It is very disturbing that most conventional dentists still insist that a cavity cannot heal on its own when proper nutritional support is provided and detrimental foods to oral health removed from the diet.
The very textbooks in dental school indicate that this is possible! Here is an excerpt:
“It has been shown experimentally and clinically that incipient caries [small cavities] of enamel can remineralize.” – Sturdevant’s Art & Science of Operative Dentistry 4th Edition, 2002.
Of course, Dr. Weston A. Price DDS, a prominent, well-respected dentist early in the last century who used to be President of the National Dental Association (1914-1928), the forerunner of the American Dental Association, wrote about cavities healing with diet on numerous occasions in his nutritional classic Nutrition and Physical Degeneration.
Why has this information been so completely buried and vilified in recent decades?
Perhaps it is the profit motive that keeps most dentists from acknowledging this truism of oral health. Why dentists might be concerned about their business evaporating if this information became widely acknowledged is short-sighted, however. I mean, even if dentists promoted to their patients that cavities heal and assisted them with the appropriate dietary intervention when necessary, there still would be plenty of drill and fill business for them from caries that did not resolve from diet alone due to food intolerances or genetic issues known to impact enamel formation.
Dentists that choose to insist that diet only impacts the formation of cavities, but not whether they heal are doing their clients a huge disservice.
The reason?
Cavities that have remineralized are actually more resistant to subsequent decay kind of like a callous on your hand. Again, a direct excerpt from dental textbooks on this very subject:
“These discolored, remineralized, arrested caries [cavities] areas are in-tact and are more resistant to subsequent caries [cavity] attack than the adjacent unaffected enamel. They should not be restored unless they are esthetically objectionable.” – Sturdevant’s Art & Science of Operative Dentistry 4th Edition, 2002.
Photographs of the Cavity Healing Process
From a consumer perspective, more and more parents are realizing the power of diet to arrest and heal cavities, and they are starting to photograph it to prove their case.
Kristin S., a mother in New York then consented to the use of her own series of photographs of her child’s cavities healing over a period of six weeks.
The discoloration and holes in the teeth were identified as actual cavities by the child’s own dentist prior to the healing diet being commenced.
The photos are taken at week 1, week 3, and week 6. This article overviews the specific dietary changes and the recipe for the natural toothpaste that Kristin used with her 3-year-old son.
As you can see below, the discoloration in these cavities remarkably disappears over a six week period and the holes in the enamel begin to fill in.
These results are impressive and very encouraging for those parents who keep their children’s teeth meticulously clean only to still experience tremendous problems with cavities.
Do you have a series of photographs of your child’s cavities healing? If so, please email them to me at [email protected]
Let’s keep the heat on the conventional dental establishment by sharing with each other our successes as parents in resolving our children’s cavities!
Need the whole story about diet healing cavities?
This book by Rami Nagel is a must-read on the subject: Cure Tooth Decay
Need a Dentist Who Understands Tooth Remineralization?
I get many requests about who I recommend as a truly holistic, biological dentist. If you are looking for one, I recommend Dr. Carlo Litano of Natural-Smiles.com – (727) 300-0044. He sees young children as well as adults and does phone consults for those who don’t liver close enough for an office visit. Be sure to tell Dr. Litano that Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist sent you and get 10% off your first visit!
References
The Disturbing Trend of Minimally Invasive Dentistry
How I Healed My Child’s Cavity
Toddler’s Severe Tooth Decay Halted in 5 Days
Resolving Periodontal Problems with Bone Broth
Coconut Oil Stops Strep Bacteria from Damaging Tooth Enamel
Avoiding Root Canals with Diet Alone
Could the Cause of Your Illness Be Right Under Your Nose?
There is a toothpaste that sells on amazon. That will Reminerlizes your teeth. There out of it, so I do not remember the name.
This toothpaste will fill in little cavies, and can stop gum deasese.
Google it.
You will have to stop eating junk, and STOP the sugar junk.
Sarah, When your child’s cavity was healed, did you use butter oil or ghee from grass fed? My daughter’s cavities look as if they have grown but I’m still sticking with the diet and supplements. She has one on each back molar and there is actually a hole in both. It has been over three months.
Are you following the Cure Tooth Decay diet? This is *imperative* in addition to the cod liver oil and butter oil.
I am a dental hygienist and see dozens and dozens of teeth/cavities and frankly that is not a cavity. It is staining on a molar. A proper cleaning can often eliminating staining. A proper diet may also help. But please dont say that diet healed that cavity because in my clinical opinion that is NOT a cavity.
Um, there are *holes* there! It is definitely a cavity my friend.
Teeth have natural pits and grooves in them. If you grind your teeth it will also cause small pits. A person can have pits in there teeth and it not be a cavity. This looks more like a small pit that has staining. If it is a cavity it would be soft or sticky. Looking at pic 6 it looks like the pit (or hole) is still there just not stained anymore. The dentist didn’t give you the cavity. Don’t act like he’s the enemy you got that all on your own. If you don’t want it filled then just don’t go.
Sarah…. that is completely incorrect. Enamel can OFTEN have small holes in it, called pits. They usually form as the enamel is forming, long before the tooth appears in the mouth. People who have dental fluorosis (caused by excessive amounts of fluoride as the enamel forms. MANY areas of the country have excessive amounts of fluoride NATURALLY in the water, not added. Parts of Colorado, SC, etc.)
Pits that are confined to enamel ARE NOT cavities. Even the article has the quote “incipient caries of the ENAMEL”. Which means it has not broached the enamel. Underneath enamel is dentin, far softer than enamel. If decay penetrates the enamel into the dentin ~ it can not be “healed”. The bacteria will spread rapidly thru the dentin and the decay grows rapidly. I am an endodontist, I see it everyday.
I am wondering if it needs to be fermented cod liver oil, or can it be the regular kind? I have the regular kind with the blend of FCLOButter oil coming in the mail. Wondering if I should start with the regular kind until I get the package. If it isn’t the same then I would rather return it and save some money for the much more expensive FCLO. I have multiple cavities right now and really want to work on healing them myself. Help and advice would be appreciated!
Hi Sarah, I’m glad you mentioned the book Cure Tooth Decay. I’m a big fan of that book and the principles within it. Thanks for helping spread this information because people just keep believing their doctors and dentists who many times are 20 years behind in the research!
We use a remineralizing tooth soap and my 3 yr old daughters black spots in the centers of her molars are disappearing. They are mostly gone now. When my husband was first getting his teeth when he was little his molars didn’t fuse together like they are supposed to and he had to have them filled. I’m thinking my daughter had the same problem and we fixed it on our own.
I had no idea this was possible.
I have read these articles every time that Sarah The Healthy Home Economists posts them. Very convincing but NOT once was there ever any mention of what this mysterious cavity healing diet ACTUALLY is!
– unless of course you buy the book!
Do you work for free ?
Its not a secret. All you have to do is google it. Sarah is not the author of the book. She actually gives that info in another post. Check yourself.
@ Krystal :: Life isn’t that difficult. When you brush your teath regularly and avoid sweet / candy and soft drinks, your teeth will stay in a good condition.. It’s the soury tast about 15 – 20 minutes after you ate something sweet that does the damage. When you eat sweets the best is to eat your sweets at once and brush shortly after that. When the acidity is absent (ph neutral) recovery starts and the damaged white enamel will be replaced with brown enamal. Brown enamel is just as though as the white enamel.