An Update.....AKA How a Dental Visit Rocked Our World and Sent us Looking for Answers...

It has taken me a couple of weeks to write this post.

Not that I didn't have the time. Nor didn't want to write it. But in determining how much to share, and how to approach the topic.

But you have been a faithful band of followers, and while I may push your thinking sometimes, you stay true, so I am taking this trip and bringing you along with me, versus breaking off into another blog and only sharing about our trip there!

About 3 weeks ago now, I took Miss Grace to the dentist and was NOT anticipating more than a cavity or two, as it had been a while since she had been (as the last visit had been like an episode from Wild Kingdom, trying to contain a not happy cheetah for teeth cleaning, seriously, I kid you not, they gave up). A new dentist, an older child-who happily brushes her teeth, has been on limited sweets, no chocolate and loves veggies- and my only worry was being slightly late to work. Or so I thought....silly me....

The cheetah turned into the most DOCILE cat and lounged around perfectly content to have the dental hygenist clean her teeth, and only squirmed when it came time for xrays (which I can stand having done, so that was ok). I was thanking my lucky stars and in a great frame of mind.

Then the dentist came in. Nice man, affable really, GOOD with Miss Grace.

But THEN came the lead foot, slamming of the door, "SAY WHAT?" moment.

6 major cavities, and he wanted to PULL her teeth and do root canals, and replace with silver crowns.

WHAT??????????????????????? (or more like WTF, for you adult readers, course that was said silently to myself, Mom did teach me right... course I was also thinking),

Course I was really glad I was in uniform, because it kept me from THROTTLING both the dentist an hygenist, when they BOTH implied that is was MY fault. Aka emotional punishment.

WHOA buckwheat. They did NOT just try to imply I've let her eat whatever she wanted and never brush?

Again, she has been allowed only one piece of candy a day (after which she has to BRUSH her teeth), watered down juice when she was a baby (and only for a short time), no high sugar sodas, she took her lunch for the 1st 2 years of school, which consisted of carrots and broccoli DAILY, she has NOT been allowed chocolate (due to sugar and caffeine), and she brushes at least 3 times a day.

My brain literally went to a brick wall while I tried to control my pure ANGER at them, while dealing with not creating a SCENE, as they politely explained that this is a COMMON occurrence, and NO BIG DEAL (excuse me, for WHO?).

And then I had the audacity to say WHOA, let's back up- "WHAT caused this? "
Again, the emotional punishment started.

Uh-huh, wasn't NOT having it a second time. My Jesuit trained brain was trying to kick in over the brick wall, my brain had put up previously and holler "but what about the OTHER teeth?" Did I get an ANSWER?

No, I got "we'll only do what you want us to do".

Well no bloody kidding, it's MY KID (not said out allowed, as I was afraid I was about to literally COME UNGLUED, but with enough of an eye stare that the dentist literally backed up...eh)!

The kicker in all the drama? The new dental insurance would only pay for 1-2 teeth, I'd have to pay cash for the res. As in $2,000 out of pocket expense.

I got out of their with a copy of their recommendations, a 'I have to discuss this with her Dad', and a refusal to set up the next appointment, at this time. Sent the kid home with Papa and went on to work.

Where luckily I got distracted long enough to BREATHE and come off the proverbial murderous ledge, AKA NOW I know why people HATE dentists.

But the core issue was bugging the you know what out of my brain- WHAT could be the cause and how do we fix this WITHOUT pulling 6 teeth. So I did what that Jesuit trained brain said to do- research!

And I was STUNNED literally when I discovered I was NOT alone in having had dental visits like this. Not just one blog, but pages of them, all saying the same thing- kid on healthiest diet of all the kids in their class, some even Vegans!!!!, all great dental visits until one- massive cavities, emotional punishment and major dental work wanted. All my brain could say was "WAIT, common cause?"

And lo and behold they ALL told how they researched and found a possible cause, and more importantly a SOLUTION. Something that was just flat out disturbing on every level- the 'healthy diet' was THE issue. Studies upon studies, yet the info has been brushed aside, denounced by dentists (and their lobbyists), and the food companies who stand to loose billions. Whoa indeed.

And all referenced ONE book:

Cure Tooth Decay by  Ramiel Nagel, is based on the primary study by Dr. Weston A Price, done after he traveled the globe and discovered that many native peoples, eating a diet devoid of modern foods, had perfect teeth structure and little tooth decay. Their teeth were well spaced with plenty of room, and were white and healthy. Yet when they were switched to a standard western diet, they got tooth decay, bone loss and other health problems at the same rate the western culture. Call it a light bulb moment. Dr Price came back to the US and started his own scientific study to see if his hypothesis was correct.

They discovered in the study that tooth structure and health is largely determined by diet, especially by three main factors:
1. The presence of enough minerals in the diet.
2. The presence of enough fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K) in the diet.
3. How bio-available these nutrients are and how well the body is absorbing them. They found that this is largely influenced by the presence of Phytic Acid in the diet. Usually found in the form of whole grains, seeds, nuts, legumes, sugars and oils.

And that these three factors influenced the body’s ability to reverse cavities and oral health problems, and that if you could optimize these factors, you could prevent further damage and even reverse present damage. Yes, you read that right- HEAL the damage, without the need of modern dentistry.

And I know exactly what you're thinking- but my kid takes a multi-vitamin, so the first 2 things should not be an issue. Guess what? SO has  Miss Grace- no sugar, HEALTHY ones, without any additives. But the problem is the phytic acid, aka phytates- they can literally LEACH the minerals from the body, to help the body digest and get rid of the phytates. And when your body senses a high level of phytates and lower level of minerals, it goes into mineral-starvation mode. For kids that means calcium and phosphorus are NOT absorbed, leading to  poor bone growth, short stature, rickets, narrow jaws (which leads to teeth being improperly spaced) and tooth decay. It doesn't matter how much milk your kid is drinking, if they are eating way more of the phytates. It's a no-win situation. Are you seeing the connection to my dental visit with Miss Grace?

I paused and thought for a few minutes- when I had my hairline fracture, the ortho told me to EAT to heal it. No dieting while it was healing- but eat lots of veggies and meat, and take a mega vitamin that had all the required minerals in it, and make sure it had Vitamin A and D.  Huh....So to heal BONES (which your teeth basically are), he was telling me that they key points of the remineralizing diet were sound......okey dokey then....

I know from personal experience that homeopathic medicine and a change of diet can solve other problems, so why not this one?

We all know that big business has done horrid things to our food supply (GMOs anyone?) and that modern foods are full of preservatives and not good for us, so could dentistry and oral care be affected, as well?

Sometimes Occam's Razor truly is the right answer.

So we have embarked on a remineralizing diet to see what effect and affect it can have on Miss Grace's health, and teeth. I'll be sharing more about the changes we have made later this week (otherwise this post would be a novella). But in the meantime, if you are facing this issue in your own family, take heart, their might be a better solution than pulling teeth, for you. YOU will have to be the one to decide that.

I am not a dentist, nor a doctor, but I DO know research. I was trained in it and I know it. I am not saying all dentists are bad- what I am saying is that there is no ONE perfect solution for everyone, and sometimes stepping out of the prescibed box IS the answer.

More later!