In light of this, I am asking everyone to save 90 glasses of water a day by turning of the tap while brushing their teeth. It’s easy, something everyone can do, costs nothing, and has a big impact on the preservation of a precious resource.

Brush your teeth twice a day and conserve ninety glasses of water every day by:

1. Wetting your toothbrush under the water
   
2. Turning off the tap
   
3. Applying toothpaste
   
4. Brushing your teeth for 2 minutes
   
5. Filling a small glass with water
   
6. Rinsing and swishing with water from the glass.
   
7. Tell a friend or family member to do the same… Together we can make a big difference with small changes!
   

Day 1: Choose clean green tooth care products. Your home care routine (brushing, flossing, rinsing), works in conjunction with a professional teeth cleaning program to manage bacteria levels in your mouth. But certain brands of products contain chemicals that can upset the oral pH balance and lead to canker sores or other problems. Pick a paste that doesn’t contain sodium lauryl sulfate, and make sure your mouth rinse is alcohol-free.

Day 2: Turn off the Tap! Did you know the average person wastes approximately 90 glasses of water every day by leaving the tap running while they brush their teeth? That means in the United States alone, we’re literally pouring down the drain 27 Billion Glasses of clean, drinkable water every day, just brushing our teeth.

Day 3: Find a dental practice you love. Dentistry is a healing profession. It’s important to have a satisfying relationship with your dental wellness team, and to know they share your values for wellness of people and planet. Go to http://www.ecodentistry.org and click on ‘Find an EDA Member’ to search for a dental professional in your area that incorporates eco-friendly practices.

Day 4: Already love your dentist? If you’ve got a dentist you love, but don’t love all the plastic and paper waste you see in the practice, visit http://www.ecodentistry.org and click on ‘Green My Dentist.’ You can print a letter to your dentist with compelling reasons to incorporate simple, cost-saving green methods into their business.

Day 5: Paper or Plastic? Neither. Ask for cloth. Ask your dentist to use cloth products such as patient bibs rather than paper or plastic. Studies show that using cloth sterilization methods diverts nearly 5000 pieces of paper and 5000 pieces of plastic from the average dental practice in just one year. Using fabric patient “bibs” instead of 2-ply paper, 1-ply plastic bibs diverts 10,200 pieces of paper and 5,100 pieces of plastic from landfill annually.

Day 6: Go Digital! Ask your dental office if they offer digital x-rays. Digital x-rays offer have 75-90% less radiation than the traditional ones while eliminating the need for toxic x-ray fixer solutions and lead foils.

Day 7: Get Informed! Many dentists go the extra mile to protect the health of people and planet. Amalgam separators keep toxic dental materials from entering the water stream, but aren’t required in every state; digital radiography replaces the outdated traditional x-rays, decreasing patient exposure to radiation, and eliminating waste and pollution. Find more ways that hi-tech and green dentistry are helping both people and planet, and download a list of questions to ask your dental practitioner, at http://www.ecodentistry.org.

The Eco-Dentistry Association offers dental professionals practical tips on reducing waste and pollution and conserving resources, like using cloth wrappers instead of disposables to sterilize dental instruments, installing energy efficient lighting, properly disposing of mercury-containing dental waste, and planet-friendly building and office methods, like non-toxic paint and recycled copy paper.

It provides the public with information about digital x-ray systems which reduce radiation exposure by up to 90%, dental appliances free from the hormone-disrupting chemical, bisphenol-A, found in many plastics, and questions to ask their dentists about environmental stewardship.

More information can be found at www.ecodentistry.org

By providing an understanding and nurturing office environment, utilizing pain free treatment techniques, natural aides for anxiety (e.g. Valerian Root, Bach Flower Rescue Remedy, Homeopathic Calming Remedies) and truly listening to those I served, I am able to help them overcome their fears, anxieties and phobias. Make certain that the dentist you select to help you towards wellness, utilizes a similar approach. (Later in the article you will learn powerful self-help tools that you can use to help yourself become active partners in overcoming these problems, that keep more than half of the American population from seeking regular dental care.)

This mission/goal took on such great importance because of my own traumatic dental experience when I was 12 years old:

I had been cavity free during my childhood years, but as often happens in adolescence, I developed my first dental decay (cavity). The dentist was so angry, (I had been his pride and joy, “look, no cavities”) that he drilled on my first permanent molar with no local anesthetic (those were the days of the low speed dental drill). The pain was so intense, and I felt the dentistâs anger as he unrelentingly drilled. Tears streamed down my face, as the trust I had built over my childhood years was destroyed. There was no warning, no preparation, nor was there any excuse for the abuse I suffered at the hands of the angry dentist. When I went into dentistry, I vowed not to cause this kind of harm to my clients/patients. Later, in retrospect, I was grateful for this painful experience. It enabled me to help others with similar problems. However, my experience was nonetheless emotionally painful and traumatic and colored a good portion of my life.

It wasn’t until I became associated with an extraordinary psychotherapist (the co-author of this article) that I began to fully understand what happened to me at the age of 12. The psychotherapist, Eugenie G. Foret, shared with me her more than 25 years of professional experience and expertise in this area. She was able to help me solve my problems and allowed me to better help those that suffered from anxiety, fear and phobias in relation to their dental experience through utilization of her principles and techniques.

We are happy to share these principles and techniques with you, in the hope that it leads to positive and nurturing dental experiences essential to wellness and health.

If you would like to receive more information about our upcoming series of audio tapes and instructional guide book on transforming dental anxiety, fears and phobias, a self-reliance series, let us know by leaving us a message on our toll free voice mail (888-758-8058).

These principles can increase your self reliance and assist you in creating a more positive dental experience. We believe that through accessing your inner tools you can begin the process of becoming increasingly more self reliant and at the same time learn how to maximize the potential of these precious tools to increase your wellness and prevent disease. Remember that the goal is to create a new experience in which you are in control. As you approach problem solving, it is important to allow the process, because many times the answers that we need and seek are in the process – in the journey, rather than in the goal or the end result.

Principles
Problem solving consists of three steps:

• First Step: Awareness – To become aware that a problem exists. Acknowledge that it is present in your life.
• Second Step: Acceptance – The second step is to begin the process of acceptance. I accept that this is happening in my life and what do I want to do with it.It is in this phase that most of the discovering takes place and with it increased options and choices.
• Third Step: Action – This is the third step and involves putting the results of work, change and discoveries into behaviors.

Inner Tools

Your armamentarium is inside you your thoughts, feelings, images, behaviors and/or actions. There is not any greater knowledge than that of knowing yourself.

Allowance

For this phase of discovery, you need to allow the feeling of fear. Actually say to yourself repeatedly,

“Yes, I am afraid.” I feel fearful of (complete this sentence).”

Separate the Fear

It is important to realize the fear you are experiencing is a feeling and not you. You are more than the fear! Say to yourself: “It is okay for me to be afraid – to be fearful.”

Do Not Judge Yourself
This is an important step in the acceptance phase. Watch for certain thoughts like: “I am stupid.” “No one else is afraid.” “I am weak to feel afraid.” These are judgements of your feelings and will interfere with your ability to work towards acceptance of the fear.

Perceptions
How you perceive your life experiences is a key factor in determining how these experiences will affect you. Once you become aware of your own perceptions of the fear you can choose to see it differently which will create choice for you.

Breath
Breathing is an important tool in accessing feelings, experiencing the fullness of feelings, and decreasing and controlling anxiety and fears. Breath is also important in maintaining wellness and the prevention of disease. When we are anxious and/or fearful, breath is restricted and becomes more shallow and rapid.

Relaxation
Relaxation is another key to decreasing and controlling anxiety and fear and is closely connected to breath. It creates an internal space inside of you that increases control over your feelings, thoughts, and behaviors giving freedom to inform choices, changes in perception, increased healing and a feeling of well being.

Anxiety/Fear/Phobia Cycle
All of the above principles will assist you in gaining more control over your fear and/or trauma, acknowledging the feeling, creating a new positive experience, reframing, and learning how to relax.

If at any time during the process of walking through the steps you feel the cycle is getting complicated and are more anxious, let this be a guide for you to seek additional assistance with a qualified professional. These suggestions and information are not a substitute for professional guidance.

Responsibility
This is a summary principle. It is through accepting responsibility that allows all of the above principles to work together. You do not have the “ability to respond” to your anxiety and fear with internal wisdom that is gained through increased awareness of you, resulting in control over your thoughts, feelings and behaviors. This empowered-you then gains control over the “reactive cycle” of the fear and anxiety allowing you more informed choices with the ability to respond to the fear and anxiety rather than you reacting to it.

Flossing the Upper Right

Your left Index finger holds floss up against inside of teeth. Right thumb guides floss between teeth with gentle side to side motion until you reach the bottom of the gum crevice. Use the thumb to hold the floss to the back or distal surface of the tooth as you come down to the biting surface. The index finger will guide the floss against the front or mesial surface. So you will be alternating thumb and index finger as you clean the back and front sides between each tooth.

Remember to hug the tooth as you go in and out. Before you go under the gum, wrap the floss around the tooth so that you can get to the bottom of the crevice (the space between the gum and the tooth) without any damage.

Flossing the Upper Left

When you get to the middle of the front teeth, switch fingers. The right index finger will be to the inside and the left thumb and index finger will be on the outside. Duplicate the same motions as you did on the right side.

Flossing the Lower Left

The left Index finger is on the outside and the right index finger on the inside and are the guides for the floss as it passes from front to back. The thumbs help to push the floss up and out from between the teeth.

Flossing the Lower Right

When you get to the middle of the lower front teeth, the left index finger switches to the inside while the right index finger moves to the outside.

Leave adequate time for you to develop your skills. Begin with just a few teeth, get the movement and rhythms of the fingers. Itâs like a musical instrument; give yourself time to practice and develop dexterity. Flossing needs to be done in love. If youâre upset or angry, wait until another time. Your teeth and gums need the tenderness and caring they deserve for all the gifts of work they have given you. Dental hygienists are specially trained to guide you in mastering the art of flossing.

Repeat this breathing with the words until you feel RELAXED. As you are doing this exercise, picture your face completely RELAXED and send loving energy to this part of your Body Temple through your hands and your thoughts. Do this exercise for several minutes throughout the day or whenever you feel tense or nervous or are experiencing any emotional stress.

This exercise is a wonderful gift of love to yourself.

The key is to approach wellness Holistically; which means on all levels: physically, emotionally and spiritually. We developed our Self Reliance kit with this concept in mind.

On the Physical Level: we have made the basic tools available to you in order to achieve a clean mouth: proper brush and floss, a superb tongue cleaner and a way to adequately see what you are doing.

On the Mental and Emotional Level: Our Book,”Become Your Own Dental Consultant,” gently guides you into a new understanding; a positive and rewarding relationship with your mouth.

On the Spiritual Level: true empowerment from the wisdom of the ancient sages as taught by Mikhael Aivanhov. We have selected three of his more than fifty volumes in English that will offer powerful insights into how you can take control over your own health and wellness.

1. Disturbances in growth and development like nasal obstruction causing mouth breathing and genetic problems.
2. Trauma or accident (for example a whiplash type which forces the neck backward then forward causing dislocation of the jaw joints.

   Trauma can also come from a rough dental experience or from dental work that doesn’t fit properly. In addition, mercury silver fillings (called amalgam) and other dissimilar metals within the mouth can negatively affect the normal electrical potential of nerves, muscles and blood vessels. Special instrumentation is available to measure these effects.

3. Habits, improper jaw function and posture which puts undue pressure on the lower jaw during sleep can have a deleterious affect on the jaw joints. Nail biting, pencil or pen chewing, tooth grinding or clenching can adversely effect the TMJ.

4. Stress, especially mental and emotional. Thoughts and feelings are often buried or held in the jaw. I have seen this especially in victims and survivors of childhood abuse. Dietary and nutritional deficiencies are stressors which can also contribute to TMJ problems.

• If there are emotional causes find a therapist to help you sort out the problems that may be contributing to your distress. It is important to not ignore the problems. Problems, not addressed, have the tendency to bury themselves deeper within the body, and manifest later as severe health challenges.
• Practice balancing exercises (see TMJ relaxation exercise on this site) and proper chewing to build resiliency and resistance to untoward stressors.
• Correct improperly fitting dental work (either to high or not correctly meeting the opposing teeth). Make sure that if new work is done, this correction is accomplished within 72 hours after placement.
• Treat muscles first — this is a prime focus in TMJ case management.
• Make a conscious decision to get well no matter what it entails ( this applies to all disease or health challenges).

• Should surgical intervention be necessary, preventive exercises and muscle balancing are crucial for long term successful healing.

a. Difficulty in opening or closing the mouth

b. Difficulty chewing or swallowing

c. Head and neck pain or discomfort

d. Ear symptoms like dizziness, ringing or pain

e. Eye symptoms like pain, twitching or altered vision

f. Referred pain and discomfort to other body areas, especially shoulders, arms, back and legs

g. Jaw sounds like clicking, grinding or grating (which is usually heard in long standing or chronic problems like TMJ arthritis)