Hygienism: Dental Hygiene

Introduction Do you know what the most widespread disease in the world is despite all our efforts to eradicate it? The one that can perforate the hardest part of the human body and cause intense pain? The one that can disfigure our smile and make it difficult for us to eat? You probably guessed it, it is dental caries, a disease that can have significant negative consequences on health if we do not intervene to treat them. But it is not the only one; between malocclusion issues and gum recession, our dentition suffers more and more ailments even though technologies are increasingly developed and omnipresent. What if we put words to these ailments? It is all the more legitimate to take an interest in them when we realize that teeth are a reflection of our iDENTity. When did this process of dental degeneration begin and why? It is to these questions that we will attempt to respond in this article. Personally, this is a subject I have closely examined following dental problems that arose after 10 years of hygienism. Not that my hygienist practices are responsible for my dental issues (which I would have had sooner or later anyway) but simply to clarify that it would be a mistake to believe that a good lifestyle protects us from all ailments. From this unpleasant surprise, which was a source of questioning, I have drawn rich lessons that I am pleased to share here so that you take care of your teeth as best as possible and do not relax your dental hygiene even if you eat better than before. Nature as a Model Observing nature has much to teach us about dental problems because animals have no issues without having to brush their teeth or worry about not eating between meals. If we observe the animals closest to us, those that make up the great ape family, they eat (according to specialists who have studied them) between 95 and 100% raw fruits and vegetables without any specific dental hygiene while maintaining healthy and aligned teeth. Yet, in the face of the global public health problem that caries represent, our healthcare system simply warns us against excessive sugar consumption. That’s it. An astonishing conclusion when one thinks of the frugivorous diet of chimpanzees (99.4% of genes in common with humans). But give refined sugar, cereals, sodas, cookies, etc., to any animal, domestic or wild, and it is highly likely that problems will arise… The Origin of Caries Indeed, not all sugars are equal (I will discuss this further below) and the true cause of caries is not directly related to the mere presence of sugar. For proof, they appeared roughly in the Neolithic (the advent of agriculture about 12,000 years ago), when  humans began to consume large quantities of cooked cereals or starches.  Whereas among gatherers (who primarily consume fruits) and hunter-gatherers, no dental problems have been detected. (Note: this link leads to a website in French. To read it in English or another language, simply copy the URL and paste it into Google Translate https://translate.google.com/?sl=fr&tl=it&op=translate) The various dental problems increasingly encountered in modern humans: Caries (the largest source of infection in the world) Occlusion problems (misaligned teeth) Periodontal diseases (receding gums) Although I am neither a doctor nor a dentist, I have conducted my own investigation into oral health. The personal conclusions below are informed by various readings (see our sources at the bottom of the page), personal reflections, and experiences shared with dentists and hygienists. The origin of dental problems viewed from a biological angle 1. Regarding caries The terrain is everything This bacterial infection that can even perforate tooth enamel and create cavities cannot, as we mentioned earlier, have its sole origin in sugar consumption; otherwise, great apes would have caries, and anthropologists would have found caries on the skeletons of humans before the Neolithic (or before humans began to consume large quantities of cooked starches). The other, more plausible hypothesis put forward by some holistic dentists is that it is an excessive acidity in the oral sphere (oral flora + saliva + biofilm on the teeth) that creates a favorable environment for the development of certain bacteria (Streptococcus mutans) responsible for caries. Parenthesis: From a hygienist’s point of view, there are no good or bad bacteria. The bacteria we call “pathogenic” can only develop when the terrain is unbalanced. Moreover, an overly acidic terrain forces the body to draw from certain mineral reserves (notably calcium and magnesium) stored in the skeleton, which will serve as a buffer system to neutralize acidity and thus rebalance the pH of the blood and cells. Consequently, acidification of the body can indirectly lead to demineralization of enamel (and the entire skeleton), making teeth more sensitive to attacks from these Streptococcus mutans, which, it is true, feed on sugar but can only act on weakened teeth (by the acidity of saliva and/or demineralization) and in an acidic environment. This reasoning explains why more and more children have decayed baby teeth even before they have erupted from the gums. It also explains why some caries start from inside the tooth. This is merely a reflection of an acidified body. There is “sugar” and “sugar” In this case, why do so many studies demonize sugar and conclude that it is responsible for caries? For several reasons, the first being that the distinction is not made between the sugar in fruits and refined sugar in all its forms: white, brown, in white flours (since starch is a chain of glucose, thus sugar), fructose syrup, etc. All these refined sugars, devoid of (or almost) minerals, enter the blood too quickly compared to the sugar from fruits (which are mixed with fibers, water, vitamins, enzymes, antioxidants, minerals, etc.), creating a harmful blood sugar spike. Another problem with refined sugars: The body needs minerals to convert sugars into energy. If these minerals are absent from the consumed food (which is the case in so-called refined food but not