By Curtis Aiken.

About 7 months ago I was standing in the dentist’s surgery in utter disbelief, staring at a computer screen displaying my x-rays. 4 cavities. 4 CAVITIES?! I was so angry at myself. I hadn’t been very diligent with cleaning my teeth before bed every night for about the last 6 months and this was my wake up call. 6 months earlier at my previous check-up no cavities were spotted visually so an x-ray was not taken. This time 1 cavity in particular was so large the dentist scared me into having an x-ray. That’s a lie, she gave me the facts and I got scared all by myself. I allowed her to go ahead, despite my disapproval of radiation, especially when it is centimetres from my brain.

In many ways I am glad I did go ahead with the x-ray though, it changed my life. My dentist told me with utmost conviction that I cannot heal my teeth cavities; they must be drilled and filled. I disagreed but I didn’t know how I could heal them on my own, I just knew it could be done. Staring at the x-rays on the screen made me realise how fundamentally flawed my lifestyle must be despite my efforts so I launched myself headfirst into research for how to heal teeth.

I found a book before long (within an hour of leaving the dentist’s torture room) that seemed to be the key. It didn’t talk about dentists, drilling or filling, however it did talk about the consumption of fats. Animal fats. Being a devout vegan at the time, I read the book with hope that at some point it would tell me that rather than sucking on the liver of a cute little lamb I could eat cavity curing foods that didn’t have parents. To my disappointment it said “if you are a vegan your teeth are screwed” or something to that effect.

As the weeks went by, my initial shock of finding the cavities subsided so I put the book down as it was getting me nowhere really. I would rather be toothless and cuddle animals than have pearly whites and regret every mouthful of the food I ate for the rest of my life. I resumed brushing and flossing on a regular basis and just hoped everything would be ok. One key change I did make to my diet though, was I incorporated the consumption of raw organic milk and raw organic eggs. Yep, raw eggs – I actually really like them. This seemed to be one way I could consume fat soluble vitamins without eating animals and I knew that the particular animals that had graciously provided these products for me were loved and cared for. From a health point of view and an animal lover’s point of view, these were good foods to be eating.

Fast forward 6 months: I had been taking very good care of my teeth, including flossing one particular ‘trouble’ tooth after every meal and snack. The cavity was so big, not only could it be seen from the moon (kidding) but I lost clusters of chia seeds into it as well as other foods large enough that when they popped out during a flossing session I could chew them before swallowing them (not kidding). I referred to this process as ‘chewing my cud’ because it was as though the cavity was as big as a second stomach holding food for later. As a result of our commonalities, cows and I have a mutual respect for each other now.

So now it is 6 months after the first shocking dentist visit and I had found a new holistic dentist to look after me, one who had a reputation of using more natural approaches and had a mutual disapproval of the highly toxic fluoride people have been brainwashed to believe is actually good for them. Like my previous dentist he too suggested I get an x-ray but I accepted it willingly this time because I wanted to see if I had made any progress with repairing my tooth naturally. The news wasn’t fantastic; the cavity was still there but I was informed I had about another 6 months before I would begin feeling some serious pain from the cavity burrowing through the dentin to the nerve. That was good enough for me, I had previously had 2 wisdom teeth pulled and I wasn’t about to go through another dental surgery so I had determination, motivation, purpose and most of all, time.

All this has lead me to right now as I share with you some utterly fantastic news. A) your poor teeth health is 100% your fault but it is not your fault in that B) you have been misled by your dentist (probably) but don’t blame your dentist because C) they only know what they were taught at school and legally they are not allowed to tell you some things, such as that mercury is one of the most dangerous substances on the face of this earth for humans, and nothing changes when it is buried into your teeth to fill a cavity which never should have been there in the first place. So with this in mind, most dentists can’t tell you the truth if they know it, or it may cost them their job.

So don’t blame your dentist, don’t even blame the system or yourself, just take control. I will make this as clear and simple as possible so rather than bogging you down with all the details behind each helpful hint, if you want to know more then I suggest further researching any points that interest you.

What causes cavities?

There are millions of bacteria in your mouth but 2 strains in particular have been identified as being responsible for cavities. These bacteria are called Lactobacillus Casei and Streptococcus Mutans. What these nasty little critters do is hang out on the enamel of your teeth in small clusters we call plaque, that furry or crusty yellow stuff that develops when you haven’t cleaned your teeth properly or at all for about 24 hours. When you eat sugary foods, so do they. They eat your food, damage your teeth and don’t pay rent or put money in for the food they consume (they remind me of a past flatmate of mine). Then when you poop out the sugar, so do they – in your tooth. It is not actually sugar that damages your teeth as we are commonly told but rather the bacteria that eats the sugar and poops an acidic by product into and under the enamel in the dentin layer which is the soft inner part of the tooth.

Under a microscope your teeth are made up of a web of fibres. Imagine collecting a bunch cobwebs (spiders removed) and squeezing them into a ball in your hand (this is why you removed the spiders). Imagine the ball of cobwebs were soaked in water then frozen so now you have the same webbed structure but it is brittle rather than soft and flexible. This is not exactly what your teeth look like under a microscope but I want you to visualise this to understand just how much space there is in a tooth versus solid matter and how much irreversible damage a comparatively large vibrating drill will do to the delicate fibres making up your tooth. When your dentist drills and fills your cavities not only can they crack these fibres and weaken your tooth but it is like patching a rust hole in your car’s panel and leaving the rust everywhere else to slowly but surely bring your car to its knees, or hubs. To resolve the problem we need to remove the acid pooping bacteria from your mouth.

How do we kill off the acid pooping Lactobacillus Casei and Streptococcus Mutans?

First of all, stop feeding them! Foods they love just so happen to be foods that wreak your body too, so it is beneficial in more ways than one to stop consuming the following foods:

Sugar is like a loaded gun, but not all sugar is created equal. Actually it is created quite equal by the earth then the genius of mankind steps in and turns it into a loaded gun pointing strait at your immune system and teeth. If food is processed (store bought fruit juice, soft drinks, lollies, cake, biscuits, sweet or savoury sauces, highly refined white sugar and anything with high fructose corn syrup in it) avoid it. If it is natural (whole fruit) then consume less of it and rinse your mouth out with water shortly after eating it. Floss if fruit is stuck between your teeth.

• Flour, refined
• Bread (sprouted grain bread is ok)
• Wheat
• Crackers
• Non-fermented soy products
• Avoid as many processed foods as possible but especially ones containing high fructose corn syrup

Note: If you need a sweetener, consume low doses of raw, organic honey or stevia.

Saliva is great for neutralising acid in your mouth.

Saliva may not get far enough into the cavity to protect your tooth from the acid poop but it will assist with preventing surface bacteria from damaging your teeth. Ensure you maintain high levels of saliva by drinking plenty of water to stay hydrated; also refrain from smoking. Chewing gum is a poorly executed brilliant idea. Sugar free chewing gum often contains aspartame which is a carcinogen (cancer-causing), amongst other things, but the theory behind chewing gum to help you produce saliva is brilliant. If anyone knows of a healthy chewing gum please send me an email and a packet of the chewing gum.

Now you have stopped feeding the bacteria sugar, let’s kill ‘em off.

Cleaning your teeth:

Throw away your regular poisonous toothpaste and start supporting the health of your teeth for the first time in your life. Baking soda mixed with Celtic or Pink Himalayan salt and a dash of 3% food grade hydrogen peroxide is a great mixture for whitening your teeth and killing off the bacteria naturally. It is far safer than the rat poison commercial toothpastes are made from that most people use on their teeth. I’m not kidding.

Another couple of reasons why commercial toothpastes are harmful to your teeth are that they A) contain fluoride which weakens all bones in your body, including your teeth, and/or B) contain glycerin.

• Fluoride is some dangerous stuff! Here is a great interview we had with Perth Fluoride Free.
• Glycerin coats your teeth in a thin film which reduces the ability for your acid neutralising saliva to cleanse and remineralise your teeth.

Foods to kill off the bacteria:

There are a number of foods you can consume to kill off the acid pooping bacteria so I won’t bog you down with the details. If you want to know more, that’s what Google is for. Some great foods to eat and herbs to either eat or cake onto your teeth are as follows. Some are even useful as antibacterial mouthwashes such as the oils and salts:

• Licorice root – sorry, not licorice lollies
• Celtic or Pink Himalayan salt
• Coconut oil
• Cashew oil
• Fermented yoghurt
• Celery
• Onions
• Green tea
• Kiwi fruit
• Parsley
• Sesame seeds
• Wasabi (find a good quality one)
• Shiitake mushrooms
• Water! Drink about 4L per day, your body will love you for it.
• Cranberries
• Neem tree twigs
• Mint leaves
• Black pepper
• Ginger
• Cloves
• Thyme
• Coriander
• Sage
• Goldenseal herb
• White Oak Bark Powder
• Myrrh
• Wheatgrass juice
• Xylitol
• Horsetail (the herb, not the horses tail)
• Lemongrass
• Red raspberry leaf
• Nettle
• Lemon balm
• Black walnut

So now we know it is not actually sugar that decays our teeth but rather parasites that feed on sugar and excrete in your teeth. We also have a list of foods that are antibacterial, antiseptic, anti-microbial and anti the Bush Administration. What about the hole left in your teeth? Guess what?

We can regrow our teeth through smart food choices!

Fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K support bone health. All of these vitamins are found in your food and vitamin D can also be obtained by licking your cat’s fur after he has been sleeping in the sun. An easier way to get vitamin D is by laying in the sun yourself and you don’t even have to lick your own skin but if you are in to that sort of thing I don’t believe it is illegal to lick your cat’s fur. There is some awesome information about vitamin D and the sun here (I should know, I wrote it).

Foods to regrow your teeth and strengthen your bones:

• Organic Raw milk. I repeat, organic RAW milk, not that white low fat homogenised, brutalised, pasteurised, abortionised stuff on the supermarket shelf. This is a great, informative article. A great documentary called ‘Forks Over Knives’ explains how pasteurised milk actually demineralises your bones making them weaker and more susceptible to fractures, cavities and osteoporosis.
• Celtic or Pink Himalayan salt
• Fermented foods
• Neem oil
• Horsetail
• Lemongrass
• Red raspberry leaf
• Nettle
• Lemon balm
• Black walnut
• Sea vegetables
• Xylitol
• Soaked and sprouted nuts
• Fresh fruitSprouted/fermented grains
• Coconut oil
• Greens, lots and lots of greens
• And despite my feelings towards animal consumption I am here to report my findings, not biasedly report my findings, so I will include animal flesh and other animal products in this list. Keep in mind that animals today are not what they were 100 years ago. Choose organic, grass-fed beef and lamb/mutton if any. Eggs and dairy should be organic and preferably raw, too.

Did you know?

If your teeth have an evenly spread yellowish tint the enamel may be so thin that it is transparent showing the yellow dentin underneath.

In Summary:

• Eat natural, whole foods to prevent cavities and maintain the overall wellbeing of your health.
• If you have cavities there are a lot of foods you can eat and herbs you can eat or topically apply to your teeth that will assist with killing off the responsible bacteria.
• Use a natural toothpaste and clean your teeth and floss 2-3 times a day.
• Rinse your mouth with 3% food grade hydrogen peroxide or coconut oil and other antibacterial food derived oils, too.
• Drink lots of water.
• Avoid all refined foods.
• Love your teeth and even love the cavities for the gift of health they have brought into your future through changes you are making because of them.

Happy Eating!

Image credit: Phyo Thu

Note: this article is not intended to diagnose or treat any illnesses. Please consult your health care professional before making any changes to your lifestyle.

References:

http://www.webmd.com/oral-health/tc/tooth-decay-cause

http://www.deltadentalmi.com/About/Newsroom/News-Releases/Research-Indicates-Lollipops-May-Reduce-Tooth-Deca.aspx

http://www.animated-teeth.com/tooth_decay/t2_tooth_decay_caries.htm

http://www.webmd.com/oral-health/tc/tooth-decay-cause

http://www.ehow.com/way_5707652_natural-plaque-removal.html

http://www.livestrong.com/article/158709-herbal-plaque-removal/#ixzz1qaJMrdtA

http://www.herbalencounter.com/2010/11/13/cure-tooth-decay-with-nutritious-foods/

http://www.smartahealth.com/diet.html

http://www.naturaltoothrepair.com/herbs.html

http://www.smartahealth.com/foods_that_kill_streptoccus_mutans.html

http://www.herbalencounter.com/2010/11/13/cure-tooth-decay-with-nutritious-foods/

http://www.earthclinic.com/CURES/tooth_enamel.html

http://www.smartahealth.com/remineralization.html

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