Every morning, millions of people put a chemical formulation into their mouths without giving its ingredients a second thought. They do it because the advertising tells them to, the packaging reassures them, and generations have been conditioned to believe that a minty foam is the price of a healthy smile. But here is the question […]
As additional material to our last article – The Mouth Is Not Separate From The Body – we highlight here the important electrical aspects of the mouth. We tend to think of the mouth as the foyer of the body. Teeth, tongue, coffee, the occasional regrettable sandwich and, if we’re conscientious, a twice-daily encounter with […]
Something hurts? Fix the tooth.Gums bleed? Buy better toothpaste.Bad breath? Find a stronger mouthwash.Missing tooth? Replace it. We have somehow managed to turn dentistry into a form of plumbing. Then you are sent home to carry on pretending that the mouth has nothing to do with the rest of you. Which is odd, because the […]
Cloves are one of those things we have managed to make simultaneously exotic and boring. They have been treasured for centuries for their perfume, their heat, their peculiar little nail-like appearance and their ability to make a kitchen smell as though Christmas has broken in and taken up residence. They have also had a surprisingly […]
There are few things more revealing about a civilisation than what it does with its shoes. The Japanese remove them with the solemnity of a minor religious ceremony. Scandinavians abandon them at the door as naturally as they take off a coat. The British, however, tend to regard shoes as permanent anatomical attachments: things that […]
For years we’ve marched into the bathroom twice a day like obedient children, armed with toothbrushes, floss and enough mint to stun a horse, convinced that the purpose of oral hygiene was to wage war on germs. The advertisements showed armies of evil bacteria fleeing before a torrent of blue mouthwash as if the Normandy […]
This week I’m going to recommend something absurdly unfashionable. Kindness. Not the sort that’s photographed for social media, polished with a flattering filter and hashtagged into self-congratulation. The quiet sort. The anonymous sort. The kind that leaves no receipt except in somebody else’s memory. The one act that carries a healing power, itself a kind […]
Bruxism is the unglamorous habit of grinding your teeth, usually while asleep, when the subconscious takes the opportunity to express itself through the jaw. This condition affects almost 30% of the adult population. Human beings are remarkably inventive in finding new ways to worry. We no longer spend our nights listening for wolves or rival […]
Let us consider ageing from the other end of the telescope. Not as a statistic or a social issue, but as a destination. Your destination. Mine too, when we’re fortunate enough to reach it. Twice this week I was made aware of age becoming invisible. The first encounter took place in a supermarket. An elderly […]
Oral health • Natural medicine • The future of the practice The dentist’s chair is the most reliably terrifying seat in civilian life. There is a particular kind of dread that belongs exclusively to the dental waiting room. The laminated leaflets. The faint chemical reek of someone else’s anxiety. The receptionist who smiles at you […]
