Dental Care

I don't know about you, but I don't have dental insurance.  Frankly, I have never understood why normal health insurance doesn't cover teeth.  A dentist is a doctor, so it is medical care.  The past few years we've been going just for cleanings.  The kids are due, so I need to get them seen for a cleaning. 

After reading Wretha's blog (www.wretha.blogspot.com) I have been motivated to learn more about dental care.  I love to read medical texts, first aid manuals, and herbal medicine books, but have sorely neglected the dental aspect.  This is sad, because we have very poor teeth in my side of the family.  No matter how well I care for them, I always have something wrong. 

Motivated by Wretha I purchased several dental related items today to help care for our teeth better, and am reading "Where There Are No Dentists" by the Hesperian foundation.  Here's the link to their free resources: http://hesperian.org/books-and-resources/

I have two copies of "Where There Are No Doctors" and am keeping my eyes open for a hard copy of the dental one.  But until then the online links are a good resource.  I've read the first chapter tonight, and followed it's guidelines, and using my new dental items I purchased today.

I will be evaluating my kids teeth this weekend, and we will be working on taking better care of our teeth.  I really wanted to share this information with you, because in the event something happens and you can't afford a dentist, there are minor remedies that you can do yourself, as well as, upgrade your preventative care.

A few additional links:

 http://www.gumbrand.com/store/
 http://periogen.com/

The Periogen products, Wretha talks about on her blog.  I am looking for an inexpensive way to do the same by using a regular Waterpik and a mixture of peroxide/water.  Following the instructions of "Where There Are No Dentists" helped greatly and I was able to remove a bit of tartar from my teeth.  I'll keep working at it.  Already my teeth feel "purty" and clean, even though I brush every day.  I am excited to work with my children on their dental health, and plan to use the "Where There Are No Dentists" as part of our homeschool health curriculum.