Preventing and Treating Dental Cavities Through Diet

Who has never been afraid of going to the dentist to treat their cavities? It is indeed a place that most of us would like to avoid like the plague, so much it can hurt. Ouch, ouch, ouch!

However, here is an incentive to pay attention to your diet and thus protect your intestinal flora, and to consider going on a Paleo diet: imagine spending less time lying down, with your mouth open, while a man in a white coat caresses your gums with tools worthy of medieval torture devices, and gives you a lesson on how to floss.

So, what you eat, your nutrition, is important to prevent and cure tooth decay naturally.

What I'm about to tell you may surprise you: brushing and flossing your teeth regularly is not that important if you don't have the right diet.

Let me explain: your teeth are living organs that need good nutrition to regenerate and maintain sufficient levels of enamel and dentin. And without the right diet, your teeth will suffer to keep them in good condition.

A diet low in micronutrients and high in sugars can accelerate tooth cavities, and thus the formation of cavities; but a diet low in sugars and high in important vitamins and minerals can cure and prevent tooth decay and toothache.

You need good nutrition and a healthy oral microbiota to maintain healthy gums (to avoid gingivitis) and teeth.

So even if you brush your teeth well but your diet doesn't include the right nutrients, you'll need to read the rest of this article to understand how to care for your teeth with the right diet, and without a dentist.

Minerals and fat-soluble vitamins

It is possible to give a big boost to your ability to heal and care for your teeth with the right diet.

Calcium, But Not Only

One of the misconceptions about healthy bones and teeth is related to calcium, that it is the only ingredient you need. Far from it! Getting enough calcium is of course crucial, but if you just take in calcium, there is no guarantee that it will do you any good.

And that's where fat-soluble vitamins and a healthy gut microbiota come in to help you absorb and use the minerals in your diet.

Liposoluble Vitamins

It is difficult to talk about Paleo and dental cavities without mentioning Weston A. Price.

Weston A. Price was a Cleveland dentist who, after a long trip to study self-sufficient tribes, devoted himself to writing a book on Nutrition and Physical Degeneration. Nowadays, there is an association in his name that continues to update his findings.

To talk about his research and findings, he pointed out the importance of fat-soluble vitamins: A, D, E and K2, especially K2.

Vitamin K2 is responsible for the navigation of dietary calcium, so that it ends up in your bones and teeth…and not elsewhere.

Vitamin K2 is present in natural grass-fed beef. You may be able to produce it yourself if you have a healthy gut microbiota, but with ifs, we'd be remaking the world, so there's no guarantee that you can produce it naturally.

Other fat-soluble vitamins are also important. If, for example, a mother takes regular doses of vitamin D during pregnancy, her child will be less likely to develop cavities. Vitamin D is important for calcium absorption.

There is some evidence that children with cavities have lower levels of vitamin D, and that vitamin D may treat dental cavities, although not all studies show this link.

This study also showed that vitamin A consumption was associated with a lower risk of cavities in children.

All of this research confirmed what Dr. Price discovered at the time: fat-soluble vitamins are important for building healthy teeth and bones, not just calcium.

Some Particularities of these Vitamins

• Vitamin A is needed to produce saliva, which cleanses harmful bacteria
• Vitamin D is important for maintaining the health of your bones and teeth. In a study of 24 clinical examinations, it was shown that vitamin D could reduce dental caries
• Vitamin E is an antioxidant and helps the immune system keep your oral microbiota healthy.

The Importance of Absorption

The other important and essential part of good dental health is to make sure you are absorbing the nutrients in your diet. If you are not absorbing the nutrients from your diet, vitamins and such, then it doesn't matter how much you eat.

This can be seen in practice if you look at how diseases that limit the absorption of vitamins and minerals from your food increase the risk rates of dental caries.

For example, celiac disease is associated with a high number of dental cavities and email problems. The problem may be poor absorption, as celiac disease causes damage to the intestines, which prevents the proper absorption of important minerals, such as calcium.

Continue reading: Where to find cod liver oil?

Sugar: This Harmful Ingredient for Your Teeth

The most important contributor, and therefore the main cause, to the formation of dental caries is sugar. And it's not just how much sugar you eat, but how much – eating a little bit of sugar five times a day could be worse than eating a lot of sugar all at once.

Here is how it works. Like your gut, your mouth is full of bacteria. Even healthy people have a significant amount of oral bacteria, and they don't overindulge in sugar or junk food. But like the intestine, the mouth can also develop colonies of harmful bacteria, especially and I mean especially, if you offer them their favorite food: sugar!

The damage that sugar does to your teeth is immeasurable. To describe the effect of sugar on teeth, it is like opening a free buffet for all the harmful bacteria in your mouth to devour the sugar and generate acids afterwards.

Since the sugar is stuck to your teeth, the bacteria is directly on your teeth and produces acids exactly where all the damage hurts. Acids consume the protective enamel on the outside of your teeth.

But your body has a defense against these attacks. Saliva is naturally rich in minerals, and your body can use these minerals to repair damage to your enamel naturally.

There is a constant battle between the attacks of sugar and the repair mechanisms of your saliva. As long as the acid damage is limited to the enamel, it is still recoverable. Avoid coffee at the same time because it would increase our cravings for sweetness.

Too Much Sugar In Your Diet Causes Cavities

But if you constantly consume sugar, without giving your mouth a chance to heal the damage done to your teeth, the acids will simply consume the teeth faster than your body can repair them.

It seriously starts to be a problem when sugar-hungry bacteria pass through the enamel to consume the inside of the tooth.

Your tooth repair mechanisms can only repair so much enamel, so once the damage has started on the rest of the tooth, that tooth is in big trouble!

So much so that holes will appear, cavities, or caries.

So the bottom line is that all dentists are right: sugar is really bad for your teeth, and if you want good dental hygiene, you'd better avoid it.

Preventing and Treating Tooth Decay

Here is a list of simple good practices that you can follow in your everyday life:

• Watch your sugar intake
• Eat foods rich in vitamins A, D, E, and K2
  • Wild salmon and other fatty fish
  • Mixed salad with olive oil or mayonnaise
  • Sunlight, your best source of vitamin D
  • Liver and other offal meats
• Eat mineral-rich foods, not just calcium. Try oysters, bone-in salmon, etc.
• If you have bowel-related problems that block or slow down your absorption, start treating your bowel now.

It is true that no one can completely control their dental health. Some genetic differences may explain why some people who gorge on junk food of all kinds never get cavities, while others who practice the best dental hygiene tips end up with monster cavities.

But your diet can play an important role in how you manage your teeth. Eating right can drastically decrease the risk of tooth decay and even remineralize the enamel to naturally strengthen your teeth against tooth-destroying bacteria.

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