on Teeth

Clue 1:

On an episode of the fantastic TV show "Diagnosis Unknown" a poor woman suffered from a mysterious syndrome that caused massive organ failure after years of strange illnesses and symptoms.  As a child she suffered from constant dry mouth and later had trouble producing tears.  All through her life she had terrible tooth decay despite keeping a strict oral hygiene regimen.  Finally, after losing all her teeth and a kidney, the doctors were able to determine she wasn't able to produce enough saliva and tears, which in turn caused all the troubles.  Truly.

Clue 2:

I have a relative and a friend who have never had a single cavity their entire lives.  Yet, they just brush once a day and rarely floss.  Still, when they go to the dentist they neither have decayed enamel nor tarter build up.  How is this possible?

Clue 3:

Between the ages of 18 and 24 I suffered from calcium build up inside one or both of my saliva glands beneath my tongue.  The toothpaste commercials claim that Fluoride builds tooth enamel, but actually it kind of softens it; makes the molecular bond open up to receive calcium.  Saliva breaks down organic matter, as well as carries calcium and helps to deposit it onto the tooth enamel.  This symbiotic relationship keeps teeth free of debris where bacteria (plaque) would grow and keeps the tooth enamel strong.  I don't suffer from dry mouth, so I evidently produce enough saliva.

Clue 4:

I have always had a very strict routine when it comes to my teeth.  My mother and father both had constant tooth troubles and bone loss.  I typically brush twice daily; use mouthwash twice daily; and floss at least once daily.  When I brush, I use toothpaste once around, rinse, then use a dry tooth brush to cover the same areas.  It takes a little bit of time, but I know my mouth is extremely clean afterwards.  I have also used a fluoride rinse for years.

Clue 5:

Every time I go to the dentist I hear the same thing: "You have a lot of tartar build up. You need to floss.  You have a cavity".  EVERY TIME.

Hypothesis:

Despite a very strict brushing routine, I believe my saliva lacks the proper PH to kill bacteria.  It's not that I don't have enough saliva, it's that my saliva is pretty much water.  I did some reading about PH balance and my suspicions are somewhat confirmed about the importance of PH and saliva.  However, PH balance has become a kind of pseudoscience where groups of "practitioners" have made statements that blame nearly every disease and syndrome on an unbalanced PH.  It is true that cancer patients, near the very end of their lives, have really wacky PH levels.  Based on this fact, the PH believers claim that knowing your PH balance will not only predict cancer, but putting the PH back into balance can even cure the disease.

All the pseudoscience aside, I think I'm really on to something.  There has to be a reason why so many people have perfect teeth without much maintenance and yet I put my mouth through militaristic exercises and still end up having the dentist shake his head and tell me to floss more.