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When I wrote the post about how to heal a cavity, I had no idea that the post would end up being circulated around dental forums where it became the target of ridicule and even anger from a number disbelieving dentists. The fact is that teeth can and do heal, even those in need of a root canal.
Whether or not conventional dentists choose to acknowledge it does not really matter. Holistic dentists know the truth! For example, Dr. Weston A. Price DDS documented many cases of cavities resolving when nutritional deficiencies were corrected in his book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration.
While I received many negative emails and comments from dentists (I also received a few positive emails from dentists, I might add), I was also delighted and amazed by stories from Moms just like me who had experiences very similar to my own…tooth problems resolving with nutrition or natural medicine alone!
One of the most interesting emails I received was from a homeopath named Kay, who lives in Australia, coincidentally right near where my husband was raised! Kay wrote me the following story which I thought so fascinating that it absolutely needed to be a guest post:
Homeopathy Instead of a Root Canal
Dear Sarah,
My sister who lives in Hong Kong sent me the link to your site after you wrote an article about butter oil and how it reversed tooth decay when taken along with cod liver oil.
I am a homeopath and teach workshops to parents on how to use natural medicine to raise healthy children, so I was fascinated by this piece of information and it prompted me to share another tooth story with you and your readers about how my son was saved from a root canal at the age of 14 years old by using natural medicine.
Jack had been playing golf with his brother over the school holidays and while hot tired and emotional ( a normal state of affairs for my son at the time), his golf club got stuck in the bag. So, with sheer brute force, he ripped it out of the bag straight into his mouth and broke off the bottom of his front tooth!
We went straight to the dentist who did tests and declared the root was dying and that he needed to do a root canal before the tooth discolored. I told him to remove his drill from my son’s mouth and said I would try and save the tooth with homeopathy. A not very happy dentist told me there was a time and place for homeopathy and this wasn’t it and if there was any remote chance I could save this tooth he would send me all his clients.
I took Jack home and gave him homeopathic Arnica for shock, trauma and bruising. Then, I used homeopathic hypericum, a great remedy every parent should know about as it repairs nerve damage. I gave it to Jack every few hours and then reduced it to 2 x day for the next week. In America I believe you can buy homeopathics in health food stores quite easily, so always have arnica and hypericum in your cupboard for “teeth” accidents.
Today Jack still has his original front tooth with a little cosmetic dentistry to build up the bottom half and the dentist still has not sent me one client!
Thanks for letting me share this story Sarah. Just knowing these small pieces of information can create such better health outcomes for our children and families.
Looking for a Holistic, Biological Dentist?
From Sarah …. 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. Be sure to tell Dr. Litano that The Healthy Home Economist sent you and get 10% off your first visit!
as English is not my first language, as I read your article “How I Healed My Child’s Cavity”, I’m not sure what you mean with “butter oil”. Is that ghee? Or something else?
Great info! I have an mercury filling that I’ve been waiting to get taken out because I’m still nursing my son. My biological dentist told me that it’s decaying and I need to get it out before I need a root canal. My son is 18 months and I’ve cut down to nursing him to about 4 times day and night. I hadn’t planned to cut him off until he was 2 but now I’m nervous about my tooth. I am taking butter oil and cod liver oil again and eat no sugar, gluten and eat extremely healthy based on Sally Fallons recipes and Weston A Price. Hopefully my diet will help?!!
I SO wish I’d known about this a few years ago. While we follow a WAPF diet, and do take the CLO/BO combo, it wasn’t enough to “save” my then-8 year old from a root canal. (Or, I guess, I should say that *I* wasn’t enough – I watched the guy, who was supposed to be doing an “evaluation”, sticking the needle into my son’s mouth and literally couldn’t open my mouth to tell him to stop before it was too late).
My son is now 11, and it’s his top front tooth (broke off at the gum-line by a badly aimed disc swing). We were able to wait 6 months before the ill-fated “evaluation” by the oral surgeon. We went in for said “evaluation” because despite the dentist doing a coating to minimize the nerve exposure and doing all we could to help the tooth heal, my son started having shooting pain in that area (no swelling, no heat, no fever, no outward symptoms of infection). I’d give ANYTHING to be able to go back to that day and be the lunatic mom who yells at the doctor and drags her half-numbed child out of the office, threatening to sue! Instead I meekly stumbled to the waiting room in shock so the doctor could permanently alter my son’s health without mom watching.
So, next, Sarah, I need to know what to do with an already-root-canal-treated tooth? If it were *any* tooth besides the very front, I’d probably just pull it and to heck with a perfect mouth full of perfectly straight teeth. My feeling is the root-canal-treated tooth needs to come out ASAP (preferably by a holistic/biological dentist), but then what? Can that be the next article? (or if anyone knows, please chime in here!)
Hi Jennifer, my husband was in a car wreck at age 8 and 3 of his 4 front teeth were knocked out. He had root canals in them and this was the start of his downward spiral in health that only began to be reversed when he began to eat Real Food (that includes LOTS of raw saturated fats from grassfed animals) AND he had those nasty root canals out in his 30’s. He says he feels better now at age 45 than he did at 16. Those root canals are devastating to health. When he had them out, the oral surgeon said that there were absesses way up in there that had been pouring pus into his bloodstream 24/7 for over 20 years! Nice that all those dentists he went to all those years said NOTHING about it.
If it were my son, I would have that root canal out immediately and get a fake tooth put in with a titanium bolt or whatever they call it to hold it in there. I don’t like bridges because they have to destroy the teeth on either side to fit the bridge on. Make sure you see a holistic dentist who uses materials that he tests to see are compatible with your son’s physiology.
I’m only a recent whole-food-eater, and so thankful that I’ll be saving my kids the health and dental issues I’ve had.
In college my diet was really, really poor. I ended up with 11 cavities (filled with mercury,) 3 root canals, and a titanium implant.
I am more than willing to save up for the implants to replace the root canals. My question: if I have the mercury fillings removed, how much can a tooth heal? Some of the teeth had more than one cavity, so they are more filling than tooth (above the gums.)
Hi Tammy, if the tooth was drilled out, not sure it can heal much at all. Drilling for mercury fillings is more damaging than the drilling for composite fillings from what I understand. You will have to have the mercury fillings replaced with composite fillings.
Sarah, I did not know you can have root canals removed! I am a little unsure about what a root canal “is” although I do know about the health risks in getting one. For some reason I though it was a digging and removal of some sorts, which invites infection. However, I did not know it can be removed/reversed and my husband has two from a fall when he was younger. We go to a dentist who is very holistic and I am going to inquire about this! Thank you!
Clarification regarding Nikole’s comment: Tammy wasn’t referring to ‘removing’ or ‘reversing’ ‘root canals’, but rather extracting the tooth that had a root canal performed on it, and getting an implant in place of the extracted tooth.
A root canal is a procedure where a dentist (sometimes a general dentist will handle less-difficult root canals, others are referred to a root canal specialist called an endodontist) drills all the way through the biting surface of the tooth, down to the ‘pulp’ tissue/nerves inside the tooth and its roots, and then removes all of that pulp with tiny files, and re-fills the pulp space with an inert material. The tooth is then supposed to be covered with a crown to prevent crud from seeping in and protect the remaining tooth structure.
An implant is a metal post installed into the jawbone (in the empty space where a tooth has been extracted), with a lab-molded false tooth installed on the protruding end of the post. It is an expensive lengthy procedure, but the end results are considered superior in functionality and longevity to bridges or partial dentures.
Did your husband have false teeth installed with the titanium bolts? I have 2 root canals that I am wondering about.
i think “Nutrition and Physical Degeneration” by Dr. Price should be required reading for every adult in America. And i can attest firsthand to the power of food to heal. Once i changed my diet, my health problems went away, which included metabolic syndrome, depression, peridontal disease, frequent colds, to name a few. and it cured my daughter’s thyroid condition. bottom line – cod liver oil, raw milk, healthy fats, and REAL food.
Hi Sarah,
This is actually way off the topic, but can I use coconut vinegar in place of apple cider vinegar for making bone broth?
Thanks!
Sure. It’s all about adding an acidic medium to draw minerals out of the bones. Should work fine. I’ve not tasted coconut vinegar though so not sure how it would affect the taste.
I think it would affect the taste because coconut vinegar is absolutely discusting! I just forgot to purchase raw apple cider vinegar from the store yesterday and need to make some stock right away since I’m out of it.
It’s immediately below this … and has 4 comments …
No mainstream Dr will condone anything alternative as this would mean that they will no longer have employment. But saying that, it really is sad…it keeps the corporate side of things fat and healthy and does not allow for real healing!
I disagree that they would no longer have employment. If they started implementing these ideas in their practices it could still be part of their business. There would still be people who need to have exams/cleanings/emergencys/etc. it could be part of the normal dental practice =)
Hi Tiffany, I’ve checked my wall and all the questions have been answered .. I don’t see one from you?
Yes, indeed a wonderful story. Of course doctors will never agree home remedies, otherwise they would be out of jobs. They have to go by the books and tend to not look beyond that. My previous dentist told me I needed a root canal, got one, then a couple of months after I needed another one but on a different tooth. It would’ve been nice to tell me beforehand. I stopped believing them. I love stories like yours!
Love to get started on your plan… Please see my question on your Wall, and the other folks who’ve left comments as well! 🙂