My friends and I are going through a healthcare crises with our children. Their teeth are rotting out of their mouths at a rapid rate. Even though we don't bottle feed and are kids aren't consuming refined sugars - still their teeth are rotting. We've all been trying to get to the bottom of this and discover natural tooth care.
Here's some classic Mother, Lover Goddess along with some updates
My Son's Absess - Orginally Posted June 1, 2006
My son has teeth issues - to put it mildly. I have brushed his teeth twice a day since he got teeth, but despite that and the fact that eats about zero sugar - he has massive cavities. Cavaties that ruin his smile. Nearly half his teeth has some size cavity.
Since I don't want to take the risk and trauma of putting him under, I don't want to risk over flouridosis (which has killed children), and since I don't want to fill his teeth with mentally damaging mecury I have chosen to try and handle his cavities in the most natural way that I can. This isn't easy since even the most hard core natural living folks will usually go to a dentist to get a cavity filled.
I have researched as much as I can over the past year or so and this is what I have come up with. My best anti-cavity research. First, of course, is prevention. Be sure to brush their teeth every day, after every meal if possible. Before they nurse to sleep at night be sure to brush their teeth fully so that the milk doesn't activate food already in their mouth (which seems to be the reason for 'bottle rot' teeth in breast fed babies - it's the food and milk together, not the breast milk). Be sure that startchy breads and sweet fruits or candy are not left on childrens teeth. Brush as soon as you can after these sorts of foods.
Even with the most prevention you can still have cavities. Many things can cause this. Having a fever while pregnant (like I did) or a family history of poor teeth health or conditions such as enamel hypoplasia can still cause cavities. The best thing to do is again, try to prevent them with these messures as well and of course follow these steps at the first sign of plaque or brown spots.
Use a natural tooth paste. I like ayeurvedic herbal pastes. Brush your childs teeth with a electric tooth brush, throughly. Then one time per day, usually best at night, after they have rinsed their mouths out from the tooth paste, give them a dose of alfalfa tincture and a dose of horsetail tincture. Then dip the wet tooth brush into a mix of 3/4 golden seal and 1/4 murh powder. The rebrush your childs teeth and then let those herbs sit. No need to rinse again.
This process can slow down the cavtities. The goal is this to either a) stop the cavity altogether b) to slow it's growth until your child loses that tooth naturally or c) to slow it's growth until your child is bigger and can more easily undergo routine dentistry proceedures.
It took me a while to get all this information together and so my son's teeth are already pretty bad. The other day he said one of his teeth hurt. When I examined the tooth it seemed to have an abssess forming. So these are the steps I took and it seems to have worked because the absess is gone. I started putting his tinctures directly on the absess, and scrubbed it several times a day directly with goldenseal (Nykki was very brave), I also rinsed his mouth several times a day with sea salt water.
I can't say for sure that it was an absess, but it is gone now and he says it no longer hurts. So whatever funky thing was trying to go down, I stopped it!
Some other more conventional options are getting your childs teeth sealed - which is basically mealted plastic and can be used for cavity prevention if you have a high risk child. It's not great but it's better then mecury drilling later and it's an option I might consider with my second child if he or she seems to have inherited their brother's teeth issues.
Original Comment
Cathy said...
I just wanted to share... my oldest son has a similar problem. His teeth cut through rotten and crumbling. I discovered a little known link between tooth rot and gluten. Since removing all gluten from my son's diet, his teeth have stopped crumbling. To clean I use a brush with water and a very weak H2O2 as a mouth rinse. With fresh raw veggies added to that regimine, his teeth have started to become white and regrow... and although he is just about to turn 6 yo, he already has several "adult" teeth, that have come in beautifully! We made these changes when he was 3.5 yo. I hope i have offered something that will help you and others!
From the BBC
Probiotics in teeth care
'Friendly bacteria' gum for teeth
Bacteria cause tooth decay
Scientists have developed a chewing gum containing friendly bacteria which they say can help prevent tooth decay.
The good bugs in the gum prevent other harmful mouth bacteria from sticking to and attacking the teeth.
Toothpastes and mouthwashes containing Lactobacillus anti-caries are also in the pipeline, German chemical company BASF told Chemistry and Industry.
Friendly bacteria, normally found in live yoghurt, are already purported to be good for treating bowel conditions.
Probiotics
Another potential use of Lactobacillus include the prevention of body odour. BASF are looking to produce a deodorant which can stop the odour-producing bacteria in the armpit.
The bacterium responsible for dental cavities, Streptococcus mutans, persistently colonises the surface of the teeth, where it converts sugar into aggressive acids that breaks down the enamel.
These new products will not remove the need to brush your teeth
Dr Gordon Watkins of the British Dental Association
L. anti-caries reduces the concentration of this harmful bacterium in the mouth making S. mutans clump together, preventing them from adhering to the teeth.
The BASF scientists say the gum has been tested on large numbers of people and has the ability to significantly reduce bacterial levels.
Dr Andreas Reindl of BASF said: "The effectiveness has been demonstrated and the first oral hygiene products containing probiotic lactobacilli are scheduled to appear in 2007."
'Keep brushing'
Dentists advise that the best way to keep your teeth in good condition is to ensure that you clean them regularly to get rid of any plaque build up.
It is also important to have a regular check up at the dentist - most suggest once every six months to a year.
Dr Gordon Watkins, a member of the British Dental Association's health and science committee, cautioned: "These new products will not remove the need to brush your teeth as their action is targeted against just one bacterium.
"It's not a substitute for brushing the teeth, because this removes the plaque that contains a whole range of bacteria that causes gum disease and bad breath.
"The best way to minimise tooth decay is to reduce consumption of sugars; strengthen the teeth through the use of fluoride; and brush teeth to remove dental plaque."
The World Health Organization estimates that 5 billion people world-wide suffer from tooth decay.
