Demand for specific cosmetic surgery procedures is typically associated with trends in fashion and beauty rather than health and wellness. In the case of the hot, new trend toward gap teeth, however, health and wellness seem to be taking center stage.
In recent months, dentists in London have experienced a curious rise in patient requests for gaps between their front teeth. Artificial creation of a gap is performed by sanding down the two front teeth to make them smaller. UK dentists are fielding an increased number of requests not only to create a gap where none existed before but also a rise in patients with natural gaps who refuse to have them “repaired” with the use of braces.
Dr. Abbas Tejani of the Yaletown Cosmetic and Laser Dentistry Clinic in London explains that beauty is all about symmetry and a “neat gap” in the middle of the teeth plays into this concept well.
Beauty indeed! Health is all about symmetry as well!
The Link Between Dental Health and Beauty
In the early 1930’s, Dr. Weston A. Price DDS began a ten year journey around the world to study indigenous cultures untouched by the ravages of modern civilization. What he found were people of incredible natural beauty and health that displayed perfect teeth virtually untouched by decay. The people of these cultures exhibited fine physiques, resistance to disease and fine characters to match their physical beauty.
Upon studying the foods of these Traditional Cultures, Dr. Price discovered their diets to be extremely high in the fat soluble vitamins A, D, and the mysterious Activator X, now known to be vitamin K2.
When babies receive enough of these fat soluble activators during gestation (only found in animal foods, by the way), the result is a wide dental arch, palate, and jaw that permits plenty of room for all emerging teeth – even a natural gap between the two front teeth on occasion!
Even more startling, Dr. Price’s research determined that Traditional Cultures consumed fat soluble vitamins at a rate at least TEN times higher than the American diet of his day. In the current age of fat phobia, consumption of these fat soluble vitamins via butter, cream, eggs yolks and grassfed meat would be drastically lower than even the 1930’s which explains why almost all children nowadays require some sort of orthodontic intervention. Only a few generations ago, few children required such treatment.
Sufficient fat soluble vitamin intake by the Mother prenatally also results in the physical symmetry that is referred to by Dr. Tajini as the basis for the human perception of beauty. Vitamin A, in particular, contributes significantly to symmetrical, and hence beautiful, development of a person’s exterior by buffering the asymmetrical cues during the early stages of development. Cleft palate, eye deformities and other physical defects are associated with low intake of true vitamin A prenatally.
This hot, new trend of gappy teeth in London likely precedes the same fad in the United States. Fashion and beauty trends typically start in Europe and then land in New York and Los Angeles before filtering out to the rest of the country.
Perhaps the emergence of gap teeth as a popular fashion “must have” is indicative of the instinctive, human preference for the manifestation of natural beauty and health. Certainly, a person with a natural gap between the front teeth would externalize this in a way not widely seen since the days of Dr. Price’s travels and the rise of processed foods in the American diet.
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Sources: Entertainment News Australia
Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
This article is so funny! I have a natural gap between my two front teeth and I want braces so bad! I long to have straight teeth perfectly spaced. LOL! I can't believe this is a cosmetic trend now!
I should also add that my own wisdom teeth were removed at age 19. I am hoping this degeneration can be reversed with my own children who will hopefully have a wide enough jaw to accommodate their wisdom teeth due to my high intake of natural, food based animal foods full of vitamins A/D/K during pregnancy and lactation as well as their young growing years, BUT it does take 2 full generations to reverse degeneration, so it may be my grandchildren who will once again have the wide smiles that accommodate all their teeth.
Hi Martha, YES! Nutritional deficiency is the reason for crowded, crooked teeth and a jaw not large enough for wisdom teeth. I had an orthodontist once say to me that the reason people were having to get their wisdom teeth out so much in the past 50 years or so was because they were being "selected out" of the human gene pool. It was all I could do to not fall on the floor laughing at such a ridiculous statement! It's not genes that are causing this, it is poor diet which has gotten increasingly worse since WWII.
Do you suppose it is because of poor nutrition in our society that so many people have their wisdom teeth taken out? I know a number of people (around the age of 20) who have their wisdom teeth taken out because their mouths are too crowded.
Elizabeth .. good point. The carotenes in plant foods can be converted to true vitamin A but one's digestion needs to be in peak form to do so. Even then, the conversion rate is quite low (10% if I remember correctly?). Also, the B12 in fermented soy and seaweed is not the true B12 found in animal foods. It's actually B12 analogs that block the uptake of true B12 in animal foods.
Agreed, Sarah and Elizabeth. But, did Price know that the K2 in natto was different? I don't think he even mentions soy foods in his book. It was a long time ago that I read it, so I may be wrong.
But the statement in the post just said K2 and said these were only available in animal foods. It's true you need to be in good health to synthesize vitamins properly, but that wasn't stated here.
I like the Real Food Media posts. We eat real food, but we only eat fish – no other meat, dairy or eggs (expect for my 3 year old-he eats limited organic dairy and eggs) and I am searching out the truth of what is best for my family.
Thanks for the info on MK7 and MK4. I'll read more on it.
It's also important to keep in mind that while it's technically possible to get fat soluble vitamins from plant foods, this doesn't always happen because very good health is required in order to do so. If digestion or metabolic health is out of whack, the body may not be synthesizing nutrients as you describe, Pure Mothers. At that point the fat soluble vitamins in animal foods can be critical for correcting deficiencies because they are more easily utilized.
Just got an email from Chris Masterjohn, researcher and vitamin K expert. He says the K2 in natto is MK-7 and the K2 in animal foods is MK-4. If you ferment animal foods (like cheese), then they would contain MK-4 and MK-7.
Hi Pure Mothers, yes – K2 is in natto but from my readings of Chris Masterjohn's research on the subject, the K2 in natto is different from the K2 in butter and other animal foods.
I am glad people are finding the gap attractive. I want to send this article to my niece who has a beautiful Lauren Bacall gap. 🙂
But, in your post I found that this statement is misleading:
"…fat soluble vitamins A, D, and the mysterious Activator X, now known to be vitamin K2."….
"When babies receive enough of these fat soluble activators during gestation (only found in animal foods, by the way).."
Bacillus subtilis is a soil organism used to make Natto- a source of K2. The best form of vitamin D is from the sun and beta carotene (precursor to vitamin A) is found in plants. The only reason animal foods provide us with vitamin A is that the animals ate plants and synthesized the beta carotene into vitamin A, just as our bodies do. Our bodies are meant to synthesize it and are supplied with the proper enzyme to do so.
So each one of the important fat soluble vitamins and K2 that Price found important to good dental arches, etc. are not only found in animal foods. So, I find your statement misleading to people who may not know much about nutrition.