Poor Brushing And Flossing May Create Gum Disorders
February 2nd, 2012We have to face it: there isn’t much information available out there that offers people like us a choice about how to look after their teeth & gums. There’s brushing and flossing and 1000 different sorts of toothbrushes, toothpastes and flosses with which to use, which just brings us back to the basic brushing and flossing routines again. Keeping in mind that 90% of all Americans have some sort of gum condition (yes, youngsters as well) and most people over fifty five have few if any of their original teeth at all. Just ask yourself: is brushing and flossing as good as they say?
I used to suspect that if I brushed and flossed my teeth two or sometimes three every day vigorously, flossed now and then and ate one or two apples a day, my gum health would be unbeatable. So why was I subject to the fearsome dentist’s drill so regularly over my adolescent years?
About 10 years ago when I first I talked with Dr Joseph Phillips DDS, a light bulb flashed in my head. After all I’d spent the first half of my life doing the wrong thing. Over several phone callsbetween Dr Phillips in Wisconsin and myself in sunny California, he helped me understand the Blotting Brushes and outlined the mechanics of his patent protected ‘Blotting Technique’.
The Grim Reality of Dentistry
Dr Phillips kindly the time to impart the facts of dentistry to me.
He said if your dentist tells you that you have got to brush more as you have plaque on your teeth, and next time you see him he says “you have to brush still more and floss more because your gums are bleeding” and then recommends that you see the dental hygienist more frequently for cleaning your teeth, you may soon be arrabging an appointment for deep curettage (removal of dead inner tissue from a gum pocket) as well as periodontal (gum) surgery.
Regular brushing and flossing, cleaning by the hygienist and gum surgery never cures gum disease. As time goes on, this only leads to more curettage and surgery, and finally,extraction of the teeth. This can be a viscious circle.
The truth is that poor brushing and flossing habits can be the cause of gum disease. Cleaning in the gum crevices each and every day will prevent gum disorder from even getting started and, in most instances, will heal the gums. By using a special-bristled brush with much the same texture as a paint brush – the Blotting Brush – you can in fact draw plaque from the gum crevice and recover from gum disease in the majority of cases. This can also help prevent gum conditions from recurring, or receding gums from developing in the first place.
Dr Phillips always told his clients that if they wanted to see what brushing does, just lay a rug down on a dirty kitchen floor and brush or sweep around it and onto the rug. Then lift the side of the rug up and see that most of the dirt is packed under the edges of the rug. The same occurs when people brush their teeth. The Sulcus (the groove in between the gum and the tooth) is always dirty after brushing. You shouldn’t brush your teeth unless you can clean the sulcus out thereafter. Dr Phillips told me that brushing is just for cosmetics. As dentistry has demanded people brush more, gum disease has become more common in much younger people. This is the precursor to serious periodontal disease.
“If you use the Blotting Brush to clean under the gum and the entire mouth, you’ll have a healthy mouth and a pleasant breath.” Doctor Phillips
Soon after he passed away in 2003, Doctor Phillips’ work was almost completely lost in a house fire. Though holistic dentists the length and breadth of the USA pleaded with his family to continue his important legacy and carry on making the Blotting Brushes available, the energetic driving force had gone. Lucky for me his daughter gave us permission to carry on this groundbreaking work for him.
Together
From a family of Clydeside Scots, Graeme was born and brought up in Hong Kong. He lived for 35 years there, as well as in Borneo and Indonesia. Intrigued by the way in which the different Asian cultures approach their health and wellbeing, he studied aspects of Traditional Chinese Medicine and became familiar with many other ancient healing techniques, from the traditional Jamu herbal medicine healers of Java to the body balancing mechanisms of Jin Shin Jyutsu, from Japan. Along with his wife Phylipa, Graeme now runs Resources Fohttp://resourcesforlife.net/index.aspr Life a natural health business in Chichester, West Sussex and ToothWizards, an oral health initiative to help people achieve a degree of self-sufficiency in dental health. Much of what is available on their website has origins steeped in traditional knowledge