Okay,
once again I’ll admit I’m pretty obsessed about keeping myself
groomed. Yes, to the point of keeping my pearly-whites – well, pearly
white.
I just love that just cleaned
feeling of just brushed teeth don’t you? Slick, shiny and sparkle-y –
okay I know you can’t ‘feel’ shiny and sparkle-y, but that’s what it
feels like to me!
It’s a given that
most people will look at your mouth when you are talking or when you
first meet. And what do they see? Your teeth!
I’m
a smiler (one-who-smiles-a lot). And as a result I’m a little
self-conscious that my teeth are not as white or clean as they could be
(especially after eating that piece of blueberry pie the night before.
Ugh!)
So, in considering all my personal
grooming aids for my survival kit, knowing that I may not have access
to store-bought products, I began to wonder what alternatives I would
have for tooth paste if the ‘poo’ should ever hit the fan. And, as
with most of my journeys, I found out there are tons of er …
suggestions, thoughts and recipes, if you will, for toothpaste/tooth
powders. Some good and some, well not so feasible for a ‘PHTF’ (poo
hits the fan) scenario.
What I tried to do
was focus the majority of my attention on looking for ingredients we
may have in our survival supplies already, or that we should add, if we
don’t.
From looking at all the
ba-gillions of tid-bits of information there is out there, a pattern
began to emerge - salt, baking soda and hydrogen peroxide (along with
the proverbial drop or two of your favorite oil such as peppermint or
spearmint.)
The method that surfaced was to
put a little baking soda and salt on your tooth brush and brush, then
gargling with a little hydrogen peroxide (making sure not to swallow
any) and follow with dental floss. That’s it. Something passed down
year after year. That’s pretty easy huh? And, we should be set to go
with oral hygiene in a survival situation.
Whew!
‘But
what about keeping my teeth white?’ you may ask. Good question
because I wanted to know that very same thing. And the answer?
Strawberries!
What???
Yepper, I said strawberries, those yummy staples you are growing in your garden (and if you’re not, you should be.)
You
see, strawberries contain malic acid which acts as an astringent to
remove surface discoloration. If you baking soda with strawberries it
becomes a natural tooth-cleanser, buffing away stains. How cool is
that???
All you need to do is, take one
ripe strawberry and crush it to a pulp using a folk or back of a spoon
in a bowl and then mix a ½ teaspoon of baking soda into the pulp until
it is all blended. If you want, you can throw everything into a
blender (not the spoon and bowl) to make it a paste like consistency,
but keep in mind, you may not have access to electricity in a grid down
situation and so I am focusing more here on off grid remedies. Once
your mixture is done, put some on your toothbrush and spread the
mixture onto your teeth. Just like you would with your “whitening-type
strips”, leave this mixture on your teeth for about 5 minutes, and
then brush thoroughly with your homemade toothpaste to remove the
berry–baking soda mix and then rinse. Also, remember to floss after
this treatment to get rid of the little seeds that my have gotten
dislodged between your teeth.
Now as with
all good things, as in teeth whiteners, you must be careful not to use
this whitening process too often, as the acid could damage the enamel
on your teeth. NOT a good thing!! The common conscience is to not use
it more than once a week.
Well what happens when you don’t have a mint to pop in your mouth? The answer. Parsley.
It
seems parsley is great for bad breath. Its leaves are rich in
chlorophyll and act as a powerful neutralizer of bad breath (and
garlic-odor.) So keep this in mind as you’re woofing down those garlic
knots with your favorite pasta meal, and then realize you have a social
engagement to go to afterwards. To ward off the garlic, ask the
waiter to bring a few sprigs of parsley for you to chew on after
dinner. And, as an added bonus, parsley when swallowed helps reduce
intestinal gases (toot toot).
Now, we know
you won’t be eating garlic knots in a survival situation, but we all
wake up with ‘dragon breath’. So, just like with the baking soda and
salt remedy for brushing teeth, there is a simple remedy for mouthwash
as well. Just boil some parsley and whole cloves together, let the
mixture cool and then strain it to make a great gargle mouthwash for
that “oh so fresh survivor breath”.
Now, smile pretty!!!
- Survivor Jane |
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