Most Americans have been raised on a daily oral regimen of squeezing a fluoride-based paste out of a tube, brushing with an abrasive tooth powder or rinsing with an alcohol-based mouthwash to kill germs—not the best or healthiest way to protect the teeth and gums, says Dr. Lewis Gross, director of Holistic Dentists in Tribeca. “These delivery systems for an oral wellness product are outmoded, lack portability and ignore the best preventive medicine, which is an alkaline diet and staying hydrated,” he says.

He notes that sodium lauryl sulfate and triclorsan, foaming agents in toothpaste, are possibly toxic, and alcohol dries the mouth, kills many “good” bacteria and has been linked to oral cancer.

While fluoride helps prevent tooth decay in children, it does not benefit adults, he adds. “Public drinking water is also fluoridated, so we are exposed to too high a level of this chemical. The EPA recently downgraded the suggested fluoride level because of complaints of fluoridosis.”

Gross recommends maintaining oral health by eating an alkaline diet high in fruits and vegetables, drinking more alkaline water and rinsing daily with Alka-White all-natural mouthwash, available as a portable effervescent tablet. He designed Alka-White to whiten teeth and buffer salivary acids and acidic erosion from certain foods.

For more information about holistic dentistry or Alka-White, visit Holistic-Dentists.com.