As the article below points out, those with healthy gums shouldn't have to worry 
too much about pathogenic bacteria from the mouth spreading to the rest of the body.  
But this begs the question, Do we have healthy gums?  Again the article points 
out that roughly 50% of us have gingivitis.  

Why?

One reason is that most of us use commercial tooth pastes.  Yes, corporations 
and organized medicine (ie the American Dental Association) have been conspiring 
for years to undermine our health and ensure a steady flow of patients.  

How?  

Read the label on your toothpaste  Is it recommended by the ADA?  Does it
contain sodium laurel sulfate?  Many of my friends use Tom's of Maine toothpaste 
because they believe it is more natural.  When I point out this dangerous ingredient 
on the label they shrug and say it must be OK or the ADA and the FDA wouldn't 
allow it.  Yeah, right.  And I won't even begin to bring of the dangers of 
flouride....or mercury amalgams.

I just learned about sodium laurel sulfate and began brushing my teeth
with just Microhydrin or Thieves (essential oil). Now I use the new 
toothpaste which includes Thieves: Dentarome 

Why?  
Because I learned that it is well known in Europe that sodium laurel sulfate 
causes softening of the gums and leads to gingivitis.  Go read your 
toothpaste tube RIGHT NOW...what does it contain? I heard, but can't verify, 
that this chemical has been legally banned for use in toothpaste in Europe.  

How come we are often among the last citizens in the world to hear about these things?

The article below, explains how this happens.  
It is technical but well worth understanding.

There is one other thing in John's article worthy of a note.  The article
explains how saliva washes dangerous bacteria into the stomach where it is
digested.  This is one of the body's main defenses.  In the same way, 
mucus from the nasal tract that has trapped harmful organisms and irritating
pollens that we breath in also goes down the back of the throat into the
stomach to be digested.  But think about this.  What if the stomach and
pancreas aren't producing enough acid and peptidase to digest these bugs?
For a variety of reasons this is often the case in adults over 40.  


 SODIUM LAURYL SULFATE (SLS) & AMMONIUM LAURYL SULFATE COMPARISON

SLS and ALS are both detergent surfactants; in that they both clean 
and remove soils (thus have detergency). They also break the surface tension 
of water or other liquids; allowing the solution to penetrate into soils, 
fabrics, skin, hair etc. (called surfactancy)

The penetrated solution then breaks down the bonds holding the soil and 
releasing it for rinsing away. Depending on the chemistry of the surfactant, 
it can break down specific or non-specific soil types. They may rinse free 
to one degree or another resulting in either a clean or filmed surface, 
after rinsing. 

This of course is what causes matted or full hair, as an example. It can 
also penetrate or not penetrate into what every it comes into contact with; 
depending on the type of material and the surfactants size (molecular weight) 
or molecular skeletal structure. They can also be irritating or mild due to 
their independent composition. Depending on the types or atoms or molecules 
used to make up the surfactant; determines these factors.
 
Sometimes very dangerous atoms or molecules can be combined to either form 
from a very safe to a very dangerous compound. It all depends on the way the 
atoms interact to either neutralize their aggressiveness or magnify it. 

Let's analyze table salt as an example.
Its chemical structure is of two atoms combined together, Sodium (Na) and 
Chlorine (Cl) Individually, they are extremely dangerous, even deadly. But 
when combined together, they become sodium chloride (NaCl) or salt. 
This combination takes two deadly atoms and makes an extremely safe compound 
and is one of the most vital ingredients for life. It is necessary for 
every cell in our body.
 
Now lets talk about the chemistry of SLS and ALS. Both use coconut oil 
as the back bone of the molecule In the case of SLS, the coconut oil is reacted 
with one atom, Sodium (Na) and one molecule Sulfate (So) (i.e.: one molecule of 
sulfur and 4 molecules of oxygen makes sulfate) in a complicated reaction process.
 
The resulting molecule SLS then has properties according to the size and skeletal
structure of the combining atoms and molecules. In the case of SLS, it has a small 
molecular weight that will allow it to penetrate through the skin even into the 
blood stream and thus will be carried and enter into every organ in the body, heart, 
brain, liver, eyes etc. SLS has aggressive properties due to many unstable (unpaired) 
electrons. This causes SLS to react aggressively with many compounds it comes in 
contact with. With soils its corrosive action breaks down greases, proteins and 
many other contaminates.

SLS is used world wide as the standard irritant for biological research on the 
skin and other bodily systems. On a scale of 0 to 10 for surfactant irritation, 
SLS is rated as a 10. Water would be rated 0. ALS would be at a 4 rating.
 
SLS denatures proteins, which causes skin and *eye damage. It also can react 
with nitrogen bearing molecules to form carcinogenic nitrates. If SLS is combined 
with a long chain alcohol molecule (called ethoxylation) to create higher foam 
levels; it becomes known as SLES (Sodium Lauryl Ether Sulfate or Sodium Laureth
Sulfate) SLES can reacts with ingredients to form both carcinogenic nitrates and 
the even more potentially dangerous carcinogenic dioxin. Tests in Germany have 
shown that SLES can cause hair loss.
 
ALS on the other hand is much milder than SLS. It is made of the lauryl coconut 
soap ester and the sulfate; the same as in SLS. However the irritating sodium atom 
is not present and instead an ammonium (not ammonia) molecule (not an atom) made 
up of one  nitrogen and four hydrogen atoms (NH) . This ammonium end of the molecular 
compound is spread out covering so much of an area that it restricts skin penetration. 

Essentially ALS is too large of a molecular weight (size) to penetrate the skin 
and blood system. The ammonium bonding is safe with few unstable electrons to cause
 damage to tissues. ALS cannot react with nitrogen bearing or other compounds to 
produce either carcinogenic nitrates or dioxins unlike SLS or SLES.
 
As far as propelyne glycol is concerned: 
Arco Chemical Company
3801 West Chester Pike
Newton Square, PA. 19073.

Section V, page 2 -- Health Hazard Data, reads that through chronic over exposure 
it has apparently been found to cause the following effects in laboratory animals: 
liver abnormalities and kidney damage. The routes of entry are through inhalation 
and skin contact!

Propylene glycol is used as anti-freeze and for de-icing airplanes, but confirmed 
that over-exposure through SKIN CONTACT did cause liver abnormalities and kidney 
damage in laboratory animals. Propylene glycol is used as a skin conditioning agent, 
solvent, and viscosity decreasing agent or humectant.
 
 

```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

Reference:

Final Report on the Safety Assessment of Sodium Lauryl

Sulfate Journal of the American College of Toxicology,

Volume 2, Number 7, 1983



"Detergent Penetration into Young and Adult eyes", 

by K. Green, Ph.D., D.Sc.

courtesy of Research to Prevent Blindness, Inc.



Sodium lauryl sulfate and recurrent aphthous ulcers

A preliminary study  Bente Brokstad Herlofson and Pal Barkvoll 

Department of Oral Surgery and Oral Medicine. 

Dental Faculty, University of Oslo



Researchers from America's Harvard University 

have warned that women should be discouraged

from using talc as part of their daily genital hygiene. 

The researchers said that talc was not a major cause of 

ovarian cancer but was believed to account for about 10 

percent of cases.
 
The Sun-Herald, February 14, 1993