I think I remember topics posted before about lyme and dental problems. But I am wondering if anybody else has experienced anything similar.

I am really having a hard time right now because I have never had a positive western blot, and I am so scared that I am treating the wrong thing. I just don't know what is wrong. I had a Bowen test done as well, which came back positive for Babs and lyme with a dillution of I think 1:128 or 1:64, something like that. But I don't trust that test completely. I just sent away a LDA test to IgeneX that I am praying will show something, not that I would have ever wanted lyme, but I just am desperate to know for sure what is making me feel the way that I do.

any information will be appreciated.

While we tend to think of teeth as solid, unchanging objects, in fact, theo do have a limited ability to "remodel" themselves be reincorporating minerals (especially calcium) from saliva into the enamel.

Thanks for remineralization (e.g. not much acid concentration) even small caries can be covered over with newly minted enamel. It may not be enough to completely fill in th3e hole, but it can often seal the cavity from further erosion or infection. Obiously, in order for the remineralization to succeed, S. mutans, which produce the acids that cause demineralization, must be kept under control.

S. mutans thrive in acidic environments. Most bacteria cannot live in an acidic environment. However, S. mutans are quite happy to be "singin' in the acide rain. Their ability to secrete acid and then live in it gives them (and other acid-loving) microorganisms a slective survival advantage. As they make the oral environment more and more acidic, they drive out the other less harmful bacteria and take it over for themselves. This serves to amplify their effect."

The above is from "Xylitol - Dental and Upper Respiratory Health".

Xylitol (as gum and lozenge and for cooking/safe for diabetics) available at many health food stores works so well because it interfereswith the bacteria that cause tooth decay, halting their grown and preventimg them from sticking to tooth surfaces. It is ideal for children, because xylitol-sweetened foods taste just as good as those sweetened with sucrose.

The scientific evidence supporting the use of xylitol could not be stronger. Serious anti-caries research using xylitol goes back more than 25 years. In a recent review of that research, Dr. Catherine Hayes of the Harvard School of Dental Medicine concluded that the favorable evidence for xylitol was so strong that "it would be unethical" to deprive people of its dental protective effects.

You might want to order the booklet at
Tahoma Clinic in Renton, Washington. $3.95. Well worth it.

I gave my kids little a pill boxes and a box of xylitol lozenges to use during the year for Christmas. Do read the booklet!

Take care.

P.S. I posted at length about this a couple of years ago. If they ever got that Search to function - it would help. Maybe taking up a dollar collection to get the sit functional would be in order. Let all those "just reading" also contribute!

For the booklet "Xylitol" : http://www.tahoma-clinic.com/shop/product_info.php/cPath/28/products_id/1291

On the 5th filling put in, my dentist suggested to NOT completely flush out the toothpaste after the night brushing.

IOW, do a very light flushing with water, and let the rest "sit" on the teeth overnight. This should further strengthen the teeth.

I have not had a single cavity since...for 25 years!

docdave,
what do you think about the value and safety of leaving flouride in the mouth overnight.

Michael

If you have to have this done, do it well. Try avoiding mercury fillings. I say this as I get ready to remove my 3 mercury fillings (lots of $$). I put in mercury because my dentist said "mercury is better and stronger." My mistake...

My friend who put in 'white' fillings at her dentist, doesn't have mercury poisoning and doesn't have to do this! Her fillings are fine. No breaks or problems.

Further studies in Belize and other countries have yielded similar findings. For example, researchers in Estonia evaluated the use of xylitol gums and candies in 10-year-old school children. Overall, 3 y ears of xylitol gum chewing, compared to a no-gum control group, resulted in a 53.5% reduction in caries, while sucking zyliton candy let to a 33% to 59% reduction. These results were statistically significant.

Reversing tooth decay. People tend to think that once caries get started, the only solution is a dentist's drill, but "it ain't necessarily so." Some research has shown that xylitol can arrest the progress of caries and eventually restore their enamel coating, essentially healing them. This was clearly demonstrated in another study in Belize school children. The xylitol group had the highest percent of arrested caries (27%), compared with the sorbitol (7%) and no-gum control (9%) groups (Fig. 4).10

Long-term effectiveness. One of the more remarkable thing about the caries protection provided by xylitol is that, to a large degree, is permanent. In other words, if we use xylitol products regularly for a period of time, say 2 years, we may be protected after that, even if we never chew another piece of xylitol gum.

This was demonstrated most clearly in another school based study in Belize children, who were 6 years old on average when the study started.11 For 2 years, they chewed gum sweetened with either xylitol or sorbitol, while a control group had no gum. Then, 5 years later, their teeth were examined by dentists who did not know which treatment they had received. As shown in Figure 5, the xylitol group had a mean of only 1.5 new caries, compared with 2.5 for the sorbitol group, and 4.0 for the no-gum group.

``The anti-cariogenic (anti-dental cavity) effects of xylitol are well documented. In some studies, not only were there decreases in the rate of new caries (dental cavities, but caries reversal also was noted--there was evidence of re-mineralition.'' Steven Steinberg, DDS, Harvard Dental School

.... And there is research demonstrating that xylitol can reduce childhood ear infections. Dr. Wright's patients have reported fewer sinus infectuioins, and a lessening in some cases of asthma.

I would highly recommend to buy the booklet. For a mere $3.95 you get chapter and verse from the most reliable source, Jonathan V. Wright, MD and Lane Lenard, PhD.

Just think the agony and money you do not have to spend going to a dentist!

Take care.

P.S. As for "how safe is xylitol": In the amounts found in (and recommended for) dental health, xylitol is extremely safe. However, if xylitol is consumed in very large amounts, it can cause diarrhea in some sentisive people. The amounts recommended for dental protection (up to 12 grams per day) should never cause anyone any problems.

The Spry xylitol lozenge, one of which does wonders when I want something sweet and want to kill some bugs in my mouth contains l/2 gram of xylitol. It's best to avoid foods that contain sucrose or a mixture of xylitol and sucrose or other caries-promoting carbohydrates, because this will dilute the effect.

Also at risk are some adults who suffer from a condition known as "dry Mouth? syndrome, or xerostomia, because their ability to salivate is impaired. Peoplke who do not salivate enough are at increased risk for dental caries, because saliva normally helps neutralize bacterial acids and rinse bacteria and carbohydrates away from the teeth and out of the mouth.

Dry-mouth can be a side effect of many medications, and it can also occur as a result of certain diseases, such as Sjoegren's syndrome, and radiation therapy to the head or neck.

Chewing xylitol gum or sucking on xylitol candy is an effective and pleasant way to stimulate salivation and has been shown to significantly reduce the incidence of caries in adults who use it regularly.

While most candies or gums would satisfy this need just as well, xylitol has the further advantage of discouraging the growth of cariogenic bacteria. This was demonstrated most clearly in an important study published in the Journal of the American Dental Association in which 151 people, who were first treated with an oral antimicrobial mouth rinse containing chlorhexidine for 2 weeks, had their oral bacteria levels measured immediately after disinfection (Time 0) and again 3 months later. The participants were randomly assigned to chew either xylitol gum, sorbitol gum, or no gum beginning immediately after disinfection. As shown in Figure 8, by 3 months, bacteria had grown back to their pre-disinfection levels in both the sorbitol and no0gum groups, but only to about one third pre-disinfection levels in the xylitol group, a statistically significant difference."

Xylitol prevents bacteria from sticking to tooth enamel.

Xyliton promotes the colonization of less virulent strains of bacteria in the mouth.

I myself do not use the Xylitol gum, because I just do not care for gum-chewing. For anyone who still has amalgams, crowns and bridges in their mouth, I would be careful with chewing a n y gum. Everytime you chew, you release molecules of mercury out of the tooth or teeth sending it in vapor form to the brain and other body compartments where it resettles as a solid mercury metal that is a much more difficult to remove than the form that is present as part of the amalgam filling. (I have quoted you pages of scientific references to this effect, and all you have to do is go look them up.)

The xylitol lozenges are great and accomplish the same purpose. About 4-12 grams of xylitol per day is effective for preventing caries. Too much - like anything else not in moderation in life - is not good.

And now I have given you enough info - if you are really interested in up-to-date information on this subject, go and buy yourself the booklet I mentioned. Give at least your children a chance to better dental health. Dental health affects every part of your body!

Sorry, doctor dentist, I just am not on your side when it comes to preventing or improving dental health. I can fill a book with the suffering many many people around the world have had to endure because of the ignorance that you and the majority of "average" dentists display.

No offense, just a reality check. If I had followed your advice, if my husband had followed your advice, we and thousands of others would no longer be alive but be dead from deadly dental toxins.

You do your thing. I do mine. As long as I can talk, I will talk. I know that some people have heard me and have improved their life. That's all that counts.

Russell Stover makes some good candies using this sweetener. I was craving sweets as I am on abx and diflucan for yeast so I bought a couple of pkgs.

I had the worse stomach problems I have ever had. Lots of gas, diahrrea, etc. This lasted all nite. I did not sleep and feel awful 2 days later.

I will never use this product again - but it may not affect everyone this way.

It contains xylitol, saline, purified water, grapefruit seed extract in certain proportions. Costs pennies and works great.