The Power of Saliva

Your own saliva has incredible healing powers! Try to give your teeth & gums adequate time to interact with your saliva in order to heal. #shorts #dentalcare #xylitol #health #naturalhealing #teeth #cavities

[@gonnfishy2987]

Would you support a theory that just as hormones change in the body through the month, so too does our saliva pH?? Since i have really been attentive to saliva and oral health i have been noticing distinct differences in saliva over time… not sure it corresponds with dietary intake. It’s remarkable too that some innate and common sense things people are capable of interpreting via their saliva and tongue are not more widely talked about. Taste, saliva and teeth are our innate guide to what is acidic yet outside of wine-tasting and vocabulary, i don’t ever recall being told “if it makes your teeth feel these things it’s because it’s acidic”

[@dr.elliephillips]

I have written extensively on this topic and I have is a KZbin video discussing the different experiences in oral health that occur between women and men. Hormones definitely can affect salivary pH - and during pregnancy the oral pH is almost always around pH5.5 - 6 Yes, some say in pregnancy this is an effect of minerals being less available in saliva, but I believe there is more of a direct hormonal link. This link is illustrated when someone is monitoring their salivary pH and becomes pregnant . Within hours or days - their salivary pH will change ( a "baby" of this size is not drawing minerals) - and 9 months later it will almost as immediately change back to normal (if the mother was previously at a pH around 7). This reversal occurs within days of the baby being born - a time when mineral depletion would likely still be present. From then on, after the baby is born, women will see many stress-related fluctuations in pH - stress being a big influencer of salivary pH in women - far more pronounced than in men when it comes to more general or routine daily stresses. To tell a woman with acidic pH that she needs to floss more (if she has plaque or gingivitis) is imo a professional abuse of this patient. No amount of flossing can help a woman with a constant pH of 5.5 . There is no way for anyone to improve this acidic saliva situation with a length of string. We have studies from the 1970s showing how small amounts of xylitol ( approximately a teaspoon per day) in small divided doses - reduces plaque by 98% during pregnancy. We also have studies more recently showing that xylitol during pregnancy can lower risk for preterm birth. WHY is this knowledge not expressed and shared with pregnant women? Why instead do the majority of hygienists fixate on the idea that floss is the essential tool for oral health? They have this backwards and - as a woman - it upsets me to think I have been attempting to share this information with dental professionals for over 40 years. Thank you for your instant understanding and interest in this fascinating topic. On a dietary note, salivary pH appears to be immediately affected by diet - about 45 minutes to an hour after eating a mineral dense meal. What we eat ( say a nice salad or broccoli) this will affect salivary pH within an hour after the meal. The duration of this change can vary and sometimes will be short - but this change occurs. This measurement is a reflection of mineral uptake and may be a good way to monitor the effectiveness of our digestive processes. This reading also explains why it is important not to eat or drink for a couple of hours after a meal and the damage that sipping acidic drinks will do to negate this uptick in salivary pH after a healthy meal. Same thing with people who continue to sip water and dilute and thin this mineralizing saliva an hour after a meal. As you begin to study this - consider that we want maximum uptake of minerals from foods. This is why I suggest adding a little butter to veggies - since this appears to increase the amount of minerals absorbed from veggies. I guess that olive oil may also be good - I have not tested that.....

[@gonnfishy2987]

@@dr.elliephillips 🤓 i was just watching the dedicated video to this last night! “…gave them 2 pieces of Xylitol per day (well i would have given them more)…”. The awareness is definitely being driven by none other than you, it seems!

[@gonnfishy2987]

@@dr.elliephillips my mother is a senior midwife. I shared your video with her, our communication is sometimes lacking so i don’t know what it gave her… she may already know re oral health and premmies

[@gonnfishy2987]

@@dr.elliephillips im using your system, it’s not been too long but im at the stage where i dont feel the urge to floss or use interdental picks (for the moment). I am enjoying relaxing and even brushing only in the evening, focusing more on making my biofilm and teeth feel robust safe in the knowledge that without exposures to things, there can hardly be a basis for bacteria forming. My tongue knows what state my teeth are in, via saliva. I sadly am taking a break from listerine for the moment, i am worried the composites in my mouth are reacting badly. Im also using erythritol, flouride plus as a rinse (borders on too risky for consumers due to F content p/gram) and a hydroxyapatite coating, at various moments.

[@Nesper_z]

I have