Healing Teeth Naturally

Emmet's healthy smile!

Ok, this is a fun one…. Let’s talk about tooth decay. No parent ever wants to see their child’s teeth chipping away! Believe me, we didn’t. Our little guy was still nursing and had a pretty incredible diet, so to say I was surprised, would be an understatement.  Of course I immediately did a thorough inspection and he was missing chunks of tooth in three other spots! I don’t typically rush off to dentists and doctors, but we went to 5 dentists over the next two weeks, We found out that Emmet had “soft and weak enamel.” Basically, Emmet’s teeth had no protection and we were headed towards serious tooth decay. Four of the dentists said that we “HAD” to do dental surgery.

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Umm, no thanks.

So, I researched and researched and researched some more.  There are actually a ton of resources and help out there. Even though we’ve all been told that you need drilling and filling to stop and treat tooth decay, natural dentists and scientists have seen otherwise.  I learned that Dr Westin A. Price, the man who pioneered work in understanding tooth decay causes, did several studies showing that tooth decay can be reversed with diet.  I also read “Cure Tooth Decay” by Ramiel Nagel and I read everything that I could about healing diets including Traditional Chinese Medicine, Homeopathy, Essential Oils and anything else I could find about healthy teeth. Long story very short, we healed his tooth decay completely with no surgery!  

I need to add a quick note here about cause because this is important for long term success. Tooth decay is simply nutritional deficiency or physical degeneration.  To simplify further, we see tooth decay either when there is not sufficient nutrition in the diet (think starvation or very poor diet), or when we are not able to absorb nutrition properly (think chronic illness, food allergies, leaky gut, or inhibiting foods that contain phytic acid).  Either way the minerals and nutrition necessary to maintain strong healthy teeth and enamel are not there. In Emmet’s case, he had gotten lyme disease, developed a leaky gut, and was also eating foods that were inhibiting nutrient absorption.

Here’s what we did….Ok, the reality is that we did a lot of things.  All of which I think impacted our success, but I’m going to start with the things that I believe are the most important. The basics, as I’ll call them here.  I have seen these basics generally improve dental health and heal mild to moderate tooth decay. After the basics, I will share the “extras” including supplements, and toothpaste options that I would say are a necessity in serious acute cases.

Healing Tooth Decay Nutrition Basics:

-Bone stock, bone stock, bone stock.  Bone stock is a straight shot (literally) of minerals (calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and trace minerals) and contains collagen which aids in mineralization. Bone stock is also essential for healing the mucosal lining of the gut. If you don’t already use bone stock for general health, you should.  If you are a pescatarian, consider using fish stock.  Here is my bone stock recipe and Here is a Vegan "bone stock" recipe for vegans and vegetarians.

-Removing Grains from the diet including quinoa.  Grains are high in phytic acid (phytic acid binds to minerals making them not available to us, learn more HERE) and are relatively inflammatory depending on preparation. They also raise the pH in your body and take the place of other more nourishing foods.  When you move out of the critical acute phase of tooth decay, you can consider adding back grains that are prepared by soaking and sprouting.

-Consider removing legumes from the diet. If you're a vegetarian, and need legumes in your diet, be sure to properly prepare all legumes by sprouting and cooking well. This decreases the phytic acid and improves your absorption of minerals.  Choose legumes with lower phytic acid. 

-Soak and sprout your nuts and seeds. There are many great ways to use and prepare sprouted nuts. My favorite is to dry sprouted nuts on a low temperature. They're super crunchy, easy to digest, easy to absorb, and don't mess with your digestion!  Be sure that nuts and seeds are not too large a part of your diet.

-Add vitamin D3, vitamin K2, and fermented cod liver oil to your diet everyday.  We used Green Pasture fermented cod liver oil.  It’s a well know brand in the healing teeth naturally community. Remember that vitamins D3 and K2 are fat soluble, so you don’t want to over do it.  Consider giving the recommended dose until you see the tooth decay start to decrease. Don’t forget your other fat soluble vitamins A and E!

-Eat pastured animal products including eggs, meat and yes dairy.  We don’t eat dairy in our regular diet, but we added raw dairy to Emmet’s diet while we were healing his teeth. Because he doesn’t do great with dairy, I was sure to give him raw fermented or cultured dairy only. We also used Green Pasture butter oil to maximize the fats from the dairy and minimize dairy proteins like casein and whey.  If you are vegan, be sure to implement the other nutrition recommendations to minimize the effects of phytic acid.

Remove sugary foods (a little fruit is ok especially berries) and only consume small amounts (up to one TB a day) of raw honey or organic grade B maple syrup.  Sugar feeds oral bacteria and is highly acidic, decalcifying teeth. Avoid vitamins with sugar. Xylitol vitamins are great for kids and great for the teeth.

-Boost your other nutrition. Be sure to add a quality whole food vitamin and mineral supplement and add lots of leafy greens!  Add other healthy fats such as coconut, avocado and olive oil.

-Add a high quality probiotic or consider a probiotic for dental health.  Probiotics help to heal the gut, balance pH and replace other bacteria that disrupt gut and oral health.

-Add daily mineralizing herbs: This is the mineralizing herbal infusion that I use regularly. You can adjust it for age appropriateness. or for the right herbs for you.  It makes a difference quickly for teeth, bones, nails, and hair.  See below for additional herbal recommendations. These are the remineralizing herbal products from Bliss Energetics that I recommend regularly.

With these changes, you should see significant improvements in dental health for mild or moderate cases of tooth decay!

If you are in an acute situation like we were with Emmet, and like many others we know, consider adding the extras below.  I’m not going to lie, this part was extra work, but we felt that it was 100% worth it to avoid dental surgery and to reverse the nutritional deficiency!


Healing Tooth Decay Extras, Supplements, and Toothpaste:

-Use food grade bentonite clay or order tooth putty from Bliss Energetics. When we were going through our phase of healing teeth, there were no great products available.  Bliss Energetics makes amazing herbal remineralizing products for teeth and I recommend this putty all the time with amazing results. You can also just use bentonite clay. If you are using bentonite clay, mix a small amount with water every night and packed the clay into the areas that the enamel had chipped away.  Bentonite clay is loaded with minerals and helps restore a more alkaline pH in the mouth. We did this for about a month. Bentonite clay is great to have around the house for many other things as well! 

-Make your own toothpaste! We used coconut oil (antimicrobial), bentonite clay, xylitol and food grade orange essential oil.  We used this several times a day and rinsed well with water after eating if we didn’t brush.  If you don't want to make your own, Bliss Energetics also has an herbal mineralizing tooth butter that can be used as a concentrated toothpaste.  If you would like to make your own, try the below recipe.

• 4 Tablespoons coconut oil whipped or melted
• 2 Tablespoons bentonite clay
• 1/2 Teaspoon xylitol or more to taste
• 10-15 Drops of food grade orange essential oil
• Pinch of sea salt

-Use cell salts as a homeopathic remedy.  We gave a dose of cells salts every morning and evening away from food.  We used Calc Phos 6x, Calc Flour 6x, Magnesium Phos 6x, and Silicia 6x. These help to strengthen enamel, strengthen bones and connective tissue, and generally support mineral absorption. I prefer the Hylands Brand because they dissolve easily.

-Consider Oil Pulling for adults.  Unfortunately this just doesn't work for kids, but can really help adults and teens treat tooth decay.  Oil pulling helps remove bacteria from the mouth and support healthier teeth and gums. Learn more HERE.  Bliss Energetics also has herbal oil pulling blends that I recommend all the time.  If you have coconut oil, olive oil, or sesame oil on hand, you can start with that.

-Nutrition Extra: Remove ALL sweeteners, fruit, grains, legumes, nuts and seeds from the diet.  This is short term and for advanced, acute tooth decay.  If you need to turn things around quickly, this is necessary to shift your inner ecosystem, heal the gut, and maximize your absorption quickly.  This is the plan above on turbo. I recommend doing this for a short period of time (1-3 months) while you try to reverse the decay process, decrease overall inflammation, increase absorption, and shift into healing.

-Swish or drink small amounts of xylitol water.  This can be very helpful for young children to keep their mouth bacteria free.

-If you are nursing a child with tooth decay, consider eliminating or decreasing night nursing.  I am a firm believer that breastfeeding does not cause tooth decay.  However, breast milk or any other sugar containing food or drink can cause further decay when dental health is compromised and bacteria is present.  I decreased night nursing to one feeding and gave Emmet water during the day after nursing.
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That’s everything that we did and we are now decay free!  Emmet’s enamel filled in and is now rock hard. This really is possible and even though it may seem like a lot, I promise you will get into a groove with this and see improvement over time.  

Real healing takes time, patience and love! 
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If you think that you can't do this, you can!

If you need support, please don't hesitate to reach out.  I have been there.

​Happy healing!

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The content on the blog Journey to Wellness is for educational and informational purposes only, and is not intended as medical advice. I, the author of Journey to Wellness, am not a medical professional and the information contained on this blog should not be used to diagnose, treat or prevent any disease or health illness. Please consult with a qualified health care professional before acting on any information presented here. Any statements or claims about the possible health benefits conferred by any foods, supplements, essential oils, or lifestyle changes have not been evaluated by medical professional or the Food & Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. I, the author of Journey to Wellness will not accept responsibility for the actions or consequential results of any action taken by any reader.