A Healthy Mouth is a Healthy Body

K

KEmSAT-Survival

Joined
Sep 23, 2008
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Something you don't see brought up here a lot is dental hygiene (no jokes about Kentucky you guys) and how it is important to keep up the health of your mouth.
Poor dental hygiene has been linked to infections, sickness, heart disease (IIRC) and a bunch of other stuff.

If you ever find yourself in the bush for a number of days--lost or not--don't neglect the other set of choppers you have along with you...

See what I did there? I'm so clever...:D

Make yourself a tootbrush from the frayed ends of a twig from a tree like a sycamore, beech, birch or pine. Massage your gums to stimulate them and promote healing.

The last thing you want in a bad situation is a mouth full of yuck and infection.

Same goes for a disaster that causes you to be locked down or bugged out someplace and you can't get to a Rite-Aid for the requisite sundries.

So in the spirit of promoting good dental hygiene in a dire situation, I ask "What are some ways we might keep our mouths clean in an SHTF situation?"

Discuss amongst yourselves...
 
Rinse with salt water. Floss. We all have some spyderwire or fishing line of some sort that would do the trick.

Me? I carry a cut down toothbrush and travel sized toothpaste in my kit.

What is the wild plant that can be used for cleaning teeth??? Name escapes me.
 
always have a small roll of floss stashed in all my packs for gear repair and my uncontrolled jerky addiction.
I have done the willow stick brush just to try and works pretty good.
Meat/tendon fibers caught in the backmolars can get septic really fast, common cause of death in the old days was infected wisdom teeth.
 
Remove a semi-burned stick from the (cold) campfire. Scrape the blackened charcoal from its surface and mix with water to use as a toothpaste. Or just wet your finger, dip into the powder, insert into mouth and rub over teeth. Don't use the ash from the fire as it may contain fat, sand and who knows what.
Charcoal is supposed to be very good for settling a stomach. May aid in curing diarrhoea (?).
<Note that the above is all based on hearsay...although I have tried brushing my teeth with charcoal. Still prefer store-bought toothpaste. >

Fishing line as a dental floss may be a little severe. You need soomething that "gives" as it squeezes between the teeth. Lay in a good supply of floss. It's cheap and also serves as a very strong sewing twine.
 
I always carry a little box of these:

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Tea Tree Toothpicks. Well, birch infused with Tea Tree Oil.

Tea Tree not only kills bacteria and odor's etc. but the toothpick gets in between the teeth.

Mouth is extremely refreshed after one!

I then crush it flat with my molars and use it as an excellent toothbrush.:thumbup:


Another thing that I chewed on more when I was younger, was licorice root.
Makes for an excellent sweetener but also scrubs the teeth very well.

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I cracked one of my Moilers (Hope I spelled that right) all the way down through the Root, I thought man if this happened in a survival situation I would be screwed! The pain was awful bad at times and it hurt in my jaw and ear too! It had to be pulled because the crack went through the root, I was actually so happy they pulled it.

Please do not eat Ice, I think that is how I broke it, very bad pain and now a big hole in my jaw and yes a big hole, it was not worth it!

RickJ
 
I started keeping one of those really small travel toothbrushes in my FAK and have used it on several occasions when I was out over night unexpectedly. Dental health is a very important part of survival. It is mental health that has me worried!:)
 
RickJ said:
I cracked one of my Moilers (Hope I spelled that right)
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Molars? I think your spelling wasn't even close - but that's OK, I'm sure we all knew what you were talking about.


For dental floss - the inner strands from paracord should work OK for that I would assume?
 
"Please do not eat Ice, I think that is how I broke it, very bad pain and now a big hole in my jaw and yes a big hole, it was not worth it!"
Absolutely !!! And, it's not just the hardness of the ice. Enamel, dentin and any restorative materials (fillings) all have different rates of thermal expansion and contraction and the violent chilling can easily cause a tooth to split. Btw, time for a dental implant.
 
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brush with the fingers, using about a heaping tablespoon of salt/water. Gargle with salt and rinse with whiskey.
 
Arm and Hammer mixed with cinnamon for me.
That's every day. Trail or not.

I don't " do" fluoride. That's nothing more than another Big Lie.
 
My dentist gives me sample packs of floss picks. The pack takes up very little room and I have them in all of my bags.
 
Esav Benyamin said:
Gargle with vodka! :D
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I do that regularly! Oh, you said gargle.:foot::D

Having been cursed with crooked teeth and a poor family, I fought with gum problems for years. I don't go anywhere without floss now and have those cheap pack toothbrushes in my packs.
I have found myself without a toothbrush in the past and used toothpick sized pieces of wood, frayed at the end for cleaning. Really needed flossing after that though.
 
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