Ramiel Nagel in the book Cure Tooth Decay talks about many alternative dentistry approaches. Alternative medicine is becoming almost mainstream, but the idea of holistic/alternative dentistry is still something that most people have never heard of, or if they have heard of it, they’re often skeptical.
Both Cure Tooth Decay and Nutrition and Physical Degeneration implore their readers that holistic dental care is really the basis of having a healthy functioning body. Rather than thinking of the teeth as being separate and having their own issues, dental problems such as cavities, inflamed gums, crowded teeth, or loose permanent teeth are some of the first signs of an imbalance in the body that needs to be corrected.
Thankfully, many of the dietary approaches that we already know are healthy for us are also very good for our teeth. The following dietary changes and supplements are specifically recommended to reverse tooth decay and promote dental health.
1. Fermented Cod Liver Oil
We take this daily, there have been some times when we switched to lemon or berry-flavored cod liver oil, but for most of my kids’ lives they’ve taken fermented cod liver oil. Yes, I usually bribe them with dessert (fruit) or a homemade popsicle to take it, but it gets in there. I give my kids half a dropper full daily, and I take a full dropper full myself. Any is better than none, though, if you can only get your kids to take a little, that is okay too.
Fermented cod liver oil is important for dental health because it is high in easily-absorb-able vitamin A and D. Vitamin A and D are needed to produce ostaeocalcin- the protein that is needed to tell our bodies to send calcium and phosphorous into our bones. When reviewing studies about vitamins A and D, take care to determine whether the vitamins come from food sources (like cod live oil) or are synthetically made. Food sourced vitamins A and D are more readily absorbed by the body, we were designed to digest food, not stuff made in a lab.
In Cure Tooth Decay, Nagel States, “The most potent and easy way to consume the fat-soluble vitamins A and D together is cod liver oil. One teaspoonful of good cod liver oil has the vitamin A equivalent to 5-1/2 quarts of milk, or one pound of butter, or 9 eggs.” p 36
You can buy the kind of cod liver oil I buy (unflavored) here. I recommend going in with a friend and getting 6 at a time to qualify for the discount and free shipping. 
2. High Vitamin Butter Oil (Activator X/k2)
There are some common missunderstandings about high vitamin butter oil. This is not the same as ghee, even grassfed ghee, or butter. Also, vitamin K2 is not the same as vitamin K1 found in leafy green vegetables. K2 is found in animal products.
The high vitamin butter oil that Nagel and Price talk about is specifically from dairy products that are produced from animals feeding on rapidly growing green grass. It is characterized by the deep yellow-orange color and is thought to be produced from the plant steroids during the period of new growth, that are then converted in the animal’s body into activator x. My kids have no problem taking this high vitamin butter oil plain.
You can find high vitamin butter oil in concentrated amounts here.
3. A grain free, gluten free diet, or only grains properly soaked along with being sure to include many nutrient dense foods.
Grains (and beans and nuts) are recommended to be soaked and/or sprouted before consumption to reduce the phytic acid. Even better, they can be eliminated completely and replaced with nutrient dense foods with nutrients specifically needed for tooth repair. Eliminating gluten also eliminates inflammation in many people with mild sensitivities, which allows the body to function more efficiently in all areas, including tooth repair, in people who are sensitive to gluten.
What particular foods are good replacements for grains?
- Liver
- Seafood
- Meat
- Grassfed dairy, in people who are not sensative to it
- Bone broths
- Cooked vegetables, eaten with fat to increase mineral absorption
- Eggs from pastured hens
- Limited fruit as dessert
This is part of a series on natural dental alternatives. See the other parts here:
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Thanks for the break down. I have needed a refresher, and this was just the ticket.