My misgivings:

• Some of the products she uses have toxic ingredients.
• How can she KNOW with absolute certainty it's ALL the products that are helping? She is extremely confident about it, but that's a bit of a red flag for me. It could just be the xylitol doing the heavy lifting and the rest either not doing much or maybe even being a negative. Whilst I don't worship at the altar of Science, has she ever done any kind of study?
• She's not a fan of sugar. I believe she is wrong about this, which makes me then go: well maybe she's wrong about other things
• She doesn't mention the fact that oral health is connected deeply with overall health. Endotoxin. Thyroid health. Vitamin d/k levels. She treats the mouth like it's an entirely separate entity from the rest of the body. Ray didn't believe this at all.
• she's obviously pro-fluoride. Lots of people aren't. Ray said it's toxic but can possibly help the gums, but should be kept away from the teeth. It's confusing because there are people who say their oral health improved when they ditched fluoride and others who say the exact opposite.
• she says one of THE most important things is mouth resting. I don't disagree with this, but she says you absolutely must not have any water after cleaning your teeth at night or after doing a xylitol rinse during the day, not even a sip, or you will "destroy the healing benefits". She says if you're thirsty, pop one of her Zellie mints. I think this is kind of mad. Overkill. If you're genuinely thirsty, it's important to drink!

I've been doing daily xylitol rinses for the past 3 years (pure xylitol sugar that I spit out after a few minutes). It has reduced plaque to basically zero, without dental cleaning. No idea if it's doing anything more than that, but it does feel like a net positive for me. I'm wondering whether to try Dr Ellie's protocol or whether it's overkill or unnecessary. My teeth fell apart 6 years ago after a very stressful few years and poor health. I've had several fillings since then and my teeth became weak, so I'm eager to do all I can to at least slow the rot. I've been taking vitamin d/k and thyroid, and upped my vitamin C.

Dr Ellie is not a fan of coconut oil pulling. Yet I know lots of people are. Ray said coconut oil can help with dental issues. She's also not a fan of baking soda. Ray recommended it after acidic or sugary drinks. My instinct tells me he would not have been a fan of mouthwash.

I'm wondering if I should just keep going with the xylitol, coconut oil, and working on overall health, as well as trying out a nasal strip at night to encourage more nose breathing. Or whether it's worth trying out Dr Ellie's full protocol.

One thing I agree with her over: people over-floss. You have to be gentle, not rough. Because if you cut the gums, bacteria can get into the blood stream. And if you have gum disease or weakened gums, you need to be extra gentle. This is obviously at odds with what dentists believe. They say poor gums are from not cleaning your mouth enough, and that a vigorous professional cleaning is the solution. They also obviously completely reject (usually) any suggestion that oral health is connected to overall health, vitamin levels etc.

It's a confusing terrain. Has anyone tried Dr Ellie's full protocol?