Why don't dentists push vitamin C

Something my wife discovered completely by accident. We regularly buy vitamin C (ascorbic acid) tablets at home. these are 1000 mg of ascorbic acid. You place the tablet in half a glass of water and let it dissolve. Then you drink it.

However, if you have any type of ulcer, sore, irritation or pain inside your mouth, on your tongue or on a lip, take maybe 1/8 of a tablet, apply it directly where it hurts (or you have a sore, or whatever). Use your tongue, if possible, to keep it there and let it dissolve.

Your ulcer, etc, will usually be gone by the end of the day! For pain, the benefit is immediate. My wife discovered this by accident. She, her daughter and myself, use these tablets anytime we have a sore, etc in our mouths. I've recently discovered it also works wonder for pain related to a cavity.

Now my question is this: Why don't dentists recommend it? If my wife discovered this by accident, then certainly research has been done on the subject. I'm betting it simply doesn't pay to promote over-the-counter vitamins...

interesting, I need to try this... Even if my teeth are totally rotten, it'd still be a nice remedy for canker sores.

your reasoning seems pretty plausible... I would expect them to make something overpriced that's essentially just vitamin C or other natural remedies, though... I guess they realize they can't really make money on prescriptions for things you can buy in the grocery store, though. (You may not know what's in the prescriptions, but many people seem to know the natural cures already is what I mean)

Also, I did a quick search because I couldn't remember how to spell "canker" (haha)
Apparently it's true about vitamin C: familydoctor.org... (mentions people using vitamin C among other things)

EDIT: typo.

[edit on 1-6-2008 by the raytownian]

Thanks for the link. Dentists (not all dentists) are in to making money. I have bad teeth that are almost to the point of falling out by themselves and the majority of dentists I've seen want to me to spend thousands to try and make them last an extra year or two. One even proposed to butcher my gums through a procedure I already had many years ago on one side of my mouth, with the result that I've no teeth left on that side.

Anyway, just thought I'd share this discovery with everyone. Before calling the dentist, give this a try; it's cheap and it's only vitamin C; no way it can harm you.

Wouldn't the ascorbic acid (which is vitamin C) contribute to tooth decay by softening the enamel of your teeth?
I have heard that one is recommended to not brush ones teeth for 1 half our of eating an orange or other citrus fruit, or wait maybe that's citric acid?

Hmmm, anyway it is an acid.

Enamel-eroding acids can be found in some medications and nutritional supplements, including aspirin and vitamin C. Dental erosion can also be caused when stomach acids are introduced into the mouth by acid reflux or vomiting.

From: www.arcamax.com...

In a case report published in the Journal of the American Dental Association last fall, Dr. Giunta reports that the use of chewable vitamin C is shown to cause the pH of saliva to drop to a level at which tooth enamel can lose calcium by the formation of calcium citrate complexes. Dr. Giunta notes in the report that while distributors are claiming that vitamin C tablets are "delicious, fruit-flavored, and chewable," they are not including a warning that chewing vitamin C tablets may be detrimental to the teeth.

They are delicious!

From:findarticles.com...

I would assume all acids are bad for your teeth, so don't put C on your teeth for toothaches, you may be making it worse.

[edit on 1-6-2008 by Toadmund]

[edit on 1-6-2008 by Toadmund]

Originally posted by Toadmund

In a case report published in the Journal of the American Dental Association last fall, Dr. Giunta reports that the use of chewable vitamin C is shown to cause the pH of saliva to drop to a level at which tooth enamel can lose calcium by the formation of calcium citrate complexes. Dr. Giunta notes in the report that while distributors are claiming that vitamin C tablets are "delicious, fruit-flavored, and chewable," they are not including a warning that chewing vitamin C tablets may be detrimental to the teeth.

citric acid is often added to pills for reasons i can't really follow. sodium ascorbate is certainly neutral, pH wise and ascorbic acid alone is much less erosive than citirc acid. i wouldn't recommend undiluted use, though.

ascorbic acid can be obtained bulk (pure) if you happen to find a local supplier. hint: it is used as an additive and commercial users buy their stuff in pound quantities. buy a cheap digital scale if you don't have one (if you have a powder scale, use that) and your supply will last forever unless you bathe in it, of course. using very high doses (grams range) will create a slight dependency and result in 'onset scurvy' once you stop. i can confirm that, because i tried to treat a case of cold once and had to taper off, slowly over a week to avoid gum bleeding and such.

2lbs cost around $25 iirc.

Vitamin C is shunned by physicians, because of historical reasons, more on that can be found f-ex here.

PS: Linus Pauling had two nobel prizes, but once he promoted ascorbate in 'mega' doses it didn't matter much anymore.

[edit on 2.6.2008 by Long Lance]

also taking 4 grams of C a day greatly reduces bleeding gums and such. I imagine the dentists dont bother talking about C because they are too busy peddling mercury and other fun substances

Originally posted by Long Lance


Vitamin C is shunned by physicians, because of historical reasons, more on that can be found f-ex here.

Thanks, that's an interesting link!

And pexx421; I absolutely agree! I have bleeding gums, always have had bad gums. Vitamin C does help, but no dentist ever recommended it. They blame it on the fact that I'm a smoker and should use more fluoride (there's none in the water here). I don't believe in fluoride and I know smoking is not good for me, but I wish somebody started being original and stopped blaming smoking for everything that's bad in the world.

I didn't think my original post would bring me this much information; thanks guys!

flouride is the biggest scam too. Its never been shown that people using flouride do any better than people without it, and in fact flouride is massively toxic and damages the thyroid as well. Stay away is my advice. Most flouride in america comes from industrial waste from fertilizer plants. Its prohibitively expensive for them to dispose of properly so they had scientists fake up some studies to show it helped teeth so they could sell it to our municipal water facilities and to toothpaste companies etc.

Originally posted by ajmusicmedia


Thanks, that's an interesting link!

np.

if your gums are bleeding, fluoride won't do squat (or hurt if overdosed and noone really knows where the threshold is) all it's supposed to do is harden enamel.


i have no idea how you clean your teeth, so i apologize in advance if you already heard it ad nauseum, but: all i can say is that you need to focus on the gumline. the flat parts of teeth are quickly cleaned, the gumline otoh requires diligent work, which is tedious if done by hand.

interdental showers (water pic..) and dental floss help a lot too but require a few more minutes for cleaning.

reply to post by pexx421



I've read this article with some interest, as a dentist, but do feel compelled to reply to the statement by Pexx!

Assuming he/she does believe in tooth decay (or that the profession isn't making up cavities) what exactly does he propose as a restorative material?

Dental amalgams are probably the least lucrative material for a dentist to place, despite being safe, durable and with a good track record. The amalgam scare has led us to start using composites, which are nice and white but more expensive and less durable. They are also quite a lot more lucrative to place and I am waiting with bated breath for the 'Bisphenol A' is a health risk to kick off on this forum!

So assuming you are avoiding amalgams (mercury) and composite (bisphenol A derivatives), what's does that leave you with? Extractions or Cast Gold or Porcelain (both of which are pretty pricey if you're looking at keeping things).

To conclude, I think that you're approaching the 'dentists are mercury peddlars' from the wrong angle - it's a cheap and cheerful option that is being phased out due to consumer demand for 'white fillings' and the fact that dentists can make more money placing said 'white fillings'. They still have a place however and I would be more worried about a dental surgery that calls itself 'mercury-free' that one that recognizes amalgams still have a place in restorative dentistry.

(sorry to go off topic btw, the stuff on canker sores is quite interesting!)

And, in response to the initial post, wrt canker sores, whilst I was not taught to treat with Vitamin C it *is* interesting to note that respected oral medicine specialists are linking recurrent apthae to (amongst other things, food sensitivity not being the least of them), nutritional deficiency, including B12, and Vit. C. I certainly mention it as a possible cause when I see a patient.

In a dental school (at least the one I went to), rather than general practice you do take bloods on severe recurrent cases to see if they are low on anything. In general practice, a one-off case would generally be treated with a topical steroid which seems to work quite effectively. I don't know how it works in the rest of the world, but in North America I certainly don't get paid for writing prescriptions, so I could care less if I write for Vitamin C or hydrocortisone - there's no financial issue there to 'push' one over the other.

Anyway - here's the abstract link:

linkinghub.elsevier.com...