How to Reverse Tooth Decay
Have you heard the claim that all dentists know how to heal teeth, but have kept it a secret to continue making money off of unsuspecting patients?
Well, the actual truth is that dentists genuinely want to help people, but most haven’t been trained to heal teeth and don’t know how it works.. This chapter will show you that, in fact, you can heal teeth, (it’s not a trade secret either).
How does it work? Simple anatomy and chemistry.
Most of the rest of the body can heal itself and does so on a regular basis. So, of course, the teeth can heal as well.
But to see how it works, let’s go back to the first-year anatomy. There are two outside layers in your teeth. The enamel is hard, made up of mineral crystals. The dentin is softer and filled with miles of tubules.
Now, remember how cavities form? The first step is minerals being pulled out of the teeth because they are needed elsewhere or dissolved by acids. Once these minerals are gone, the bacteria creep into the enamel.
The second step happens once the bacteria get all the way to the dentin. They infect the dentin, and the infection (decay) spreads quickly because there is a superhighway of tubes filled with fluid to travel along.
You can heal teeth by adding minerals or remineralizing, as long as the decay has not moved into the deeper dentin layer. Once the decay has moved into the dentin, the minerals aren’t going to be as effective.
This answers the number one question I get about healing teeth – “can any tooth be healed?”
Now you know the answer.
How Can You Remineralize Teeth?
- Two basic things need to happen. You need to reduce the acid in your mouth to prevent tooth decay and further mineral loss
- You also need to strengthen the tooth
Let’s talk about how you can accomplish both of those things.
Acid and saliva
How to reduce acid in your mouth
The first way to reduce acid in your mouth is to stop putting it there. I’m not talking about a tomato or pineapple with a meal. Your saliva will take care of that. I’m talking about acidic drinks and the overuse of acidic foods that don’t allow for reverse tooth decay.
My sons did a science fair project studying the effect of different drinks on tooth enamel. They soaked extracted teeth in seven different liquids and then measured the amount of enamel loss. Their findings were interesting, and I think they will surprise you.
If you are wondering about the validity of a high school science fair project, I’ve found research from dental journals that shows the same thing.
This chart lists the most acidic (therefore most destructive) drinks from least acidic to most acidic:
| Beverage | Acid pH |
|---|---|
| Water | 7.0 (neutral) |
| Sports Drinks | |
|---|---|
| Skinny Water Goji Fruit Punch | 3.67 (0.01) |
| Activ Water Power Strawberry Kiwi | 3.38 (0.03) |
| Sobe Life Water Mango Melon | 3.29 (0.01) |
| Dasani Grape | 3.05 (0.01) |
| Dasani Strawberry | 3.03 (0.01) |
| Propel Berry | 3.01 (0.00) |
| Gatorade Lemon-Lime | 2.97 (0.01) |
| Activ Water Focus Dragonfruit | 2.82 (0.04) |
| Powerade Orange | 2.75 (0.02) |
| Activ Water Vigor Triple Berry | 2.67 (0.01) |
| Fruit Juices & Fruit Drinks | |
| V8 Fusion Pomegranate Blueberry | 3.66 (0.00) |
| Juicy Juice Apple | 3.64 (0.01) |
| Minute Maid Natural Energy Mango Tropical | 3.34 (0.02) |
| CapriSun Surfer Cooler | 3.08 (0.00) |
| V8 Splash Strawberry Kiwi | 2.99 (0.01) |
| Crystal Light Fruit Punch | 2.96 (0.02) |
| Sunny D Smooth | 2.92 (0.01) |
| Tropicana Twister Orange Strawberry Banana Burst | 2.89 (0.01) |
| Ocean Spray Cran-Pomegranate | 2.72 (0.01) |
| Kool-Aid Mix Cherry | 2.71 (0.00) |
| Barber’s Lemonade | 2.69 (0.00) |
| Sobe Black and Blueberry Brew | 2.69 (0.00) |
| Tropicana Juice Beverage Cranberry | 2.59 (0.00) |
| Sodas | |
| Canada Dry Club Soda | 5.24 (0.03) |
| A&W Root Beer | 4.27 (0.02) |
| A&W Cream Soda | 3.86 (0.01) |
| 7UP Diet | 3.48 (0.00) |
| Mountain Dew Code Red | 3.27 (0.01) |
| Sprite | 3.24 (0.05) |
| Dr. Pepper Diet | 3.20 (0.00) |
| Coca-Cola Diet | 3.10 (0.05) |
| Sierra Mist | 3.09 (0.02) |
| Mellow Yellow | 3.03 (0.00) |
| Sunkist Orange | 2.98 (0.01) |
| Coca-Cola Zero | 2.96 (0.03) |
| Hawaiian Punch (Fruit Juicy Red) | 2.87 (0.01) |
| Pepsi | 2.39 (0.03) |
| Coca-Cola Caffeine Free | 2.34 (0.03) |
| Energy Drinks | |
| Fuel Energy Shots Lemon Lime | 3.97 (0.01) |
| Redbull regular | 3.43 (0.01) |
| Nitrous Monster Super Dry | 3.46 (0.00) |
| Killer Buzz Sugar-Free | 3.36 (0.00) |
| Redline Xtreme Triple Berry | 3.24 (0.01) |
| Full Throttle Blue Agave | 3.10 (0.01) |
| No Fear Sugar-Free | 3.06 (0.01) |
| Jolt Blue Bolt | 2.96 (0.00) |
| Rockstar Recovery | 2.84 (0.01) |
| Redline Peach Mango | 2.74 (0.02) |
| 24:7 Energy Cherry Berry | 2.61 (0.01) |
| Tea and Coffee | |
| Starbucks Medium Roast | 5.11 (0.05) |
| Red Diamond Tea Fresh Brewed Sweet Tea | 5.04 (0.02) |
| Milo’s Famous Sweet Tea | 4.66 (0.02) |
| Admiral Iced Tea Sweet Tea | 3.76 (0.01) |
| Snapple Diet Raspberry Tea | 3.39 (0.02) |
| Lipton Green Tea With Citrus Diet | 2.92 (0.00) |
| Nestea Red Tea Pomegranate and Passion Fruit | 2.87 (0.01) |
| Arizona Iced Tea | 2.85 (0.03) |
Teeth start to dissolve at a pH of 5.5.
The acid is more important than the sugar in the destruction of tooth structure.
Sorry diet soda drinkers, that artificial sweetener will do nothing to protect the health of your teeth.
In my son’s study, they also tested the Crystal Light diet drink. It was found to be the most destructive of any of the liquids they tested.
It’s the acid, not the sugar!
Other sources of acid
Some food may be surprising in their acidity. We know lemon juice is acidic, but most fruit juices are as well (listed least to most acidic).
| Beverage | Acid pH |
|---|---|
| Fruit | |
|---|---|
| Tomatoes | 4.30–4.90 |
| Oranges | 3.69–4.34 |
| Peaches | 3.30–4.05 |
| Apples | 3.30–4.00 |
| Pineapples | 3.20–4.00 |
| Blueberries | 3.12–3.33 |
| Grapefruits | 3.00–3.75 |
| Pomegranates | 2.93–3.20 |
| Grapes | 2.90–3.82 |
| Blue Plums | 2.80–3.40 |
| Limes | 2.00–2.80 |
| Lemon Juice | 2.00–2.60 |
Some other surprising foods that are acidic
Sweeteners, such as sugar, molasses, maple syrup, processed honey, and aspartame- Condiments, such as mayonnaise, soy sauce, and vinegar
- Hard and processed cheeses
- Coffee
The second way to reduce acid and reverse tooth decay is to make sure you give your saliva time to do its work.
Wait at least a couple of hours between eating or drinking anything other than water or simple herbal tea.
How to Replace Minerals in the Teeth
The enamel in your teeth acts like a tiny receiving dock. Your teeth are in constant flux, with the saliva removing and returning minerals throughout the day and night. As long as more minerals are being deposited than removed, your teeth will stay healthy.
On that receiving dock, you see to the side, if the doors to the warehouse are closed, it doesn’t matter how many minerals are delivered.
To keep the “doors” open on your tooth so the minerals can get in, the tooth must be clean. Regular cleaning will do the trick, but make sure you aren’t using a tooth care product that contains glycerine.
Glycerine will coat the tooth and the minerals can’t get in. Most commercial kinds of toothpaste contain glycerine, which is one big reason to avoid them.
Minerals must be present in the saliva
When the saliva comes to make a delivery, it needs to be full of minerals to spare. First, check that your digestive system is absorbing properly with the Baking Soda Test. Learn more about that through my masterclass! Once you are absorbing properly, you need to add more minerals to your system.
Don’t take too much calcium
We’ve all been taught to take calcium supplements to build your bones…and teeth. But that’s not the whole story.
Let’s take a journey with that calcium pill you took this morning. Down the hatch it goes, through the stomach and into the intestines.
It is then absorbed through the intestinal wall and enters the bloodstream. Looking good so far. The bones are needing a little extra calcium today, so the calcium heads over there and it’s REJECTED!
That’s right – bones tend to reject calcium – the first problem with a calcium supplement.1
The calcium needs to be accompanied by two friends, Vitamin D3 and Vitamin K2, to be effectively absorbed and used. Without these helper nutrients, calcium builds up in the plaque in coronary arteries and creates stones in organs.
In fact, without adequate Vitamin D3 levels, your body will only absorb 10-15% of the calcium from your diet or supplements. Vitamin K2 is then needed to direct that calcium to the proper location.
Think of Vitamin D3 as the gatekeeper and Vitamin K2 as the traffic cop. The gate can be open, but without direction there is chaos. Both are essential for healthy teeth.
Use the Tooth Remineralization Game Plan below to add more minerals to your system.
Tooth Remineralization Game Plan
Stop taking too much calcium. 500 mg per day is plenty.- Take a Vitamin D3/K2 supplement. 5,000-10,000 IU Vit D3 with 300-500 mcg Vit K2 per day. (this is not the same as Vit K1 which affects clotting.)
- Make sure the foods you eat actually have nutrients in them. Refined sugar and flour have none. If you want to build strong teeth and bones, you have to eat the stuff that will build them. Chapter 3, explains this in detail.
- Take a Silica/Horsetail supplement. This is easy and inexpensive. For teeth repair and building, 1,500 mg per day. For maintenance, 500 mg per day. It can be found at most health food stores or online.
Calc Fluor and Calc Phos. These are two of the twelve homeopathic cell salts that form the building blocks of the body. They are often lacking in today’s diet and are especially important to strengthen teeth and bones in growing children and expecting women.
Every member of the family can take them in the dosage listed on the bottle daily. Hylands is a good brand.
When Remineralization Is Not Enough
If the cavity is still in the enamel layer, you can remineralize and heal the tooth. However, if the cavity has moved into the dentin, most times you will need to have that decayed dentin removed to stop the spread of the cavity, and then fill the hole with resin filling material or cover the area over with porcelain depending on how large the hole the decay created.
How do you know if the cavity has spread to the deeper dentin layer and how you can reverse tooth decay? It can be seen on an x-ray, and cavity detecting lasers can tell how deep the cavity is.
Both require a trip to the dentist, but now you know exactly what to ask on your next visit.
Congratulations! You’re now fully ready to go into your next (or first) holistic dentist visit with several important questions and the most current and informed dental information available.
All that’s left is to learn exactly what you can expect from a holistic dental and wellness exam. We go through it all in the next (and final) chapter.
SCHEDULE YOUR New Patient Exam With Total Care Dental
More Than Just a Dental Exam!
A Cone Beam CT scan to identify problems related to old root canals, extraction sites, or failed tooth fillings.
Oral x-rays and photos, blood pressure readings, comprehensive gum exam, 40-point intraoral exam, and health-based screenings.
Screenings for problems related to infection, toxic metals, airway problems and/or sleep issues.
