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Toothpaste

05 August 2006

Natural alternatives to bring a smile to your face

It’s a basic necessity. Brushing your teeth several times daily helps keep them clean, free of plaque-forming bacteria, and freshens the breath. In the UK, we spend £217 million a year just on toothpaste.

Brushing, like most daily tasks, can be boring, so manufacturers now advertise toothpaste so as to suggest it ’s a beauty or luxury product rather than a matter of personal hygiene. This encourages consumers to buy more and at a higher price, and also draws attention away from ingredients. What ’s actually in toothpaste is not something most people concern themselves with - though perhaps they should.

Dental decay and gum disease affect more than just the mouth. Periodontal disease is linked with other conditions such as heart disease (J Periodontol, 1996; 67: S1138-42); the association is even stronger than for risk factors like smoking and high cholesterol (J Am Dent Assoc, 1998; 129: 301-...

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Gum disease - Subgingival plaque the forerunner of a variety of periodontal diseases is caused by certain anaerobes. While Western oral hygienists painfully remove...

Dental decay and pain - Plants used in traditional cultures can have the leading edge on Western techniques to prevent tooth decay and relieve pain. While the West neurotical...

High cholesterol - High cholesterol, or hypercholesterinaemia, is conventionally treated with a low-fat diet, and a statin or anion-exchange resin drug. The drugs, howev...

Gum disease may be linked with obesity - As if overweight people don’t already have enough on their plate, here’s another problem: gum disease.

Toothpaste - A close brush with poison - Toothpaste can contain amounts of fluoride damaging to adults and lethal to children. Yet, manufacturers are lax about providing warnings or direction...

High cholesterol: - First up this week is the reader seeking suggestions to bring down her stubbornly high cholesterol level. Lecithin seems to be top of the list of bad-...

High cholesterol: - It's great to hear that some commercial health products actually do live up to their hype.

Dental plaque - how necessary is regular removal? - Q:What is WDDTY's view on the necessity of the removal of dental plaque on a regular basis? As I understand it, there may be a need for such removal...

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