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The compelling article written by Dr. Judene Smith DDS about minimally invasive dentistry and how it ignores strong scientific evidence about how cavities heal really brought out the drill-happy dentists in droves! It seems they are unaware of the study published in 2019 in the peer-reviewed journal Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology that demonstrated over a 7 year period that no drill dentistry works.
As anecdotal evidence to the emerging scientific consensus on the matter, I am presenting a series of photographs sent to me by Rami Nagel, author of the paradigm-shattering book Cure Tooth Decay.
*Another photographed case of resolving cavities is found in this article more pictures of remineralizing caries.
The photos are of an 18-month-old child from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Rikki, the boy’s mother, took these photos as her son’s cavities remineralized over a period of 8 weeks after commencing a dietary program that included supplementing with unprocessed cod liver oil and high vitamin butter oil.  It is important to note that regular cod liver oil found in health food stores will not produce the same spectacular results you see in these photos. Why? These are processed and fortified with synthetic vitamins that are not effective.
The sad truth is that when a parent brings in a child with significant tooth decay, toxic, IQ lowering fluoride treatments, drilling/filling or even crowns and root canals are recommended on baby teeth!  These treatments which can be incredibly expensive are not necessary as in a majority of cases, children’s teeth will quickly remineralize with dietary intervention. Adult teeth with cavities will heal in a similar fashion as long as they have never been drilled or compromised by dental treatments in the past.
What Did This Child Eat That Caused These Cavities?
Possibly the most shocking thing about this story is that this toddler was not eating a junk food diet when these cavities formed. Â He was still breastfeeding and eating an all-organic diet. His favorite foods consisted of graham crackers and flaxseed bread. Â He also was fond of organic granola bars which he ate regularly.
The problem with store-bought whole grain products is that they are high in antinutrients like phytic acid that block mineral absorption. These foods are not a good choice for regular consumption by growing children.
Rikki’s son also ate fruits and vegetables and organic eggs although his mother avoided butter and milk thinking they were bad for him. After reading Cure Tooth Decay, she realized that butter and milk from grass-fed cows are very healing and strengthening for teeth and bones. Grass-fed dairy also counteracts some (but not all) of the negative effects of the toxins and anti-nutrients in processed grain products from the store.
Foods That Healed this Child’s Teeth
Rikki implemented 4 major changes to her son’s diet in order to achieve the results you see below.
- She cut out grains and sugars. This reduced the mineral depletion from the commercial grains and sugar.
- She started giving him Green Pasture’s Royal Blend (a combination product of high vitamin cod liver oil and butter oil) which gave her son the needed fat-soluble vitamins to remineralize his teeth.
- Her son now gets unpasteurized dairy regularly including real raw milk cheese and fermented vegetables like pickles.
- Their family uses butter liberally, and Rikki makes homemade broth and soups from pasture-raised chicken.
Unfortunately, the earliest picture is of the teeth after 1 week on the new dietary protocol described in Cure Tooth Decay.  There wasn’t a control picture available of what the cavities looked like before any changes were made. Even still, the visual healing that takes place is compelling and should give every parent hope that cavity problems can be dealt with at home with simple dietary changes in the majority of cases.
Will these dietary interventions be easy? Most definitely not if a conventional diet is being followed. For those already eating a whole foods-based diet in their home, the changes are much easier to accomplish. Far and away the most difficult change to implement for cavity-prone children especially if they attend school is eliminating processed grain-based foods.
*These photographs were used with Mr. Nagel’s permission (source).
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Need a Biological Dentist?
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 live close enough for an office visit. Be sure to tell Dr. Litano that The Healthy Home Economist sent you and get 10% off your first visit!
More Information
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?
Sorry to burst any bubbles but I’m not buying this at all. The photo’s are poor and suspect to say the least . There is NO PROOF shown here.
Please tell me how the decay on the lateral is “allegedly” cured but the decalcififation on the central incisor remains unaffected. After all, it’s merely an earlier stage of the decay process.
Please folks. Start cleaning your child’s teeth as soon as they pop into their head. Especially prior to putting them to bed and give them NOTHING BUT WATER at night and dont be mislead into thinking that “organic” products wont cause decay.
Be very cautious about new claims/theories. There is usually someone behind it trying to make a buck
These kinds of recommendations are based on the masterful work of Dr. Weston A. Price. Please read his masterpiece of a book, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration before dismissing this way of healing. Ramiel Nagel’s book is an excellent resource as well. I used to have a cavity that remineralized through doing a similar approach. It also helped heal serious illness. Traditional wisdom is the best way to go and Food used as medicine properly is AMAZING. Doubters always think it is too good to be true…Also, no one is suggesting to stop doing proper oral care (brushing, flossing, etc.), but that alone will do nothing to heal or even prevent cavities.
Oh and I forgot to mention this is not based on new information! This is based on ancient indigenous wisdom, which you would know if you had read his book.
PH- level in the mouth changes negativ by for example sugar, what demineralizing.
Totally agree!
Sugar free diet ISN’T a calorie free diet. The caloric content of a food, regardless of whether its from the most organic item out there OR the most processed item out there, as it goes through the natural digestive process is what fuels the bacterial acid production. Frankly this is why when I talk tooth decay with my patients I no longer say things like “sugar containing” or “sugary foods/ drinks” but just simply CALORIE containing foods and drinks.
As for the sedation issue. Well frankly for the vast majority of children, regardless of their age, with modern technology in restorative techniques and anesthesia, sedation is very rarely needed. It’s all about if and how one chooses to implement modern, science driven technology into ones office. A hard tissue dental laser can easily and painless quickly remove grossly decayed tooth structure and have some remineralization effects on slightly decayed tooth structure to painlessly, without any sedation eliminate all decay and not leave a chronic, latent infection (since that’s all that arrested decay that has spread through the tooth’s enamel really is). I know in my own kids, no infection in their teeth vs. a latent infection is far more appealing. Then again with 4 years of doctoral level training specifically in dental medicine, 2 years post post graduate dental training, and 15 years of private practice experience diagnosing, treating, reassessing various treatment modalities and making changes to them based on science, technological and materials advances and seeing first hand in literally 1000’s of teeth in 1000’s of children’s mouths over that time, what do I know??
Good point, what do you know? As in how much testing have you done to support or disprove this article? I am looking for a way to improve my teeth and am interested in what can be done. At age 65 I am developing cavities and all the “old school” Docs want to drill for gold (theirs). I am not in favor of spending thousands to save a tooth for 5 or 6 years with a root canal. What are some of your alternative cost effective methods?
Susan West – it’s simple. I know my kids didn’t come with an “owners manual” and I’m pretty sure that’s not an analomy. If I want to know something about them health wise, I seek out an “expert” (pediatrician, pediatric specialist, etc) who has years of evidence based science involved in their training and knowledge base. Just like when something isn’t working properly with my car, I seek out a certified mechanic who has extensive training in how my car works
Dental decay in kids is a touchy subject with parents often since it IS in 99.9% of the time (a few very rare genetic disease situations excluded) attributable to what diet a parent allows their child to have (dental caries {the clinical name for decay} is all about the triad of diet + bacteria + time that I previously mentioned). Parents all too often, even after the decay triad is explained in easy to understand terminology, will reply to myself, or my hygienists with something akin to “my child must have soft teeth” which along with the other lay public’s that wisdom teeth errupting cause crowding of front teeth are the 2 biggest dental fallacies out there. This overall is a societal problem where almost nothing “bad” that happens is a result of one’s own doing.
If your child truly has a cavitated lesion, unless it is in a tooth that should naturally exfoliate within a few months, you are realistically risking a situation that can occur in the developing permanent tooth below the baby tooth called “turner’s tooth” which adversely affects the developing enamel of the permanent tooth, a tooth that realistically in this day and age short of unforseen dental trauma, be in your child’s mouth for their lifetime.
Dental decay, when explained properly IS a simple process, and is simple to prevent with diet awareness, proper oral hygiene and often some simple basic preventative dental awareness. If folks in my profession either don’t explain this or capitulate to parents often insistence on the notion that its not of their doing, then we are at fault
The problem with evidence-based medicine is that it’s inherently biased based on cost. RCT’s and observational studies cost a lot of money – if a product doesn’t have the possibility of profit, people have no real incentive to do the studies to prove it is effective. So, while evidence-based medicine is great where it exists, natural remedies shouldn’t be discounted simply because there is a lack of evidence for their use – only if they are harmful or proven ineffective.
My dentist has noticed a similar phenomenon in my dental health. I am a healthy 40+ woman. I started following many of the recommendations of the WAPF over a year or so ago: bone broths, soaked/sprouted grains, sourdough bread, unpasteurized dairy products, grass-fed meats, and no sugar. At a dental checkup almost a year ago, my dentist noticed a small cavity that she said seemed to be remineralizing, so she left it alone. Then, at my most recent checkup a few months ago, the cavity was gone. I told her about the work of WAP and she was interested, so I sent her a link. I’m hoping that she looked into it…
Good for you! I suspect that she will since she was not adverse to the idea that your tooth was remineralizing!
Susan West Olvera – decay in exclusively breast fed children is very easy to explain scientifically – tooth decay needs 3 things to happen #1 – the bacteria streptococcus mutans, which for most kids is transferred to them in the saliva of their mothers (or other parents/relatives/etc) when they kiss their child or wipe their lips/face after the adult has licked their fingers to per moisten them to help remove the debris on the child’s face – it is usually via genetic analysis of the bacteria a parent who “infects” their child with this decay producing bacteria. #2 you need time – tooth decay takes a long period of time to happen – it doesn’t just get to the point where it needs to be addressed “overnight”. #3 you need frequent exposure to calorie containing foods and/or liquids – breast milk has calories – those calories are the “fuel source” for the bacteria to break down and ferment into acid which is then released into the mouth – its basic biology and chemistry
Yeah I agree with a lot of these people who ate suspicious of this. Full on caries don’t heal. Decalcification can. Any dentist will tell you that. Looks like decalcification to me. Plus that child still had quite a bit on the other teeth as well. I understand people trying to be all natural but in the mist of trying to prove conventional medicine wrong they can harm their kids. Also.. Fluoride doesn’t lower IQ. Fluoride is a natural chemical. Its usually found in higher levels in natural well water than city water. City water is just regulated. Don’t blame that on kids getting dumber. That’s society.
Nice try. Now explain the difference between calcium fluoride and sodium fluoride, and then tell people which is of nature and which is one of the most toxic concoctions not to occur naturally, and tell them which one of these is added to our water, and then say fluoride is harmless. Yes, society has dumbed down, but why?
The fluoride used is conventional dentifrices is not a natural product.
And to the writer of this article… I do not use fluoride as a prophylactic measure, and I am familiar with the studies on fluoride use and IQ, but that link is with ingested fluoride and not topical, which is what i used in dental offices. Please don’t fearmonger, it discredits all the other good information you have written!
Also raw milk is daangerous for toddlers, gosh
I seriously hope that was sarcasm. Two of my kids have been drinking raw milk since they started to wean, the other two have been on it for 5 years. They have NEVER gotten sick from it EVER. Also, the older two who are in public school, have had a LOT less sick days since we started raw milk. I hope you don’t consider good health in a child dangerous.
Im sorry to have to tell you Jen, but unfortunately just last week in Australia a little 3yo boy died and a number of other people became very sick after drinking contaminated raw milk from a reputable dairy. There is ALWAYS a risk of bacteria in raw milk. Most adult guts can handle it, but most small children cannot. For me and my family, it is just not worth the risk.
There were no pathogens found in the raw milk … it is all media and government speculation purposely designed to scare the public. That child and the other children involved could just as easily have gotten the gastroenteritis from fast food or some other food. There has been no direct connection made to the raw milk he drank! It is so easy to scam people with a media report isn’t it? Sad.
Any options for kids who can’t eat dairy such as milk and cheese?
Most kids that can’t have dairy CAN have raw dairy. What kind of a reaction does your child have from dairy?
Carrot juice
granola bars are bad for teeth, its half sugar in it, so if thats what you call not causing cavities its just wrong.
How do you reverse a cavity in young kids?