A Gum Surgeon’s Worst $2.65 Nightmare—White Oak Bark Powder

I saw a husband and wife in for their occasional recheck this last February. The husband had suffered from a case of severe periodontitis (sick, bleeding, infected gums that had come away from the teeth) with pyorrhea (pus coming out of the gum). His dentist wanted $1600 to do gum surgery on him to cut the pockets away from the teeth. Ouch! Painful in more ways than one!

I had sent him home two months previous with $2.65 worth of White Oak Bark Powder. I asked Bruce how his gingivitis was coming along…

“Take a look.” He offered. Looking into his mouth I saw pink healthy tissue and the gums had re-adhered to the teeth. Not even a sign of gingivitis. Perfect. “I can’t believe it! And I thank you SO much for saving me all that money!”

He was very pleased and I was not at all surprised. I have seen this product work its magic many times over in the years of my practice.

So, how do you use White Oak Bark, and where do you get some?

As I tell my clients, "You know those TV commercials advertising Copenhagen chew? Just a little between the teeth and gums."

Apply the dry powder to the infected areas; rinse your tongue off of all the extra powder, then sleep with it on your gum line. I have one of those hand-held sprayers used to rinse the dishes that most people have at the kitchen sink. I just put my head over the sink, stick out my tongue and hose it off. The next morning, spit and rinse. Repeat nightly for 30 days. It doesn't taste that bad, and works GREAT.

Also, increase the amount of Vitamin C in your diet for a couple of months. If you have any kind of stomach problems, your best choice is Ester C. Don’t get the cheap stuff with Ascorbic Acid in it. That is a man-made vitamin C that is only one of the four molecules of vitamin C and your body doesn’t assimilate it very well. All health food stores carry Ester-C product, but you may have to have them special order the White Oak Bark Powder. I sell it in bulk form, but you can also find it in capsule form—I’ve seen it in Nature’s Way brand. It’s a bit of a hassle disassembling the capsules to get enough powder, but you can do it that way.

White Oak Bark tincture won’t work because you’ll swallow it giving you nice, tight intestines instead of gums, although I suppose you could use it as an herbal mouthwash for prevention of gingivitis. I get mine in bulk through Starwest Botanicals out of California. The postage is more than the treatment costs. If you can't find a source, email me and I'll send you some. Amazing stuff.

How does it work? White Oak Bark is astringent and has lots of calcium in it. It sucks the infection right out of the gum line and removes the pockets where food can get trapped making the problem worse. The calcium in it strengthens the periodontal fibers and helps the gums stick back onto the teeth.

Questions fielded from my inbox on this product:

Question: How long does it take to see results? Answer: About a month, usually no longer than that.

Question: If I swallow some accidentally, will it hurt me? Answer: No. It is considered an astringent herb. It may help to tone up your guts over a long period of time, but other than that you should be very safe.

Question: Will it stain my teeth? Answer: It doesn't seem to, but I haven't had any clients use it more than a month (that's all they needed it for.)

© 2006 by Dr. Denice M. Moffat