The Correct Way To Use Xylitol

Dr. Ellie discusses the origin of xylitol, how to use xylitol for oral health, and so much more.

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Mouth Bacteria: Everything You Wanted To Know

Our mouths are home to hundreds of bacteria, both beneficial and harmful, that are transmitted through our saliva. Even cavity-causing plaque is a bacterial infection that can be passed along from person to person. However, we can change the balance of bacteria in our mouth, sharing the good instead of the bad, with healthy oral care strategies and daily xylitol use.

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How Your Immune System Impacts Oral Health

Many people are unsure what an immune system actually is, where it’s located, or how it helps us fight disease and stay healthy. It’s an amazing system that is basically the control center of our body’s natural healing process. Its main hub is near our digestive tract but immune cells travel in body fluids and reach every area of our body, even our mouth - where immune cells circulate in saliva and help capture harmful bacteria and heal damaged gum tissues. The healthier your immune system, the more benefit for your oral health! Snacking and sipping interrupt this healing system for our mouth and gums. If you have acidic and mineral-deficient saliva or a dry mouth (insufficient saliva flow) then you will not have as much benefit and you may have a reduced ability to heal, or more chance of experiencing gum problems and damage. People with compromised immune systems need to take special care of their gums and teeth to avoid devastating mouth problems. Stimulate Mouth Healing Control sipping and snacking habits, since food and drinks – even water –will dilute saliva or reduce its healing ability. Hydration is important for health, but try to eat and drink at meals and designate adequate periods of time when you do not eat or drink during the day. Anyone with cavities, sensitivity or gum problems should stop eating and drinking for a few hours after lunch. Saliva quality fluctuates to a daily or circadian rhythm, and its healing ability appears best in the afternoon. Saliva offers least protection at night while we are sleeping. Do everything possible to boost your immune system, including: Eat a healthy diet that includes a wide variety of plants/vegetables Consider food-derived supplements to boost your immune health  Use colon health probiotics to improve your digestive health – at least for a few months, and while your mouth heals Exercise gently but daily and consider saunas or massage to stimulate better circulation, so that immune cells and nutrients will be transported efficiently around your body. Nests of blood capillaries surround our salivary glands and it is here that essential nutrients and cells diffuse from the body and blood into saliva. Stress and eating in a hurried fashion can interfere with the absorption of nutrients from your diet. Try to find a comfortable place to enjoy your meals.  Your Saliva is The Answer Healthy saliva is a naturally balanced liquid super-saturated with calcium and phosphates that have the capacity to repair and replenish any minerals that were lost from teeth. Nothing manufactured comes close to the ability of healthy natural saliva to deliver minerals to teeth in this process called re-mineralization. Only when the amount of damage is greater than the ability of saliva to repair this damage does our dental health deteriorate. Problems & Solutions Problem of Dry MouthMedications and mouth breathing (because of a cold, sinus or allergy nasal problems) will dry your mouth, and there will be less saliva to float immune cells. People with dry mouths often experience gum disease and cavities, darkening of their teeth and sensitivity - problems that often get worse over time.  Problem of Acidic MouthHealthy saliva has a pH of 7.4. This is an ideal pH to support a healthy mouth ecology. Prolonged periods of acidity are detrimental to healthy mouth bacteria and promote harmful acid-loving bacteria that build dense plaque and cause tooth and gum damage.  Problem of an Infected MouthHarmful bacteria grow in acidic and dry mouth conditions. These bacteria are easily transferred to infect toothbrushes and also passed to other people - especially those you love - in droplets of saliva as we kiss, talk and share food. The Solutions Use pure xylitol gum and mints frequently to control mouth acidity and also stimulate a flow of alkaline saliva. A xylitol mint is safe to eat during the night or before sleeping. Control long periods of acidity by using pure xylitol mints and gum. These are beneficial at the end of meals, after snacks. Use my Complete Mouth Care System to protect your teeth as much as possible.  Avoid products (sensitive toothpastes, toothpastes with stannous (a tin based) fluoride, baking soda, peroxide or triclosan) that often damage saliva proteins or cause allergic reactions in gum tissues. The salivary proteins are a foundation to build a protective mouth biofilm and ecosystem. This is important for anyone with soft teeth, sensitivity, or prone to ulcers or mouth cancer. Ensure you hydrate but do not sip constantly – so that you do not dilute the healing power of saliva. Optimize the health of your saliva with a diet that includes a wide variety of plants/vegetables. Consider a food- derived supplement if necessary and also a course of colon health probiotics. A good oral probiotic (formulated with xylitol) may be helpful for people with a dry mouth or acidic saliva. Use this only after you have implemented all the other changes, as an oral probiotic is more of a “treatment for the symptom” than a solution to the deeper rooted and underlying problems.

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Your Saliva Health

Nutrition impacts the quality of our saliva and the quality of our saliva will impact our oral health. You were told since childhood that sweets are bad for teeth, but today we know carbonated water and fruit juices can be worse than dessert and ice cream for oral health. Carbohydrates and sugar feed acid-producing bacteria in the mouth and it is this acidity that wrecks our oral health. Many non-sugary foods and drinks can also create acidic conditions and damage teeth to cause sensitivity, tooth darkening, enamel wear, fractures, grooves at the gum line, gum recession, infection and lost fillings. Saliva pH Our mouths are bathed in saliva, a liquid that is perfectly equipped to balance and restore any minerals that acidity leached from our teeth. After meals it can take an hour for healthy saliva to wash over teeth and replenish lost minerals. This process is called re-mineralization and when it occurs correctly it can be a healthy process that allows teeth to stay young, strong and healthy.  The caveat is that this rebuilding must occur immediately after damage and that the amount of repair must equal or exceed the amount of damage. Problems will occur when there is more damage than repair for some reason. Neutralize Saliva Healthy saliva is a naturally balanced liquid super-saturated with calcium and phosphates that have the capacity to repair and replenish any minerals that were lost from teeth. Nothing manufactured comes close to the ability of healthy natural saliva to deliver minerals to teeth in this process called re-mineralization. Only when the amount of damage is greater than the ability of saliva to repair this damage does our dental health deteriorate. The Natural Power of Xylitol Xylitol has a special benefit for teeth. Xylitol is “hygroscopic” - which means it attracts water. When you eat a piece of pure xylitol gum or mints – it will pull water to itself and this will encourage a flow of saliva from small saliva glands in the roof of your mouth. These palatal glands are normally producers of mineral-rich, alkaline saliva at a pH of around 7.4 This flow of saliva pulled into the mouth by xylitol can be useful to adjust mouth pH from acidic conditions at the end of meals, after drinks or after a snack. The generated natural saliva will help balance the mouth’s acidity and deliver minerals to teeth in the process that can replenish and repair areas that lost minerals during an acidic attack. Things To Consider The Duration of Acidic Assault is Too Long. Every sip of an acidic drink, or any morsel of carbohydrate or sugary food instantly creates acidic mouth conditions. The amount of liquid or food is not important – because any amount will create a pH drop and damage teeth. If constant snacking or sipping is prolonged, saliva may not be able to return the mouth to a safe pH between the snacks and sips. Then the length of this acidic challenge will be measured from the initial snack to the last one – which may be many hours of damage. When Saliva Has Been Compromised. This can occur if we fail to support saliva production through lack of sleep, too much stress, hormonal imbalance or poor digestive health. To improve saliva quality: Address all areas of health - particularly sleep & stress reduction. Take colon health probiotics for 8-12 weeks. Test the pH of your saliva on waking in the morning to have a baseline measurement. Record improvements and assess if they may be related to dietary adjustments.  When Saliva is Diluted by Constant Sipping Habits. If possible, stop sipping drinks throughout the day; instead, drink adequate amounts of liquid at meal times. If this is impossible – at least stop sipping for an hour or two after lunch. When Non-Water Drinks Strip Teeth of a Protective Protein Layer and Cause Excessive Damage. Even “body-healthy” liquids – like lemon water and cider vinegar – can adversely affect mouth health. Try to stop sipping between meals and be aware that the following drinks can cause extreme damage if sipped over a long duration: Acidic water (many bottled and tap waters are acidic. Water will become acidic if citrus lemon or orange slices are added). Alcohol - all kinds Juices Coffee & Teas (including black tea and green tea) Carbonated drinks - especially with citrus flavor Kombucha Energy drinks

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Taking Care of Kid's Teeth

We know it's easier to prevent problems than fix them. Nowhere is this more obvious than with children’s teeth. Unbelievably simple steps can help prevent cavities and make taking care of your child's teeth easier. Mouth bacteria can be good or bad. Dominant bacteria are always found in the grooves of molar teeth – so ensure when new molars enter a child's mouth they are quickly populated with healthy bacteria that can promote oral health for years to come. Infants Parents hug and kiss their baby, often unaware that cavity germs in their mouths can become the germs that form cavities in baby’s teeth. Parents, babysitters and caretakers can use xylitol and Dr. Ellie's Complete Mouth Care System to balance their mouth health – preferably before baby is born. Babies born by Caesarian lack nature’s protection in their mouths, and can be prone to cavities and thrush. Dissolve 1/8th teaspoon of granular xylitol in ½ oz of water and wipe this over baby’s gums, or on the nipple at feeding. Mothers can breastfeed without fear if they wipe xylitol on their child's gums and teeth each day. When a mouth is clean of cavity-forming bacteria, cavities cannot occur. Toddler Teeth Baby molar teeth erupt at the back of the mouth soon after the first birthday – so brush or wipe all toddler teeth with a little xylitol every day Whenever cleaning teeth is difficult – let your child enjoy a Zellie's Cherry Berry Mint (or the like) – especially before bed or naptime or after sugary snacks or juice. Please be sure your child can safely have a Zellie's mint in their mouths. If they have trouble, you can cut the mint in half to start. Granular xylitol eaten off a spoon may not be as convenient as mints or gum, but it will work just as well and is a way to keep costs of oral health to a minimum. For very young children, or children with chewing problems – this may be a great way to enjoy xylitol. For more information on how to use granular xylitol for young teeth, please see this blog. Young Children Studies show children with healthy teeth at 4 years old will usually have healthy teeth for life – and they also show that the reverse can be true. Kids often take a water bottle to class – so dissolve a teaspoon of xylitol in this to protect your kids from cavities during the vulnerable school years. An effective approach to using Zellie's Mints or Gum for young children is to develop a routine. One that works well is, 2-4 Zellie's Mints or 1-2 pieces of Zellie's Gum:  after morning brushing  following an after-school snack and after nighttime brushing, before going to bed. Nibbling on Zellie's during nighttime story-time is our personal favorite! The more fillings your child has, the more X rays he or she will require to supervise them, year after year….. Teenagers Snacking at night, or drinking juice or soda too frequently, can wreck havoc on teeth. Zellie's Mints and Gum provide help for teeth – plus they are delicious and easy to enjoy throughout the day! Braces make tooth cleaning difficult, but with Zellie's throughout the day and following Dr. Ellie's Complete Mouth Care System – teenagers with braces can keep teeth healthy and prevent scarring and spots. Firsthand Experience "As a mother of two young kids myself, I know firsthand that the sooner you start protecting teeth, the sooner you can enjoy the wonder and beauty of clean, white and healthy teeth! Xylitol is your family’s friend for oral health." - Chrissie Jarrell, COO, Zellie's

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Oral Health For Moms & Families

Moms often don’t have enough time to consider the importance of their oral health. Here are easy tips to start your journey toward improved oral health.

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World Oral Health

A preventive and effective approach to oral health. Why we must take oral health more seriously and how you can take control of yours today.

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The Benefits of Kissing

Mouth bacteria transfer in saliva when we kiss or are in close contact with friends and family. Today we know cavities and gum disease are bacterial infections. Protective healthy bacteria not only help control the spread of bacteria, but they can protect us from picking up harmful bacteria from others.

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A New Year's Wish - A Message From Zellie's Founder

You can stop cavities and gum disease. Simple at-home oral care strategies combined with the amazing power of xylitol can make a healthy mouth attainable. Healthy bacteria form a strong and effective defense system with the ability to protect teeth and gums from plaque damage and disease.

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The Value Of Your Own Saliva

Our mouth health is primarily influenced by the saliva in our mouth. Healthy saliva offers incredible benefits as it is a perfectly balanced supersaturated solution of the minerals that compose our teeth, and immune cells and nutrients that help heal gum tissues.

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The Most Effective Way to Clean Baby Teeth

Granular xylitol is one of the most effective and easiest ways to clean newly erupting baby teeth. It promotes the good bacteria in a baby's mouth while helping to suppress the bad bacteria. And your baby will love it - no struggling to "clean" teeth with a toothbrush and floss - methods that don't specifically address mouth bacteria.  STEP 1: Scoop out roughly 1/8 teaspoon of granular xylitol into a small bowl. The amount can be an estimate. I use a 1/4 teaspoon and fill it about halfway. Remember, the goal is a little bit of xylitol, multiple times throughout the day.      Step 2 - Option 1:  There are 2 options for the second step. This first option is to dip a wet brush directly into the granular xylitol and allow your baby/toddler to suck on the brush. There is no need to "brush" the teeth. Allowing the xylitol to dissolve in their mouth is all you need to do! The toothbrush is just a vehicle for the xylitol and a great way to associate xylitol with dental health.     Step 2 - Option 2: If your child does not like the texture of the granular xylitol - this might be especially true for infants - dissolve the 1/8 teaspoon of granular xylitol in about 1/4 teaspoon of room-temperature filtered water. It should be just enough water to dissolve the granules. Do not add too much water. Also note, xylitol does not dissolve well in cold water - room-temperature water is best. Mix with the toothbrush until mostly or all dissolved.     Step 3 - Option 2: Scoop as much of the xylitol water onto the brush as you can and allow your baby to suck on the brush. You will likely have to do a few dips to use up most of the liquid. You do not need to always use up all of the liquid. The goal is small amounts of xylitol a few times each day.     Aim to do this granular xylitol tooth-cleaning method 3-4 times during the day. Ideally after eating/drinking.  The granular xylitol - either directly as granules or dissolved in filtered water - is a great way to start your young child on xylitol. As they grow and are able to manage solids safely, you can introduce Zellie's mints in place of the granular xylitol. Kid-favorite flavors are the Cherry Berry and Cool Fruit Mints. Tip: For the mints, if you are not sure how well your child will manage the small mint, go ahead and break the mint in half until you are confident they can hold and chew the mint in their mouth safely.  Here is a video showing the joy and deliciousness of using xylitol to clean baby teeth! (We suggest turning the volume up for full effect ;-)  

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Change Your pH and Improve Your Teeth and Gums!

A healthy mouth is a non-acidic, neutral, or alkaline mouth, with a pH 7.0 or above. Tooth roots begin to dissolve as this pH gets a tiny bit below neutral (at pH 6.5) and, when acidity levels dip to pH 5.5 or lower teeth will erode, become discolored, and be at risk for cavities. All acidity weakens teeth, but it is the amount of time that acids are in contact with teeth that determines the severity of the damage. Erosion and decay are worse when people sip drinks or nibble acidic foods. For healthy teeth, exposure to acidity must be kept to a minimum. Teeth actually become stronger and re-mineralize when the mouth is alkaline at a pH 7.5 or above. Your saliva pH People with acidic saliva often experience dental problems because their own saliva damages teeth. These folks wonder why they have uncontrollable cavities, broken fillings, gum recession or sensitivity, despite their efforts to brush and floss. The solution is to protect teeth with xylitol, and find ways to alkalize the mouth as often as possible. Zellie's Mints and Gum are an immediate solution for mouth acidity, changing the mouth pH quickly into a safe zone. How long does xylitol protect teeth from acidity? The answer depends on the pH of your “natural” saliva. Saliva filters into the mouth, derived from body liquids, which reflect the pH and chemistry of your body. The effects of stress, hormone changes, sleep deprivation, and poor nutrition makes saliva acidic. As acidic saliva flows into the mouth it will negate the alkalizing benefit of xylitol. People with acidic saliva may need an individualized xylitol regimen to protect their teeth adequately. If your salvia is naturally alkaline, one or two Zellie's after eating or drinking will usually be sufficient to protect teeth from food or drink acidity. How eating affects mouth pH All the food we eat and the drinks we drink change mouth pH. Mouth pH can fluctuate wildly, from the strong acidity of citrus fruits, juices, and wines (pH 2.2 or lower) to the alkaline pH of chicken soup and salty nuts (pH 8.5 or higher). Pure xylitol (like in Zellie's) prevent cavities by helping turn an acidic mouth into an alkaline mouth, in minutes. The best time to benefit from xylitol is to enjoy Zellie's at the end of every meal, drink or snack. How to alkalize your saliva The pH of fluids circulating around the human body (including the saliva in your mouth) register in a narrow pH range. The pH of blood should be approximately pH 7.3 (slightly alkaline) while healthy saliva should register 7.0 (neutral). When the pH of body fluids is alkaline and above 7.0 it indicates an oxygen-rich environment (which is an ideal state for good health). When pH levels are below 7.0 (acidic) this indicates an oxygen-deprived environment, which primes our body for disease and our teeth for de-mineraliztion and cavities. Xylitol helps defend teeth by alkalizing the mouth. However, for total health, it is important to work to alkalize your body. Doing this, will not only benefit your health but it will help to alkalize saliva for additional mouth and tooth protection. Natural saliva variation There are times in life when, no matter what you do, saliva seems to become acidic. The hormones of pregnancy appear to change saliva and put women’s teeth at risk for acidic damage. Stress and sickness also create times of mouth acidity. Other variations occur like a rhythm, with daily fluctuations in pH and flow rate (diurnal variation). Saliva is least protective at night and in the early hours and most alkaline and protective in the afternoon. Improving saliva pH You can achieve improvement in saliva pH by making lifestyle and habit adjustments (reduce stress, exercise, sleep etc), and you can also influence saliva pH by selecting specific foods to eat, foods to help “alkalize” the body. As we digest foods, their by-products or nutrients are absorbed into our body. Not all food provides good nutrients, and some create acidic by-products that work against us. Most experts agree we need at least 80% of our daily foods to be the kind that help us maintain a neutral or alkaline body pH. Wasting time If you eat alkalizing veggies and fruits, your body will not fully benefit from them without the correct enzymes to mange the absorption of their nutrients into the body. Some fermented and raw foods provide enzymes, but these may not be adequate. If you have a good diet, I often recommend additional raw probiotics (pill form) pineapple (bromelain), and papaya (papain) – perhaps a little at each meal – to ensure maximum nutrition for your body and mouth. Don’t get confused! The most confusing detail is that one or two products that alkalize the body are, in fact, acidic in the mouth. The two best examples are: a)    Lemons are one of the best products to alkalize your body, but they have such a low pH in the mouth, drinking lemonade can destroy teeth. b)    Spinach is good to alkalize the body, but the oxalic acid in spinach can destroy the healthy pellicle on teeth and make them sensitive. If you eat lemons or spinach –be sure to incorporate them into meals and end the meal with some Zellie's. Fortunately many alkalizing foods are not damaging to teeth: foods like watermelon, asparagus, mushrooms, mango, apples, and garlic. Foods and drinks to avoid Many popular soft drinks create body acidity and feed acid-producing bacteria in the mouth, promoting gum disease and cavities. These drinks contain acids plus lots of sugar and/or high fructose corn syrup. The worst may be carbonated soft drinks– especially if they contain additional caffeine. Addicted to soda? People with gum disease often have a kind of bacteria in their mouth that affects their taste buds, making water unpalatable. If you dislike water, and have bad gums, try adding one teaspoons of xylitol into water and sip this, in place of soda, for a week. You may find your taste buds recover and your desire for soda is reduced. Limiting or eliminating soda will be good for your gums, teeth and body health!

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