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Natural Dental Health

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Prevent Tooth DecayWe have all been indoctrinated from birth with the same message about oral health. Brush and floss religiously and avoid sugar and acids. Follow this recipe and you will have perfect teeth and if you do not end up with perfect teeth then you did not follow the recipe religiously enough.

A New Paradigm for Dental Health
Here is the problem. The recipe does not work. Virtually 100% of people in modern society have some form of tooth decay or gum disease. Tooth loss, dentures and bridges are considered a normal and inevitable part of growing up and aging. Is is possible that tooth decay and gum disease have a different cause than we always believed and therefore a different approach to treatment?

According to a growing group of natural health advocates, everything you have always been taught about dental health is wrong. They believe that your teeth and gums are an excellent reflection of your overall nutrition levels and overall state of health. Your teeth are not an island, simply reacting to sugar, brushing and fluoridated water.

Your teeth and gums are living body parts that respond to vitamins, minerals and fatty acids just as your skin, hair, muscles and organs do. Sugar harms your teeth by displacing vital nutrients rather than only having an exterior effect on your dental enamel as is commonly believed. True dental health comes from within your body and teeth via your nutrition levels and enamel hardness comes from the nutrients in your diet.

The majority of followers and researchers that subscribe to this line of thinking, are using the work of Dr. Weston Price as a starting point. Dr. Price made the observation that certain groups of people who lived primitive rather than modern lifestyles and never brushed or flossed, had perfectly healthy teeth with no gum disease or tooth decay. The common denominator he found in those with perfect teeth, was a primarily raw food diet high in quality fats, specific nutrients and the absence of processed foods.

“The world became his laboratory. As he traveled, his findings led him to the belief that dental caries and deformed dental arches resulting in crowded, crooked teeth and unattractive appearance were a sign of physical degeneration, resulting from what he had suspected —nutritional deficiencies.” Realmilk.com

While the primary cause of poor oral health is nutrient deficiencies, some other causes and risk factors for modern tooth decay and gum disease include stress, pacifier use, chewing aspirin, prescription drugs, sports drinks, low fat diets and other similar unnatural behaviors and dietary choices. Oral health is also caused by or a symptom of certain diseases and conditions, such as poor circulation, digestive ailments, allergies, diabetes and hypoglycemia.

Nutritional deficiencies have been proven to cause a number of dental problems. Periodontal disease for example, is linked to a zinc, iron, copper, potassium, magnesium or maganese deficiency. Sugar, alcohol and caffeine all make it impossible for your body’s nutrients to be in balance and therefore have no part in a regime for oral health.

Nutrition for Dental Health
Dr. Price discovered that all of the primitive societies he studied ate similar foods with a similar nutritional makeup. They received huge quantities of vitamins A and D from shellfish, fish eggs and the organ meats and butter from grass fed cows. It is interesting to note that these societies also used the exact same foods in very large quantities for optimal preconception, pregnancy and breastfeeding health. The same societies experienced tremendous increases in tooth decay and deformed dental arches when they adopted a “modern” diet.

Fats are crucial for oral health. If you want optimal health and oral health in particular, then you must eat lots of good, high quality fats such as cod liver oil, butter from grass fed cows and ghee. Skim milk will not work even if it is raw. Neither will low-fat butter even if it is organic. The best choice is organic, raw, full fat, non-homogenized, grass fed animal products such as dairy, cultured dairy and eggs if you can get them.

You cannot be afraid of animal products, animal protein or fat to subscribe to the research of Dr. Price. More than one non-sugar eating vegetarian with inexplicable cavities has switched sides much to their delight and continually improving dental health. Eating raw is very important for both overall health and dental health, but without high quality animal fats that contain A, D and K, your dental health will suffer tremendously. This should only be a problem for hard core vegans, because many vegetarians will still consume dairy and eggs.

One additive your body does not need however, is fluoridated water. Pharmaceutical grade fluoride does have some benefit in cavity protection when applied directly to the surface of the tooth (topically). Ingested fluoride does not provide any benefits to your teeth and is incredibly toxic to your body in a myriad of ways. The fluoride dripped in our water supply (without our consent) is a toxic, industrial waste product that has been scraped from the inside of smokestacks, that is too toxic to “dump” anywhere else so they drip it indiscriminately in our water supply and only those who can afford to buy filtered water can afford to “opt out” of this mandatory drugging. Have you ever wondered why “they” aren’t placing vitamins and minerals in our water supply if they care so much about our health?

Additional nutrients that natural dental health experts recommend are large doses of C0Q10 (300-500 mg daily) and Vitamin C. Other people take Vitamin E, calcium phosphates, monosodium phosphate, B complex (for stress), cranberries and fermented foods. Supplements are fine to take but the results will never match that of whole foods. You can spend time in the sun for your Vitamin D, but that will also not replicate the benefit of high quality animal fat. The company Standard Process makes products specifically designed on the principles of Dr. Price for dental health. You should also take colloidal minerals daily for both your overall health and your dental health.

Topical care for Dental health
Nutrition and dietary choices will keep your teeth healthy from the inside out, but what about keeping them clean on the outside? It is still important to keep your teeth clean even if you have an excellent diet. Avoid traditional toothpastes however. They are loaded with chemicals, sugar, additives and other no-nos. Stick with water, baking soda, salt or bar soap . Advocates of brushing with bar soap recommend Ivory, pure olive oil soap or any other bar soap from your health food store that does not contain sodium silicate or fragrance. Commercial toothpastes will leave a glycerin film on your teeth that will prevent remineralization, so even if you are eating the right minerals in your diet, they cannot help rebuild your teeth and using bar soap keeps your teeth really clean and film free.

Some other topical treatments people use for oral health are Tea tree, Neem, oil of oregano and Magnolia tree bark. You can also try increasing gum circulation with Bayberry root bark, Echinacea root, Peppermint oil or Cayenne pepper. Other dental care options include oil pulling and using a magnetic pulser.

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The information we present is not intended to replace a relationship with a qualified health care professional and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent disease. It is intended as a sharing of knowledge and information. You should not use this information to diagnose or treat any health problems,disease, or illness without consulting with your own physician or qualified medical professional.