Cheese Slave

For the love of cheese

Look, Mom — No Cavities! April 8, 2008

Look, Mom -- no cavities!

I went to the dentist today. And guess what? No cavities!

This is the first time I’ve had no cavities in years. And you would think that I would be more prone to dental decay — considering the stress I’ve had on my body over the past year (childbirth, breast feeding).

Here’s the interesting thing… For the past six months, I have not used toothpaste. No fluoride.

My whole life I was told that you’re supposed to brush with fluoride toothpaste to prevent cavities. Yet I only used Tooth Soap and baking soda for brushing. Of course, I ate a very nutrient dense diet — cod liver oil, pastured eggs, raw milk, butter, cream, and cheese, and organ meats. I avoided sugar and any grains/nuts/seeds/legumes that were not soaked and/or sprouted.

But isn’t fluoride supposed to prevent cavities?

When I asked my dentist, Dr. Raymond Silkman, what he thought of fluoride, he responded with one word, “Bad.”

He’s probably the only dentist in Los Angeles who gives prescriptions like this: “Drink beet kvass and freshly juiced green vegetables and carrots — daily”. And he told me to get tested for heavy metals. He thinks I may have heavy metal toxicity. (Beet kvass and freshly juiced vegetables chelate heavy metals.)

But back to the fluoride… This Crest ad says that “Crest stops soft spots from turning into cavities.” Lies! Crest doesn’t do any such thing.

Here’s another lie:

Coke - It's the Real Thing

Coke’s slogan proclaims it is the opposite of what it really is — a fake. For centuries, people have been producing naturally fermented soft drinks like kombucha, naturally fermented root beer, and ginger ale. These naturally fermented soft drinks are very high in B vitamins and probiotics — they are health tonics. Conversely, Coca Cola is artificially carbonated sugar water. Not only is it devoid of nutrition, but the sugar in it actually blocks the absorption of vitamins and minerals in the body.

Of course, nowadays Coke doesn’t even have sugar — it’s made with high fructose corn syrup. Which is genetically modified corn soaked in battery acid. YUM!

Here’s an ad for sugar from the ’60s:

Sugar Advertisement

I love how transparent it is. Looking at it today, it’s so obvious. You can see the lies.

This is how you have to look at ads. Ads are made to convince you to buy. That is their sole purpose. They don’t care about you. And they don’t care about truth. They are often saying the very opposite of what is true.

Ads also prey on your fears and insecurities.

Here’s a Heinz baby food ad:

Heinz Baby Food

The message is based on the idea that real food is not safe, and only food in jars is safe for babies. See what I mean? It’s the opposite of the truth.

Of course, not all ads are bad… here’s a neutral one for iodized salt (iodized salt is not good for you — sea salt is best — but the iodine is something we need):

Iodize Salt

In the 1920s, with the depletion of the soil in America, people in the midwest started getting goiters due to iodine depletion. This prompted a campaign for iodized salt. Many Americans today are cutting down on salt — but there is a bigger problem today. Soy.

Soy is a goitrogen, which blocks the absorption of minerals, including iodine. Most Americans are deficient in iodine today — due to widespread consumption of soy foods.

Think you’re not eating soy? If you eat in restaurants, you are eating soy. If you eat processed or packaged foods, you are eating soy. Restaurants cook with soybean oil or vegetable oil — which is almost always cut with soybean oil. Most processed and packaged foods contain soybean oil and/or soy lecithin. All baby formulas (not just the soy formulas) contain soybean oil.

Here’s one I like — a French advertisement for cod liver oil:

French Ad for Cod Liver Oil

This next one is not a real ad — it’s a spoof — but it’s great:

Lard Advertisment

Too bad lard is so maligned today. It is such a healthy fat!

Lastly, here is my favorite — calling for a boycott of Kraft genetically modified foods:

Boycott Kraft Foods

Boycott Kraft Foods! Krafted: Genetically Krafted Foods

 

11 Responses to “Look, Mom — No Cavities!”

  1. Erica Says:

    Gotta give you props for you post. Very true, agree 100%. We are in the process of eliminating all the junk from our diets also. I love the Cod Liver oil poster, my kids go all batty when it’s time for theirs!

    I have always had horrible teeth and notice it in my now 8y/o also. What kind of tooth soap do you use? As this is our next purchase :)

  2. cheeseslave Says:

    Hi, Erica!

    I use Tooth Soap

    http://perfect-prescription.com/

    If you want to save money, you could just grate up a bar of Dr. Bronner’s or other natural soap — it just won’t taste quite as good. Baking soda or sea salt works fine too.

    You just don’t want to use any toothpaste that has glycerin — it prevents the teeth from remineralizing.

    The biggest help to reversing tooth decay is diet though — but it sounds like you are doing good — giving your kids cod liver oil!

  3. Jeannette Says:

    When I was growing up, my family didn’t have dental insurance, so I didn’t see the dentist until I was about 18. Can you believe that I’ve never had a cavity in my whole life? Hah! I’m pretty convinced that the reason I and my siblings have nice teeth (no cavities, naturally straight teeth w/o braces) is because we never went to the dentist. :P Of course, we weren’t allowed to have much junk food and we rarely drank soda/juice, so I’m sure that has a lot to do with it, too.

    These ads are too funny. I remember laughing hysterically over that sugar ad when I saw it a few years ago. Such thinly-veiled propaganda!

  4. Henriette Says:

    What a nice post - made be smile

    I haven´t used toothpaste the last 15 years
    - and I had only had 1 cavity (in my wisdom tooth and it was already begun prior to my stop of fluor) when I was a vegan…..

    I use a mixture of seasalt/soda with a bit of peppermint oil so fresh and nice and my teeth are fine

    I was wondering
    do you have a good link to a page that explains in simple words how to rebuild your teeth?
    for my friend who has crappy teeth?
    Except from codliver oil / calcium /magnesium - what else can we do ?

  5. cheeseslave Says:

    Louisa has a good post:

    http://constantstateofflux.wordpress.com/2007/10/01/tooth-regeneration/

    It is important to avoid gylcerin toothpaste and to avoid fluoride as well.

    CONSUME: Plenty of raw milk and raw dairy, cod liver oil, sunshine, bone broth, and organ meats. Oysters and seafood are great too. You also need lots of fermented foods and/or a probiotic to improve digestive function (so you actually absorb all the nutrients.)

    AVOID: White flour, pasta, anything made with it. Grains/nuts/seeds/legumes that have not been soaked/sprouted/fermented. These will block nutrients. Also avoid anything with sugar. Honey, molasses, and maple syrup (in moderation) are OK.

  6. Erica Says:

    Blah, well guess what? My 5 year old has his first cavities (one bad one and two small ones). I’m so upset with this! It makes ya feel like a failure.

    We have no source of raw milk, but I can order raw cheese online. Which I think I will be doing tonight. This should be an okay alternative, right?

    He has always had a poor diet and just in the last few months has finally picked up the pace and started eating pretty well. I see a great improvement with him, because he no longer craves sweets like he used too.

    I’m looking into the high vitamin butter oil, as I’ve read in places supplementing with that for dental health. The price seems high, but if it can help improve our teeth………….I’ve always had horrid luck with my teeth also. No doubt it’s linked to some horrible eating habits I had for years.

    Anyways, thanks SO much for the above link. I will read it tonight.

  7. Ann Marie Says:

    Erica -

    DON’T feel like a failure!!!!! You are doing something about it — that’s great!

    See if you can delay filling the cavities and work to try to get his teeth to remineralize. He may not need the fillings. Stall for a few months if you can. Teeth do remineralize fairly quickly if given proper nutrients.

    The butter oil is expensive but you are only supposed to take 1/2 tsp per day. So it will last a while. I have not been doing it like I should. I’m going to order more and get better about it. For Kate, too.

    I think two of the most important things are no sugar and no unsoaked grains/nuts/seeds. You don’t want anything interfering with the absorption of precious nutrients. I also think plenty of fermented foods and bone broths are essential — to improve digestion and increase absorption.

    Raw cheese is absolutely an OK alternative. See if you can get grass fed cheese. It is vital that the animals are grazing on green grass — not eating corn and soy.

    Kerry Gold butter is available at many stores (they have it at our Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods). It is cultured butter and it is made from milk from grass-fed animals.

    Also it is important to make sure he gets enough saturated fat. 6 TBS per day is what they say toddlers need. That can be cream, butter, lard, goose/duck fat — any animal fat (or coconut or palm oil).

    US Wellness Meats is a good source for grass-fed meats, cheeses, etc.

    Here’s a good site to look at:

    http://www.yourreturn.org/Articles/Early_ChildHood_Caries_Cured.htm

    Also, you can read Weston Price’s book here:

    http://journeytoforever.org/farm_library/price/pricetoc.html

    You can turn this around! Good for you for waking up to what needs to be done. Most people just think it’s “normal” to have cavities. It’s sad — I used to think that too. Thank goodness the word is getting out that dental decay can be reversed with proper nutrition.

    Ann Marie

  8. Erica Says:

    It is sad, he was referred on to a pediatric dentist. There website stated that 40% of children will have at least one cavity by the age of 3! I had no idea. Insane.

    I can’t wait to start reading Dr. Price’s book, had no idea you could online. I got the other link read earlier, such good info. Amazing.

    I had thought about stalling, but would feel awful not getting the one filled. Like I said, one was pretty bad, the other 2 must have been minor as he didn’t even seem concerned about them.

    I appreciate all the info, so happy I stumbled across it. We will just keep plugging away at improving our diet and health. We only use Dr. Bronner’s for soap, so I think I’ll brush my teeth with it tonight to start lol. I’ll mix up a baking soda and salt mixture for the kids. I know there is NO way they will do the soap thing :P I have a checkup next week and just dread going into the dentist. As my littlest is 7 months old, and I always seem to get cavities after my pregnancies…………

  9. cheeseslave Says:

    Stall as long as you can. His teeth will remineralize! There is no need to rush into filling them.

    Yes, it makes sense that you get cavities after pregnancies — the body is depleted of its nutritional stores during pregnancy. That is quite common.

    It doesn’t have to be that way, though! :-)

  10. Henriette Says:

    Thanks for the links- so helpful
    didn´t know that I could read dr price book online.

  11. Sarah Says:

    Wow, I just started drinking raw milk and raw milk products and eating the nourishing traditions way… I had no idea teeth could remineralize! I have had several cavities and had a baby 14 months ago. I sure wish I had started eating this way sooner! Thankfully, my accupuncturist turned me onto this way of eating before my son was eating solids, so he hasn’t had much grain. I hope my breastmilk was adequate, though…

    Thanks for the link to the Westin A. Price book. I didn’t realize it was online! Even if you don’t read it, the pictures themselves are enough to convince anyone to change their diets!

    Sarah

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