Feature Article  The Importance of Cellular Oxygen - Part 3

In The News    Infant Formula and levels of fluoride

In The News

The October 2009 Journal of the American Dental Association (JADA) had an article titled "Assessing a potential risk factor for enamel fluorosis: a preliminary evaluation of fluoride content in infant formulas."

After measuring the fluoride content in 49 infant formulas, they found that "most infants from birth to age 12 months, who consume predominantly powdered and liquid concentrate formula, are likely to exceed the upper tolerable limits of fluoride if the formula is reconstituted with optimally fluoridated water (.7 to 1.2 ppm)."

Up to 48% of children have fluorosed teeth according to the CDC. Fluorosed teeth have white or brown spots which can be areas of weakness. These spots indicate that there was a disruption of collagen formation, at the time the enamel was being formed. But what about the collagen formation elsewhere in the body? If you are not going to breast-feed, make sure you use non-fluoridated water to make your formula if you are reconstituting it yourself. Otherwise, go to http://fluoridation.webs.com/infantformulafluoride.htm to view the levels of fluoride in ready to feed formulas. This is quite revealing, and in fact, a July 2009 study in JADA titled " Infant Formula and Enamel Fluorosis: a Systematic Review" concluded: "Our systematic review indicated that the consumption of infant formula [concentrated and ready to feed] is, on average associated with an increased risk of developing at least some level of enamel fluorosis ...".

Please see my past newsletters on fluoride. Remember, fluoride in drinking water or in infant formula will not decrease tooth decay.

Note from Dr. Breiner
Wishing everyone a Happy Holiday Season and a Happy 2010!

 The Importance of Cellular Oxygen - Part 3

In Part One, (The Importance of Cellular Oxygen), of this newsletter on oxygen I said how I love seeing seemingly unrelated pieces of information coming together, helping to validate one another.

A few years ago a patient gave me a blurb about using sunflower oil as a mouth rinse to help treat periodontal disease. I tried this approach with some patients (who had a slide full of spirochetes), and achieved varying degrees of success.

I could not understand how this could work, but after my research on the essential fatty acids (as related in The Importance of Cellular Oxygen - Part One and The Importance of Cellular Oxygen - Part Two), I now believe that this will work primarily by increasing oxygen to the gingival tissues.

The bacteria that are associated with periodontal disease do not like oxygen. After switching my patients to using a proper high-quality oil, which is refrigerated and comes in a dark bottle to ensure freshness, I noticed that the results became even better. I also observed that the longer my patients swished with the oil, the better the outcome became.

This method is called "oil pulling".

On the Internet one finds a host of claims that oil pulling will detoxify your body and help with various health problems like: sinusitis, allergies, fibromyalgia, and insomnia, etc. I have seen some sites where people testify to wonderful results after a few months of oil pulling.

I cannot say whether other health problems will improve, but it definitely is worth trying it for periodontal disease. Of course improving a periodontal condition can only positively impact your overall health. As a side benefit, most people commented that their teeth became whiter.

Directions for Oil Pulling:

Step One: Brush and floss your teeth. If you use an irrigating device, use this also prior to oil pulling.

Step Two: Place 1 tablespoon of oil into your mouth and begin to swish, suck and pull the oil for 10 to 15 minutes, then spit it out. Do this one to three times per day.

Initially, many people cannot swish for this long; do it as long as possible and try to increase the time each day. When you spit out the oil, it should be slightly white in color. If it is still yellow, it means you needed to swish longer. Some websites advocate using safflower oil or sesame oil. To me it makes the most sense to use an oil with a ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 of 4:1 or 2:1 (see Part One and Part Two ). Whatever oil is used, make sure it is organic, cold pressed, stored in a dark bottle, and kept refrigerated. Remember heat and light cause oil to go rancid.

I would ask a favor of those who try this-Please e-mail your results to me.

© 2009, Mark A. Breiner, DDS

The information presented is for educational purposes only. You should consult a qualified health practitioner for diagnosis and treatment.