***Update: Read about Cora’s treatment and see photos here.***
************************************************************
This journey we’ve been on has been a bit soul-wearying to be honest. I cannot imagine the suffering parents with seriously ill children must go through. Having a 14 month old with tooth decay has been hard enough. Some days it has been all-consuming. Time not spent reading books and researching dental health has been taken up by preparing high quality foods, shopping for special ingredients, and of course, cleaning the teeth themselves.
We’ve now seen four dentists in office and spoken informally with two more. Out of these 6 dentists, three have blamed the problem on breastfeeding – night nursing specifically. The other three have said basically that breastfeeding is not the culprit, but they don’t know what is. For the benefit of the many people finding our blog while researching early childhood decay, I’m going to take some time to further explain what my research has uncovered before I go into detail with an update on Cora (feel free to skip to the end if you are just looking for family news).
What Causes Dental Decay?
The Prevalent Theory is that…
Caries is a common, complex, chronic disease resulting from an imbalance of multiple risk factors and protective factors over time. Fundamentally, caries is biofilm (plaque)-induced acid demineralization of enamel or dentin, mediated by saliva. Given time, the interaction of cariogenic microorganisms and fermentable carbohydrates (sucrose) may induce demineralization, which can progress to loss of tooth structure/cavitation.
The quote above is from the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. While the explanation does cite “multiple risk factors and protective factors” as influential in developing the disease, most mainstream dentists will say that it is caused by bacteria (the micro-organisms mentioned above) that feed off of sugar, and otherwise has nothing to do w/nutrition.
They will also likely tell you that bottle or breastfeeding at night is the main cause of ECC. The AAPD has released new information that admits that this is not always the case:
Initial policy recommendations were limited to feeding habits, concluding that nursing bottle caries could be avoided if bottle feedings were discontinued soon after the first birthday. An early policy revision added ad libitum (at will) breastfeeding as a causative factor. Over the next 2 decades, however, recognizing that this dis-tinctive clinical presentation was not consistently associated with poor feeding practices and that caries was an infectious disease, AAPD adopted the term “early childhood caries” to reflect better its multifactoral etiology.
AAPD (parenthesis and empahsis mine)
Still, dentists who were trained that breast and bottle feeding alone are the cause are hard to convince otherwise. Some do hold to the more current stance though:
While ECC may not arise from breastmilk alone, breast-feeding in combination with other carbohydrates has been found to be highly cariogenic… Ad libitum breast-feeding should be avoided after the first primary tooth begins to erupt and other dietary carbohydrates are introduced. (AAPD)
The American Dental Association says similar things but admits that these theories “continue to evolve” and that adequate nutrition is important (though mostly to avoid excess sugar, it seems).
Recommended treatment is usually restoration (fillings, crowns), extractions, and flouride treatments. Hygiene is of course emphasized as is the discontinuation of feeding the child at night.
Alternative Theory
Others, notably Ramiel Nagel, author of Cure Tooth Decay, believe that bacteria alone cannot harm healthy/strong teeth, and that poor nutrition is the real culprit.
Cavities are not caused by bacteria. But rather, tooth decay is the result of an imbalanced environment within your child’s body. Tooth decay is also the result of a lack of vitamins needed to build healthy bone. Building healthy bones requires the minerals calcium, phosphorus, and fat-soluble vitamins A, D, and K.
Our grain heavy diets, processed foods, poor farming/animal-raising practices are responsible for nutrient deficiencies that rob calcium and important minerals from our teeth, or prevent them from forming correctly in the first place according to this theory.
Nagel bases his thoughts on he findings of Drs. Melanby and Price, among others. As I mentioned before, we have respected the research of Dr. Price for a long time. For more on this theory, get your hands on his book, and read through the large amount of information on his website. Read here specifically about ECC.
Treatment, according to Ramiel is healing the teeth through adequate nutrition. Recommendations include grass-fed meats, raw dairy, cultured (fermented) foods, cod liver oil, and high-vitamin butter oil. He and his daughter both experienced healing from cavities, and he even let his daughter’s teeth go so far as to be blackened nubs along her gum line, but did not extract them. They hardened and did not get abscessed.
You may also hear about the alternative theory, based on Chinese medicine, that each tooth is connected to an organ in the body that is ailing. There is some disagreement as to whether the tooth trouble causes the organ to struggle, or the other way around. This is called the Tooth/Organ Connection.
Everyone Else
A (growing, I think) number of people are recognizing the role that nutrition plays in dental health and conceding that what goes *into* the body, rather than just what goes *onto* the teeth, can impact oral health. Among this group are holistic dentists and Dr. Ellie Phillips, the author of Kiss Your Dentist Goodbye
The difference is that they also think that things like the overall acidity of our bodies, balance of our intestinal flora, food sensitivities, and nutrient absorption play a large role in whether or not the bacteria will do damage.
Treatment usually focuses on controlling the bacteria as well as improving overall health. Xylitol is recommended (Dr. Ellie has her own products), as well as products like MI Paste and sometimes topical fluoride. Many of dentists with this mindset will attempt to do the most minimally invasive repair work with the healthiest materials available.
Pick a Theory and Act on It
Cora’s teeth have been rapidly decaying for over 4 months. We have implemented many strategies already, including some practices from each of the above philosophies. Through our elimination diet, we discovered that she is sensitive to wheat. She gets loose/acidic stools whenever she (or I, since I’m breastfeeding) eats any. We may also have a (minor) yeast problem. As soon as I went off of sugar, my chronic plugged milk ducts went away. I also had die-off/withdrawl symptoms (headaches, moodiness) when we started our diet and cut out most fruit. Her tooth sensitivity/pain seemed to go away when we began using MI Paste. We had hoped to stop the decay and just live with the aesthetic damage. Unfortunately, her decay has continued to progress even though her digestion has improved with the introduction of probiotics and cod liver oil.
Here’s the most frustrating part. We’ve come to the point where we have to DO something. Something more than what we’ve been doing anyway (which feels like a lot!). It’s hard to know how to treat an illnesses without a definite diagnosis. I am reminded of the many episodes of House M.D when they don’t know what exactly is wrong, but in order to keep the patient from dying, they have to treat them for SOMETHING. They basically have to pick a theory, and act on it. In-real-life doctors and dentists do this every day, too. They have to pull together everything they know about the patient, his symptoms, and medicine/health in general, and do their best to choose something that fits.
Our Current Theory
We chose the alternative theory at first, hoping to heal her teeth. We knew, of course, that there was no guarantee that it would work quickly even if it worked, and that she may still end up with unattractive teeth. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to arrest the decay (click for larger photo).
- 2-26-2011
- 5-13-2011
After lots more research and tons of help from people who have been here before or seen this happen, we think that essentially Cora’s decay has been caused by a perfect storm of multiple factors. We do think that the catalyst of this rapid deterioration is the course of antibiotics she took in January. Even though we put her on probiotics at the same time, the antibiotics did a number on her digestion, and her enamel started chipping away shortly after she finished the last doses. Because we know that some oral bacteria is resistant to amoxicillin, it would be fair to reason that the antibiotics killed off good bacteria leaving these resistant bad bacteria to wreak havoc on her mouth.
We also know, however, that the antibiotics aren’t completely to blame. Our oldest, Aidan, was recently diagnosed with an “enamel defect” also. While he took the same antibiotics, the dentist called it a “defect” rather than “decay” because it is obvious that his teeth have demineralized and then healed multiple times over the course of their short history (he’s 3). He has one deeper “cavity” in a back molar that was still actively decaying when we saw the dentist last month. It looks like it’s filling in now, but we are watching it closely.
So something has resulted in both of our kids having vulnerable enamel. My guess is that that something is me. I saw the dentist last week also (might as well all go through this together, right?) because I know I have some decay. Some means that I have EIGHT teeth with active cavities!! I have not let my hygiene slip. I have not gone ages between dental visits either. In fact, I had 4 fillings done just before we conceived Cora, so these cavities are all new. I have always had teeth troubles. It’s also common knowledge that women often develop teeth problems with and after pregnancy.
Have a child, lose a tooth!
The body pulls calcium and other nutrients from mom to provide for baby. Usually the body is so efficient in doing this that baby comes out in much better condition than mom (praise God!) even in instances of poor maternal self-care. However, it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that I was deficient enough during pregnancy that my body couldn’t get enough for baby even by stealing from me. Especially because I was anemic to the point of needing a blood transfusion with Aidan. My iron levels were much better with Cora, and labor went FABULOUSLY as far as those things go. However, in the first trimester of her pregnancy, I was still nursing my toddler on demand. We cut back to nap and night nursing when I began to feel fatigued and dehydrated, but this could again have been an indication that my body was struggling to provide for everyone it was nourishing.
Prevention of ECC begins with intervention in the pre-natal and perinatal periods. Women should be advised to optimize nutrition during the third trimester and the infant’s first year, when enamel is undergoing maturation. Enamel hypoplasia is common in children with low birthweight or sys-temic illness in the neonatal period. There is considerable presumptive evidence that malnutrition/undernutrition during the perinatal period causes hypoplasia. A consistent associa-tion exists between clinical hypoplasia and ECC. AAPD
If we factor in potentially vulnerable enamel, unbalanced gut flora, illness (she took the antibiotics for an ear infection after the flu), food sensitivities, an acidic mouth (because of all of the above), and maybe even throw in frequent nursing (every 2 hours) because of its impact on her saliva acidity, I think we just ended up with a bad mix.
Our Action Plan
Because decay is ongoing, we’ve decided to incorporate non-nutrition oriented treatment as well. This might be us responding in fear, or over-caution, or lack-of-faith. I don’t know for sure. I can tell you that our motivation is that we want her to keep as many teeth as possible so that the spacing in her mouth is maintained, and that we want to avoid infection.
Snaggletooth
She is also uncomfortable, and making me uncomfortable. The jagged tooth you see in the above photo often snags her lip when she falls (as toddlers do), and is very painful for me when she nurses. I think that the MI Paste has taken care of some of the general sensitivity, but she still absolutely hates to have her teeth brushed or messed with.
Both pediatric dentists we have seen have urged us not to wait any longer. We have found a dentist who respects our desire to get to the bottom of the cause, and who is compassionate toward our concerns. She was not quick to silence us or our questions, and she comes well recommended. Her husband recently worked on a friend’s little girl and was able to save more teeth than he anticipated. Our dentist has said she will do everything she can to preserve rather than extract Cora’s teeth.
Other than traveling for more alternative treatments (google Ozone and glass ionomer treatments if you are looking for ideas!), our options are to have her teeth filled, capped, or extracted (or a combination) either under local or general anesthesia.
Initially, the idea of having her completely asleep (general anesthesia) was too frightening for me to even consider. However, the alternative is to have her treated while awake and screaming, with me or someone else restraining her. The treatment could take an HOUR, and the dentist would only be able to do as much as she let him. So, after doing some more research as to the risks of GA, and after seeing several close friends make the decision to use GA on their little ones with no problems, this is the route we’ve decided to take.
Cora will undergo “oral surgery” that will most likely entail placing 2-4 crowns on her teeth and possibly extracting two teeth. She will go under general anesthesia on the morning on May 24th. The procedure should take up to an hour and she’ll be able to eat/drink/nurse shortly afterwards. She should have little pain and won’t remember anything.
I am not as “ok” as I sound. One part of me feels like I am about to lose my little girl over 4 teeth. Another part of me knows that Rob and I are only human and have to make decisions despite the uncertainty of outcomes. Please pray for us and for our little one. And as we look ahead, please pray for me and my health as it may affect the health of future children. Mostly, pray that we will trust in God and his promises.
“For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.” Jeremiah 31:25
For more interesting reading:
Very Young Kids’ Teeth Yahoo Group
Childhood Nutrition and Susceptibility to Cavities
Brian Palmer, DDS.
Nutrition and Physical Degeneration – Weston A. Price
The ADA Admits a Mystery!
There really is so much more to share. Please leave comments/questions and we can work through the available information together!
*Amazon link
Read these for more updates:
Cora’s New Teeth
More Thoughts on ECC
In our prayers already. I can only re-emphasize to keep your trust in the Lord. Seems easy for me to say…I’m not going through it. But I sincerely mean to boost your family up in prayer every day through these trials. He will listen and He will answer.
Philippians 4: 6-7 “6-Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7-And the peace of God, WHICH TRANSCENDS ALL UNDERSTANDING, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Sidenote: You are a gifted writer. I realized nearly a year ago when you gave your breastfeeding account on the panel, and am reminded each time I read one of your blog entries. Any “little voices” in the back of your mind on this?
If by “little voices” you mean imaginary friends… er… muses… ;) Thank you. I hope that I can continue to improve my writing. That is a big motivation for maintaining this blog.
Thank you so much for your encouragement and support. You are such a sweet friend. I am truly blessed.
Imaginary friends, real friends…whatever keeps you encouraged to write, my friend. :) I do wish I could write as well as you. I will pour my heart out in an email or journal page, and when I reread it, it reads soo cheesy to me. Only my true friends can read/listen through my verbal obstacles to get the point I try so hard to make…a good test of a true friend for me. So you just keep on keeping on. Your talent is a blessing to others. And I love your comment about setting up your bedroom in the kitchen, come next pregnancy. Great visual! That sounds like the next logical step in my love relationship with food. Ha!
Oh, I’m sure you can write just as well as I can! And I KNOW you can craft me right out of the water. :)
Praying for you guys! We’ve been there, and I was a WRECK before Ivey’s surgery. Hopefully, despite it not being what you originally wanted (totally understand that, too), it will solve her problems like it did Ivey’s.
Thanks, Brynna. Your experience with miss Ivey and your support have been a big help!
When Addie was 9 months old, I went to the dentist and had to have 3 root canals. I definitely believe that these babies can do a number on our teeth. I will keep you, sweet Cora, and the dentists in my prayers as you go through this. I know that this is not your first choice of action but you know that you have done everything in your power to try and fix the situation.
I didn’t realize you’d had trouble! Thanks for sharing, Sarah. And thank you for your prayers!
Hi Anjanette. Thanks for the update and ALL THE AMAZING research you have done!! You are truly amazing and my researching pales in comparison to your research skills. Cora & Aidan are so blessed to have such an awesome mommy who is doing all she can to ensure they are healthy & happy. You also help other families, mine included, and I am so grateful to have you as a friend :)
As you know, we take Anna to the dentist soon. We had an appointment for this week but Eli’s fiasco led our week in other directions. We, too, have been using MI Paste, Cod Liver Oil, lowered her grains, and wiping or brushing her teeth twice a day. I will say that I have not seen any additional browning or chipping since starting this 2 months ago. While I am thankful for this, I am concerned that the browning she does have means decay, but we will see. I read somewhere, and wish I remembered where, a pediatrician stating that she believed that it wasn’t night nursing alone that caused decay but the combo of night nursing AND food particles already in their mouth. She suggested that if the teeth were brushed prior to bed, that night nursing should not be an issue. Not sure if you have heard that but that made sense to me. Of course Anna also had antibiotic treatment and it was just weeks after that that we noticed the browning and chipping on one tooth.
While I am uncertain about the cause, with Anna it seems that her early teeth arrival (1st tooth at 4 months, now up to 7), antibiotic treatment, and MAYBE night nursing (since we did not start brushing until a few months ago) combined with food particles in her teeth were probably the cause. I actually have almost perfect teeth and my teeth have remained that way through pregnancy and nursing. I also wonder about fluoride and while I know you have told me there is mixed research, finding out Independence does not put fluoride in the water makes me wonder if a LACK of fluoride could also contribute.
I also wanted to say that I, too, am not a fan of general anesthesia, but with Eli recently having surgery, I will say he did awesome. Not sure where the surgery for Cora will be, but if it is at Children’s Mercy, they are really awesome. I felt very comfortable with Eli in their care. I also admit I will be TERRIFIED if Anna needs any complicated dental work, and I know that you feel the same about Cora. Such a young age. I will be praying for you, Cora, and the doctors.
Thank you again for all your help with Anna. I will keep you updated!!
Amy, thanks so much for commenting and posting an overview of what’s going on with Anna. I know that it helps everyone to read about other experiences – especially when our littles are so… *little!*
Early tooth eruption is something that I forgot to mention in this post. As you know, Cora got her first teeth at 4 months as well – compared to Aidan at 8 months!! This is one reason that the no-nighttime breastfeeding rule wouldn’t have worked for us. I would never force night-weaning on a 4 month old.
The dentist we see mentioned the breastmilk + food particles issue and it certainly makes more sense than breastmilk “pooling” around the teeth. One of the links I quoted above (http://www.aapd.org/media/Policies_Guidelines/P_ECCUniqueChallenges.pdf) has a one-sentence blurb about this, too.
A quick note about fluoride – it is not an essential nutrient. Our bodies do not *need* fluoride to function, so we can’t really be deficient in it. However, it has proven helpful for remineralizing teeth. It used to be thought that fluoride needed to be ingested (like drinking it in our water) for it to be effective because it needed to be in our bodies when our teeth were developing. Now it’s known that it doesn’t work that way and is most effective (and least detrimental) applied topically. Here’s an article about it: http://cro.sagepub.com/content/13/2/155.long and the Kiss Your Dentist Goodbye has a good explanation that is simpler to read.
Since it’s not easy to get much fluoride from food alone, it makes sense to use it in products if you want to remineralize, but I’d say only topically. Dr. Ellie recommends ACT rinse for adults and older kids. We’ve used a little bit of fluoridated kids toothpaste with Cora, but have mostly avoided it since she can’t spit.
I’ll be interested to hear what the Drs say about Anna’s teeth – and your coupon is in the mail, btw.
Hey there….I found your blog through the Yahoo group post and I just wanted to let you know I will be praying for you and your little girl! I definitely think that there is something to the theory about not getting enough nutrition during pregnancy. I have 4 children….my oldest just turned 4 and the youngest are twins who are 15 months old. My history looks like this:
*Only ONE small cavity through college…I got married right before I turned 20 and then didn’t go to the dentist for about 3 years.
* Got pregnant and had my daughter at age 21.
* When she was 8 months old I got pregnant again….I nursed my daughter until 6 weeks before my son was born (starting with 5-6 times per day/night and weaning down to 1 time per day until my milk turned to colostrum and she gave up)
*After my son was born (right after I turned 23) I went to the dentist….and had 10 cavities! I was shocked!
* When my son was 10 1/2 months old I got pregnant with twins! I nursed my son until 8 weeks before the twins were born.
* I have had 4-5 more cavities since the first cavities and now one of the twins (now 15 months) is struggling with chipping enamel. We have been blessed, so far, and there is no evidence of actual decay. He has spots on 3 of his four top teeth where enamel has “popped off” and the dentist says this represents a “defect” (possible amelogenesis imperfecta?). But I can’t help but think that this could have been in part caused by the fact that my body just couldn’t keep up with the back to back pregnancies/nursing + twins in the mix!
Anyway…please know I will be thinking about you and praying for your whole family! Teeth issues are NO FUN!
Wow! That is a LOT for your body to go through in four years! I hope that the good news for both of us is that if we beef up our nutrition now, we shouldn’t see any problems in our kids’ adult teeth. We will be taking my prenatal nutrition very seriously (and it was already pretty great!) from here on out. Next time I’m pregnant I’m going to have to set up my bedroom in the kitchen and have my husband keep the superfoods coming. ;)
Anjanette-
Have you looked much into biofilms? I definitely encourage you to read up on the topic, I think you’d find it pretty interesting and applicable. My MIL has been doing a lot of biofilm studies over the last few years and it is really the root of SO many problems (well, the root of trouble TREATING the problems, really).
Also, something I’m trying to do more with Carter is balancing his pH through diet. That and being diligent about his L. Reuteri drops/chewables every night.
We haven’t even taken him to the dentist yet (well, we had the dentist look at his teeth at the girls’ November checkup, but then his teeth were still perfectly fine!), but we go next month and I don’t look forward to it. I LOVE him and think he is our best option in the area, but he’s still nowhere near as naturally minded as me and will probably treat me like I’m nuts when I tell him I’m nearly certain we owe the antibiotics for Carter’s issues. Out of all my kids, I’d have thought Beth would be the one with issues. Carter totally surprises me. He cut his teeth early, but obviously by now we are very big on oral hygiene, probiotics, dental diets, etc…so we were careful about that. Then he didn’t even start eating solids until 10ish months. He nightweaned right around 12 months (right around the time we noticed his issues). Etc. But I think he is VERY susceptible to natural flora disruption because of the candida issues I had during pregnancy and birth (and then thrush for both of us afterwards), and I think that is why the his oral flora just went completely unbalanced the one time he went on antibiotics.
NO, I haven’t! I have heard the terms “biofilm” and “plaque” used interchangeabley. A quick search (love wikipedia) has me interested. Any specific resources you’d like to share?
We started trying to balance pH through diet as well. It made a noticeable difference in how *I* felt, but I’ve fallen off the wagon. I was mostly making sure we ate lots of raw veggies to help and I got raw veggie-d out. Need to muster up new motivation as I can feel my acidity is higher – probably due mostly to a caffeine binge this week (I know, could I choose something worse?). After Cora’s pre-op appointment and the resignation that this is really happening, I lost a lot of motivation. Thankfully it always only takes a few days to pull me out of it.
We’re taking a medium-quality probiotic (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0016BCM58/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=craftrenai-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399349&creativeASIN=B0016BCM58) because it was cheap. I see that it doesn’t have L. Reiteri. The same company makes one that does. In any case, we’ll be getting a better probiotic soon. I’ve also been looking at EvoraKids (http://www.oragenics.com/?q=probiotics/consumer-products/evora-kids) and need to do some research on what’s best soon. We’ll be out of what we have in about a week.
Speaking of nightweaning… Cora’s tooth pain/digestive troubles have made it even harder to night wean her. We’ve been working on it for a few weeks without trying super-hard and she is Resistant (capital R)! It has to happen soon as she’s not sleeping well enough to keep her energized throughout the day. More prayer requests!
Have you tried eliminating gluten for Carter? Are you low grains and fruits b/c of the thrush? It’s hard to find things for little ones without molars to eat that don’t cause problems with candida! I’m thinking I’ve not been serious enough about it. Cora is having digestive trouble again this week.
Yeah biofilms are all throughout the body and are one of the main reasons many times we can’t fully treat conditions with medications, because the biofilms essentially “protect” the bacteria. (it’s like the #1 reason for recurrent/chronic ear infections- because Dr’s avoid dealing with the biofilm!). I’ll try to find some links/sources for you, it’s very interesting stuff.
After the last couple years of trying to figure out what works best for me (as far as a Candida diet), I realized I simply can’t do what they recommend while nursing 2-3 children. So I rely a LOT on probiotics and supplements (modified citrus pectin, olive leaf, GSE, B-complex, Candex, Candidase, Virastop, etc). We don’t eliminate fruit, just processed sugars and carbs as much as possible. And I actually take a different stance on grains/gluten. We have chosen to eliminate processed grains and glutens. However, we ONLY use fresh milled grain and I do not add gluten to my baking (or yeast anymore, for that matter…we’re going yeast free and sticking with fermenting! I *heart* sourdough! ;) ). I am not in disagreement that gluten is definitely detrimental to many people- but I think it’s a problem in where WE have come in and interfered, if that makes sense. Because I don’t believe that something God created (and many MANY people ate in the Bible) is bad for us and should generally be avoided (not saying that’s true for everyone), so after lots of research, we’ve decided that for our family, we don’t believe fresh milled grains are bad.
We do a lot of roasts or veggie stews/soups in beef stock so they are getting that great grass fed beef AND stock (I have a friend who gives the stock to her kids straight- as a drink, but I don’t think mine would go for that!). That’s always easy for Carter to eat (but then again, he’s a bottomless pit and will eat anything!!!).
Oh and about the Reuteri, we focus on that because it basically begins the “rebuilding” process of proper colonization (and the other probiotics re-colonize once it’s “rebuilt”).
Do you use the Nature’s Way L. Reuteri that you linked to on your blog for Carter? I looked today and could only find one brand of L. Reuteri at our health food store amid the dozens and dozens of probiotics – went ahead and got the ONE box they had left of Pearls for Kids for Aidan (we’re noticing more damage in his enamel daily. *sigh*). I still have a good amount of the other left for Cora, but would love to know what Carter uses.
I actually give him BioGaia drops. NOT cheap. Ridiculously expensive. But I feel best about that form for him for now, we just ration it. The girls take the Pearls, they are the only other kids ones (besides BioGaia chewables) that I can find with Reuteri. I need to get the powder though (and yes I’d get Nature’s Way, that’s what my MIL has too, and that’s what my capsules are). I’ve been meaning to get it anyway, but I just keep opting for other forms because it’s easier to get it in them (I hate mixing into other stuff!). I also give all the kids Threelac when they want it, they all really like the flavor of it (you dump the packet right into your mouth).
I can’t imagine what you must be going through, AJ! Please give little Cora a little squeeze for me and know that I’m praying for you all! Hugs! Louise
You might be interested in a Paleo or Primal style of diet. marksdailyapple.com is a good intro. We’ve BTDT with the tooth decay thing so I’m all to familiar with the stress and exhaustive research that goes along with that!
Even though the concept is similar to the other diets you come across, Paleo really clicked for me because it’s sort of an all-encompassing solution. It addresses many of the factors that are thought to contribute to dental disease including:
- elimination of easily fermentable substrates (no added sugars, no grains and additionally, you can cut fruits and carb heavy vegetables)
- pH balance
- gut health
- relying on fat for fuel reduces the need for frequent meals/snacking
As a side note, the success stories of people who switched to a paleo diet are very inspiring. GL to you!
Thanks for your comment. Our family does frequently look to primal bloggers and recipes (MDA is one we never miss). While we don’t 100% agree with the premise of the paleo/primal lifestyle, we do find so much of the research invaluable. We have been on a low grain, no sugar, high fat diet for a long time now. Overall, our health has greatly benefited from it. I think that the dental problems we are having need to be dealt with more therapeutically with probiotics and the like – most of which we had not been doing due to cost.
This may be coincidence, but I used ACT a lot in middle & high school. My parents and sisters both have bad teeth and did not use ACT. Now that I read what you wrote about ACT, I wonder if it helped my teeth. I have zero cavities! Gosh, makes me want to start Eli on it when he is older! I did allow fluoride treatments on Eli, too. Hmmm….
Oh, I also nursed while pregnant. Another commonality. I am going to look at Weston price diet for Anna to help keep things stalled. Her diet is easy to adjust.
What are your thoughts about night nursing as far as teeth? You mentioned beginning it and Cora protesting so wondered if the inspiration was due to pain from her teeth or to stop further decay, or both.
I admit I am saddened by the notion that nursing may have contributed. Nursing has been the ONE thing I have been 100% certain of parenting wise. It seems too coincidental that stories I have read, including yours, mention nursing while pregnant and night nursing. Of course antibiotics and early teeth are also in the mix. Ugh. I really don’t want to night wean but will if needed. She nurses less than Eli did so it may be easier. Thoughts?
We have no plans to force nightweaning at the moment. We tried cutting back – not altogether, but just stretching it out – and she wouldn’t be comforted any other way. We were not sold on night nursing really being a problem, so we gave up pretty quickly. She thankfully hasn’t had enough tooth pain to avoid nursing/eating at any point in this whole ordeal.
Aidan was a little older – 18 months maybe? – when he started sleeping longer stretches at night and was easier to comfort back to sleep. At that point we went ahead and gently nightweaned. It was easy, so we feel confident that it was the right time for him. He also cut back during the day at that point, and by the time Cora came along, he was nursing only before nap and before bed.
Here is an article that is moderate, but leans to the side of night nursing being a cause for cavities. http://www.thebabybond.com/CavitiesBreastfedBottlefed.html I think it is a good balance if you believe night nursing really does harm. Like I said before, we’re not sure that it does, but we recognize that this is debated ground. We go back and forth almost daily about which argument is more compelling.
I’ll tell you for sure that I can’t forsee us doing anything differently with nursing our next little one. There are just too many benefits of nursing on demand. This has been the only potential downfall, and while it is significant, the emotional benefits (and SLEEP!) trump teeth in our book. Some may not feel that way, obviously. What we *will* do differently is avoid antibiotics absolutely, and be more diligent about teeth cleaning after they erupt. We’ll certainly continue to leave sugar out of our diets as well.
And, I’m going to be ordering more Blue Ice Cod Liver Oil/Butter Oil soon. When we ran out and started using regular cod liver oil on the kids, the decay seemed to increase. Aidan and I have cavities to take care of now, so I’m going to get serious about the probiotics and CLO (I’d really been focusing on Cora and Aidan & I had been skipping doses). Will report back!
Found you from the comment you left on my black bean brownie post :)
Wow this is incredibly interesting!! After reading this I’m in the camp that says tooth decay is caused by nutrition. I was breastfed for 3 years (and I’m sure night-nursed). I never had cavities then. When I was around 6 I think I got a few, but at the time my family ate a mostly vegetarian diet, so I’m blaming the grains.
After my big teeth came in I don’t think I had a cavity until I was maybe 19 or so. Growing up I hated pasta and rice, so I didn’t really eat that many grains – the only grain I ate was bread, and it wasn’t my staple. Around 19-21 I had a terrible diet – I was not eating enough and I was also eating large amounts of refined carbs. When I went to the dentist (about 3 years ago, age 21 – after not going for probably 8 years) I had about 10 cavities! I got 2-3 filled, and then said screw it. I was never in any pain from them anyway and I hate the dentist (I don’t like people touching my teeth – when I was little I went to a dentist and he yanked out a loose tooth without any warning and ever since then… I just don’t like them).
Now, I’m 24 and all of the remaining “cavities” have not bothered me since. I can still see a few of them in my mouth (dark spots on the tooth) but I’m pretty sure they have all either shrunk or gone away completely. My diet now is sort of primal/paleo but with more grains and carbs than they recommend. (After hating rice as a kid… now I love it. My husband is half-Japanese and grew up eating lots of rice, so he could never give it up. And if I cook it for him, I usually end up having some myself. I *do* always make it with lots of butter though.)
I eat almost no sugar, but that’s not because of my teeth – it’s because sugar (from any source – fruit, regular sugar, corn syrup, honey, etc…) makes me break out! My current diet is working and I think it’s helping my teeth as well.
Anyway, great post, and I have to take some more time and read all the comments… I never knew about any of these alternative theories before.
Thanks for your comment!
What a gift your mom gave you with three years of nursing! :) I absolutely think that all of this is related and that nursing plays a very minor role if any. In our case I think that the course of antibiotics set things in motion, but that nutrition was probably the underlying factor.
Also, I know that cavities can heal from my experience, too. I am managing mine with diet/supplements and have no pain. They shrink regularly, and though they then come back I believe it is because I’m still dealing with nutrient deficiencies. Our diet is probably very similar to yours – even down to the Japanese food! I spent 9 months studying in Japan and incorporate the food I miss from my stay pretty frequently. :)