After Casper was born and about a week or two into heavy nursing, I noticed some gray spots developing on my teeth. I watched for several days, brushing and flossing a little fiercer each day, and saw the spots start to spread. They weren't anything you could brush away or dissolve with mouthwash. These were related to a mineral deficiency. I have struggled with a magnesium deficiency in the past and knew that I probably wasn't getting nearly enough now that I was nursing Casper and supplying his body with magnesium on top of my own. So, having read that magnesium remineralizes teeth, I immediately started supplementing with it from a couple different sources.
I love my Ancient Minerals magnesium oil, but with a brand new baby and not much time in the bathroom, it just didn't work to try to keep up with it daily. Instead, I started drinking a glass of Natural Calm magnesium powder every day and I also stirred in a full daily dose of Concentrace trace mineral drops. Within a few days of starting this new regimen, the gray spots on my teeth began to disappear. It was incredible. After a few weeks, the spots were gone. Now Casper is 9 weeks old, I've kept up with my magnesium drink daily, and the spots haven't returned. I had Grant study my teeth last night and he couldn't tell where they had been. Amazing! (Added bonus: magnesium relieves constipation! Let's just say, I haven't had to worry about it a bit. And any of you girls who have given birth know that's huge.)
So encouraged by the progress I was seeing with the magnesium supplementation, I decided that while I was at it, some oil pulling would be great for my teeth, not to mention my overall health. You can read about it here if you're interested, but basically oil pulling is as simple as putting a spoonful of coconut oil in your mouth and swishing it around for 5-20 minutes. Sort of like mouthwash, but for a longer amount of time. Then you spit it out into the garbage (do not swallow!) and rinse. It pulls toxins, viruses, plaque, bacteria, and yeasts out of your mouth and has countless other health benefits- a super cleansing, healing, and detoxifying little technique.
I committed to oil pulling first thing every morning (which is the most beneficial time to do it) for 10 minutes, for a week. Any longer than 10 minutes and I start to think it's too much work, so I don't bother doing it, and I figured I could stick with it if I knew it was just for a week. So, I did it. And honestly, I started seeing results on the first day. As the week went by, I noticed that my teeth were significantly whiter and more shiny! Since then I've happily swished oil around in my mouth every few days, knowing that it really does work.
Just wanted to share my excitement with any of you guys who might also be into this stuff. :)
