Dental Currents, December 2011

So you want to give the gift of health this Christmas, either to yourself or someone you care about. Maybe we can help!


It was only in the mid-19th century that Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis first recommended medical surgeons should wash their hands before performing surgery. (Can you imagine??) In the mid-20th century, dentists became much more concerned about oral hygiene. Brushing, flossing and visits with the dental hygienist took on a new emphasis and people started keeping their teeth longer. More and more, we are recognizing hygiene is important to our health. But how about the other surface of our body??


Think of our body as wrapped around a hollow tube known as the gut or our digestive system. This might be easier to visualize if you think of swallowing a cherry pit and a couple days later it comes out the other end of the tube, but it is never really in your body, it is merely surrounded by your body. Only that which is absorbed from the digestive system actually enters your body. The good news is that this includes nutrients and water. The bad news is that toxins in the digestive system can also be absorbed and you know how they can smell!


We clean our mouths to decrease the bacteria that produce toxins that decay our teeth and irritate our gums. We wash our hands and shower and bathe to clean the rest of our skin cells. So how about a ‘cleanse’ for the inside surface of our body, our digestive system. It seems so obvious, doesn’t it?


Earlier this year, we introduced Briana Southward as our nutritional consultant. Many of you have enjoyed her articles and recipes on “Green Smoothies” , “Waking up with Mr. Lemon“ and more. Briana has now developed and made available her “7 Day Cleanse Program” to clean that all important inside surface. It is available online and is presented in an entertaining and educational video format. Click to view her energetic invitation to join her in the kitchen. The program is set up for individual participation and, yes, you do carry on your daily life. Even better for some, doing it with a friend would provide you a partner with whom to share your successes. The only way you can fail is not to try it. What a New Year’s resolution – cleaning both the inside and outside of the only body you have!

Season’s Greetings and the best of health in the New Year.
Dr. Ken Southward -- practice limited to the first 2 inches of the digestive system :)


P.S. Dr. Semmelweis’s hand washing recommendations were not well received by other surgeons at the time. After he died of a bacterial infection at age 47, Dr. Louis Pasteur proved the germ theory and we have been washing our hands ever since.

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