Dear Dr. Ellie:
How long should I use Zellies? Years or months or forever?
JJ
Dear JJ,
This is a good question and it depends on something called “risk factors”
If you have perfect teeth and a non-acidic mouth you need six months to rid your mouth of harmful bacteria. Now ( providing you don’t kiss someone with bad teeth or put your toothbrush next to someone with dental disease) you will be all set.
Remember that cleanings at the dentist can leave your teeth exposed of “healthy biofilm” and this is when it is easy to become infected with dental disease bacteria again.
Once you are sure you have no more disease in your mouth Zellies are simply protection for your teeth. If you drink diet soda (very acidic) or suck a lemon or orange for example, you can use Zellies to take away the acidity and protect your teeth.
So …I guess if you never eat anything acidic and you don’t have any more dental disease in your mouth you could stop the Zellies!…….but why??!!( Just kidding)
Truly, the truth is that you need to evaluate your risk for dental disease. Risk is really how dry your mouth is and/or how acidic it is. Mouth acidity and dryness can change with sickness, stress, where you live, the seasons etc. [A great example was seen when troops were fighting in Iraq dry desert conditions and under stress they eat xylitol to protect their teeth!]
Even if you know you have an alkaline mouth today, I would keep some litmus paper handy and check again from time to time just to make sure your mouth does not become acidic. If you have no acidity and no risk for dental disease then you should be all set! However, most people like to have Zellies, or xylitol in another form, handy for after meals and drinks.
Good luck and please let me know if you have other questions!
Thanks for the message,
Ellie Phillips, DDS
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