Cavities

Regularly drinking green tea, or even just rinsing your mouth with it, leads to fewer cavities (Nutrition 2002). Theaflavins are flavonoid antioxidants found in black tea. You might also want to find them in your toothpaste. When adults brushed their teeth with toothpaste with or without added theaflavins, saliva samples showed that the toothpaste with theaflavins significantly increased bacteria associated with oral health and significantly decreased harmful oral pathogens.1 Drinking black tea inhibits the growth of bacteria that causes cavities. It also prevents the bacteria from adhering to your teeth. The people in the study used the tea as a rinse.2

Canadian research has also shown that there is an association between low levels of vitamin D and cavities.3

Children benefit when their mothers take calcium while pregnant. Children whose mothers supplemented calcium during pregnancy had a 27 percent reduced risk of having a cavity, missing or filled tooth.4 And chewing gum helps—if it’s xylitol chewing gum.5 Children who chew gum containing xylitol for five minutes five times a day for two years have large reductions in cavities compared with those not chewing the gum.6 And when 204 children with a high risk of cavities were given gum with or without xylitol for six months, the xylitol provided significant long-term protection against cavities.7

Aloe vera can be used as an antiseptic for preventing cavities.8

Research has also found that probiotics prevent cavities.9 A double-blind study of children found that probiotics taken for seven months reduced cavities by 49 percent compared to placebo.10 A second study found that supplementing probiotics during the last month of pregnancy and continuing to give them to infants for the first year results in significantly fewer kids with cavities at 9 years of age.11 In a double-blind study of children aged 1 to 6, supplementation with probiotics for seven months reduced the incidence of cavities by 49 percent.12

Gingivitis

Gingivitis refers to inflammation and bleeding of the gums. If it progresses to periodontitis, then you could experience loose teeth, pain, dental pockets, swelling and even bone destruction. Recent evidence is increasingly suggesting that periodontitis is associated with cardiovascular disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

Coenzyme Q10 deficiency may be involved in gingivitis.13 Carl Folkers, the world’s leading CoQ10 researcher, has shown that CoQ10 significantly improves periodontal pocket depth and tooth mobility.14 Folkers conducted a review of seven studies of periodontal disease that found that 70 percent of people responded favorably to CoQ10.15 Double-blind research shows that 50 mg of CoQ10 a day for three weeks is significantly better than a placebo at reducing symptoms of gingivitis.16

When people with periodontal disease who consume low amounts of vitamin C are supplemented with just 70 mg of vitamin C a day, periodontal disease improves in only six weeks.17 A systematic review of 14 studies found that higher vitamin C intake and blood levels are associated with less periodontal disease and less progression of periodontal disease. It also found that taking vitamin C improves bleeding of the gums in gingivitis but not in the more advanced periodontitis.18

Green tea is a veritable herbal dentist. Several studies have shown green tea, or green tea flavonoids, prevent periodontal disease.19-21 Epidemiological studies show that green tea protects against periodontal disease and tooth loss (Prev Med 2010).

When people rinsed their mouths for one minute twice a day with either a placebo mouthwash or a mouthwash containing 2 percent green tea, at the end of four weeks, there was a significant reduction in plaque and gingivitis with the green tea but not the placebo mouthwash.22

As the results with green tea show, flavonoids are valuable for natural dentistry. Pine bark extract is a rich source of proanthocyanidin flavonoids. Double-blind research shows that chewing six pieces of gum with 5 mg of pine bark extract in each lessens gum bleeding and stops plaque formation versus placebo.23

Probiotics also improve periodontitis.24 A meta-analysis included three studies comparing conventional treatment to the same treatment plus probiotics. It found that adding probiotics works better than conventional treatment alone. People who took probiotics had significantly greater improvement in the support and stability of the tooth as measured by clinical attachment level and bleeding upon probing: both markers of periodontitis. They also had significantly greater improvement in pocket depth when the pockets were moderate or deep.25

People with the highest levels of vitamin D have 30 percent less incidence of gingivitis and are a significant 20 percent less likely to bleed when their gums are probed, suggesting reduced susceptibility to gingivitis.26 Vitamin D helps the more advanced periodontal disease: people with the highest levels of vitamin D experience less bone loss.27

Several studies show that folic acid is beneficial.28,29 One double-blind study found that 4 mg of folic acid for 30 days increases resistance of the gums to local irritants, leading to a reduction in inflammation.30 Perhaps even better is rinsing with a folic acid solution. Folic acid rinses have been shown in double-blind studies to reduce gum inflammation and bleeding in people with gingivitis.31,32

Neem is a traditional herb for cleaning teeth. Modern research supports its use. Neem leaf gel is as good33 or better than chlorhexidine at reducing plaque and bacteria.34 Chlorhexidine is a pharmaceutical oral rinse used for treating gingivitis.

When 134 people were given either a placebo or aged garlic extract for four months, there was a significantly greater decrease in gingivitis and bleeding gums in the garlic group.35 A recent 18-month study looked at people with the more advanced periodontitis. At the beginning of the study, the people in the garlic group had an average pocket depth value of 1.89. At the end of the study, it had significantly shrunk to a value of 1.06. The control group only saw improvement to 1.50.36

A study of 3,028 people over the age of 30 discovered that people who get the most magnesium are a significant 31 to 35 percent less likely to get periodontitis. Both dietary magnesium and supplemental magnesium reduce the risk. The data suggests getting a minimum of 500 mg a day.37

Aloe vera can be used as an antiseptic for preventing periodontal disease.38 When 345 people were given 10 ml of aloe vera juice for 30 days, it was as effective as chlorhexidine in decreasing plaque and gingivitis. The researchers concluded that the results favor aloe as a safe alternative to chlorhexidine.39 When people swish chlorhexidine or 100 percent pure aloe vera juice four times a day for four days, both significantly reduce plaque, but the aloe is safer.40

And here’s one you’ve never heard of. The herb holy basil has been shown in triple-blind research to be as effective a mouthwash as chlorhexidine at reducing plaque and gingivitis. Both significantly reduce gingival bleeding and plaque.41

Wisdom Teeth

The most common reason for oral surgery is having your wisdom teeth removed. Removing impacted wisdom teeth is a painful procedure that causes swelling and inflammation and even lockjaw.

A convincing body of research shows that serrapeptase is an effective natural treatment for wisdom tooth extraction. Compared to placebo, serrapeptase significantly reduces both pain and swelling.42 Other double-blind studies verify that result. Though not quite as effective as the powerful, side-effect laden steroids, serrapeptase acts effectively as a pain killer. And it is superior for both swelling and lockjaw.43,44 Most recently, a systematic review and meta-analysis of five double-blind studies that compared serrapeptase to drugs, including corticosteroids, revealed that serrapeptase is far superior to corticosteroids for lockjaw and equally effective for swelling. The researchers concluded that serrapeptase “could be used safely and effectively to improve trismus [lockjaw] and facial swelling after surgical removal of impacted molar.”45 These results take on even greater practical importance when you compare the safety profiles of the two treatments.VR

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Linda Woolven is a master herbalist, acupuncturist and solution-focused counsellor with a virtual practice in Toronto, ON, Canada. Woolven and Ted Snider are the authors of several books on natural health. You can see their books at www.thenaturalpathnewsletter.com. They are also the authors of the natural health newsletter The Natural Path. The Natural Path is a natural health newsletter specifically designed to help health food stores increase their sales by educating their customers. The Natural Path contains no advertising and never mentions a brand name. Retailers can provide The Natural Path Newsletter to their customers. For more information, contact Snider at [email protected] or (416) 782-8211.