REMINERALIZE YOUR TEETH WITH XYLITOL

The following was posted at askdrellie.blogspot.com, and I thought that you might enjoy reading it and that you might benefit from it.  Dr. Ellie recommends using Xylitol gum to fight the acid and bacteria in between and inside the crater of your teeth.  She states that once you neutralize the acid and bacteria, your teeth will begin to remineralize through the avoidance of acidic foods and drinks.  Check out her reply to a letter from a fan.

Hi Dr. Ellie:

Thank you for your explanation on remineralization. It makes sense. I don't know why more dentists don't tell their patients. Maybe they don't believe it. They would be doing their patients a big favor if they told them. It is still unbelievable that something exists that is so natural. You mentioned that you have seen large cavities heal themselves. Without sounding like a fool, what happens to the decay? They should make xylitol in a rinse formula.

M.A.

Hello M.A.,

To fully explain and answer your question I have written a book that will be published next year!

Decay (or cavities) are the result of a process of tooth disintegration and infection. First of all the tooth surface has to be softened by something acidic to the point of disintegration. The acidity can come from acidic drinks, foods (citrus fruits) or by acids from acid-producing bacteria.

Once the surface of a tooth has been softened by the acidity it becomes porous. The acids dissolve away mineral crystals which leaves microscopic pores or holes in the tooth surface. Now the bacteria can enter these holes and produce more acids deeper inside the tooth.

Over time the tooth becomes weak and full of holes very porous. Finally there is so little strength left that the tooth caves in when a cavity forms. A cavity is just the final process of disintegration as the weak tooth collapses and a crater is formed in your tooth. Up until the crater forms, it is very easy to reverse the process (usually it takes about a year to form).

Xylitol is anti-bacterial and will kill off acid-producing bacteria. Xylitol also helps to heal deeper layers of a tooth by bringing minerals and adjusting the chemistry of the mouth to help minerals flow into the layers of the enamel. As I mentioned before fluoride helps move minerals into the outer layers and xylitol the deeper layers of the tooth.

So the tooth will re-harden, harmful bacteria will disappear and the tooth will reverse the damage over time.

The most amazing thing to witness is the rebuilding of the tooth with an actual hole in it.

I do not know exactly how it heals and I do not know the maximum limit at which a cavity can remineralize. I have witnessed many teeth that had holes in them and remineralized.

I would not suggest this (except with the advice of a dentist looking at an X-ray) for anyone with sensations of hot, cold, or sweet discomfort. Such sensations may indicate that the inner dentine is involved in the process.

But if the "decay" is new and in the outer layer of a tooth, I think that anyone should consider giving xylitol and fluoride a chance to rebuild and repair: at least for 3-6 months. After all, it would obviously be preferable to avoid a filling and maintain a perfect and un-filled tooth.

If you never want a filling maintain your mouth with xylitol and dilute fluoride mouth rinses as I suggest. This way you will be constantly repairing your teeth every day as insurance against them getting damaged or weaker.

Hope this explains the chemistry of teeth a little more!

Dr. Ellie Phillips, DDS
Some YouTube videos of Dr. Ellie Phillips on the benefits of Xylitol and restoration of teeth.  If it's important to you, take a listen.
http://www.drecoaching.com/

UPDATE: Thursday, June 13, 2013
Dr. E. Phillips recommends fresh pineapple before and after extraction of teeth.  Here is why.  Teeth remineralization occurs in a mouth that is 7.6 alkaline.  Pineapple, though you might think is acidic, actually creates a 7.4 alkalinity in your mouth.  This is why it is recommended before and after tooth extraction.  Do you think that any dentist that you've ever had knows of this, let alone tell you of this?

Dr. Ellie makes some interesting comments about acid and the foods and drinks that produce it.  One point that she made was that stomach acid can dissolve teeth; someone with acid reflux is at greater risk of tooth destruction because of the acid.  This is important because the talk she gives in that video link covers the oral hygiene benefits of Xylitol.  Xylitol destroys acids. 

Dr. Ellie recommends Xylitol, which is a sugar alcohol derived from birch trees.  It's a popular end-of-the-meal candy in Finland. 

She makes the claim that when you combine Xylitol with topical sodium fluoride (the only acceptable form of topical fluoride) in toothpaste (I do not recommend fluoride in the water that you ingest), that the combination of the two remineralizes your teeth to help repair it completely.  That's right.  I said completely.  Now if you've got chipped teeth, it doesn't mean that Xylitol will regrow your teeth, no.  What it means is that if you've got your teeth with roots, pulp or dentin, and natural enamel crown, using Xylitol with fluoride repairs your teeth.  Topical fluoride in toothpaste acts as a catalyst to accelerate remineralization.  Xylitol heals the deeper layers, the flesh part of wounded teeth, whereas fluoride heals the surface of the teeth.  She says that you can see cavities reverse.

Though I link her video above, you can find her recommendations of Xylitol here along with a mouth hygiene program.

Native Americans used to bite into the bark of birch trees when they had bad breath.  Use a birch tree toothpick to clean one's mouth.  It raises the mouth's PH.  Men have alkaline saliva more often than women.  She says that women, particularly under stress, have a greater acidity that eats away at the side of their teeth.  So, consume Xylitol to make your mouth more alkaline and less acidic.

She says that Xylitol acts like a probiotic to encourage healthy flora in your mouth.  It changes the flora of the mouth; it grows healthy replacement bacteria to protect your teeth.  It cuts off acid production in your mouth.  You already know that acid is not good for your stomach.  It's the same thing for your mouth.  Under the influence of Xylitol, bacteria don't stick to teeth.  Lots of bacteria on one's toothbrush.  BACTERIA grow on toothbrushes.  Clean the toothbrush EVERYDAY with Listerine!!!  Antibiotics denude the teeth!!  Xylitol rescues (Yay!!) the old bacteria you don't want and grow the good bacteria that you do want!!  Toothbrushes in bags is a breeding ground.  Preschools in Scandanavia give kids Xylitol gum 5 times a day!!  They chew it just to get the sugars out of the gum and then spit it out.  They don't have to keep the gum in the mouth for hours.  They're just after the sugars.  It's what makes Xylitol unique among the rest of the sugar alcohols.  6.5 grams per day for 6 months turn around a mouth with diseased flora.  6 months!!!  Make it easy.  Chew gum with Xylitol.  One piece contains one gram.  Chew 6 pieces a day--2 after each meal.  She says that splitting up the doses over the course of the 3 meals is ideal.  So after each meal, chew some delicious Xylitol gum.  Also, with improved flora in the mouth and the throat, guess what--no more sore throats.  Her husband owns a restaurant that is known for its desserts.  She feeds her husband's employees chocolate made with Xylitol.  Talk about win-win!!

Xylitol reduces the strep mutant count. 

In every military MRE, the US military adds Xylitol to it to save soldiers from getting caries out on the battlefield.

80% of pregnant women had fewer caries (cavities) than the control groups who didn't consume Xylitol.  Check out these pictures.

There are baby mouth wipes that contain Xylitol that could provide excellent protection for young children and less of a need for a dentist.  She made an interesting observation that pregnant women have acidic mouths.  Xylitol reverses that and remineralizes teeth.  I'm still waiting to hear the downside of Xylitol . . . I'm waiting . . . still . . . still waiting . . . .

Wait, it also helps preserve muscle AND get rid of fat!! 

List of features of Xylitol.

Xylitol, according to Dr. Ellie, reduces middle ear infections in children by 40%!!!  Children with chronic ear infection, who have acid reflux in conjunction, reduce episodes and severity.  Also, Xylitol reduces the need for antibiotics. 

Xylitol is anti-fungal!!  Mouth sprays for elderly folks.  Lots of applications. 

Hope you find this useful.

UPDATE:  Tuesday, June 18, 2013 
I think that Dr. Ellie Phillips, and me by extension, may have oversold the benefits of Xylitol as an alcohol sugar to re-mineralize your teeth. It does what it promises--it reduces the acid-causing bacteria in your mouth after you eat.  And though I have tried the Zellies gum that contains Xylitol, I am optimistic about what it has been doing for my teeth.  Some caution may be due to what Xylitol can do to your body.   It can be extracted from corn cob, and corn cob has a near 100% likelihood of being made from GMOs.  I read about her tooth-care system and wanted to re-mineralize my teeth.  So I went out and got Listerine, Crest toothpaste with sodium fluoride, and Zellies gum that contains the Xylitol sugar.  For the most part, I eat no processed sugars of any kind.  So after a few days on the Xylitol, I began to feel strange.  I began to feel week.  I started the Xylitol on Tuesday, June 13.  This past Sunday, June 17, I had diarrhea, which is a symptom of taking larger doses of Xylitol.  But all that I was taking were single gram doses found in gum, eating a total of 6 to 8 pieces of gum each day and therefore 6 to 8 grams each day.  Then yesterday, Monday, I became so exhausted when lying down that I could not think.  I just wanted to sink into my body.  I woke from a 4-hour nap.  It was not a case of me being sleep-deprived from the night before.  The sugars were adversely affecting my liver, kidneys, intestines, and heart.  There are a few risks in higher doses, listed here, here, and here.  But the doses are so high that they seem impractical and unreasonable; Dr. Phillips's regime does not call for 50 grams.  One quote from the three articles states, "it's safe for adults to consume up to 50 grams of Xylitol each day."  50 grams a day!  That's chewing two pieces of gum 25 times in a single day.  You're only supposed to take the gum after you eat; also, Zellies that deliver the Xylitol sugar constitute only 50% of her program.  Follow her program.  You'll be surprised by the positive results.