.jpg "Healing Cavities (A True “We’ve-Done-It!” Story!)")
Oh, people. I”m about to reveal something to you that has taken me months to work up the nerve to confess.
Are you ready for this? {I’m not sure I am, but here goes…}
I haven’t used toothpaste in over a year.
Oh my gosh. I can’t believe I just said that out loud. On the internet.
I guess now I have to explain myself, huh?
Exploring alternate tooth care…
Over a year ago now I started looking into natural tooth care, as part of my goal to make better, more natural choices in each area of my health and my household.
I thought we had been doing good in this area, using a ‘natural’ brand toothpaste. Until I realized that even my natural toothpaste had stuff I knew I wanted to avoid–like sweeteners, fluoride, and glycerin.
It didn’t take long as I looking into natural, holistic approaches to tooth care to realize that what we eat has so much more of an affect on our teeth than the substance we scrub them with, and maybe my search for a ‘safe’ toothpaste was a waste of energy. And then I read about people not using toothpaste at all, and, well, since toothpaste (and the alternatives people talked about using) has always given me the ibby-jibbies, I decided to just quit the habit entirely.
So, I just scrubbed with water. And it seemed to work fine.
What in the world is Oil Pulling?
Later, I heard about oil pulling. It was such a strange term, I didn’t even look into it for a while. Till I realized that the pain and sensitivity I had been experiencing in my teeth off an on for a while might be remedied through this idea. So, I read up on it—it made sense (coconut oil is anti-bacterial, and could pull toxins from your mouth when you swished it in your mouth for 15-20 min.)—and I tried it.
I posted the above photo on my Facebook page and had a lot of friends ask me to report how it worked. So, here’s the report:
I loved how my teeth felt on this new cleansing routine—I felt it reduced plaque and made my teeth stronger.Within a month, all sensitivity I’d been experiencing in my lower molars was gone.
So, I quit toothpaste, and replaced it with oil pulling, and my teeth have never been healthier.
Now, that’s my story, but I put a ‘we’ in the title, because Jeremy’s got a story, too.
And Then Mr. Holden Tried It…
Several months ago, my husband came up to me and said, “I think I have a cavity.” I looked in his mouth and was mortified. His back wisdom tooth was—I kid you not—green and brown and black and pitted, and definitely did not look healthy. Neither of us had ever had a cavity before, but I was pretty sure this was a case study.
I said, “Honey! You need to start oil pulling right away!”
Well, you know, he kinda looked at me the way I imagine you looked at me when I said I quit toothpaste.
But a week later, he felt a chunk flake off of said tooth, and the next morning he pulled out the coconut oil before breakfast. (They say you should rinse first thing in the am).
He began oil pulling faithfully every morning, as well as taking cod liver oil (upping nutrition was something I read was key to regenerating tooth decay). Within 3 days, he said the pain was gone. And a month later, after oil pulling 5-6 times a week, I looked in his mouth, and his tooth was—are you ready for this? White. White with a bit of yellow, but the black and green and brown were all gone, and the surface of the tooth was smoothing out instead of being pitted.
People, I am not lyin’ here.
Tooth regeneration is possible, and surprisingly simple…
God designed our bodies so incredibly. If we are nourishing our bodies well, He designed them to be able to heal from injury and disease—even our teeth.
I share our stories because the idea of ‘healing your teeth’ is quite foreign to people. But listen to this…
“That tooth decay is caused by nutrient deficiencies and not bacteria has been proven in both animal and laboratory experiments published in books and dental journals…
…If brushing, flossing, massive fluoridation campaigns, and dental surgery were effective in preventing tooth decay, it would not get worse over time. It would stay the same, or get better.” (Ramiel Nagel of CureToothDecay.com)
But that’s not what’s happening, is it? It has become normal to have our teeth rot out of our head, starting not in our 60’s, or 40’s, but as children and even babies.
“What is missing from the ADA’s bacteria theory of cavities is that strong teeth resist acid and bacteria. And when you, the consumer, understand that a strong tooth resists acid indefinitely, then the next logical question is, what makes a tooth strong?” (Ramiel Nagel)
The answer, which Ramiel details in his ebook (linked below) is good nutrition. And you know what it means when I use that term around here…lots of whole foods, good fat, raw milk, tasty meats and properly prepared grains and veggies. Ramiel especially stresses whole, raw milk in the diet and plenty of deeply nourishing fats like butter oil and cod liver oil.
So, gotta a toothache? Wish you had stronger teeth? Don’t despair. You can actually do something other than have them all pulled and getting dentures. (Oh, yay!) Increase your nutrition and try oil pulling!
How to Oil Pull With Coconut Oil
1. Scoop about 2 tsp. of coconut oil out of your jar and pop it in your mouth.
2. Chew or hold the oil in your mouth till it melts and becomes liquid (takes about 30 seconds).
3. Start swishing, pulling the oil back and forth and sideways through all your teeth.
4. Swish for 20 min., spitting the oil out (into the trash) when you’re finished.
Why Oil Pulling works:
Your teeth are actually porous, comprised of yards and yards of minute passages (like a sponge) that bring nutrients to the outer enamel when good nutrition is present in your diet…or suck toxins into the teeth when nutrition is lacking. Oil itself has the ability to cut right through plaque to the tooth surface, and coconut oil in particular has rich, anti-bacterial properties. It’s believed that one of the reasons oil pulling strengthens teeth is that it can help reverse the flow of toxins, pulling bacteria out of the teeth, and becoming a vehicle to dispose of toxins. Also, we’ve found the swishing action can be as effective as flossing, without any damage to gums (yes–I’ve gotten popcorn kernels out with oil pulling!)
Where to get good Coconut Oil:
Any organic, cold-pressed, virgin coconut oil will work for this. If it smells like coconut, that’s a sign that it hasn’t been over-processed and still has all the wonderful things God put in the coconut to begin with! You’re looking for coconut oil that is cold pressed, extra virgin, and organic, like this brand available right from Amazon . (this is an affiliate links–thanks for helping me keep the lights on around here!).
Here’s some resources for further reading on Healing Cavities…
-Can a Cavity be Healed with Nutrition? on Keeper of the Home
-How I Healed My Child’s Cavity…this post from The Healthy Home Economist is what convinced me we could heal Jeremy’s tooth.
-The Healthy Mouth Summit…I attended this online seminar last January. Extremely educational and exciting!
-Tips and Tricks to Remineralize and Repair Your Teeth by Ramiel Nagel of CureToothDecay.com a clearly explained argument for a nutritional approach to oral health–a very helpful little book!
Remember, oil pulling is just part of a natural tooth care plan. Our teeth will be strong when our bodies are well nourished with plenty of whole, nourishing foods. For help getting started on your real food journey, check out this series I wrote just for you. If you struggle to source whole foods like raw milk, check out “What to do if you can’t find or afford raw milk” or my resource page. And for my best secrets to feeding your family well even when life gets busy, I offer my book, Real {Fast} Food!
Credit: Trina Holden