The Blotting Technique was developed during the 1960’s by Dr. Joseph Phillips and remains as effective today as it was back then. The only difference is that thanks to the internet, more people around the world are able to benefit from it.
It is abundantly clear that Dr. Phillips was a man ahead of his time. Not happy with his patients returning again and again with poor gum conditions, he set about devising a method whereby he could help prevent their gums from deteriorating between appointments.
By chance he saw, during a film on African culture, members of the Masai tribe fray the end of a twig they picked from bushes in the wild, and used to clean their teeth. Rather than dismiss this as a primitive tribal habit, it set him thinking as to how he could harness this approach in his practice.
Upon further investigation he discovered this ‘twig’ to be from the Salvadora Persica (Mustard tree) and arranged for some to be sent to him. Using the same principle of the frayed end, Dr. Phillips developed the Blotting Brush using a frayed nylon bristle. His patients were then able to use the Blotting Brush between appointments and right away he noticed a reversal of their conditions. He then set about perfecting his Blotting Technique so that Blotting Brush users would get the best out of this method..
Dr. Joseph Phillips was a periodontist (a gum specialist) who taught each patient that gum disease, subsequent surgery and tooth loss were wholly unnecessary if the mouth was cared for properly. Dr. Phillips’ extensive research was destroyed in a fire after his death. Therefore without access to his valuable papers and records, this book can only be treated as anecdotal.
Even after retiring from active practice, he lectured tirelessly in the USA and internationally to promote ‘teeth for a lifetime’. His Blotting Technique goes beyond the traditional brushing and flossing routine to give you ‘a new standard of clean’ that promotes the health of your teeth and gums. It’s simple and inexpensive making this simple technique understandable and affordable for everyone.
The key to total oral health ‘for a lifetime’
Dr. Phillips described his Blotting Technique as “a method of mouth care that actually removes plaque”. Where conventional brushing with toothpaste can move plaque around the mouth and even into the gumline causing gum disease, Dr. Phillips’ Blotting Technique is a simple technique that removes it from the mouth.
The technique itself is based on capillary action: the same principle at work when a sponge soaks up liquid or when excess paint on a canvas is drawn up into the bristles of a brush. Capillary action is what lifts and holds plaque in the brush so it can be removed.
No matter how well you clean your teeth using conventional brushing, your mouth remains 90% dirty.
Some people:
– Get out of bed in the morning and spend about 45 seconds vigorously brushing their teeth.
– Only brush their teeth – few people ever brush their tongue,cheeks and gums.
– As teeth occupy only 10% of the surface of the mouth, what happens to that remaining 90%? And what would your body be like if you only washed the same 10% of it every day?
When Dr. Elmar Jung and I first met in 2007, I handed him a copy of Dr Phillips book ‘Acquiring and Maintaining Oral Health’ suggesting that he read it and let me know which sections would need to be revised in the light of modern techniques. Dr. Jung returned the book to me about a week later and said that at most he would change very little. He was amazed that such valuable information was made available so many years ago yet remained largely unacknowledged.
Conversations with Dr. Phillips
Over several telephone conversations with Dr. Phillips in Wisconsin between 2001 and 2002, he took the time to explain the reality of dentistry to me and helped me understand the mechanics and benefits of his Blotting Technique.
After his death in 2003, Dr. Phillips’ work was almost completely lost. Although holistic dentists across the USA pleaded with his family to maintain his important legacy and continue to make the Blotting Brushes available, the energetic driving force had gone. Because of the difference these brushes have made to our oral health, my wife Phylipa and I didn’t want to be without them either. I spoke with Dr. Phillips’ daughter Paula and she was delighted to let me promote the brushes as her father had done before.
Blotting Brushes: Weapons of Plaque Destruction