Everything You Want to Know About How to Heal Your Teeth

My Journey to Heal Tooth Decay Part Three

[Side note: I don’t regularly write on health and wellness topics anymore but due to a large volume of requests I’ve taken time out of my normal routine to create this follow-up article. Enjoy.]

It’s been about two and a half years since I wrote the original post about my journey to heal tooth decay. At the time, I had received horrible news from my local dentist. She wanted to do several root canals and a couple of fillings. All of this after years of going to her and, with each visit, being recommended some kind of dental work.

I had postponed some of the dental work throughout the years but I’d also given in to some of it as well. I’d already spent most of my life in and out of the dental chair receiving dental work. So, needless to say, I felt dental fatigue at the sound of yet more dental work.

Even with my concerted efforts to keep my teeth clean nothing seemed to help. Now I either sucked at keeping my teeth clean or these dentists are preying on the public for financial gain or there’s something we’re both missing or some combination of all of these. As I explain in the previous post, I felt a newfound obligation to explore all of my options, particularly in the holistic realm. I was not okay with just sitting back and letting the dentist drill my teeth away before the age of thirty.

I spent months digging and doing research. I scrolled through an inordinate amount of google pages to uncover proven and unproven remedies, supplements, nutritional advice, energy work techniques, and more. In the fall of 2018, I gathered everything I knew up to that point onto a PDF to share with my sister (mostly supplement based). I was making my attempt at following some of the guidance in the PDF. But it’s completely unreasonable to think that I’d follow all of the guidance. Even the guidance I was following was unsustainable.

Ultimately, I determined that what was going to work best for me was something that was simple and sustainable. Something that I’d actually be willing to do every single day. If it didn’t meet those criteria, it was out. Plus, if it truly required more than that, then maybe I don’t need my teeth anyway. I’m not superhuman. And I’m not about to dedicate too much precious life energy to preserving something that’s trying to leave my body anyway. I made peace with this reality.

Enter the Holistic Dentist

During my summer of research, I was doing it all. I brushed my teeth twice a day, flossed and rinsed my mouth after everything I ate, consumed large amounts of supplements, attempted to stay consistent with some energy work, spoke kind words to my teeth, etc. In the fall, a massive synchronicity occurred.

My aunt, a naturopath from Alaska, was in town visiting for a naturopath/holistic medicine/wellness conference here in Dallas. She was staying at my mom’s home at the time and attending the conference during the week. At the end of the week, over the weekend, I decided to go visit. She was sharing some of her favorite presentations with me, one of which was from a holistic dentist.

My ears perked up. I shared briefly about my hunt for a quality holistic dentist. And she said, “Well, why don’t I share my powerpoint slides with you. This dentist isn’t too far outside of the city. Maybe you’ll want to reach out to him.” Bingo!

I had been searching for a holistic dentist for a while already. There weren’t very many in the area. Many who claimed to be holistic on their websites still offered services that I deemed non-holistic, so I felt a lot of conflict about seeing these people. On top of that, I struggled with the reality that my insurance company wasn’t going to cover all of the costs of my visiting a holistic dentist since they tend to be out-of-network. But when she shared this one with me, I knew he was the one, no matter how much he cost.

I took the information from my aunt, and I set up a consultation appointment (always a sign of a good dentist). I continued to do *all of the things* up to and through my appointment. At the meeting, the dentist explained to me their philosophy regarding conservative treatment.

They avoid unnecessary drilling in the teeth. They also only do X-rays as needed (not every single visit). They aren’t going around searching for problems like they’re hunting for gold, which some dentists do. They watch problem areas for a while before advising any kind of dental work. They don’t do root canal therapy (which I have a different view on today than I did originally). Now that’s my kind of dentist. So, what did he have to say about my dental work?

He agreed that some dental work needed to be done. But he believed he could fix the problems with fillings alone, completely bypassing the need for root canals or even crowns. I felt elated. This was exactly the news I wanted to hear. Well, not exactly, but much better than the news I was getting.

While I had hoped that I might be able to heal the cavities that had already formed, I’ve learned that what’s more likely to happen through applied effort is to prevent cavities in the future. Yes, small cavities may be able to heal with the right oral care, supplements, or even meridian work but anything large does require dental work. This is a reality I can live with.

I set up another appointment to get the dental work done. And I committed to a simple and sustainable oral care routine.

Oral Care Plan

My oral care plan is as follows… I brush my teeth first thing in the morning and the last thing at night. I floss once a day at night. From time-to-time, I use my Waterpik device. I use natural toothpaste without fluoride. Like Tom’s or the WholeFoods brand. I sometimes use an oral essential oil blend for a mouth rinse. I supplement with liquid silica and methylsulfonylmethane (MSM). I drink herbal teas (specifically, nettle) from time to time. And finally, I maintain a mostly healthy diet, trying to limit added sugar and processed foods.

Now let’s break this down…

Cleaning

Keeping your teeth clean is going to be a big part of preventing cavities. I use a soft-bristle tooth brush, which is important. If your bristles are too hard then you’re doing yourself a disservice.

I always brush my teeth first thing when I wake up in the morning so that I won’t forget. I do what’s called “habit stacking.” It’s where you string several habits together in a row. For example, I wake up, use the bathroom, wash my face, brush my teeth, make my coffee, and journal. That’s a string of habits or a routine I do every single morning. They go together in one long clump — habit stacking.

I suggest using natural toothpaste without all the added chemicals and dyes. Also, no alcohol-based mouthwash. You have to remember that your mouth maintains a certain ecology. You want to do things that will help nurture that ecology. Similar to how you care for your gut microbiome or your vaginal microbiome or the soil microbiome.

Your mouth contains an array of beneficial bacteria and enzymes that you want to cultivate to help maintain the integrity of your teeth. Toothpastes and mouthwashes can disturb this delicate environment.

Flossing is obviously a no brainer. But using a WaterPik, in addition to flossing, can elevate your oral care to a new level. The WaterPik helps a lot with gum health. So, if you struggle with receding gum lines or gingivitis, I recommend using a Waterpik, which is never intended to replace flossing. It’s always in addition to.

Diet

A big part of my oral care now is focusing on eating healthy. In the setting of the pandemic and the other stressful life events, I have bouts of not eating well. I can tell when my body is upset with my eating habits. I feel it all over but especially in my mouth. I get sores on my tongue which is a number one indicator that my diet is not supporting my body. Does your body do anything similar?

Start a practice of listening to your body. What’s it telling you? Begin to eat intuitively. Feel how you feel after you eat certain foods. Do you feel light and good or heavy and drained? Does your tummy ache or mouth hurt? Are you excessively itchy anywhere? A big part of our collective health issues stems from a poor diet. Lack of nutrients and too much processed sugar.

You have to remember that your teeth are a living part of your skeletal system. They are essentially a type of bone. Your teeth and bones are made up of minerals. If you aren’t getting enough minerals in your diet, then your teeth are going to suffer. It’s this key piece of information that has transformed my relationship with my teeth.

I grew up eating a fairly low nutrient density, high sugar diet. So it’s no wonder that I had a lot of cavities as a kid. On top of that, our food system is becoming increasingly depleted from essential vitamins and minerals due to poor soil conditions, which is caused by over-farming, erosion, and chemical fertilizers. I can’t change anything about the soil conditions at the farms but I can make different decisions regarding the supplements and the foods I eat.

It’s great if you can eat an organic diet. This is going to be your best chance of getting the nutrition you need from whole foods. Do your best to limit or completely eliminate processed foods. You want to focus on nutrient-dense foods. That’s primarily fruits and vegetables.

Whether you eat meat or not is your choice. That’s a challenging topic. I’ve been down this rabbit hole outside of my dental exploration and within it. There’s a segment of people who believe that eating animal products (and eliminating grain intake) is the key to sustaining quality oral care. That’s for you to decide. I choose to eat a mostly fruit, vegetable, and grain diet with some fish and chicken.

Supplements

When I first started this research, I focused on vitamins. But what occurred to me is that as great as vitamins are in helping minerals gain access to the teeth, there needs to be minerals in the system for the vitamins to work well. Without minerals, you’ve got nothing.

You can take minerals in supplement form (pills) but what I’ve discovered is that any supplement that comes from whole foods (rather than lab-created) is going to be the most easily absorbed by my body. Herbs are the often overlooked, wholefood-based mineral powerhouses that I rarely saw talked about in all the research I did. But one day I was reading the book, “The Gift of Healing Herbs,” and she nailed it. A whole section on herbs to support oral health.

I can’t possibly go into all of the herbal options available here or the supplements. Feel free to buy the book yourself. What I’ll share are the supplements I use, and then I’ll list several additional ideas that you can do your own research on and decide for yourself.

• Liquid Silica: Silica is the mineral found in several different herbs but I choose to take a liquid form of silica. It contains silicon and extracts from horsetail and rosemary (herbs). In the liquid form, it’s better absorbed by the body. But you can take whole herbs like horsetail (which I’ve done) as a way of acquiring silica.
• Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM): MSM is a type of sulfur compound that is naturally found in plants, humans, and animals. You can acquire through some types of foods but people often like to supplement with it due to its limited availability in foods. This is more often used for arthritis/joint pain or muscle pains. But I use it as general bone support (including my teeth).
• Nettle: I have a large container of dried nettle leaves. I make a tea with nettle and several other herbs a couple of times a week. Nettle, in my opinion, is like the multivitamin of the herb world. It’s a good source of calcium, manganese, magnesium, boron, and strontium. All of which support teeth and bone health. Nettle comes in many different forms: herbal tea, tinctures, and pills.
• Vitamin K2: While vitamin K1 can be found in dark leafy greens like kale, vitamin K2 is only found in some fermented foods. Otherwise, it’s produced by the bacteria in your gut. It serves multiple purposes but, most important to this post, there have been some animal studies that show it can help with bone health. It helps the body absorb calcium better and may even work directly to help teeth by preventing cavities.

If you’ve done any depth of research on oral health, you’ve most likely come across Weston A. Price. He’s the one that touts vitamin K2 along with other fat-soluble vitamins like A, D, and E. He also believes that eating a grass-fed animal diet is part of the solution. You can make up your own mind on that.

These are the top supplements that I use right now specifically for the health of my teeth. Other general supplements that I use include liquid B12, liquid Zinc, and vitamin C (which, surprisingly, also helps support bone health). There are other supplements I’ve tried over the years and many more that I haven’t. I’ll start this list with the ones I have tried, which I’ve stopped for one reason or another (more often than not due to a need to simplify my regimen).

• Bone Support: this supplement is similar to the liquid silica as listed above. It’s a liquid that contains “mini-minerals,” calcium, boron, magnesium, manganese, cobalt, zinc, and potassium. I used this for a period of time but have switched to the above. I consider using it again from time to time.
• Desiccated Liver: the liver in all creatures that contain one stores vitamins and minerals, therefore taking liver, whether in capsule form or prepared as a meal, will give you a boost of much-needed minerals. As I mentioned, I get my minerals through other sources. But this is a strong contender if you can withstand the smell. I found this specific brand through Tim Ferris and took it for a time.
• Fermented Cod Liver Oil: this also comes from Weston A. Price. Cod liver oil is an abundant source of vitamins A, D, E, and K, which are nutrients known to support healthy teeth.
• Horsetail: I currently take a supplement that sources silica from horsetail (the liquid silica) so I don’t take this one as often but I have taken it alongside the liquid silica. It comes in capsule form but you can also buy it as a dried herb for teas or even as a tincture. Be careful not to take the herb every day as it does have some adverse effects. Stagger the intake.

What I’m going to do now is make a detailed list of all the ideas, supplements, and avenues I’ve explored or come across that I haven’t already mentioned. While I have tried some of these things, I haven’t tried them all. Plus, not everything listed is verified by science. You may or may not be interested in ideas that aren’t backed by science, but they exist. People try all kinds of things. And I’ve got quite a long list.

Again — these are ideas I’ve uncovered via various sources. I don’t personally know their efficacy. Please do your own research and consult your doctor/dentist.

Supplements

• Iodine capsules
• Camu Camu
• R alphalipoic acid (RALA)
• N-acetyl-l-cysteine (NAC)
• Glutathione (GSH)
• Magnesium
• Probiotics
• Taurine
• Ormus gold
• Aloe vera
• Chaga
• Reishi
• Bone broth
• Colloidal silver
• Wheatgrass
• Fulvic minerals
• Collagen
• CoQ10
• Vitamin E
• Selenium
• Turmeric
• Methylfolate
• Niacin
• Biotin

Herbs for as teas (t), tinctures (tc), or poultices (p). Some can be taken in capsule form if preferred.

• Violet (p)
• Yarrow (tc)(t)
• Chamomile (p)
• Rosehips (t)
• Hawthorn berries (t)
• Elderberries (t)
• Plantain (p)
• Red clover (t)
• Oat straw (t)
• Dandelion root (t)
• Black walnut hull (tc)

Practices

• Rinse with salt
• Baking soda rinse
• Oil pulling
• Scrape tongue
• Essential oils for gum rub, mouth rinse, or waterpik use: neem, clove, peppermint, cinnamon, cayenne, tea tree, thyme, buckthorn berry, witch hazel
• Rubber-tipped gum tool
• Clay bath or toothpaste
• Ozonated tooth serums
• Garlic mouth rinse
• pH balancing (eating a more alkaline diet)
• Alkaline water
• Energy medicine (ensuring meridians are flowing well, may be easiest to see an acupuncturist for this but there are also resources to teach you how to manage your own meridians)
• Jaw massage (managing stress and tension build up in the jaw muscle)
• Decrease sugar intake
• Clean teeth after everything you eat
• Nose breathing while sleeping (mouth breathing drys out your mouth and your saliva keeps your teeth protected)
• Powder toothpaste

How to Choose What’s Best for You

I want to iterate that what you choose to do is completely personal. We are each different and unique beings. What works for me may not work for you and vice versa. What you’re willing to do may be more or less than what I’m willing to do.

You ultimately need to find something that you are willing to do and can sustain. At some point, all the rest needs to be left to God/Universe/Source/Spirit/Higher Power, whatever you call it. Some things are out of our control.

I encourage you to review the list above and select a few things to try. Select based on what resonates and/or on what your doctor and/or dentist recommend (who you should be consulting anyway).

Perhaps getting some blood work done could be a useful metric for determining supplementation. But also, don’t hesitate to pull out your pendulum while holding a supplement in your hand and be guided in that way. Or do muscle testing with your fingers or with a partner.

If you don’t know how to use a pendulum or muscle test, then take some time to learn. There are plenty of resources online to explain how this process works. I personally love using the pendulum. It’s easy and clear to me.

I know this is a lot of information. And that’s exactly why I determined that I needed to choose what was simple and sustainable. It makes no sense for me to take on way too much and fail. I’d rather choose the few things that feel right for me. I’ll say this again… I choose mostly whole, herbal supplements because then I’m getting more bang for my buck.

I’m getting multiple vitamins and minerals at one time versus one single mineral. You may want to do something similar. But I do also take a few single supplements (B12, zinc, and vitamin C). I could get vitamin c from an herb (Hawthorne berry or Elderberry) but, for me, it’s easier and more simple to take the supplement. You need to figure out what works for you.

So, ask yourself: What do your doctor and dentist recommend? What does your body resonate with (using the pendulum/muscle test; which can sometimes be different than external recommendations)? And what are you able and willing to be committed to doing regularly?

Update On My Journey

Since I’ve been to see my new dentist and on this new regimen, we’ve been watching a tooth but they haven’t recommended any new dental work. If anything, they encourage me to continue to take good care of my gums. Which I’d rather hear than you need a cavity filled.

I feel confident in the research I’ve done. And I’m proud of myself for being willing to go the extra mile (and then some) to figure out an alternative path. If I hadn’t, I could very well be sitting here with three new root canals. Instead, I’m not!

I’m doing the best I can every day but I also acknowledge that I’m human and my body is intended to breakdown. I’d love for my teeth to last me an entire lifetime but given my history, they may not. Part of the problem for me is that I had so many cavities filled at such a young age.

At this point, it’s less about cavities forming on only my tooth surface. It’s more about preventing cavities from forming in the crevices between my tooth and the filling, where the integrity of my tooth enamel has been disrupted in an attempt to heal whatever cavity was there before (if there was even a cavity there). I don’t have much control over this. In fact, it’s working against me in a way. That’s why I’m pro-prevention all the way. Conservative treatment is key!

I choose not to cling to this sad reality. It simply is what it is. Instead, I choose to be proactive. I care for my teeth to the best of my ability. I take my supplements. And I do my best to eat right and exercise. General health and well-being are important. Yes, oral health! And, whole-body health is what’s ultimately paramount.

I hope this information that I’ve provided gives you hope, direction, and inspiration. Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or need further guidance.

Disclaimer: I am not a medical doctor. This information is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, and treatment. All content is for general information purposes only.

Photo by Delfina Iacub on Unsplash

[I’ve stopped writing about health and wellness topics. I write more personal essays now. I interrupted my normal stream to write this follow-up due to a large volume of requests. If you are interested in any of my other writing and want to stay connected based on those topics, then please do so through the form below.]

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