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The quest for dental self sufficiency
Tom Cornwell  August 9, 2009


It amazes me how many people claim a desire for self-sufficiency—when they don’t seek to be sufficient within themselves.
Claire Wolfe, 'Finding your own freedom'


I took note of Dr. Robert Nara's work in 1980, having read the Mother Earth News interview with Dr. Nara, 'Freedom from dental disease.'

At that time, I was pretty much a lazy idiot with grand ideas and was very generous with my opinion of myself and the value of my own abilities.  I read The Mother Earth News religiously and dreamed of the self-sufficient lifestyle in the country, but that interview with Dr. Nara was the motivation that actually pushed the envelope for me.  See, I really had no choice in the matter since my new bride and I were barely getting by and I was on the lookout for a good answer to a bad problem.  The idea of dental self-sufficiency and Bob Nara's reminder that the body has abilities to heal itself under the right conditions -- and the news that this natural ability included teeth and gums...!  Well, what a revelation!  Let's get to work!!

Many visitors to the OraMedia website have similar feelings and I know this because they tell me.

There is a problem I run into from time to time and that is this idea of self-sufficiency we are promoting...  the concept doesn't seem to land.  Let's clear it up by defining a couple of words;

suf·fi·cient   (sə-fĭsh'ənt)  
adj. 

   1. Being as much as is needed.
   2. Archaic Competent; qualified.  (I like this definition.)

    Synonyms: These adjectives mean being what is needed without being in excess: has sufficient income to retire comfortably; bought an adequate supply of food; drew enough water to fill the tub.
    Antonym: insufficient


self-suf·fi·cient   (sělf'sə-fĭsh'ənt)
adj. 

   1. Able to provide for oneself without the help of others; independent.  (This is what we are trying to convey.)

Related Words for : self-sufficient
self-sufficing, self-sustaining

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.

==========================================

It seems that an awful lot of folks out there are not interested in dental self-sufficiency, don't believe it is possible, believe it is possible but don't believe they can achieve it, it takes too much effort and time (this is probably the big one), are just looking for a cheap way to solve their problems (more or less my original motivation) and so on.  I often get calls and email from people complaining of these self-imposed limits.  While I can try and be re-assuring, I cannot hold everyone's hand, you know?  Even if I wanted to, it is quite impossible.

Know this:  You may never acheive total self-sufficiency in anything you go after. Personally, I would be happy being 75% self-sufficient than 0% because I know that I am much further ahead for making the effort.  I am much more pragmatic than to expect perfection in hitting every goal I set out for but I don't see less than 100% achievement as failure.  On the other hand, I don't see 25% as a great place to settle.

Dr. Robert O. Nara caught on early with the problem people were having with properly caring for their own oral health.  They had this frame of reference that if they just brushed twice a day, avoided sweets and saw their dentists twice a year then they were doing all they could do -- just like everyone else.  Nara noticed that, first off, the brushing wasn't thorough enough when they actually did brush, they relied on toothpaste marketing in belief that using the right paste was the answer over the mechanics of brushing, maybe they avoided sugared foods and drinks but since they 'only' had to brush twice a day, it wasn't necessary to brush after snacking.  Finally, he noticed the misconception that the eventual dental visit would correct any flaws in their hygiene systems, and the patient would walk out of the office and back into the same routine.  If there were cavities, well, that was just the way it was.  (You know what they say about doing the same things over and over, but expecting a different outcome?)

The self-sufficient individual would not come to such a conclusion.

Yesterday, I spoke with a young mother who wanted to return her ViaJet irrigator.  It was purchased a while back and still in the box.  The problem was that her teeth were still getting bad; gum recession, some periodontal pockets and enamel loss.  In her twenties, she already had two crowns and was facing a possible root canal.  I asked her why she wasn't using the ViaJet.  She told me that her mother had purchased a sonic-type toothbrush and since her interpretation of the product's literature claimed that it would remove plaque better than anything on the market, so she felt that she did not need to irrigate, therefore the money would be better spent on some magic oral dinse.  Besides, she didn't have the time in her busy schedule to add irrigation to her daily hygiene routine.

I knew immediately that she had not read much while at the OraMedia site.  If she had, she would have understood why adding irrigation in with her hygiene routine was absolutely essential, but she felt, that using the sonic brush was going to do it all for her.  I spent the next half-hour going over the principles of the process and why it was important to incorporate irrigation in order to get clean the areas that brushing and flossing could not -- including the areas below the gum line.

To be self-sufficient, we need to understand that it takes proper education of the thing we wish to be sufficient in.  We need to understand that there is good information, mediocre information and just plain lousy information.  We need to work in principles and concepts and if they are not clearly apparent from the start, they should become clear as we go along.  Once we get those principles under our belts, then it becomes easier to separate the wheat from the chaff.

We need to take action on that new-found knowledge, since the activity of the thing is not only beneficial to the end result, it is...  education in itself.

No, it is not always easy, but the key is making the decision to start -- even if you just took one simple rule and started with that:  start brushing for at least 2 full minutes when you brush.  Don't worry about which brand or type of paste or other dentifrice you are using.  You can tweak your system as you go along.  Perhaps, after you get that habit in place, make sure that you brush after you eat -- anything. 

In the example above, with the young mother, she was healthily snacking on apples throughout the day.  I asked if she brushed afterward.  She told me no, that she thought the apples were 'naturally' cleaning her teeth.  I explained that apples contained sugar and essentially, that sugar is simply bathing the pathogens in nutrients.  Oral pathaogens can multiply, exponentially, every 4 hours and in that respect she may as well be eating candy bars...

Buy another toothbrush and take it to work or to class with you in your brief case, book bag or lunch bucket.  Just be prepared.  Keep a bottle of water with you for that purpose.  The mind can serve us with a roadblock for every decision we make, so just recognize it and realize that the roadblocks are not really manned.  Blow right on through them.  Don't argue for your limits or they will become you.  Contend, instead, for your purpose and goals.

Next, add another function to your routine; flossing, irrigating, inspection, etc.  Add more routine times.  Keep studying, tweaking.  Use what works.  Throw out what doesn't and don't look back.  Don't worry about ignorant comments from others regarding your obsession for good oral health.  You should have a warm feeling inside knowing that your natural teeth will serve you right up to 'check-out' time without costing you a fortune, compared with someone with a mouthful of implants and root canals.

The OraMedia site is about doing what works to prevent tooth decay and gum disease.  It is not about the best filling material, cavitations, chelation methods, which dentist we recommend, and so forth.  This is about prevention.  Filling materials, mercury, implants... all that is about REPAIR, which we really don't care to get into.  We don't want you to have to NEED repair.  I had a guy tell me he was dentally self-sufficient because he filled his own fillings with JB Weld.   My, my, my.  Well, that certainly is being self-sufficient... and ignorant at the same time.  I rank that right up there with the video of the guy yanking his teeth out.  (Don't watch this if you are squeamish.)  No doubt, he was being self-sufficient when it came to his oral health.  (The guy in the video was in his forties when that video was made.  He died from heart disease shortly afterward, not surprisingly, but most likely unnecessarily.)

People think we are about every alternative out there, from Chinese to Ayurvedic.  We are not.  It is very simple to understand and very simple to apply.  Please read and understand the message.  That's it.

Finally, being self-sufficient is also a state of mind.  A friend asked me what I did for a living and I told him about this methodolgy presented by Dr Nara and others.  He told me he was already 'set' in that department.  He was military and had great dental benefits.  Everything he needed was paid for.  Obviously he missed the point...

You want to be self-sufficient?  Think independently.  Forget what you see on TV from the corporate toothpaste manufacturers and the pharmaceuticals and on and on.  The OraMedia site is a good place to start.  I know it needs a lot of work and upgrading, but the material is there and in Dr. Nara's books.  Is it the last word?  Probably not, but you will be hard pressed to find the basic principles you need anywhere else, including sites owned by Mercola, Adams, etc.  Look at things differently than you did those coming from the dental community in the past...

Read what Gary North writes about careers here, and swing those concepts over to apply to oral health.  Words in parenthesies are mine.

"In this job (read: Health) market, you need an edge. You need several..."

"I lose subscribers because people get tired of being reminded that they can take simple steps to improve their job security (read: oral health). They would rather remain vulnerable than take these steps. Their comfort zone is to have their careers (read: Health) on the line and still do things the pre-Internet way (read: old concepts, old habits)."

"I do not understand this mindset, but I know it's widespread. People don't want to change. They get tired of being nagged. They prefer living on Fantasy Island.

"Politicians (read: dentists) want voters (patients) to believe this. Most Americans do believe it. That is their default mode, so the result will be a government default.

"You must systematically get ahead of the curve.

"Start small. Begin with your email (read: toothbrush)."
From Gary North's, 'Specific Answers'  Wealth-building strategies, plus Q&A forums, August 15, 2009  http://www.garynorth.com

I believe that the quest for self-sufficiency on any level is a virtuous one, but as a society, we have lost the value of the concept.  As Dr. Nara puts it, "We buy things we don't need, with money we don't have, to impress people we don't like," so we farm out too many of our responsibilities to every everyone else, whether we can afford to or not -- and we are miserable, without knowing why.  If you must hand over some aspect of your life in order to get it done, be pleased if it works out, but take responsibility for it if it doesn't.  It was your decision, after all...

The quest for self-sufficiency is a journey and has degrees, I suppose.  Is it totally achievable?  Maybe, maybe not -- but then, that really isn't the point, and it isn't for everyone.  It is the 'quest' and all the rewards which are fulfilling.

Tom



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