Question:
Dental hygiene, treatment, diet and dental health ?
Answer:
Diet and lifestyle, dental hygiene and dental treatment all affect
dental health; there would be disagreement over how much impact each
has. I'll relate in the form of a rough chronology my personal
experience with those factors and my deductions and opinions will be
at the end. I'll include numerous details for greater clarity at the
expense of increasing the length of the message.
As a child and adolescent growing up in the 50's and 60's, I followed
(largely as a result of decisions made by others) what was a
relatively conscientious version of standard American diet and
lifestyle of the time. The diet included a large portion of animal
products and a significant amount of refined and processed foods
including refined sweeteners. There was very little in the way of
whole grains. By my current thinking, it was low in B vitamins, C, E
and probably some minerals.
I didn't really get the hang of teeth cleaning as a child and there
wasn't as much of an emphasis then on flossing as developed later so
the level of dental hygiene I provided myself was fair at best.
I had a significant number of cavities. When I got into my early
teens, our family dentist recommended some work. This included about
three extractions, two gold crowns on the lower molars in the far
back; two lower molars that had the inner third drill away and
replaced with amalgam, smaller amounts of amalgam on the inside of the
upper molars and some smaller fillings. When I last saw a dentist in
my late teens, he said there were a number of cavities but that
filling them could be done later. I haven't had any dental treatment
in the intervening thirty years. (Dental work is expensive and I've
never been awash in funds).
Very interesting . While we are not dentists, we do read the
dental literature more often than most practicing dentists do. The
link between diet and good teeth is not a new one - just not one
that's not promoted conspicuously by organized dentistry who favors
fluoride as the preventive regimen of choice along with "don't eat
sugar."
Dr. Weston Price proved this theory in his book, "Nutrition and
Physical Degeneration," first published in 1939.
The American Dental Association actually sent out a news release that
indicates "Good dental health begins in the womb." and lists the
nutrients a Mom needs to absorb in sufficient amounts to improve the
quality of her offspring's health.
Of course, if the Mom doesn't eat properly, one could assume her child
could be born with weak teeth that leads to "early childhood caries,"
Instead of recommending a better diet for these children, organized
dentistry spends millions of dollars to encourage more fluoride. By
the way there is no deficiency state for fluoride.
Not surprisingly, the only scientific link between tooth decay is
poverty. Poverty is also linked to poor nutrition, poor living
conditions, inability to be treated for cavities until they get bad
enough to be accepted in an emergency room and higher rates of most
diseases that are tracked and earlier mortality.
It's common sense that a healthy diet will improve most ill health
conditions. Instead dental researchers take millions from the
government to study fluoride then use the poor with the highest rates
of decay as their guinea pigs, when what these children need is
nourishing food.
Also in the Surgeon Generals Oral Health Report which is two or three
hundred pages long only one page is devoted to nutrition. But it is
there - even if it is ignored by most dentists. His conclusion that
tooth decay is epidemic in the US poor and minority populations is
followed with the intent to fluoridate even more of us - even though
those populations with highest rates of decay mostly already live in
fluoridated communities.
Sugar is the obvious enemy of teeth. But low intakes of teeth building
nutrients like, calcium, magnesium, boron Vitamin A and C and others
is really at the root of the problem.
Here's a website by a dentist who studied the skulls of early man and
found them decay free and how modern processed food diet is linked to
tooth decay - not
putting a baby to sleep with a bottle or breastfeeding them to sleep
which has been done forever with no adverse effects until the modern
diet is introduced into the equation.
http://www.brianpalmerdds.com/bfeed_caries.htm
My point is there is a direct correlation between diet and tooth decay
that has been ingored in favor of fluoride. Many dentists on this list
will show off their "one-liners" to their peers in response to this
post. But it's here for your benefit and those of lurkers who actually
learn on the internet and don't rely on their dentists and physicians
for all their health information.
New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation
http://www.orgsites.com/ny/nyscof
I'm not sure if you're posing the question to me and if so, whether
you should. The term was used by an individual at nyscof and by their
statements, they are more familiar with dental literature than I am.
The theory referred to the link between diet and good teeth.
I read Mr. Price's book, "Nutrition and Physical Degeneration," and I
think it demonstrates the theory well. My personal experience (as
related in the original message above), my observation and other
reading also support it.
