In order to determine how to cure tooth decay naturally it would behoove the researcher to investigate what causes tooth decay. Unfortunately, our current dentistry not only does not do this, but largely ignores what has been done. This is not surprising given the threat natural cures are to some pretty big figure income.
It has actually been known for decades what causes tooth decay. Dr. Steinman was one of the founders of Loma Linda University Dental School. In his work, which was conducted over a 40 year period and included over a hundred studies, he demonstrated conclusively what causes tooth decay. Funny, his work is not even taught at the school now!
As I have written in other articles on how to cure tooth decay, it is essentially a matter of nutrition. Indigenous cultures worldwide have been shown to have very little tooth decay while eating their ancestral diets. When introduced to modern commercial diets they immediately began having the decay common in our culture.
What Dr. Steinman discovered was that each tooth is made up of literally miles of microscopic dentin tubules that allow fluid flow from our metabolism into our mouths. He did this using radioactive tracers. Well, what I should say, is normally flowing from our metabolism into our mouths, keeping bacteria out of our system.
What causes tooth decay is not the “usual suspects,” which we have been led to believe, such as external contamination by bacteria and acid producing foods. If this were the case with the incredible amount of brushing and flossing going on, not to mention all of the mouthwashes and toothpastes we should have far superior dental health to what our ancestors enjoyed.
Exactly the opposite is true, because the good doctor demonstrated that tooth decay is caused by a breakdown of the system whereby the fluid flow is reversed. This is caused by a nutritional deficiency, which manifests itself in a mineral imbalance.
More and more these days many medical practitioners are adopting least invasive, holistic techniques. We are beginning to learn that good health is dependent on delicate balances and is best maintained or restored by supplying the body with the necessary nutrients in the correct ratios and letting it heal itself.
It has been demonstrated that if our serum phosphorus level is less than 3.5 mg/dL the fluid flow in our teeth reverses and our teeth suck bacteria into them causing decay. If the flow is inward, rather than outward as meant to be, no matter how much we brush and floss our teeth will decay!
The good news is that raising the serum phosphorus level above 3.5 will right the flow and not only stop the decay, but under the right circumstances, even remineralize the tooth in the process. Sounds simple, but it can actually be a complex and drawn out process depending on how out of balance you are and often, how that came to be.
But it sure is a whole lot more attractive than drill and fill or even worse, root canals or tear it out and put in an implant! The thing is it can be done through diet, and exercise always helps our bodies to balance themselves.
One of the ways to help our bodies maintain healthy levels of phosphorus is to have a protein rich diet. Although there are a number of vegetable sources of protein they won’t help. Even though they are proteins they have a different shape than those, which we find in meat. When it comes to proteins and enzymes, shape is crucial as I explain in an article on how they work.
Dr. Steinman also demonstrated that the addition of manganese, iron and copper to the poor diet usually halted the decay. For a wealth of information on this topic, as well as total oral health and whole being health visit here.
References:
Dentinal Tubular Flow and Effective Caries Treatment
By Timothy W. Fraser, D.D.S., M.A.
Dentinal Fluid Transport
Clyde Roggenkamp
Wow, that is an interesting article Jim. As usual the big pharma industry won’t give us the facts.
Thanks John. Yeah it is incredible how much gets covered up due to the current money generating practices.
In general I eat a fair bit of protein in the way of chicken turkey, split with beef and some pork mainly the poultry….I have teeth problems but not severe….but I would like to get better last root canal did not go so good is my protein choices satisfactory…???? Thanks Jim great topic…
Yeah Tim, those are really good sources of protein. You might find my article on vitamin K2 interesting and helpful. It is an essential component and the vast majority of the population is deficient!
What foods have iron, copper and manganese? Meat? Dark greens…just curious….Addie is showing a fair amount of possible cavities in her mouth despite being on somewhat regular fish oil.
Well, if Addie is anything like Tristyn she will be happy to know that real chocolate is a good source of copper
Other than that as organ meats aren’t that popular, nut and nut butters as well as whole grains, tomatoes, potatoes, sweet potatoes, bananas and grapes. Some common sources of iron are meat, fish and poultry as well as dried beans, peas and lentils.
Some of the best sources of manganese are kale, raspberries, pineapple, strawberries, squash, brown rice, maple syrup and spices like cloves, cinnamon, black pepper and turmeric. I know she likes oatmeal, which is a good source, if the bran is included, as that is where the bulk of it resides.
I am afraid though, that a major component of her oral health problems may be somewhat inherited. You might want to consider asking your holistic dentist if he knows where she can be tested for what, exactly, her ancestral diet is. It is a blood test, but not just for type. Rather it determines the ratio of carbohydrate, protein and fat your body needs to keep the dentinal flow outwards. If her ancestral history was indigenous it would be easy, but obviously it isn’t.
It is so sad that we have forgotten how well Mother Nature can take such good care of us if we but listen and eat the things that our bodies are designed to eat and digest. Tooth decay is one thing that I have little problem with. My brother on the other hand had tons of trouble his whole life. He ate processed foods and never paid much attention to his health. I don’t consider myself a health nut, but I do love eating fresh fruits, vegetables, eggs, meat of all sorts and I think that is one reason my brother had tooth problems his whole life and I only have had two fillings my whole life. Oh and I have had a gold cap on my front tooth since I was 7 years old when I leaned down to avoid a low branch on my bicycle. Let’s just say when handle bars meets a tooth, the tooth loses. Very good post.
Thanks Pat, I appreciate your comment. It reminds me of an anecdote by Dr. Weston Price, who did these studies of indigenous cultures worldwide. He was a dentist from the 30′s and wondered why there was so much physical degeneration in our culture. He compared 2 brothers, just like you and yours, to demonstrate how intrinsic and crucial proper nutrition is to oral health and, really, overall well-being.
I agree it is really sad that we have drifted away from traditions allowing nature to do what nature does best and suffer for it.
It’s so interesting how Dr Steinman’s teaching has gone by the wayside. Everything is connected to dollars these days. As usual, excellent post.
Yeah, makes me wonder how some of these people sleep at night! Fortunately his work has been resurrected by Dr. Clyde Roggenkamp of Loma Linda University who published the book, Dentinal Fluid Transport in 2004.
Jim another great article. I find myself that I have had little or no problems with my teeth for the last few years and I put it down to my eating and oral hygiene habits. We eat chicken, fish and eggs with some meat for a change. Have cut down on the dairy food and eat mixed seeds, oats, nut and fruit with coconut milk for breakfast. I have also started to do oil pulling for the last several months and found my teeth are really clean and stay that way for longer in the day before the need to re-brush.
That’s great Mark! Sounds like you are diligent in eating a nutritious well balanced diet and reaping the rewards. I also started to practice oil pulling with coconut oil first thing every morning. When I became aware of all the overall health benefits outside of how beneficial it is for oral wellness, I couldn’t resist. Thanks for sharing that, other readers who aren’t quite sure will benefit!
I wish i had red your post sooner. My teeth are awful and could of done with this information awhile ago. Thank you for sharing all this with me i can now prevent further tooth decay.
Sorry to hear about your teeth Morgan, but I am glad you found the article helpful. I have a few more that may also be helpful like this one here.
Jim another awesome article. I just love reading your articles! Thanks so much! I’m pretty health conscious but then I have to be. I try and eat healthy and I also do oil pulling and brush my teeth with plain old baking soda. I then rinse with warm water and sea salt. I’ve been doing that for years. My grandmother lived to be in her late 90′s and still had her own teeth followed the same oral care as I do. Anyways keep writing
Hey Judith, thanks for the kind and encouraging words. I kinda shied away from brushing with baking soda when I was looking for an alternative to toothpaste. Read continuous use did something detrimental, can’t remember now exactly what, wear the enamel or brown the teeth or something. Obviously if you have been using it for years it can’t be all that bad.
Because of my concern with the need to continually detox I got some diatomaceous earth because it binds with heavy metals and carries them on out. So, I also use it to brush, along with oils from orawellness. When I recently learned the benefits, not just oral, but whole-being health from oil pulling I immediately began to practice it. We should pay more attention to what our grandparents did to maintain vibrant health, thanks for sharing that.
This is very interesting information. My teeth do seem healthier since I have changed my diet several years ago. Having a root canal seems a lot harder than eating nutritious food.
For sure Sharon, having a root canal is no fun. Besides that, research has shown root canals to be very detrimental to health because of lingering infection. Of course like mercury fillings and fluoride the dentist monetary interests have done overtime trying to hide the truth about root canals too!