We now know that many of the usual personal hygiene products include a bunch of toxic ingredients that build up in our bodies over time. To combat this onslaught of toxicity, many people are turning to holistic remedies.
Although holistic medicine is only now coming into popularity in America, many other cultures have been using natural healing since the dawn of time! Studies by the World Health Organization show that up to 80% of the world’s population rely on holistic medicine for their main source of health care. So, it seems Americans are a little behind the ball on this trend.
Most likely, you did not know that there are lots of ways to use holistic hygiene for your mouth too! We have some awesome tips to help give you a mouth detox that will clear out all the harmful chemicals and ingredients in your typical oral hygiene routine. Keep reading to learn more!
Use a Non-Toxic Toothpaste
Go try to read the ingredients in your drugstore toothpaste; looks like another language, doesn’t it! Most of the things companies put into their toothpaste recipes are toxic chemicals and unnecessary fillers. It’s even possible that these toxic kinds of toothpaste are reducing the natural probiotic bacteria in your mouth!
Try switching to a non-toxic toothpaste for your tooth brushing step! A good natural toothpaste will have non-toxic antibacterial ingredients as well as breath fresheners like peppermint oil, eucalyptus, or clove oil.
Can’t find non-toxic toothpaste in stores near you? Look for a holistic toothpaste recipe online and make it yourself!
Tongue Scraping… Not a Medieval Torture Method!
Scraping your tongue has many benefits for your oral health. Bad bacteria, debris, and dead cells accumulate on your tongue over time. Scraping that off is not only great for your oral health and metabolism, but it freshens your breath too!
This method of oral hygiene is a big deal in Indian culture and they swear by the health benefits as well as the improvement of digestion. It is even said that scraping all the gunk off your tongue helps you taste with better accuracy since there is no more bad bacteria or other debris between your taste buds and your sustenance!
Find a good tongue scraper that is about the size of your tongue and thin, but not sharp! You don’t want to cut up your tongue, only remove the top layer of dead skin and bacteria.
Oil Pulling Mouth Detox
This is an odd one, but oil pulling can help give your mouth a deeper cleaning than brushing alone. Studies show that this odd practice reduces gingivitis caused by plaque buildup as well as reducing the number of bacteria that cause cavities!
Choose your favorite edible oil such as coconut or olive oil and swirl about a tablespoon of that oil in your mouth to pull the bacteria and toxins out of your mouth and into the oil. After swishing for 15-20 minutes (it takes that long to be effective) and then spit out the oil.
Our favorite tip to make this process a bit more palatable is to add a few drops of peppermint oil to make the oil taste better and freshen your breath at the same time!
Use an Oral Probiotic
We all know about the benefits of good gut bacteria. Many people take oral probiotics or consume kombucha or fermented foods to boost those good bacteria. But, did you know that you should also supplement the good bacteria in your mouth?
The probiotic for your gut does nothing to bolster the good bacteria in your mouth, so add an oral probiotic to your routine as well. Doing this will increase the number of good bacteria in your mouth which fight the bad bacteria which causes cavities and bad breath.
Find the Right Ionic Toothbrush
Normal toothbrushes also harbor harmful chemicals, and some toothbrushes are way better than others. Ditch your plastic toothbrush in favor of one with an ionic head to ensure you are removing as much plaque as possible.
The ionic head activates a temporary reversal of the natural magnetic charge in your teeth. This attracts the plaque to the toothbrush bristles much like a magnet. Even if you do a sloppy job, an ionic toothbrush will remove plaque from all the nooks and crannies in your mouth.
As well as looking for a toothbrush with ionic features, a couple of helpful tips for choosing the right toothbrush are:
- Find the right size brush head (not too big or too small)
- pick small, soft bristles that can get into the back of your mouth
Use Tea Tree Oil on Your Dental Floss
Another opportunity to add a homeopathic flair to your oral health routine is your dental floss. Flossing is a great way to remove little bits of debris from your teeth and if you add tea tree oil to the floss, it’s even better!
Tea tree oil is a natural disinfectant that can help keep those bad germs in check. Also, tea tree oil does a bang-up job of reducing gingivitis and bleeding of the gums!
Rinse and Spit
That may sound obvious, but most of us have been rinsing the wring way! Use warm water and s dash of sea salt to rinse after brushing or oil pulling.
try adding a few drops of mint essential oil for flavor and a breath-freshening punch!
Keep Calm and Detox On!
Everyone could use a full-on mouth detox at least every once in a while to cleanse their mouth of the built-up chemicals, bad bacteria, and other debris. It’s better for your the health of your mouth as well as the complete health of your body.
If some of these holistic methods of oral personal hygiene seem daunting, take it slow! Replace one or two steps with natural alternatives. No use in oil pulling if it makes you vomit every time!
We hope you enjoyed this article! If you did, check out our blog for more wonderful articles about alternative medicine and fitness!
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