permaculture

[Alia Tsang <alia@dietrick.org>]

Everything in moderation. If you're using licorice topically to clean your
teeth or as a mouthwash, I doubt the amount you'll swallow will be enough
to do any harm.

Licorice is used in a lot of herbal formulas because it's considered to be
an adaptogen, a plant that's nourishing to the adrenals and other organs.
Someone on an herb listserv I'm on says that a lot of the studies that show
the dangerous affects of licorice are using high levels of licorice extract
in capsules, rather than the lower levels you'll get from a tea (especially
if the tea is a blend that only has a little licorice).

Regarding dosage, this review study (
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2729489/?tool=pubmed) says:
Liquorice is marketed in various forms, and because its often sold as the
natural grown product, concentrations in the plant varies. Solid extract
250–500 mg, three times daily, is suggested for medicinal purposes. *Dried
root is dispensed at 1–4 g*, three times daily to a maximum of 12 g. At 75
mg daily glycyrrhetenic acid (derived from *50 G/day* liquorice), a raising
effect on blood pressure is noted after 2 weeks. More than this, daily dose
increases blood pressure proportional to increased liquorice intake.

Personally, I don't use licorice in tea often because it makes me kind of
sleepy.

And speaking of oregano, a friend told me that oregano oil is even more
effective than clove oil for toothaches. I don't know about the affects on
gut flora, though, maybe it'd be good to dilute it so that if you do
swallow some it's an even lower amount. Have you tried just using it once a
week or less frequently to see if you can get the same effects from using
it less often? I also hear that propolis has a nice numbing effect on tooth
pain. Not sure how it rates compared to cloves, though.

Keeping your mouth alkaline (like by brushing/rinsing with baking soda) is
supposed to help your teeth remineralize. Also, you have natural tooth
decay fighting and remineralizing stuff in your saliva so avoid letting
your mouth dry out.

Anyone here use home made tooth powders?

Alia