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| Muslim & African Cultures clean theur teeth w/ a stick called MISWAK, which naturally has a high concentration of cavity-fighting flouride |
How is it that some people who have never used a toothbrush have also never had a cavity?
While it’s common in the U.S. and other developed countries to use nylon and electronic toothbrushes, most of the world’s population, especially indigenous cultures and developing countries, still use old-world techniques to keep their teeth clean — if they use anything at all.
But are modern oral hygiene products and techniques infinitely better than the sticks, animal bristles and bones, twigs, feathers and porcupine quills that non-first-world societies used centuries ago — or continue to use today — to clean their teeth?
Is what one eats more important in determining oral hygiene than the materials used to clean the teeth and gums?
Vitamin K to the rescue
Price discovered a substance he termed "Activator X" that all the natives with healthy teeth had in their saliva. Price didn’t know exactly what Activator X was, but shortly after his studies, science classified the cavity combating compound as vitamin K. A
study published in the Journal of Dental Research states that in 1942, it was proven that vitamin K prevented the formation of acid buildup, which is a major cause of cavities.
Some of the foods that are high in vitamin K that Price observed traditional societies consuming were:
- Chicken or goose liver
- Fermented foods like sauerkraut
- Grass-fed animal fat
- Grass-fed, raw butter
- Egg yolks
Some societies that don’t use toothbrushes“In many regions of the world, people are cleaning their teeth with twigs, most often from oak and neem trees,” says Dr. Steven Goldberg, a Boca Raton, Fla., general and cosmetic dentist and inventor of a modern oral care product, DentalVibe.
“They break a twig in half, splay and soften the broken end and then rub it on their teeth, in effect, wiping the surface of their teeth clean,"
Arab Bedouin tribes still clean their teeth by using the twigs of the arak tree, which contains antiseptic properties. Other Muslim and African cultures use a similar stick,
Whether or not you choose to go native and clean your teeth with a tree twig, “Oral hygiene can be a very important component to our overall health. The mouth is full of bacteria and not caring for it can cause inflammation. The gums can become unhealthy if proper dental hygiene is neglected and this can create low-grade infection that can cause inflammation and other problems throughout the body,” says
Rebecca Crowley-Huey, physician assistant at BodyLogicMD of Houston, who adds, “Brain fog, autoimmune disease, gut infection or imbalance, and fatigue can be some of the problems caused by inflammation and your mouth is sometimes your first line of defense against foreign material
What some cultures use for toothpaste
Some folk in rural India,
Africa, Southeast Asia and South America use brick, charcoal, rangoli powder, mud, salt or ash for cleaning the teeth. This may result in gingival recession, abrasion and dentin sensitivity, says the National Academy of Dentistry.
Should Americans ditch their toothbrushes and clean with sticks instead?
The inconvenient truth about going to the dentist at least twice a year and replacing your toothbrush is that all the discarded toothbrushes and toothpaste containers end up in the landfill. But it seems that Americans are in no rush to clean their teeth with twigs. Toothpaste, whiteners, sugarless gum, mouthwash, manual or electric toothbrushes, floss, and other oral care items retailed at $9.1 billion in 2008, according to the U.S. Market for Oral Care Products, 7th Edition.
Whether or not you choose to go native and clean your teeth with a tree twig, “Oral hygiene can be a very important component to our overall health. The mouth is full of bacteria and not caring for it can cause inflammation. The gums can become unhealthy if proper dental hygiene is neglected and this can create low-grade infection that can cause inflammation and other problems throughout the body,” says
Rebecca Crowley-Huey, physician assistant at BodyLogicMD of Houston, who adds, “Brain fog, autoimmune disease, gut infection or imbalance, and fatigue can be some of the problems caused by inflammation and your mouth is sometimes your first line of defense against foreign material.”
Two times a day is much better than only one time per day, says Steve Krendl, a dentist at Hopewell Dental in Heath, Ohio. “A thin film of organic matter, called a biofilm, forms quickly on our teeth throughout a day. Left undisturbed, this turns into plaque, which can harden within 24 hours.”
Now that’s something to chew on.
