Dr. Hulda Regehr Clark's instructions for brushing teeth, mouthwashs, cleaning dentures etc.
The following excerpts are compiled by Healing Teeth Naturally from Dr. Hulda Regehr Clark's highly recommended1 book The Cure For All Diseases. As you will see, her advice (which boils down to "only use natural non-toxic substances/avoid toxic chemicals") partially coincides with the advice given by other naturopaths and the general recommendations given on Healing Teeth Naturally, while adding more detail.
Toothpaste: alternatives for brushing teeth
Don't use toothpaste2, not even health-food varieties. To clean teeth, use plain water, salt water or chemically pure baking soda—but dissolve it in water first, otherwise it is too abrasive. Or brush with hydrogen peroxide food grade, not the regular variety (see Sources [in The Cure For All Diseases]).
If you have any metal fillings, use only water or chemically pure baking soda. Put a pinch in a glass, add water to dissolve it.
If you have only plastic fillings, use food-grade hydrogen peroxide (see Sources). Dilute it from 35% to 17½% by adding water (equal parts). Store hydrogen peroxide only in polyethylene or the original plastic bottle. Use 4 or 5 drops on your toothbrush. It should fizz nicely as oxygen is produced in your mouth. Your teeth will whiten noticeably in 6 months. (Compare Oil pulling and WARNING: brushing teeth with hydrogen peroxide.)
Toothbrush
Throw away your old toothbrush and buy a new one. Your old one is soaked with toxins from your old toothpaste, and solvents don't wash away.
Flossing
Don't use conventional floss; floss has mercury antiseptics (with thallium pollution!). Before brushing teeth, floss with homemade floss - 4 or 2 pound monofilament [nylon] fish line. Double it and twist for extra strength. Rinse before use.
General advice on flossing and brushing
Floss and brush only once a day. If this leaves you uncomfortable, brush the extra times with plain water and a second “water-only” toothbrush. Make sure that nothing solid, like powder, is on your toothbrush; it will scour the enamel and give you sensitive teeth, especially as you get older and the enamel softens. Salt is corrosive—don't use it for brushing metal teeth. Plain water is just as good.
Mouthwash: salt water, hydrogen peroxide or pure baking soda
Don't use mouthwash. Use saltwater [made with aluminum-free salt] or food grade hydrogen peroxide. A few drops of food grade hydrogen peroxide added to a little water in a glass should be enough to make your mouth foam and cleanse. Don't use hydrogen peroxide, though, if you have metal fillings, because they react. Don't use regular drug store variety hydrogen peroxide because it contains toxic additives. Health food store varieties contain solvents from the bottling process (see Sources). Never purchase hydrogen peroxide in a bottle with a metal cap.
For persons with metal tooth fillings, use chemically pure baking soda or just plain hot water.
Generally: A healthy mouth has no odor! You shouldn't need a mouthwash! If you have breath odor, search for a hidden tooth infection or cavitation.
Dentures
Dentures should fit perfectly so the mouth does not develop sores. Using denture cream is not a good substitute for correct fit and is toxic. Denture plastic is often toxic, even containing mercury in its composition! Cadmium is used to make the pink color in dentures! Cad mium is five times as toxic as lead, and is strongly linked to high blood pressure. Toxins in plastic can seep! Such toxins lower the immunity of the mouth and throat and stomach since it all flows down into the stomach. Low immunity in the mouth permits throat infections to be chronic. If your elderly loved one has a red-looking mouth or throat, instead of pink, an infection is going on in spite of no coughs and no complaints.
It will do no good to keep zapping3 bacteria when reinfection is so easy. First kill the bacteria in the dentures by soaking in 70% grain alcohol. Then test the dentures for toxins. Soak the dentures in water for several hours. Rinse and soak again in fresh water. Repeat a third time to insure that any toxin found came from the dentures, not the saliva. Save this water for test ing. Search for heavy metals in the denture water. If you find any, you know the dentures are toxic! Get new ones, made of uncolored methacrylate (see Dental Cleanup).
Denture-soak
The denture-soak should kill bacteria each night. Plastic has tiny pores where bacteria can hide. Commercial denture cleaners are much more toxic than grain alcohol; don't use them.
Option 1: Use salt water. It kills all germs and is inexpensive. Salt water plus grain alcohol or food-grade hydrogen peroxide makes a good denture-soak. (Compare salt water for toothache.)
Option 2: Use 70% grain alcohol which you make yourself or plain vodka which is about 50% alcohol. Since alcohol evaporates and is expensive, use a wide mouth jar with close fitting non-metal lid for all this. Fish them out with your toothbrush so it gets sterilized too. It only takes minutes to kill everything.
1 in spite of its somewhat overstated title
2 Toothpaste has toxic metals (tin, fluoride, strontium) besides benzene pollution. More at Toothpaste: hazardous to dental and overall health?
3 Zapping is a DIY healing approach recommended by Dr. Clark. It involves selectively electrocuting pathogens using a commercial or homebuilt frequency generator or "zapper".