Tooth Decay

The strongest part of our body structure is our bones. The strongest bones are our teeth. How can they decay? We must look at the enamel, dentine and root of the tooth as well as the bone they rest in for some answers.

Scientists have already searched very hard and long for answers. But their work is hampered by commercial interests that try to shape the results. Since commerce determines which research can be done (that is, paid for) sacred territory can be ignored. For example, the effects of sugar-eating, gum-chewing, tooth brushing, fluoridation, tooth filling materials and diet can be ignored if it interferes with product sales. Trivial studies such as comparing shapes of toothbrushes, studying the chemical composition of plaque, and studies of bacterial structure and genes are done instead. Studies "at the molecular level" do not threaten existing industries.

Important research has lapsed since the 40's and 50's. Perspective on tooth health was sound and clear in the mind of Dr. Weston Price in the 1930's. His scientific studies stand as a beacon even today because truths, once found, do not change. He traveled the world over in search of good teeth. Anywhere and anytime he found them, he described the people who had them. This is excellent science. It lets you draw the conclusions. He described what he saw in a book, titled Nutrition and Physical Degeneration. They came to these conclusions from the following observable facts:

1. Skulls of primitive peoples who lived along coastlines, such as Peruvians, Scandinavians and various islanders, and whose staple foods included fish daily, showed perfect teeth; not a single cavity in a lifetime. They had strong bones that didn't break even once in a lifetime of 45 years. Skeletal structure was fully developed, meaning the jaw bone was not undershot or cheek bones squeezed together, forcing the teeth to grow into a smaller than ideal space. Consequently, there was room for the wisdom teeth, and no need to crowd the remainder. They saw no crooked teeth or unerupted wisdom teeth. The authors estimated a daily consumption of 4 to 5 grams of calcium in their fish containing diet.

Our daily consumption of less than 1 gram calcium daily is small by comparison. Our wisdom teeth erupt poorly, our other teeth are often crooked. But today bad teeth go shamefully unheeded because we don't need to chew our food, we can lap it (ice cream) or suck it, or gum it (applesauce).

2. These primitive peoples got all the calcium, magnesium, phosphate, boron and other bone builders they needed simply from eating (fish) bones. Mexican peoples got 4 to 6 grams of calcium a day from stone-grinding of corn for their staple, tortillas, instead of from fish.

Where do we get our calcium? Milk is our only supply. One quart supplies one gram. There is little excuse for a carnivorous society like ours to regularly throw away the bones of its food animals in view of our dire shortage. It leaves us dependent on milk alone. Milk has so many disadvantages. It is impossible to milk a cow by machine and not get a few manure bacteria, Salmonellas and Shigellas, into the milk. These bacteria are not completely killed by pasteurization the way more susceptible bacteria are. It takes boiling temperature to kill all of them. Why isn't milk sterilized? Water was sterilized for human consumption in distant decades. Chlorination of water is not ideal but it did sterilize the water. Milk could be sterilized by boiling or flash-heating.

Milk has other disadvantages: dozens of antibiotics, both by feed and by shot, bovine growth hormone, chemicals added in milk processing, the bad effects of homogenization, and allergy to milk. Yet, in a choice between milk drinking and bone loss, one must choose the milk. This would not be necessary if bones were properly salvaged-ground to powder and added back to the meat where it belongs-to offset the acidifying effect of the phosphate in meat. One gram of calcium is not much bone (½ tsp.) but it requires a whole quart of milk. Bone powder added back to ground meat, soups, stews could greatly improve our tooth decay problem, bone density problem, and skeletal growth problems.

Softened teeth set the stage for decay; bacteria do the dirty work.

Zapping bacteria does not kill them all. The NEOClark current does not reach into abscesses under metal filled teeth or around root canals. Staphylococcus aureus, which we are constantly stuffing in our mouths as we lick our fingers, finds an immediate hiding place in a crevice where it can't be zapped. Many other bacteria hide here, too: those that cause ear ache, sore throats, bronchitis, stiff knees, joint disease. You can try zapping all the Clostridia, Streps and tooth decay or plaque bacteria. But the only way to successfully eliminate them is to pry them out of hiding and wash them away. This is a job for the dentist (see Dental Cleanup ).

Strep. mutans is considered to be the bacterium that causes tooth cavities. I have found it in milk, evidently another pasteurization escapee. All the more reason to sterilize dairy products.

Frannie LaSalle, 52, was getting compression fractures in her spine, but the weak bone condition was evident in her mouth (many teeth were loose-they could be jiggled!). Her gums were red and inflamed. A low thyroid condition (she needed 2½ grains a day of thyroid-in one day the normal body goes through 5 grains of thyroid products) contributed to this. Her blood phosphate level was high (4.7 mg/DL-should be below 4.0) and her alkaline phosphatase was 205, also high, showing she was dissolving her bones (including tooth sockets) at a rapid pace. Her whole system was too acid, as could be seen in elevated CO2 levels (28, when 23-30 is normal).

Only the major minerals, sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium can have an impact on this major disturbance. The dentist said she had to have all her teeth pulled and replaced with dentures. Her kidneys showed all three types of calcium phosphate crystals. She drank no milk. She had only three weeks before her oral surgery appointment. She was started on ½ cup 2% milk, 6 times a day plus 50,000 units of vitamin D (a prescription dose) to make sure she absorbed all the calcium. She also took magnesium oxide (300 mg. once a day) and vitamin B6 500 mg (one a day).

She was started on the kidney cleanse to help activate the vitamin D and to help the adrenal glands make estrogen. Her estrogen level (5.2 pg/ml) was too low to get the calcium deposited back into her bones. She was also given licorice herb for their estrogen-like action to help with this and vitamin C, 1 gram (1,000 mg) 2 to 3 a day.

Her mouth care was to be as follows: potassium iodide (white iodine, made up by dissolving 88 gm potassium iodide in one liter/quart water). Purchase a new very soft toothbrush. Use no toothpaste or store bought floss. Use 2 lb. or 4 lb. (the 4 lb. is coarser) fish line (rinse first). Brush twice a day; floss only once at bedtime before brushing. Use 6 drops of food grade hydrogen peroxide for daytime brushing. Use 6 drops of potassium iodide for nighttime brushing. Use no mouthwash, chewing gum, candy. In three weeks her teeth could not be jiggled. Her dentist was astonished (but was not interested in how she achieved this). In six weeks her mouth looked normal and she could chew some foods. Her vitamin D was tapered as follows: Take 6 a week for the first week (miss one day). Take 5 a week for the second week (miss two days). Take 4 a week for the third week. Then 2 a week indefinitely. She never lost a tooth.