So not "Crunchy"

But I really want to be! I would make the worst hippie ever. I really love the idea of natural remedies and treatments. However, my skeptical and analytical side wants to see proof that things will work before I try them. With many "natural" cures there just aren't scientific studies to back them up. And some things can actually be quite harmful even though they are "natural."

However, I have taken a leap of faith over the past six months. Primarily with my personal oral care. Exciting, right?

I've been reading up on natural oral care remedies since I had to get several cavities filled a few years ago. I wasn't quite yet 30 and the dentist was already starting to talk to me about crowns if the cavities kept coming back. I was already doing the requisite twice-daily brushing plus flossing. I really tried to keep my mouth rinsed out and cleaned after eating sweets. And I tried to take my daily vitamins along with a mild effort towards eating healthier. But my teeth kept getting cavities. New ones would appear at every checkup. I was feeling defeated and just assumed that bad teeth were my reality, something I had just inherited and couldn't really do anything about.

Then I started reading up on natural remedies. Home-made toothpastes (these were appealing to my "crunchy" and "frugal" sides) and oil-pulling. But being the skeptic that I am it took me awhile to actually try these things. I first started out by adding baking soda to my toothpaste and focusing my brushing efforts on being more gentle and targeting the gum-line. Then I upped the crunchy-factor and started brushing 50% of the time with a mixture of organic sea salts and baking soda. And then I moved to all salt/soda completely.

What I found is that my mouth felt so much cleaner! I wasn't feeling a build-up of gunk by the end of the day. My teeth felt smooth! And my research (ok, excessive googling) shows that the salt helps to re-mineralize teeth and is actually less abrasive than commercial pastes. I really just liked the fact that I could mix up a month's worth of  "paste" for just a few cents using 2T of salt and 2T of soda. And when swished between my teeth at the end, it seemed to pull out any remaining gunk in my teeth. Flossing afterwards very rarely yielded any nasty bits (when that used to be the norm after brushing with commercial paste). I will say that the salt took a bit to get used to. And it does not leave my mouth with a minty-fresh feeling either. But my mouth does feel very clean and I can eat just about any food after without a weird interaction (toothpaste and orange juice, anyone??).

Yet, my teeth were still a bit sensitive so I started trying oil-pulling. Honestly, this was the one that seemed the most crazy to me in the beginning. Swishing oil in my mouth for 15-20 minutes? And not just any oil, but using coconut oil (which seems to be the flavor of the month amongst my crunchiest friends). To say I was skeptical would be a massive understatement. So I started reading to see what harm it could do. Because so many of these "natural" remedies are also potentially harmful, so I wanted to know what I was up against. Except, this one really had no dangers. The only possible downside I saw was potential yellowing of the teeth from using olive oil. Since I was going to use coconut oil that wouldn't even apply. It was truly one of those things where it wouldn't be harmful and may possibly help. So with that knowledge I started trying it.

I've been doing this now for about 6 months. I just had a dental checkup today. This is the first time in YEARS that I don't have any new cavities!! Ok, I do have a broken filling that will need a follow-up, but nothing new! They spent very little time scraping gunk off my teeth at my cleaning, my gums never hurt, and the hygienist and dentist both told me that I was doing a great job taking care of my mouth. This is the first time that I have ever had a great review at the dentist!! Honestly, the only things that have changed are basically the paste (salt/soda) and mouthwash (coconut oil) that I am using.

So for this skeptical wanna-be hippie, I would say that these two things are definitely worth trying! Your pocketbook and your mouth will thank you :) At the very least there is no harm in trying. And for those on food stamps, this is a great way to use normal "food" items for personal care. Another way to stretch those dollars just a bit further.

**But seriously. I am a mom and random blogger. Please don't take any of this as medical advice! Do your own research/googling first before trying anything. **