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Disclaimer: I’m not a dentist or medical professional. This article shares my personal experience and what worked for me. Always consult with your dentist or doctor before making changes to your dental care routine or diet.
In my late teens I got several large cavities in my back molars. They didn’t appear bad on the surface, but as the dentist began drilling, she discovered they were much deeper than they appeared. At the time, I didn’t think too much of it. I figured cavities were just a part of life. I’ve always loved sweets, but whenever people talked about the relationship between sugar and cavities, it was usually with a bit of humor and maybe a suggestion to be sure to brush twice and floss once a day.
The Road to Gum Disease: Paved with Sugar
During college I got in the habit of enjoying a tall glass of Mountain Dew with a Blimpie sandwich for lunch every day—perhaps with a chocolate chip cookie or two to round off the meal. After all, it was part of the meal deal, right? And I thought I was already being healthier than most by choosing a sandwich packed with veggies over the more typical fast food lunches my peers were enjoying. Regular Dunkin’ runs also became a staple for me—nothing better than a sweetened coffee with a donut on the side.
My metabolism is freakishly fast, so I’ve never had weight as a signal to let me know if I was overindulging.
At some point I started noticing that my gums felt “different”, but I wasn’t sure what to make of it, and it didn’t even cross my mind that increased sugar in my diet could have something to do with it. If my dentist noticed, she didn’t make much of it other than to encourage me to floss and to avoid brushing “too hard”. The relationship between sugar and cavities is well publicized, but connection to gum disease is less discussed.
Around this time I was also diagnosed with acid reflux. I began experiencing lightheadedness and frequent headaches.
After college I went at least 2 years without visiting a dentist. I never intended to do this, but I knew that I needed to find a new dentist and I just kept on putting it off because I didn’t want to go or to think about it.
The Wake-Up Call: My Gum Disease Diagnosis
When I finally found a new dentist, I was informed that I had significant gum recession with visible bone loss on x-rays. In other words, I had gum disease.
I had kept pretty good oral hygiene during this period including brushing and flossing (with the wrong floss, but more on that later). I had also started using a fluoride gel every night, which is probably the only reason why I only had one small cavity that needed repair after all that time.
Why I Refused a Deep Cleaning
My hygienist encouraged me to get a “deep cleaning”—a procedure that involves numbing and special tools to clean below the gum line, but I hesitated. This may be the right procedure in many cases, but I couldn’t imagine my gums responding well to such a beating—if they got to where they are despite my best efforts at proper oral care, why should I expect things to go any better the second time around? Not to mention the cost of the procedure and my lack of dental insurance.
My hygienist agreed that we would hold off on the deep cleaning and see how things went. I decided to start going for cleanings every 4 months instead of the typical 6 month schedule to monitor the situation.
I was determined to do anything that was in my power to fix this.
Fast-Forward to 5 Years Later…
I’m happy to report that at my last checkup—about 5 years after my initial diagnosis—my dentist casually remarked ‘no recession’ while jotting it down in his notes.
What follows is the routine that—with persistence and in fits and starts—finally got me there.
Quitting Sugar to Save My Gums
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I’m almost certain that diet is what made the biggest difference for me. It wasn’t until I made the decision to quit all added sugars in January 2023 that things really started to take a turn for the better.
I came to this decision after taking an autoimmune food sensitivity test. My results? Sugar took the number one spot. The test I took (LRA by ELISA/ACT) wasn’t cheap or covered by insurance, and there was little I could find attesting to its validity, but my mother had had it recommended to her through word of mouth and had discovered that her rheumatoid arthritis symptoms were largely resolved by avoiding the foods it had identified for her. I figured it was worth a shot, so I convinced my doctor to administer it (It was a simple blood test).
Why Quitting the Sugar Addiction is so Hard (and why that may be a good thing)
The problem with removing added sugar from your diet is that they put added sugar in everything. Even when the nutrition label shows 0 grams of added sugar, you may still find sugar hidden in the ingredients, because they’re not required to show it in the break down if it’s less than 1 gram.
This turns out to be a blessing in disguise, because it basically puts all packaged, highly processed foods off limits. It was painful at first, but since discovering whole, unprocessed, inexpensive foods that I like, it’s simplified my grocery list and reduced my grocery bill. Once you remove all that stuff from your kitchen, you just stop thinking about it and find something else that you do have to snack on (that’s less likely to kill you).
Living Sugar-Free: It’s Better Than You Might Think
I can still eat fruit (which I now find tastes sweeter and better than ever), and I can enjoy things sweetened with monk fruit, stevia, date sugar, and erythritol. I now bake my own goodies using these natural sugar substitutes, using whole grains and healthy fats. They taste great, and I actually don’t have to feel bad about eating them. I learned how to make my own chocolate from scratch using date sugar. I can still make amazing fruit smoothies sweetened with bananas. Speaking of which, I’ve discovered the magic of Yonanas as a substitute for ice cream. So it really isn’t so bad after all.
Since quitting added sugars, headaches (which were frequent) have become rare for me. Dizziness is rare. I also had a rare (and potentially blinding) condition called iritis twice within a span of 3 years prior to quitting sugar. It has not returned since.
Most importantly, my gums feel better than they have in 15 years.
Now if I cheat (which I’ve only done 2 or 3 times) I can actually feel it—I immediately get a tingling sensation in my gums. I know that it’s just not worth it.
My Daily Gum Disease Reversal Routine
Evening Routine
I’ll start with evening as it is the most important. Why? Because this is your only chance all day to give your body 8 hours of healing and recovery time to rebuild those gums without having to battle bits of food, sugars, etc. This is key, because the goal is to get things into a state of progress—even if it’s small—instead of regress. That means getting everything as clean as possible before you hit the pillow, and then letting your body do the rest. Over time, that little bit of progress will build. In the same way that gum recession doesn’t happen overnight, recovery takes time.
- Floss with REAL dental floss - Floss first. Don’t use dental tapes that sacrifice utility for comfort—I made the mistake of using “Glide” for a long time, and it just doesn’t do a good job of scraping debris off your teeth or stimulating the gums. A good thin waxed floss will do the trick, and eventually your gums will get used to it. Be sure to follow good flossing technique.
- Brush for a full 2 minutes using an electric toothbrush - Use a soft bristle brush, and then don’t worry about brushing “too hard”. Don’t be afraid to target the gum line–stimulating the gums is what we want. I use Doterra toothpaste which also contains essential oils that are good for the gums. Until recently I made the mistake of ignoring the little signals that my electric toothbrush was sending to let me know when that 2 minutes was up, and as a result I wasn’t brushing long enough.
- Before rinsing, use a tongue scraper - Simply brushing my tongue wasn’t enough for me. At one point I developed this strange pattern on my tongue that dumbfounded even my dentist. After adding the tongue scraper to my routine, it went away. Also, if you use any kind of oral appliance, be sure to wash and scrub it with soap every morning (not toothpaste). I use a night guard which I think may have contributed to this issue.
- Use interdental brushes with tea tree or frankincense essential oil - I’ve discovered that floss alone is actually not enough to remove all the food between my teeth. Following up with an interdental brush takes care of the rest, and also provides a convenient way to apply an antibacterial essential oil like tea tree or frankincense to the gums. I was skeptical of essential oils at first*, but there are actual studies showing the efficacy of both tea tree and frankincense for gum recession. My preferred interdental brush is the Peroxabrush because they will hold the essential oils and not break down like the rubber ones. You can wash these with soap after each use and get quite a few reuses out of each one.
- Topical fluoride - I use a topical fluoride gel called Gel Kam as my last step. This is more for cavity prevention and tooth sensitivity than for gums. Fluoride is controversial (for some good and some not so good reasons**), but I can tell you from personal experience that it works to prevent cavities. The amount found in regular toothpaste may not be enough to do much, but once you try a higher concentration like what is found in Gel Kam or a prescription toothpaste like Prevident, you should start to see and feel real results. Since using Gel Kam I have had only one small cavity (that was before I quit sugar). Prior to that, I had several large cavities as a teenager and a lot of tooth sensitivity.
*I’m still skeptical of essential oils as a general cure-all category, but many essential oils have real evidence backing them for specific uses, and I have plenty of anecdotal evidence from my own life.
**My conclusion based on the latest research I’ve seen is that fluoride is safe and effective as a topical treatment, but should probably not be ingested or added to drinking water. Some people seem to have an autoimmune sensitivity to fluoride and for them it should be avoided completely.
Morning Routine
My morning routine is much simpler. Basically, it’s just freshening things up with a 2 minute brushing and tongue scraping. Since I drink coffee in the morning (and don’t eat breakfast), I prefer to do this after my coffee to reduce staining, but there are arguments for either before or after.
When I was just getting started on this journey, I also flossed in the morning (and sometimes after lunch) just to give the gums some extra stimulation. If you’re not seeing progress, I suggest doing the same. You may also want to add a second application of essential oil using the interdental brushes (If you apply frankincense in the evening, you could apply tea tree in the morning or vice versa).
In Closing
Dental care is expensive. Prevention involves a little bit of effort and habit building up front, but it will save you tons of money, discomfort, and stress in the end.
One more thing….
Be your own advocate, because your own health will always matter more to you than anyone else, including medical professionals with the very best of intentions. AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude are incredible resources for the curious mind when it comes to health research and diagnosis. Use them, but challenge them to cite evidence, studies, and rationale for their suggestions. Good luck!
Product Recs
- Interdental Brushes - For applying essential oils. They come in different sizes depending on the gaps between your teeth. I like the CVS brand too.
- Frankincense Essential Oil
- Tea Tree Essential Oil
- “Real” Dental Floss
- Doterra On Guard Toothpaste - The toothpaste I’ve been using.
- Fluoride Gel - Extra cavity and sensitivity prevention
- Tongue Scraper
- Electric Toothbrush
- Soft Brush Heads
- Yonanas Machine
Categories: Simple Living
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