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Hi,
Was wondering if anyone knows of a natural alterative to
Listerine? Want something to kill the germs and prevent plaque. I question things when the ingredients has words I can not pronounce. Any help is much appreciated.
In Reply to: Listerine...good or bad posted by Beth on May 06, 2002 at 03:57:09:
I find it's not necessary to kill germs. Instead, work to create an internal environment that will promote beneficial (or at least not harmul) microflora in your mouth, just like other parts of your body. Rinsing after meals, brushing and flossing are very effective in preventing plaque, bad breath, cavities, etc. Good nutrition helps a lot too, and I think it's more important. Killing germs is what manufacturers of germ killers want you to think you should do. Weston Price found many natives to have excellent dental health... until they acquired taste for foods of civilization. I don't think he ever mentioned they used any germ killers to prevent dental problems.
In Reply to: Listerine...good or bad posted by Beth on May 06, 2002 at 03:57:09:
Try something called Stevia. It is an antibacterial and it works great for dental plaque and is wonderful for the tissue. If you have bleeding gums it will help prevent that also. Studies have been done on stevia and it is proven to cut down on plaque production and cavities by 30%.
It is a wonderful product. Just swish with it after every brushing and before bed, don't rinse it out. You will wake with far less bacteria and plaque. You can buy it in the health food stores in liquid or powder form. I prefer the liquid. You can also sweeten your coffee or what ever with it. Yes, it is a natural sweetener, but first it is a antibacterial.
In Reply to: Listerine...good or bad posted by Beth on May 06, 2002 at 03:57:09:
Hi, Beth.
Listen to R.
In addition, the best plaque preventive I have found is "disturbing" the bacteria once avery 24 hours. The toothpick thingy, flossing, tooth brush applied to the gum line, water pik, twice a day,D disturbs the plaque forming bacteria well enough to avoid plaque buildup--along with R.'s suggestions.
Walt
In Reply to: Re: Listerine...good or bad posted by R. on May 06, 2002 at 18:00:54:
R. You may have just answered a question that has been in my mind for awhile. I have always been bothered by bleeding gums all my life, but have never had any plaque problem. In the last year all this soreness and bleeding has stopped. I had been wondering why. The only thing I have done different in the last year was sr and making and drinking kefir. I am now wondering if kefir could be what has helped me. I am just about convinced that it has solved this problem. Any comments. Good luck
In Reply to: Listerine...good or bad posted by Beth on May 06, 2002 at 03:57:09:
I have a friend who gargles with hydrogen peroxide. I always thought this was bad for you, but then again some toothpastes contain it. She swears by it... she also has the whitest teeth of anyone I know!
One thing I did is bought a tongue scraper to remove the buildup of bacteria on my tongue. You would not believe how much crap is on your tongue. I made my boyfriend try it. YUCK! So much "stuff" came off his tongue... I can hardly believe I used to kiss him!!
In Reply to: Re: Listerine...good or bad posted by Melanie on May 08, 2002 at 00:59:18:
Hi, Melanie -
Brushing your tongue each time you brush your teeth also works very well. Raisa
In Reply to: Re: Listerine...good or bad posted by Raisa on May 08, 2002 at 08:44:21:
Raisa, I do brush my tongue, but the tongue scraper STILL took off more than junk than I thought would be present. Now I do both! Makes me feel cleaner and I haven't had morning breath in over a year! I wish my boyfriend would scrape his tongue every night... I'm tired of waking up to his morning breath. And that's when he usually wants to kiss me--YUCK!! Don't worry, I push him away and tell him he stinks. We're comfortable like that--LOL!
In Reply to: Re: Listerine...good or bad posted by Davetx on May 07, 2002 at 22:19:00:
I suppose that's possible. One thing I'd like to mention is that kefir's acidity is too strong for my teeth, and I need to rinse my mouth or even brush my teeth or they will develop pain due to their sensitivity.
In Reply to: Re: Listerine...good or bad posted by Melanie on May 08, 2002 at 21:10:31:
I agree that scraping is more effective than brushing. However, I've found a better way to get rid of tongue coating. I described it here:
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