brush teeth with bar soap

Discussion in 'General Chat' started by Swansen, Jun 11, 2009.

  1. Swansen

    Swansen The Ninj

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  2. Anti-Trend

    Anti-Trend Nonconformist Geek

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    Well, noticed that every page has a link to a paid product on it? I'm skeptical. It's true that glycerin in toothpaste is bad, since it's sticky stuff and not a good cleaning agent. It's just used as a cheap, non-toxic base.

    However, a lot of bar soaps have ingredients you really don't want to be absorbing through your mucous membranes! If the soap says something like, "if ingested, contact a physician" you should keep it the hell away from your mouth! Also, the term "soap scum" comes to mind. If it cakes on your shower curtains, what the hell do you think it will do to your teeth? People are probably saying their teeth are whiter and less sensitive because they unknowingly have a film of soap over their teeth. Just a theory.

    That said, I could imagine making your own "tooth soap" by mixing a mild abrasive -- Fruit or vegetable fibers perhaps? Maybe baking soda? -- pure vegetable oils, and maybe something like Aloe. Aloe's quite non-toxic, and I've actually read that one of the longest-lived human beings on the planet was quoted as having ingested a little aloe every day. Not a bad idea.
     
  3. Big B

    Big B HWF Godfather

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    I concur. I don't know the content of soap products anymore, but I thought they contained lye, which isn't something I understand is good. Plus, if you've ever had the pleasure of having your mouth washed out with soap, it's quite nasty.
     
  4. Swansen

    Swansen The Ninj

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    After a lot of searching it seems there are recommended soaps, that said, ingesting toothpaste is just as horrible... and your suppose to contact your physician. That said, almost every health food store sells tooth soaps.
     
  5. Anti-Trend

    Anti-Trend Nonconformist Geek

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    I was more referring to nasty things like lye. You definitely do not want lye in your mouth, whether you swallow it or not.

    As for health food stores, up until very recently they were also selling zinc "anti-allergy / immune booster" nose sniffer things... unfortunately, zinc can permanently damage your sense of smell or even destroy it altogether. So, I wouldn't use the fact that some store sells it as a symbol of universal quality.

    I'm not opposed to tooth soap per se, I just don't think it's necessarily better than a good toothpaste. Some of the sites you linked that recommended (and/or sold) tooth soap recommended also brushing with baking soda-based toothpaste, since tooth soap can leave your teeth stained and transparent-looking. Ugh! Also, some of your sources seem to be in conflict, as one says acids like citrus cause tooth decay, while another sells tooth soap with orange citrus in it.
     
  6. Swansen

    Swansen The Ninj

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    .... i didn't look over all the links to throughly, and i'm not suggesting everything at a health food store is ultimately better, its just that you won't find tooth soaps in most stores. That said, the major idea behind using soap over toothpaste is because the soap breaks down acids in the mouth from a couple food sources, doesn't contain fluoride and shouldn't contain glycerin. I posted the same information on another forum and someone suggested using salt and he has a gum disease in which his teeth are suppose to fall out. Since he has switched to using salt he has completely halted his gum disease.

    Reading over what the Dr. wrote makes sense, as in, it seems logical, i didn't realize the toothpaste i had been buying contained fluoride, or i would have stopped using it a long time ago, so i'm just looking for other sources.
     
  7. Anti-Trend

    Anti-Trend Nonconformist Geek

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    Flouride is very good for your teeth, and very bad to ingest. A toothpaste should have flouride, unless you're in the habbit of swallowing it. In which case, I recommend children's formula toothpaste. :chk:
     
  8. Swansen

    Swansen The Ninj

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    Yes, ultimately you are right, Fluoride is good it occurs naturally, but what Flouride are we getting Calcium Fluoride or Sodium Fluoride, the natural one, or the chemically made one??? There is a big difference, and many countries in Europe have given up on their Fluoride experiments and ultimately ban it. That said, what Fluoride do we receive?? who knows, but is someone going to pay an arm and a leg to test all the fluoride they get? doubt it. The only reason, at all, that anyone needs any kind of supplemental fluoride in their diets is if they have an unhealthy one, natural fluoride occurs normally in enough food items that we shouldn't have to introduce an excess, as an excess of anything is always bad.

    Yes, fluoride on your teeth is beneficial to your teeth, and won't kill you, but if your don't want lye in your mouth, why would you put fluoride in it? especially such a high concentration. Also, the lye isn't strong enough to do anything, it won't hurt anything unless you swallow it, its a simple base, thats it. Also, the citrus toothpaste doesn't actually have any acid in it.... it just tastes citrus-esk, i don't know the methods behind it.

    On a final note, there are a few post i have run across of people who eat very well, very healthy, and do not always brush their teeth, yet have very nice teeth. So above all else, a good diet is apparently the best solution here.
    Using soap to brush teeth--has anyone tried this yet? at Oil Pulling & Oil Swishing Support
    ^(good discussion of soap teeth brushing)^

    Good Teeth From Birth To Death - Share The Wealth
    ^(massive amount of info on the subject)^
     
  9. Anti-Trend

    Anti-Trend Nonconformist Geek

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    Are you kidding? Here's what lye does when it's introduced to your skin: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/Sodium_hydroxide_burn.png

    ...what do you think it would do to your teeth and gums?

    The tart flavor in citrus fruit is citric acid. :) No citric acid, no real citrus flavor. Citric acid is apparently bad for your teeth, according to wikipedia.

    About all this tooth soap stuff: I haven't formed an opinion yet, but before I do I'd like to see some real studies on it and all of the other claims these people are making. I'm not willing to base my understanding of something solely on the word of the same people peddling it.
     
  10. Swansen

    Swansen The Ninj

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    ... i need to stop posting stuff late at night while being sleep deprived... does poor things for my rationalization and i end up sounding like a plank... ANYWAYS, i was searching about the lye thing, and yes while it is a basic base, it is dangerous if used improperly in its liquid form, obviously, it eats metal. Lye is used in soap because it reacts and with the oils, and neutralized, to solidify the bar, once its cured it isn't dangerous on the level that it is when its a liquid, no more dangerous than swallowing or putting toothpaste in your mouth.

    THAT SAID, GLYCERIN!! i was aware that soap contained glycerin, but from what i can find its not on the level of that of toothpaste. Cheap toothpastes are composed of a large amount of glycerin as a cheap filler, in soap its a by-product as in you mix a and b and result is glycerin. So, i never really liked that much anyways. Also... i have no idea why i tried to defend the acid from the citrus flavor... BUT ON THE LINK AND COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS, only one of them was an actual product?? other were just people being like hey blah blah, you try this, did it work. Of which, isn't this how studies are done?? They try things, and they work or they don't? But in the links they are all referenced back to the work of a Dr. Judd, who isn't in the dentist game to make millions and screw people over, so like all of his kind, he doesn't get any publicity, and the information he does discover goes against all convection so again, gets shot down. He wrote a book on the subject, and the only thing i don't really like is how he goes on about bacteria not causing cavities, but i mean, they do and they don't. Can't remember the specific bacteria, but they metabolize sucrose (sugars) and the waste is an acid. However, drinking water while eating will go a long ways to alleviate the bacteria build up and soap does the best job of killing said bacteria.

    ON TO REAL THINGS, all natural soap in the way to go i guess. That said a lot of people take advantage of the situation and charge huge amounts for something in a nice package that says tooth soap when was most seem to find work the best is Castle Soap. Which is generally all natural and free of glycerin and other fun things you would find in "soap". Thats pretty much all i have on that, i'm not honestly concerned about the cured lye, it would be a completely different story if i was putting concentrated pure lye into my mouth, i think i would have real issues, but its not really the case here.

    On all this, there is this Indian thing called "oil pulling" you swish like sesame seed or sunflower oil in your mouth every morning and apparently is does great things. Reason i brought that up is because the all natural soaps use oils and thats generally it, so i wonder what the deal is with these oils and oral hygiene??

    On "alternative" medicine, i'm a pretty big fan, because A:They generally work very well, and B:unlike "conventional" medicine, you don't have "side effects". My body hates medicine, i always seem to react very poorly to a lot of prescription stuff and even some over the counter things.. which i just learned from a friend of mine are generally only found here in the US.... Anyways, our traditional medicine to me is more of an alternative, because of how untested everything really is..

    -------edit---------
    Just found this, but to reaffirm my point about lye in soap, when the lye reacts with the oils it is completely consumed in the process
     
  11. Anti-Trend

    Anti-Trend Nonconformist Geek

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    Woah woah, easy there killer. :p Why don't you wash your mouth out with soap then, if it's so great? Nobody's stopping you. You can tell us how it went a year from now.

    As for me, I use a quality baking-soda toothpaste with no glycerin. It's worked better for me than any other toothpaste I've used so far, with no residue.
     
  12. sabashuali

    sabashuali Ani Ma'amin

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    Would you like to divulge the make and model? I currently do the same but with no other alternative, I resort to mixing the two myself. Sort of half baking-soda and half Colgate basic toothpaste (only once out of the two daily sessions). It really isn't that hard but I would love to have it ready out of the tube.... I have to say it leaves my mouth feeling clean as in clean!

    Soap? I'll leave that to adventurists like Swansen... much too progressive for me.... Indian oil-pulling... pfffff KIDS!
     
  13. Anti-Trend

    Anti-Trend Nonconformist Geek

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    Arm & Hammer brand "Extra Whitening". No glycerin! :) I am supplementing it with some prescription concentrated fluoride rinse, which has really helped my beat up gums.
     
  14. Swansen

    Swansen The Ninj

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    Yes, i know a guy who has a gum disease and he brushes his teeth with salt, and even though his teeth should be falling out, he has no problems. Also, i hear you have to brush your teeth a certain way or you will erode your gum line? if using baking soda??

    A final note on soap, i don't use regular bar soap, i use castle soap like i suggested, which does not contain glycerin ether.

    I'm still out on the Fluoride thing to much contradicting evidence, kinda like GMOs.....
     
  15. Anti-Trend

    Anti-Trend Nonconformist Geek

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    Salt kills just about everything. Most toothpastes and mouth washes contain various salts. Also, anything abrasive can erode your gum line and even your tooth enamel, including brushing too hard. If you're a hard brusher, there are some really good electric toothbrushes that can help you kick the habit.
     
  16. Swansen

    Swansen The Ninj

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    yeah, i do tend to brush my teeth to hard, as long as i pay attention i do pretty well, but from the electric brushes i've used, they mostly seem like a gimmick. Especially the ones that just like oscillate a small amount..
     
  17. Anti-Trend

    Anti-Trend Nonconformist Geek

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    Yeah, most are a gimmick. Get yourself a Phillips Sonicare, that's the real deal.
     
  18. Swansen

    Swansen The Ninj

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    thanks, i'll look into that
     
  19. Anti-Trend

    Anti-Trend Nonconformist Geek

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    My dental insurance covered mine, otherwise they are pricey. Had mine for years, and it still works like it did on day #1. These things are seriously well engineered, honestly. If you have dental, you can probably get a dentist to prescribe you one, and have the insurance cover most or all of the cost.
     
  20. sabashuali

    sabashuali Ani Ma'amin

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    [ot] got to love dental cover... :cool: I guess you get this from your employer.
    I could but it would be a pricey so I stick with medical only. If I look after my teeth, it is better to stick with a good NHS dentist....works out cheaper at the moment...[/ot]

    I have Braun electric toothbrush which uses Oral-B for brushes. We had the first one for nearly two years before I dropped it. Luckily it was under guarantee so we are on our second one which is brilliant (we got a better model). The dentist said it is doing a good job... anyway they are fairly reasonable here in the UK.
     

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