Depressing Teeth Decay Problem

[JNBunnie1]

Well first, if your tooth hurts put a wet teabag - I use regular black tea - on it. It controls the pain.

You'll be surprised at how quickly it works. When the pain comes back grab another tea bag.

I did this when I had my wisdom teeth out, for the gum pain. I used herbal tea bags with mullein and cloves in them. It does help. I haven't tried it for actual tooth pain though, but it can't hurt.

[Nancym]

There was a dentist named Weston A Price in the 1930's who decided that the declining state of the teeth belonging to the children he treated didn't make any sense. He went wandering all over the world studying the diets of tribal and indigenous people in places like Africa, Alaska, the Swiss Alps, I forget all the places. The people he studied all had traditional diets, and traditional tooth care habits. Which means they ate no canned, jarred, bottled, anything. Any grains they ate were minimal, traditionally processed, which means allowed to sprout, and ground by stone or mill, without bleach added. They also typically had dairy sources that were raw. These diets were also comparatively high in saturated animal fats, and had zero of the new trans fats we've created with hydrogenated oils. No sort of refined sugar was available. Their tooth care habits were basically non-existant, some probably chewed twigs to frayed ends and scrubbed with that. What Weston Price found was lots of plaque, and a 1% incidence of cavities in most of the societies he studied. Never did he find a cavity incidence above 5%. Obviously, plaque does not lead to cavities.

Might want to do a little more study before you start castigating people. I'd say good eating habits are more important to teach your children than how to floss.

Hear, hear! Or is it here, here? I can never remember.

I always wondered how those primitive cultures never flossed or brushed yet had such amazing teeth. It was about the time of the ancient Egyptians where the diet changed to lots of starches and grains that anthropologists started unearthing skeletons with tooth decay, osteoporosis, and other issues with teeth and bones that they don't find in the bones of hunter/gatherer remains.

However, I know dietary change is frightening and sometimes lashing out in anger to new ideas is a natural response. I just wanted to share how happy I have been with my dental improvements since I've made such a radical change in my diet, in case anyone else wants to look into it further.

[JNBunnie1]

Hear, hear! Or is it here, here? I can never remember.

I always wondered how those primitive cultures never flossed or brushed yet had such amazing teeth. It was about the time of the ancient Egyptians where the diet changed to lots of starches and grains that anthropologists started unearthing skeletons with tooth decay, osteoporosis, and other issues with teeth and bones that they don't find in the bones of hunter/gatherer remains.

However, I know dietary change is frightening and sometimes lashing out in anger to new ideas is a natural response. I just wanted to share how happy I have been with my dental improvements since I've made such a radical change in my diet, in case anyone else wants to look into it further.

You know, I haven't had any cavities since I've been gluten free either. Not them I'm anywhere near as disciplined as you are with my food. I think there's more to cavity prevention than just removing sugar, but it sure seems to help a lot, doesn't it? I'm categorizing wheat(gluten) as sugar, because it becomes sugar so fast in your stomach.

I think it's hear, hear.

[Guest digmom1014]

Wow! Reading about all your troubles makes me realize that I am not alone with my crumbling teeth. I had 4 huge abscesses when I was seven years old. They basically pull the teeth and then the pus drains out-it is disgusting. Those were all baby molars. Then my permanent molars rotted out and now I am all crowns.

My front teeth are now chipping-so the veneers are not far away-I'm 43.

Sarah

[bakingbarb]

Ever since I can remember I have had bad teeth. Not helping was my mother put hi-c in my bottles. My Dad tells me this story of how when he moved us away I was filthy and had hi-c in my bottle. He always said that was why I had bad teeth. No matter how I eat, how I brush, how I don't brush I have always had bad teeth. Also the dentist commented over and over how I needed to brush more and floss more and use this or that to prevent cavities. Somehow I knew it wasn't what I did to my teeth but what my body was doing to them. When something manifests it is a symptom, I looked for years before finding this.

So is there a way to reverse all this? I am worried about osteoporosis now, if I take the highly absorbed calcium is it going to help or is it too late (i am in my early 40's)?

The list of things can get so long and depressing but all I have to remind myself is that the pain in my stomach is gone. Now if I would stop gaining weight. I did go on a very strict way of eating when I was pregnant with my daughter but it was a lot of grain and very little meat and I was so fatigued then. Now I know. btw she doesn't eat meat, hasn't since she was little and eats carbs and raw veggies and fruit - mainly what I ate! I would have to say what your mother eats when she is pregnant has got to affect what you eat!

[Fiddle-Faddle]

I have run into 2 dishonest dentists in the last few years, and my husband has had one, too.

One told us that our not-quite-2-year-old needed several thousands of dollars of restorative work done as he supposedly had severe decay (it turned out to be not decay but staining from my having had iron supplements and antibiotics while pregnant with him), and she insisted it would destroy his permanent teeth if not fixed now.

One told me that I have infections (I had NO symptoms, no pain, no nothing) and would need teeth pulled. That was 2 years ago, and I've had no problems since.

My husband was given a crown that he thinks, after reviewing the X-rays with another dentist, was totally unnecessary.

It might be worthwhile to get a second opinion.

[JNBunnie1]

I have run into 2 dishonest dentists in the last few years, and my husband has had one, too.

One told us that our not-quite-2-year-old needed several thousands of dollars of restorative work done as he supposedly had severe decay (it turned out to be not decay but staining from my having had iron supplements and antibiotics while pregnant with him), and she insisted it would destroy his permanent teeth if not fixed now.

One told me that I have infections (I had NO symptoms, no pain, no nothing) and would need teeth pulled. That was 2 years ago, and I've had no problems since.

My husband was given a crown that he thinks, after reviewing the X-rays with another dentist, was totally unnecessary.

It might be worthwhile to get a second opinion.

Holy friggin crap. Dude, that sucks! (I know you're not a dude, I'm just fond of hippie-speak.) And people say chiropractors are quacks.

[JustMe75]

I have run into 2 dishonest dentists in the last few years, and my husband has had one, too.

One told us that our not-quite-2-year-old needed several thousands of dollars of restorative work done as he supposedly had severe decay (it turned out to be not decay but staining from my having had iron supplements and antibiotics while pregnant with him), and she insisted it would destroy his permanent teeth if not fixed now.

One told me that I have infections (I had NO symptoms, no pain, no nothing) and would need teeth pulled. That was 2 years ago, and I've had no problems since.

My husband was given a crown that he thinks, after reviewing the X-rays with another dentist, was totally unnecessary.

It might be worthwhile to get a second opinion.

I thought about that and have an appointment this Thursday for a second opinion. My husband loves his dentist but I stuck with mine since I had been going there for so long. My husband says maybe they are doing bad work since they are mostly re-doing fillings, crowns and bridges. I kinda think I really do need the work they say I do, but I am curious if its because of bad prior work or just bad teeth. I wonder if the new dentist will tell me that.

[JNBunnie1]

I thought about that and have an appointment this Thursday for a second opinion. My husband loves his dentist but I stuck with mine since I had been going there for so long. My husband says maybe they are doing bad work since they are mostly re-doing fillings, crowns and bridges. I kinda think I really do need the work they say I do, but I am curious if its because of bad prior work or just bad teeth. I wonder if the new dentist will tell me that.

It does seem pretty suspicious that most of this is work the same dentist already did.

[tarnalberry]

my husband and I have very different experiences at the dentist.

I generally don't have much plaque build-up, rarely have cavities, and don't have too much gum trouble, despite not being all that diligent about flossing. my husband, however, regularly has significant plaque build up, at least one cavity, and lots of cleaning to be done, despite (this time at least) being extremely diligent about flossing.

we see the same dentist, and my appointment was right after my husband's this time, and the dentist noted, after I said that I was very proud of my husband for being extremely diligent about flossing (something he's had trouble with), that he wouldn't have entirely believed it if he hadn't heard me say it. so we talked for a bit about some of our different habits.

some things we identified:

1. my husband drinks gatorade (occasionally soda), not water; I drink lots of water. if I'm not drinking water, I drink lots of tea, particularly green tea, which has chemicals to reduce inflammation and kill bacteria.

2. my husband eats more sugary/carby snacks that can sit in his teeth (like chips/crackers) than I do. the dentist thought this was fairly minor.

3. I chew gum more often than my husband does. not that I chew it that often - a couple times a week, maybe, but that can make a big difference in clearing out bacteria from the mouth.

the dentist noted a couple other habits some previous patients had (that neither of them thought of out of the blue) that had made a big difference once they were identified, so it might be worth working with your dentist as well to minimize other factors, outside of the ones that nutritional deficiencies have already given you.

[OneScrewLoose]

I've had upwards of 30 cavities in my life (I'm only 20). They stopped when I went gluten-free, thank God. I hope everything

[Krysten]

I got external resorbtion, which means my nerve is hollowing out my tooth. After a surgery to stop it, I found it didn't work so I had to have the tooth removed (had issues w/my pain killer) and then had a pain in the butt getting a bridge put in. I am so over this!!!! I actually almost cried in the dentist chair on several occasions. They aren't sure this is connected to celiac, but it's autoimmune & rare. I'm sure that it is and don't wish it on anybody.

[flourgirl]

Just one more health area to worry about! I actually had a dentist tell me several years ago that I brush my teeth too much!!! I blamed him for the fillings that wouldn't stay in my mouth and for the root canals that failed. In my youth I had great teeth, but they started failing miserably in my 20's. I do take good care of my teeth, but until I was diagnosed with Celiac and started reading I didn't know why my teeth are falling apart. I have 2 abcesses that do not respond to antibiotics, the 2nd abcess I got WHILE on antibiotics! Hopefully the gluten-free diet will solve all of this for all of us.

[Alternative mama]

Barb- It's never too late with oseoporosis. Even if you have it you can turn it around with lots of calcium, Vit D and exercise.

Krysten- My 9yro is having the same reabsorption prob and I'm suspecting she's a little too much like me

I got my root canals done but now have to get the crowns, cavaties and chipped teeth dealt with. (sigh)