Author: The Toothfairy Truth

Since my last posting about probiotics I have been doing more research about gut health and healing the body.  In doing so I have learned that though antibiotics have decreased the death rate from bacterial infections, they have created a whole new line of low grade long-lasting diseases that are just as deadly, like cancer and diabetes.  Don’t get me wrong, if I were faced with death or taking an antibiotic, I would choose the antibiotic.

But the frequency of taking an antibiotic for every little cold, every little fever, is not okay.  If doctors could give an antibiotic that was very specific for the bug making you sick things might be different, but usually that’s not the case.  And giving antibiotics to children age three or younger is especially concerning, because the antibiotics wipe out budding, growing bacterial microbiomes in the gut that may not ever recover and can effect a child’s health for decades.

No one likes being sick, but being “under the weather”  is our body’s immune system going to work.  We tend to get impatient with a fever that lingers, a sinus infection, or a sore throat,  but for the body to heal it takes time.  The bottom line is that we need to be patient….maybe that’s why a sick person is called a “patient”?

What is the answer to better health?

The more I research I do, the more I am finding that when we interfere with the body’s healing process, the more damage we will cause.  Let the body heal.  When you are sick, you need to rest.    There are life and death situations where medicine is needed, but avoid them as much as possible.

I have also been finding that what we eat is a major factor in setting us up for good health or bad health.  Our bodies are supposed to be able to heal themselves if they have all the right building blocks available.

Our digestive system has trillions of bacteria in it.  In fact, some say we are more of a bacterial host than we are human.  And our health is in many ways determined by the types of bacteria that are dominant in our gut, and the microbes that thrive are the ones that we feed.  This reminded me of the old Cherokee story about the two wolves…

So if we feed the right bugs and not the wrong bugs in our gut, we will have better health?

In my studies I came across a Dr. Rangan Chatterjee, MD,  who is the host of BBC’s Doctor in the House, and wanted to share what I learned from him.  He talks about the foods we eat and how they affect our health.   He talks about prebiotics.  Prebiotics are different than probiotics.  Probiotics are live bacteria and we eat them in cultured foods like yogurt, sauerkraut, and kimchi–or take them in a supplement.  Prebiotics are food for the bacteria.  Prebiotics are in foods like carrots, squash, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes.

Dr. Rangan Chatterjee suggests getting a rainbow of these “prebiotics” every day.  He suggests having a chart on your fridge to remind you what to eat and keep track of it.  The following is a checklist I found that demonstrates what he’s talking about…

One last thing about probiotics….

In math when you have a positive and a negative, what happens?  They cancel each other out, right?  Be very aware that probiotics and antibiotics work against each other.  You cannot take them at the same time.  Good rule of thumb is to give two hours after taking an antibiotic before taking a probiotic so that it is not destroyed by the antibiotic.  But if you DO have to take an antibiotic, make sure you also are getting a probiotic for sure.

Antibiotics kill bacteria.  Did you know that foods that are processed have antibiotics in them?  Preservatives are antibiotics, they are extending the life of the food by killing off bacteria, and we eat them every day!  This blew me away.  So not only should we stay away from antibioitics when we’re sick unless they are absolutely necessary, but we should be very careful about what foods we put in our bodies that have preservatives because they have antibiotics in disguise.

If you want to read an interesting abstract about more health related benefits of probiotics, here’s a link to the American Academy of Oral Systemic Health’s July newsletter.

Enough said.  I wish you the happy and healthy lives by making good choices regarding what you put in your body.

Links to recommended probiotics:

https://urbanmonknutrition.com/product/gi-fusion-sale/

https://www.ascendedhealth.com/nutrigenomics/Probiotics.htm

Do you know what inflammation is?  Think red, think swollen, think heat.  Like when you roll your ankle and it swells up like a balloon.  Inflammation is the body trying to heal.

Inflammation is also a sign that something is wrong.    

These signs should not be ignored.

I recently received an update from AAOSH (American Academy of Oral Systemic Health) and am including part of their newsletter because they point out how the mouth and the body are connected and that treating periodontal disease, or gum disease, in the mouth can help the rest of the body:

“The mouth is, was and forever will be is part of the body. The old model in traditional medicine of treating symptoms and body parts in isolation, is flawed. Pioneers in functional medicine like Dr. Mark Hyman, Dr. Mike Roisen, Dr. Axe, Dr. Fuhrman, Dr. Amy Doneen, Dr. Brad Bale, and a host of others are leading the charge in functional medicine. They do not ask questions like “what do we have,” but rather “why do we have it.” They understand that the body parts and organ systems are connected via the bloodstream, the lymphatic system, the endocrine system, the gastrointestinal system, the nervous system, the immune system –separation of organ systems and body parts does not exist. They understand that what happens in one part of the body, affects the entire being. The mouth is just one example, albeit a very potent one.

In order to get to the basis of inflammation, which is a key driver of metabolic syndrome, one must address all sources of inflammation in the body. The most common site of inflammation, the most easily observed, and importantly -the easiest to treat, is periodontal inflammation. Periodontal disease is not a local disease, as it is often treated.  For instance, evidence suggests that “periodontal changes are the first clinical manifestation of diabetes,” And “evidence indicates that periodontitis is a significant risk factor for poor glycemic control” (these quotes are from Relationship Between Oral Health and Diabetes Mellitus, October 2008, Lamster Et al.). In clinical practice, we are guilty of overlooking a host of other oral signs of diabetes beyond gingival/periodontal changes, such is salivary dysfunction, candidiasis, taste interference, neurosensory disorders, and oral infections. Enamel changes are often the first clinical manifestation of silent reflux.

Periodontal pathogens and the subsequent inflammatory mediators go off site throughout the entire body as is referenced in a variety of scientific, peer-reviewed literature. The consequences of periodontal disease are widespread and often devastating. To ignore this premise and the emerging research is putting our patient’s health and possibly their lives at risk…”

You don’t know if you have gum disease?  Statistically speaking, 48% of adults over 30 and 73% of adults over 65 have some form of gum disease.  If you are an adult, and especially if you are having general health problems, I would suggest a thorough periodontal, or gum, evaluation by a qualified hygienist to see if you have any inflammation that can be “KNOCKED OUT!”

Toxins are a part of our world, it’s unavoidable.  But toxins that we voluntarily put in our body are avoidable.  This is an article posted in USA Today on January 10, 2019 which cautions against using floss that is treated with PFAS, a potentially toxic chemical used as a gliding agent.  I would suggest reading this article and looking at the links associated with it to make an informed decision regarding what you put in your mouth.

Clink on this link for the article or look at the address listed below:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/01/09/oral-b-glide-floss-toxic-pfas-chemicals-study/2530661002/

Also, here is an explanation by the Environmental Protection Agency about what PFAS’s are and why they are a concern for our health:

https://www.epa.gov/pfas/basic-information-pfas

Quite frequently I am asked which dental insurance is the best.  My answer?  Well, unless you get complimentary dental insurance through an employer, you may want to consider an alternative.  I call dental insurance a benefit, it does help cover some dental costs, though none of them cover everything.  But do you really understand what the money is being used for and what the hidden costs are to you?

Did you know that you have options besides dental insurance?  I have so many people think they cannot have any dental treatment done because they don’t have insurance, they just can’t afford it.  The truth is, you may be paying more to HAVE dental insurance than not.

We are given the option, through the federal government, to pay for health-related expenses through a health savings account, or an HSA.  What is a health savings account?  It is a savings account you can set up through a bank, a financial institution, or an insurance company that is used for qualified medical expenses.  Dentistry is one of those expenses.

Now, there are limitations to qualify for an HSA, and that is that you have to have a high deductible health plan.  That means you have a medical insurance plan where the deductable is between $1350 per person or $2700 per family per year and $6650 per individual or $13,500 per family per year.

So check on your medical insurance, and if you qualify, then please listen!

There are four main benefits to having an HSA account:

1.  Money put into the account is 100% tax deductible, so no taxes are taken out on it.  That includes any interest the account accumulates.   That will lower the amount of taxes you pay every year.
2. Money does NOT have to be used by a certain date.  It can be used even through retirement and can continue building for years.  In retirement it can even be used for some living expenses.
3. The money is yours.  It is easily transferred from bank to bank, so if you move or change jobs, it’s no big deal to move money around.  Trying to move 401K or IRA accounts if you’ve switched jobs can be very difficult or not possible at all without losing money.
4. There are dozens of eligible expenses the money can be used for, not just medical expenses, many of which you might not be aware of.

I have been using an HSA for several years for my own family’s health related costs.  I just went to a local bank, got an HSA account, and was issued a debit card.  If I don’t have the card on me when I make a purchase, I just pay myself back.  It would be wise to keep track of your purchases for tax purposes.

So in my experience, if I were at a crossroads whether to find a dental insurance plan or do an HSA, I would recommend the HSA.  You manage your own money for dental and health related expenses instead of paying into the insurance bureaucracy, you have tax advantages, and you save money.

Check out the links below for more information on HSA’s.

Health Savings Accounts Tax Information

Health Savings Accounts Eligible expenses

Government Information about Health Savings Account

Shop HSA Accounts