Dear Blog-Readers: Dr. Ellie tries to answer all emails (ellie@zellies.com) and comments from the blog and give a personal response. We love to hear from everyone — but sometimes it does take some time to respond. That you for your patience! Below is a letter Dr. Ellie received and her responses, which are in bold within the text.
Dear Dr. Ellie,
Thanks so much for your advice. I’ve gotten my sister in college and my dad on it, so looking forward to seeing what happens!
I’ve been using the system for two weeks now and have some questions:
1) I’ve started putting xylitol in my water and drinking it. Sometimes the xylitol does not all dissolve and I just drink the crystals suspended in water – is this ok? Also, I tend to like “chugging” the xylitol water all in one go. Is this bad – am I supposed to be sipping it and moving the water around to maximize its exposure to my teeth?
2) When I wake up, I usually have a really bad taste in my mouth so I am used to brushing as the first thing. I am also usually hungry so I eat right after that.
As part of the system, I tried eating first and then brushing after but I just did not enjoy the breakfast because of the taste. If I instead do the system first, however, it seems there will be little benefit to the ACT because I will immediately eat thereafter. Is there a suggestion you have around this? Can I split it so that I do the Closys/Brushing before breakfast, and the listerine/ACT afterwards?
To get the benefits from the rinses you must go from one rinse to the other – never split up the system. The paste on your teeth protects them FROM the Listerine – etc… The sequence is very important for success. I believe this bad taste will get better when your mouth is in better health.
You may want to think about using a nasal spray with xylitol ( a Xlear product) before bed – especially if you have sinus issues or nasal blockage. Another suggestion to help balance a healthy mouth is to start taking Probiotics before bed at night. You would get these as a pill from a health food store. They help restore your immune system and this affects your oral health also.
3) Do you have a suggestion on how to clean mouthguard when I wake up in the morning – should I dab it in listerine? I was worried that it might leave an acidic residue which would be bad for my teeth. Any suggestions?
You need to ask your dentist the best way to clean this appliance – because it depends on the materials that were used to make it. If they suggest Listerine – you can always brush the residue off with a little toothpaste!
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