TCM Classic – This story on Nadine Artemis’ oral health care tips originally ran in 2017. Some of these tips – and her book on the topic – are so essential we decided to bring it back. Especially this bit about flossing with oil!
We’re crushing hard on the real deal, deep wellness vibes coming from Living Libations founder, Nadine Artemis. We’ll admit it took us a while to latch on to this health and beauty brand with its throwback packaging, but once we dove into Nadine’s wealth of educational materials, we were sold – hook, line and sinker.
The video of Nadine above is full of just the kind of insights we’re talking about. We’ve pulled a few of the best tips and truths from Nadine’s guide to holistic dental care to share below — cruise through them and try a few at home (oil flossing might just change your life).
Use essential oil when flossing – This is our favorite of all Nadine’s tips for daily care. When flossing, add a dab of mouth-friendly, bacteria-killing essential oils to the floss. The oils seep into the tiny places that floss cannot reach and packs a punch of anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-fungal power to your daily routine. We love the Happy Gum Drops for this.
Use a Tongue scraper – No one wants more health and beauty equipment to store in their medicine cabinet or dopp kit, but once you try a tongue scraper for the first time, you won’t be able to live without one. An ancient Ayurvedic tradition, tongue scraping helps to keep the mouth clean and has a positive effect on the entire digestive system. Try one here.
try an ionic toothbrush: Ionic technology attracts plaque off of the teeth and has been clinically proven more effective than regular brushing. These brushes don’t need plugging in, the ionic charge comes from a battery and metal plate embedded in the handle! Here’s the one Nadine recommends.
Spit shine: Saliva is alkaline, saline, and actually full of mouth specific enzymes and minerals that keep teeth and the whole mouth in vibrant health. Saliva is our body’s way of keeping the pH of our mouths stable. For healthy saliva, good hydration and nutrition are key.
your Teeth are alive. In Nadine’s words, teeth actually “sweat”. Just as trees have sap, teeth flow with dentinal fluid that originates in the lower intestines and flows up all way through the teeth and eventually “sweat” through dentin. This fact alone helps us to think of our oral care differently and helps us make sense of the connection between diet and the health of our teeth.
Blood sugar matters: A high sugar or high carb diet affects insulin levels which in turn affects the parotid gland (largest saliva gland). Nadine describes continual high blood sugar as a dentinal fluid suppressor. That means that sugar in our bloodstream could be more detrimental to our oral health than the sugary coating in our mouths after a candy binge that dentists have always warned us about. We’re paraphrasing the Living Libations booklet here, but grab Holistic Dental Care for the full story.
