Brushing without a toothbrush? | Brushing your teeth

Brushing without a toothbrush?

Cleaning teeth without mechanical activity with a brush is insufficient. The plaque that adheres to the teeth after eating can only be removed by mechanical removal with a toothbrush. No mouthwash, mouthwash or toothpaste can be sufficient, because they cannot remove these plaque.

The bacteria then have the chance to metabolize the food residues and attack the hard tooth substance. Caries and inflammation of soft tissues develop more quickly. Without proper cleaning methods with toothbrush and dental floss, food residues can remain in the spaces between the teeth and serve as food for the bacteria, which produce acids and thus cause lasting damage. Conclusion: Manual or electrical cleaning of the teeth with a toothbrush cannot be replaced and is essential for a healthy oral flora.

Brushing teeth with home remedies/naturopathy

Baking powder consists of a coarse-grained salt, sodium dihydrogen carbonate, which has a strong abrasive effect when scrubbed with a toothbrush. These abrasions can minimize discoloration and tartar, but they also erode the enamel and thus destroy the protective mantle of the tooth. Therefore, baking powder or baking soda is not suitable for daily dental care due to its abrasive effect and the use of these materials is therefore not recommended.

The initially brightening effect of the abrasion quickly fades away as soon as the yellow dentin, the dentine, appears. The teeth become more sensitive to heat and cold and after some time chewing problems are added. Tooth brushing with salt has a long tradition, which was considered normal especially in the time before toothpaste.

However, the effect of tooth cleaning with silicates becomes apparent after only a short time. The teeth are weakened by the structure of the salt. Due to the coarse grains of salt and rubbing with a toothbrush, the tooth hard substances are gradually worn away and the tooth loses its protective coat.

The outer layer of the hard tooth substance, the enamel, is the hardest substance in the human body and cannot be formed or regenerated again. The tooth is getting thinner and thinner and thus stimuli get closer to the tooth pulp with the nerve and blood vessels inside. This increases the perception of thermal or chemical stimuli and the tooth becomes sensitive.

Cold drinks and food can then cause an unpleasant cold pain and bacteria can damage the tooth more easily. It is therefore not advisable to brush the teeth with salt, as the coarse grains cause lasting damage to the tooth and are therefore not suitable for daily dental care. Some people today make use of coconut oil as it is said to contribute to dental health.

In naturopathy, coconut oil is already used because of its antibacterial, antiviral and antifugal effects. The lauric acid contained in it causes a dissolution of plaque – but also of the hard tooth substance. The tooth enamel becomes thinner and thinner through regular use, so that the protective layer of the tooth decreases and the tooth becomes sensitive to stimuli such as heat, cold or sweetness.

The teeth may appear slightly brighter as a result of the removal, but it must be remembered that once the layers of enamel have been removed, they can no longer be reproduced.At best, coconut oil can help to remove bacteria on the soft tissues such as the tongue, which cause unpleasant bad breath and thus create a fresh mouth feeling. You can find the main article here: Brushing teeth with coconut oilThe binding properties of activated carbon mean that it can be used to clean teeth in remote areas of the world. It continues to occupy abrasive properties and removes the upper layer of plaque.

If too much pressure is applied, the hard tooth substance is also removed. However, activated carbon is not suitable for daily tooth cleaning because the granules it contains are so coarse that they remove too much enamel and weaken the tooth if used frequently. It is therefore advisable to use activated carbon only a few times a month to dissolve discoloration caused by coffee, nicotine or red wine.

Healing earth is a powder obtained from loess deposits from the ice age and mixed with a liquid for application. It is very popular in naturopathy, but is classified as a toothpaste similar to activated carbon or baking powder. The healing earth contains coarse grains, aluminium silicates, which remove the hard tooth substance and thus cause lasting damage to the teeth.

Healing earth should therefore not be used for whitening teeth either. Mud chalk is the result of lime decomposition and is known as a component of every commercially available toothpaste. In naturopathy, whitewash is considered an alternative to conventional toothpaste.

It consists of calcium carbonate and is supposed to clean the oral cavity effectively – however, there are no long-term studies and scientific knowledge about this product as a substitute. As fluorides are missing when using this natural product, dentists advise against the use of whiting.