Periodontitis is a bacterially induced inflammatory disease that destroys the connective tissue and bone that support the teeth. It is estimated that roughly half of all adults in the United States have mild to moderate forms of the disease. A study published in the Journal of Periodontology confirms that people with periodontal disease are at heightened risk for heart disease, cancer, and stroke.
Men with periodontitis had a 72% greater risk of developing coronary disease. Gingivitis was associated with a 42% increased risk for men. A 1996 study involving over 1,100 individuals found that the incidence of coronary heart disease, fatal coronary disease, and strokes were all significantly related to their baseline periodontal status.
“Our study provides the first strong evidence that periodontal disease increases the risk of pancreatic cancer said Dr. Dominique Michaud of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, who led the research. Men with a history of periodontal disease had a 64% increased risk of pancreatic cancer than men with no such history. It is the high levels of carcinogenic compounds that are present in the mouths of people with periodontal disease that increase the risk of pancreatic cancer.[i]
Several studies have found a strong relationship between the bacterium causing gum disease and atherosclerosis. The same bacterium that has been cultured from the crud, or plaque, is seen in arteries. People with gum disease (also known as periodontal disease) have two to three times the risk of having a heart attack, stroke, or other serious cardiovascular event. “Periodontal disease increases the body’s burden of inflammation,” says periodontist Dr. Hatice Hasturk of the Harvard-affiliated Forsyth Institute.
The underlying causes of periodontal disease are infectious agents such as viruses, bacteria, spirochetes, amoebas, and fungi. Periodontitis is a microclimate that reflects the macro climate of the entire body. In periodontal disease, the pathogens form a sticky, colorless plaque that constantly forms on our teeth. As the plaque gets harder and thicker, it becomes dental calculus or tartar, a hard calcified layer that is virtually impossible to shift with normal brushing. You would have to get the dental hygienist to do it. Gingivitis is the inflammation of the gums around the teeth due in great part to improper cleaning of the teeth. Although systemic factors and general health can modify the tissue reactions to local irritants, the primary irritant is mercury-containing dental amalgam.
Left untreated, gingivitis can turn into periodontal disease. The gums become loose around the tooth’s root, creating a gum pocket that gradually deepens. Eventually, the infection and inflammation can cause the tooth to loosen and fall out.
According to mainstream medicine, there is no complete treatment technique for periodontitis. They are wrong. Dentists know chlorine dioxide is a wonderfully effective treatment that can ward off deadly heart and vascular diseases by rooting out one of the fundamental causes of these nightmarish diseases that start in the mouth. As we shall see further below, sodium bicarbonate is also more than helpful in controlling the mouth’s environment.
Chlorine Dioxide
Doctors need to study what dentists are already doing. They are using chlorine dioxide to mitigate severe periodontal disease. Chlorine dioxide (ClO2), a potent biocide, has disinfected municipal water for many years. Dentists are intelligently using it to affect conditions in the oral cavity.
Medical science openly recommends chlorine dioxide for wound irrigation and oral health issues. CLO2 is probably the most extensively tested disinfectant in history. It is a safe and effective biocide—much safer than chlorine. It has been used to eliminate water pathogens and is excellent for attacking biofilms. That is why it is used in commercial water cooling towers.
It works so well that pharmaceutical companies had to convince governments worldwide to make it illegal to treat disease because it would put them out of business. Promoting it as a medicine is unlawful, but dentists use it legally to help their patients. This is because much of what dentists treat with chlorine dioxide, like bad breath, is not considered a disease.
Because of this biofilm control property, chlorine dioxide mouthwash gets teeth squeaky clean as the film pellicle that forms on teeth (responsible for plaque adherence) breaks down. Its effectiveness for whitening and freshening does not come from magic but fundamental chemistry. But even more importantly, chlorine dioxide mouthwash used over a 7-day period effectively reduces plaque, tongue coating accumulation, and the counts of Fusobacterium nucleatum in saliva. As one would expect, it is also effective at eliminating bad breath.
What it does in the oral cavity affects the entire body; you do not have to swallow. As we will see in a chapter on chlorine dioxide and atherosclerosis, just putting this substance into the mouth gets it absorbed quickly via sublingual pathways. Chlorine dioxide is widely used as a mouthwash along with DSMO in dentistry, and some companies have created CDS mouthwash products.
Dr. Syed Ahmed Raheel writes, “Aqueous chlorine dioxide (ClO2) solutions have been effectively used as an antiviral preventive protocol in mouthwash for a long time. This aqueous ClO2 can inactivate all types of pathogens in the oral cavity. Noss et al. (1986) showed the actions of ClO2 on viral capsid proteins, namely cysteine, tyrosine, and tryptophan, as they readily reacted with ClO2. Ogata (2007) listed the antimicrobial activity of ClO2 mainly due to protein denaturation followed by oxidative modification of tyrosine and tryptophan.” Gargling with iodine has also been helpful in containing COVID and other pathogens in the oral cavity.
Julia Roberts Uses Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking Soda)
Julia Roberts is famous for her bright smile, and the actress says she owes it to her grandfather’s tip of using baking soda. “I brush [my teeth] with baking soda. My grandfather would put a big, heaping mound on his toothbrush. He had only one cavity in his entire life,” Roberts said.
Her grandfather was around in the early days of medicine when sodium bicarbonate made by the Arm & Hammer Baking Soda Company was in its heyday, publishing about how baking soda can be used as a medicine. Yes, it keeps her teeth white, but it does much more than that. Sodium bicarbonate, used in more and more kinds of toothpaste and the newer dental teeth-cleaning devices, is the very best agent for the maintenance of oral health because it changes pH, radically disrupting the constantly rising tide of bacteria and fungi that threaten the health status of the entire body.
With ample brushing, sodium bicarbonate can break through pathogen films, called biofilms, that sticky stuff that turns into hard tarter your dentist must struggle to remove while you grin and bear it.
Bicarbonate has been shown to decrease the acidity of dental plaque induced by sucrose, and its buffering capacity plays a significant role in preventing dental cavities. Studies have shown that bicarbonate inhibits plaque formation on teeth and, in addition, increases calcium uptake by dental enamel. This effect of bicarbonate on teeth is so well recognized that tooth powder containing sodium bicarbonate was patented in the USA in October 1985. Sodium bicarbonate has been suggested to increase the pH in the oral cavity, potentially neutralizing the harmful effects of bacterial metabolic acids.
[i] “A Prospective Study of Periodontal Disease and Pancreatic Cancer in US Male Health Professionals.” Dominique S. Michaud, Kaumudi Joshipura, Edward Giovannucci, and Charles S. Fuchs. J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 2007 99: 171-175; doi:10.1093/jnci/djk021
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