One Year without Toothbrush, Toothpaste or Floss

It has been one year since I’ve used a toothbrush, toothpaste or dental floss.
I went to the dentist for a checkup to see what they think of my natural dental hygiene.

Further reading: My Natural Personal Hygiene and Preventative Health Care

Transcript: The following is a transcription of Year without Toothbrush, Toothpaste or Floss.

It has been one year since I have used a toothbrush, toothpaste, or dental floss. One year. So, today I’m at the dental office and I am going to get a general checkup to see how it’s going and hear their perspective of how my teeth are. I have not told them about this unusual practice. So, let’s see what they have to say.

[Robin:] I have a bit of an unusual dental care practice since you last saw me and I want to get your perspective on how my teeth are.

[Dentist:] Okay. Yeah. So, as far as I can see, I don’t see anything screaming at me, decay wise or anything. Just a lot of staining.

[Robin:] So, no. From what you see, no substantial decay.

[Dentist:] No substantial decay or anything.

[Robin:] Without doing the X-rays, can you pretty confidently look and say there’s no issues?

[Dentist:] No, usually you have to do both.

[Robin:] As far as all of this though, there’s no reasons for concern. Everything looks good.

[Dentist:] From visually, yeah. Yeah, it looks okay. It is a little bit … some staining, but that’s just from the food and the erosion that you had over the years.

[Robin:] So, could you believe that it’s been a year since I used a toothbrush, toothpaste, or dental floss?

[Dentist:] What have you used then?

[Robin:] I can show you right here.

[Dentist:] Oh, now, you’re going back to old school.

[Robin:] So, what I use is linen cloth as my toothbrush and that gets the main surfaces. And then I use twigs. So, this has a little brush and I use the brush. And then I sharpen this side and I’ll use that for getting in the crevices. I also … for toothpicks, I use this: this is a fishbone. Or pine, pine needles or grass. And these go in the crevices. And then I also have a nut pick that I use for gently scraping. And then I use salt water sometimes for swishing. But no floss, no toothpaste and no toothbrush for one year. So what do you think hearing that?

[Dentist:] Hearing that? I mean, … I mean before the invention of toothbrush and floss, you know, I’m pretty sure our ancestors used these kinds of tools to help with that, too. It could be damaging to the gums. Just through history. The royals are usually the ones that had more decay. Okay. Just because of the rate of sugar. So you are cleaning them, you are using those tools and with your low rate of sugar, that’s probably contributing to a lot of that.

[Robin:] So from what you can see, this is working okay.

[Dentist:] It’s working okay. I wouldn’t recommend it long term. I understand if you had to.

[Robin:] So now, what do you think will happen if I come back in three years from now and this is what I’ve continued to do?

[Dentist:] I don’t know. We’ll have to see in three years.

[Robin:] Okay. Nice. One note that I’ll share with you. This is actually black birch and this has xylitol in it.

[Dentist:] Okay. Xylitol is good. Good sugar that helps.

[Robin:] Isn’t that used in a lot of toothpaste or something?

[Dentist:] Some xylitol and also some sugar-free gums that use xylitols. It’s a form of sugar that does help with decay.

[Robin:] Okay. And I drink a lot of herbal teas. So I get a lot of antimicrobial foods. Yeah. And right now I’m four months into a year of foraging all my food. So I have no processed food or sugars.

[Dentist:] Wow. Good for you. Continue your good work and I’m interested in seeing what … you know, your journey.

I came here to get Dr. Wind’s perspective because this is an experiment. It’s just one of many of my steps of living more closely connected with Earth, breaking free from consumerism, and living more simply. But I have spent my whole adult life using your standard toothbrush, toothpaste, and dental floss. And I’ve thought that these things are absolutely essential. Well, we are now a year in. Everything seems to be going pretty well so far. I’m contemplating this natural hygiene practice for the rest of my life, but we’ll see. Let’s see how long this smile lasts.