pathogens are there - once they've been introduced, you have to step up the hygiene process to keep their populations down and keep them from colonizing (forming plaque/biofilm). If you can do that then you can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

What you choose to brush, floss and irrigate with is up to you, of course, but don't fall for hype and pseudo-science.  Learn all you can about oral health.  Read Dr. Nara's books.  They were written back in the 70's and 80's, so things have changed some, but the concepts are there and they are easily grasped.  Technically, you could 'dry brush' - brush your teeth with nothing but your saliva - and you would benefit greatly over not brushing at all.

Oral Health Bible

Here is another title I would highly recommend that you buy now, read and keep in your arsenal:  
The Oral Health Bible.  If I were to update any of Dr. Nara's work, I would include a lot of Dr. Bonner's work from this book as well.  Among other things, he brings to light an important and emerging aspect of health which we don't hear much about, which is the Cross Reactive Protein test to detect levels of inflammation in the body, which Dr. Bonner advocates.  He does a much better job in describing the CRP relationship with oral health and heart disease than I could, so I suggest reading his material and take this particular factor seriously.




It would be great if the OraMedia Site for Dental Self Sufficiency was the 'last word' in oral health.  I don't pretend that it is, but it is certainly a great place to start!

Back soon with another rant,
Tom Cornwell  Blog


The Oral Health Bible

Editorial Review

Product Description
Another health revolution has arrived, says Dr. Michael Bonner in his well-researched new book The Oral Health Bible, and there is no longer any separation between mouth medicine and body medicine. The mouth is completely connected to the body, he says, and is a doorway to achieving peak health and wellness in all the body’s systems. This informative book contains an action plan for taking charge of our oral health and it educates us and our physicians and dentists by detailing how many debilitating health problems-conditions such as arteriosclerosis, heart attacks, strokes, rheumatoid arthritis, and premature and low-birth-weight babies-are intimately linked to oral health and hygiene.. Dr. Bonner emphasizes the importance of finding and treating periodontal (gum) disease because, untreated, it can lead to heart attacks and strokes. He sees more gum disease now than he did twenty-five years ago, he says, largely because of the increasing availability of harmful oral hygiene products on the market. Mouthwashes, for example, are generally considered trustworthy, but in reality, they are the cause of 36,000 cases of oral cancer a year. Moreover, 500 people are killed annually from alcohol ingestion related to mouthwashes. Dr. Bonner discusses safe, effective oral health techniques and products in order to reverse gum disease with its far-reaching negative consequences. He also outlines how nutritional supplements can help deliver potentially enormous benefits to oral, as well as overall, health. In 1910, the Mayo (clinic) brothers said, "A person with a healthy mouth will live ten years longer."

About the Author
Michael P. Bonner, D.D.S., is the health and wellness coordinator for a large group practice in San Antonio, Texas. He lectures to physicians and dentists in the United States and abroad and is the author of numerous health and wellness articles. Dr. Bonnerís professional memberships include The American Dental Association, The Texas Dental Association, The Academy of General Dentistry, and The American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine, where he is a candidate for diplomate status.

Earl L. Mindell, R.Ph., Ph.D., is a founder of the health and wellness revolution, and the author of more than thirty books, including The Vitamin Bible, which has sold more than 10 million copies worldwide. A registered pharmacist, a master herbalist, and an internationally recognized expert on nutrition, drugs, vitamins, and herbal remedies, Dr. Mindell is a professor of Nutrition at Pacific Western University in Los Angeles and lives in Beverly Hills, California.


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