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Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Survival Dental Care



You definitely want to avoid tooth problems if you no longer have access to modern dental care.  One way to avoid problems in an uncertain future is to take good care of your teeth now.  Regular dental check-ups and cleanings, and daily brushings are a must.

You can stock-pile toothpaste in your emergency supplies if you want to, but it's not really necessary.  Back in the day, the purpose of tooth powder was to clean your teeth, not to give you a brighter, whiter, sexier, better smelling smile like today.  Most people back then used a mixture of salt and baking soda to brush their teeth.  Tooth powder was kept in a can.  You could shake a little out into the palm of your hand, wet the bristles of your tooth brush, dip the bristles down into the powder, and brush away. Pictured below: Home made tooth powder and twig brush.

If a toothbrush was not available, the old-timers would cut a small stick (usually from a gum tree or a willow) and chew the end until it kind of splintered up into a brush.  This improvised brush was then used to brush the teeth. Pictured below: Brush made from gum tree twig

I do keep a few dental items in my emergency supplies.  I have a little dental repair kit that consists of a topical numbing agent, a small wooden spatula, some dental putty to temporarily fill cavities, and some dental adhesive that can be used to temporarily glue on broken crowns or dropped fillings.  Pictured below: Emergency dental repair kit

I also keep a bottle of oil of clove.  Clove oil has been used to treat toothaches for centuries.   

A topical oral anesthetic like Anbesol or Oragel can also be very handy.  Pictured below: Oral topical anesthetic

I have a supply of broad spectrum antibiotics that can be used to help with abscesses and infections.  And I always have a bottle of bourbon and a pair of vice grip pliers.  I guess you could call these my last resort dental care items.  Sure hope I never have to use them.

There is a book available called Where There is No Dentist.  This book is intended for use by aid workers in third world countries, and it is written on a pretty understandable level with the layman in mind. It is available for purchase from the Hesperian foundation or you can download the fairly massive pdf file for free.  Just do a search for "Where There is No Dentist" and you'll see a couple of different places where you can download the book.

12 comments:

Alfie Lewis said...

Very informative post. The dental care is necessary because teeth are very important part. The toothbrush used by you for your teeth should be soft and according to the size.
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jelly andrews said...

Wow! Cool! This is really interesting. It is really important to take care of our teeth. A poor oral hygiene will increase your risks of acquiring heart-related diseases. And our teeth are also a sign of how we value personal hygiene.

Dentist in Los Angeles said...

I truly appreciate the content of your blog.. Keep going.



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Borhan Uddin said...

that is a great post with full of information. really all the ancient tools a re really great and all of them are really good for the dental health actually.

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Unknown said...
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Unknown said...

I'm definitely going to start using these ideas. I go camping quite a bit and the one thing I forget most of the time is a toothbrush and toothpaste. I'll have to start using tooth powder. It's also much better for the environment when you rinse and spit.
-Seamus | http://www.ccdental.com.au

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Raisul Islam said...
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Alice Tylor said...

Rightly said!! It's better to take care of our teeth today to keep them safe for tomorrow. Proper brushing and regular dental checkup are very necessary to avoid emergency dental situations. I see my Family Dentist in Toledo on regular bases and suggest others to visit their family dentist regularly.

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Elizabeth J. Neal said...

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