The Real Causes of, and Cures for, Gum Disease.

If your gums are red and puffy and bleed when you brush or floss, you have the early stage of gum disease, called gingivitis. It's caused by the buildup of plaque, the gum-destroying, tooth-loosening gunk that coats your teeth faster than you can say "periodontist."

Brushing and flossing may be helpful in removing plaque, but there are other steps recommended by alternative practitioners that can prevent or reverse gum disease. Moreover, what you may not hear from a conventional dentist is that even if you faithfully brush and floss, you can still end up with gingivitis. We'll explain how—and what to do about it later, but first, here are some tips to keep your gums healthy.

SALT: Concentrating On the Real Solution
Even brushing and flossing can't erase all the nasty bacteria living on your gums. To do that, you have to kill those germs. One way to do it is with salt, which dehydrates the creepy critters.

Here's a salty recipe for gum health from David Kennedy, D.D.S., a dentist in San Diego.
Pour 1/2 pound of baking soda and 1/2 pound of salt into a clean, empty gallon jug. Add enough warm water to fill the jug, shake thoroughly,


and set aside. A thin layer of salt and soda that have not dissolved should form on the bottom of the jug.

You should now have a concentrated salt solution, with each molecule of water bordered by a molecule of salt. If you don't see an undissolved layer add more salt and baking soda until you do. Just before you use the rinse, add a teaspoon or two of hydrogen peroxide 3 percent solution to help kill bacteria and sterilize the gums.

Fill an oral irrigator, such as a WaterPik, with the solution. Point the tip of the irrigator at each tooth and circle it, then poke the tip gently under the gum. Don't swallow the solution while you're irrigating.

Add 1 cup of water to the jug after each use. You should have enough solution for 10 irrigations, then you'll need to start a new batch.

"When my patients floss, brush, and use this bug-killing solution once a day, they remove many of the bacteria that cause gum disease from their mouth," says Dr. Kennedy. "Over 50 percent of all Americans have gingivitis. If they followed this procedure, they would take one step toward slowing the progress of the disease."

HERBS AND ESSENTIAL OILS: A Healing Combo
To help reduce inflammation and swelling of gum tissue, use a combination of herbal tinctures and essential oils, says Gary Verigin, D.D.S., a dentist in Hscalon, California. Mix 2½ ounces each of  echinacea, thyme, and cinnamon hark tinctures with four to six drops each


of eucalyptus oil, lavender oil, peppermint oil, and vegetable glycerin.

Dip a perio-aid a wooden toothpick with a plastic handle into the solution and gently clean the crevice that surrounds each tooth by inserting the toothpick parallel to the tooth, as it you were cleaning your cuticles. Gently work below the gum line on each tooth, being careful not to tear the gum tissue. Do this every evening before going to bed, recommends Dr. Verigin. This type of cleaning is not painful, but the first few cleanings may be uncomfortable if your gums are inflamed, he says.

If you don't have the time, energy, or inclination to make this herbal mixture, consider buying Tooth and Gum Tonic, manufactured by the Dental Herb Company. This product, available through dentists, contains all of the above ingredients and was highly recommended by Dr. Verigin, Reid Winick, D.D.S., an alternative dentist in New York City, and James Medlock, D.D.S., a mercury-free dentist in West Palm Beach, Florida.
You can use Tooth and Gum Tonic with a perio-aid as described above, says Dr. Verigin.

Alternatively, says Dr. Medlock, you can use it as a mouth rinse, in an irrigator, or for brushing (just pour a little of the solution in the palm of your hand and clip your toothbrush in it).

MAGNETIZED ORAL IRRIGATOR: Take Charge of Plaque
Regular oral irrigators clean deep inside the "pockets" of diseased gums where bacteria live. But an irrigator with a magnet in the handle does more than merely clean, says Dr. Winick. It polarizes the water so that the teeth have a positive charge and the bacteria a negative charge. One study found that patients who used a magnetized irrigator had 64 percent less calculus, the hardened layer of plaque that forms on teeth, than those who used a typical irrigator.
You can find irrigators with magnetic handles at some health food stores and through mail-order suppliers.

Getting to the Root of Gum Disease
What if you faithfully brush and floss, but your gums are still inflamed—reel, puffy, and prone to bleeding? Well, the problem may not be in your mouth. It may be in your stomach (and the rest of your digestive tract).
That's the opinion of Michael Lipelt, N.D., D.D.S., a naturopathic physician and dentist in Sebastopol, California. "Even when people do a great job with their home care, if their diets are bad high in fat and sugar, low in fiber, and emphasizing processed rather than whole foods—they will create digestive disharmony, which will negatively affect the condition of their mouths," he says.
Lots of other alternative healers agree with him. Here are their suggestions for healing your gums by changing your diet.

FOOD: Turning Down the Heat
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, poor digestion is said to turn the stomach into a kind of steamy cauldron, creating toxic gases that drift upward in the body and damage the tissues of the gums. To "cool" your stomach, Dr. Lipelt suggests eating more salads and fruits, especially seasonal produce, and fewer fatty, sugary, and spicy foods. The best cooling foods, he says, are melons, cucumber, watercress, and tofu.

MISO SOUP: Really Cool Cuisine
It's a lot easier than making French onion. Boil 1 cup of water and let it cool until you can comfortably put your finger in it. Then pour the water into a soup bowl and stir in a tablespoon of miso, a soybean paste that's a staple ot Asian cuisine. You can find it in most health food stores and many supermarkets. "This soup is very cooling to the stomach," says Dr. Lipelt.

PROTEIN: Observe the Limit
Too much protein in your diet changes your saliva so that it's more hospitable to gum-destroying bacteria, says Dr. Verigin. He recommends limiting your protein intake to no more than 75 grams a day. (That doesn't mean that you have to be a vegetarian—just a little more cautious. A 3-ounce hamburger patty, for example, provides about 20 grams of protein.)

CAFFEINE, SUGAR, AND ALCOHOL: Easy Does It
These foods beat up your immune system, making it easier for the gum-destroying bacteria to do their dirty work, says Dr. Winick. Your best bet, he says, is to eliminate them entirely.

VITAMIN C: For Healthy Gums
Poor digestion can stop nutrients from being absorbed—the same nutrients that you need to keep your gums healthy. On of them is vitamin C, which helps the body create collagen, the cellular foundation of gum tissue.
To protect your gums, take 1,000 milligrams of vitamin C a day, says Dr. Verigin but not all at once. Instead, take 500 milligrams twice a day, in the morning and evening.

COENZYME Q10: Boosting Circulation
This substance helps reverse gum disease by increasing circulation and bringing a better supply of oxygen to the gums, says Dr. Verigin. He recommends 100 milligrams a day.
Be sure to get oil-based soft-gels, which are better absorbed, says Dr. Winick.

PYCNOGENOL: Pining for Relief
This antioxidant, derived from pine bark, increases circulation to the gums by dilating the blood vessels. It also has an anti-inflammatory effect, says Dr. Winick. He recommends taking 1 milligram per pound of body weight three times a day. Someone who weighs 150 pounds, for example, would take 150 milligrams three times a day.

GLUCOSAMINE SULFATE: Undoing the Damage
This substance, which can help regenerate the cartilage in arthritic joints, also can help rebuild disease-damaged gums, believes Dr. Verigin. Take a 300-milligram capsule three times daily, he says.

ALOE: Rinse Away Inflammation
If your best efforts don't stop the bleeding and inflammation, soothe your gums with pure aloe gel, says Flora Parsa Stay, D.D.S., a dentist in Oxnard, California. At the store, check the label to be sure you're gelling the form that can be used internally. Then, three or four times a day, mix 1 tablespoon of the gel with ½ cup of warm water, rinse your mouth for 30 seconds, and spit it out, she says.