Meetinghouse Dental Care

05/27/2026

Breathing through your mouth might seem harmless… but over time, it can dramatically affect oral health and facial development.

Chronic mouth breathing is commonly associated with:

❌ Dry mouth
❌ Increased cavity risk
❌ Inflamed gums
❌ Poor sleep quality
❌ Grinding and clenching
❌ Narrow airway development

Saliva is one of the body’s most important protective mechanisms.

When the mouth stays dry, harmful bacteria thrive, acid increases, and enamel becomes more vulnerable to breakdown.

In children, chronic mouth breathing can even influence facial growth and jaw development over time.

Signs to watch for:

👄 Open-mouth posture
😴 Snoring
💤 Poor sleep
👅 Tongue tie or low tongue posture

Sometimes the issue isn’t the teeth…
it’s the airway!

05/13/2026

It’s not just plaque… it’s biofilm!

Most people think of plaque as something you just “brush off”, but in reality, it’s a structured bacterial community designed to protect itself.

That’s why:

❌ Brushing alone isn’t always enough
❌ Some areas are nearly impossible to clean manually
❌ Bacteria can persist even with “good hygiene”

Good oral home care can be enhanced with specific antibacterial medicaments like xylitol, colloidal silver, salt, and peroxide. After removal, detrimental bacterial can be crowded out with oral probiotics. We recommend adding specific bacterial interventions to any proper home care techniques.

Bacterial biofilm does not apply only to teeth. It is also especially true for:

🦷 Night guards
🦷 Retainers
🦷 Dentures

Biofilm builds up in microscopic grooves you can’t see. For these products we recommend combining:

✔️ Mechanical cleaning
✔️ Targeted products
✔️ Ultrasonic cleaning like the dental pod we carry in office

Because removing biofilm isn’t about scrubbing harder… it’s about cleaning smarter.

05/12/2026

You can’t outbrush a mineral deficiency.

Tooth enamel is made of minerals — calcium and phosphate.

But rebuilding and maintaining enamel isn’t just about toothpaste…. it’s about what your body has available to work with.

If your body is lacking key nutrients, it becomes harder to:

❌ Remineralize early decay
❌ Maintain strong enamel
❌ Support healthy saliva (your natural defense system)

Foundational nutrients for teeth:

🥚 Fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, K3)
🥩 Bioavailable minerals (calcium, phosphorus, magnesium)
🧂 Trace minerals (often overlooked, but critical)

Whole food sources matter:

✔️ Grass-fed meats
✔️ Wild caught fish
✔️ Pasture raise eggs
✔️ Organic vegetables
✔️ Healthy fats (avocado, grass fed butter)
✔️ Raw dairy (if tolerated)
✔️ Bone broth
✔️ Mineral-rich foods + trace mineral support

Topical products like hydroxyapatite help…
but real change starts systemically.

05/08/2026

Your mouth is not separate from your body.

It’s not just about cavities…

It’s about inflammation, bacteria, and how your body responds to them.

Bleeding gums? That’s not “normal.”
That’s inflammation and your immune system reacting.

Chronic bad breath?
That’s often a bacterial imbalance — not just a hygiene issue.

Early decay?
That’s a bacterial acid issue and mineral imbalance, not just “you didn’t brush enough.”

At our office, we look deeper:

🦷 The oral microbiome
🦷 Nutrient status (minerals matter more than most people realize)
🦷 Inflammation and systemic health connections

Because the goal isn’t just fixing teeth…
it’s supporting the body they’re attached to.

05/07/2026

Finally getting somewhere with water fluoridation. There is no mechanism in the human body to bring ingested fluoride back to the teeth. Water fluoridation was always meant to be a topical effect (washes over your teeth on the way by). At best, they just did not care what happens after you swallow it. At worst, it was put in with malicious intent. IF you were going to use fluoride, it should be very carefully, topically applied through gel or varnish. Any other application runs unnecessary ingestion risk (ingested/absorbed fluoride is when the health detriments begin).

However, we know that decay is not a deficiency of fluoride. All fluoride does is slightly increase acid resistance of the enamel. Doesn’t it make more sense to reduce the exposure to bacterial acids, and then work to actively neutralize any acid that is produced?

Salivary balance avoids mineral loss = no cavities
Fluoride is not needed.

 A recent federal court ruling has confirmed the current fluoride levels in U.S. drinking water, endorsed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),

05/06/2026

😮 🤯

The International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology (IAOMT) brings attention to an important new study, titled “Dental Amalgams and Blood Mercury Concentrations in American Adults.” The study provides convincing evidence that mercury amalgam dental fillings are elevating blood mercury leve...

04/29/2026

Quick question…

How are you cleaning your denture, night guard, or retainer right now? 🤔

Most people are just brushing them after taking them out of the mouth (which is very important to remove salivary mineral build up and bacteria — but that only cleans the surface.

Over time, oral appliances can collect bacteria, biofilm, and mineral buildup in all the tiny grooves you can’t see (or reach).

That’s where the Dental Pod Pro comes in.

It uses ultrasonic technology to break up buildup at a microscopic level — giving your appliances a deeper, more complete clean without being abrasive.

✔️ Gentle
✔️ Effective
✔️ Designed for daily use

We just restocked these in the office and they are available for purchase — ask us about them at your next visit!

04/27/2026

At long last! Common Sense Tooth Powder is back in stock! With only 5 ingredients (baking soda, xylitol, calcium, phosphate, and mint) it is one of the cleanest products out there. It was specifically designed for kids because they do not develop the ability to spit until 2-3 years old, but adults can use it too! They were back ordered for a while, but we just got our shipment in and we will have it available to purchase in office!

04/23/2026

Most people think of teeth as something you “brush and fix” from the outside…

Yes, hydroxyapatite (calcium and phosphate) is the foundational structure of the enamel and brushing with these minerals is an incredible “band-aid” like approach to physically rebuild and strengthen tooth structure during the remineralization process… However, the full truth is, your teeth are living structures that depend heavily on what’s happening inside your body!

Your body can’t always properly use calcium and phosphate without a full spectrum of supporting minerals, especially when the oral environment (saliva / plaque) is stuck in an acidic state.

We’re talking about both macro minerals and trace minerals, like:

• Magnesium (helps regulate calcium balance)
• Potassium (supports fluid balance and cellular function)
• Sodium (important in the right forms)
• Zinc (critical for tissue repair and immune defense)
• Copper (works synergistically with zinc)
• Selenium (antioxidant support)
• Silica (supports connective tissue and structure)
• Iodine (important for metabolic function)

If you’re deficient in these, you can be taking all the calcium in the world… and still struggle with weak enamel, sensitivity, and ongoing breakdown (Very similar to the issues with conventional osteoporosis treatments).

So where do you get these minerals naturally?

Focus on nutrient-dense, low-carb whole foods:

🥩 Grass-fed meats (rich in zinc, iron, B vitamins)
🐟 Wild-caught fish (selenium, iodine, trace minerals)
🥚 Pasture-raised eggs (bioavailable minerals + fat-soluble vitamins)
🦴 Bone broth (calcium, magnesium, collagen support)
🧂 High-quality pink or Celtic salt (trace minerals often missing from modern diets)
🥑 Avocado (potassium + magnesium)
🥬 Mineral-rich vegetables (like leafy greens, if tolerated)

And for many people, even a great diet isn’t enough anymore…

Modern soil depletion means our food simply doesn’t contain the same mineral content it once did. That’s where trace mineral drops can be a simple, powerful addition.

Just a few drops in your water can help restore a broader mineral profile your body (and your teeth) rely on daily.

🦷 Healthy teeth are built from the inside out. If you want stronger enamel, fewer cavities, and better long-term oral health… Start thinking beyond the toothbrush.

04/21/2026

Dr. Keyes was a dentist having great success in the late 1970s treating periodontal disease, without surgery, using a mixture that included baking soda and hydrogen peroxide.

We have adapted his technique using GUM soft picks in order to “floss” with the baking soda mixture. While brushing with a combination of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide can yield incredible results, using the soft picks to get the mixture right between the teeth effectively neutralizes acids, kills bacteria, and oxygenates the area that adults most commonly experience decay.

▪️Using a shot glass and an eye dropper, mix 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda with 6 drops of water and 5 drops of 3% hydrogen peroxide. The mixture can easily be scaled up or down to make more or less. Exact measurements are not really needed.

▪️Once the paste is created, dip the soft pick in and work the pick between the contacts of your teeth, stopping to rinse off the pick and reapply the mixture every 2-3 teeth. Once you get good at it, the whole process takes less than a minute to perform.

▪️Do this EVERY night right after regular flossing (to remove any physical food debris) and right before brushing (you can even use this paste to brush)!

03/31/2026

Keeping the ozone theme going, here is a cool picture / post from the IAOMT on ozone in dentistry!

In recent years, ozone therapy in the dental office setting has emerged as a very exciting addition for dental professionals to use in disinfection and healing of teeth, gums, and bones. Ozone is three atoms of oxygen bound together as O3 (three oxygen atoms). In nature, it is created when oxygen in...