Who needs dentists?

I just came back from the dentist. Because I can be lazy and irresponsible I hadn't seen the inside of a dental office in a good two years. Good news is all is fine. Is this luck, due to my personal cleaning habits, or what? Actually, it could be due to what I eat. We think of dentists as a necessary evil -- if you want to keep your teeth for even most of your life, you better get a cleaning and check-up twice a year, right? What if you heard that dentists are actually only necessary because of our diet?

Indeed, the dentist Weston Price went around the world looking at the teeth of people in developed and undeveloped countries and areas. Where people ate a "Western diet" their teeth were decaying and required consistent dental help. Where people were walled off from the "Western diet" and therefore ate traditional, nutrient rich diets, their teeth were entirely free of decay. So this gets even more interesting -- not only are dentists unnecessary, but so are toothbrushes -- though they do a good job of keeping teeth white and improving our breath.

To me this helps show the continued value of eating a nutrient rich diet. What you eat and what you don't eat impact not just whether you're fat or skinny or whether you get colon cancer or not, but also whether you keep those pearly whites healthy for the rest of your life.

Weston Price was also very cautious of certain modern dental procedures -- most notably the root canal. Root canals can breed infection (as can normal fillings). Bacteria present in the root of a tooth is trapped there but when when a root canal is performed it becomes exposed to the rest of the body and can cause significant health problems. Weston Price firmly believed this and there is growing concern -- though most modern dentists and the American Dental Association seem to firmly deny this. I believe it enough that before any major procedure I would consult a holistic dentist.

The last thing I'd note on the subject of teeth is fluoride. Besides the fact that the addition of fluoride is absurd when you look at how many developed countries have investigated the costs and benefits and decided not to add it to drinking water (or to stop adding it such as with Canada) due to a lack of evidence that it helps and growing evidence that it hurts the prevention of tooth decay, fluoride may be a lot more dangerous than you think. I use a fluoride-free toothpaste and refuse to use a fluoride rinse at my dentist's suggestion. Why? Because fluoride is a toxin. We think our bodies can handle it and that it helps us more then it hurts us but how many times have we been wrong about toxins in the past? Why does your tube of toothpaste say not to swallow? Because of the fluoride.

Every time you drink tap water in this country and ever time you brush with fluoride in your toothpaste you are adding a toxin to your body. If you spit out that toothpaste you've still absorbed some through your gums, swallowed just a bit, etc. And some studies show that about half of the fluoride we ingest never leaves the body -- it just builds up year after year. Doctors and dentists recommend that babies avoid fluoride -- it's too toxic. If I want to brush my cat's teeth I need to be sure and use fluoride-free toothpaste according to my dentist because their system's can't handle it. But mine can? I, for one, think I'll pass.

Welcome to American -- I hope you have health insurance

I was recently discussing someone who came over to America from a large Asian country and immediately started to eat like a good old American (hot dogs, etc.) If there's one fact that should resonate with us as to how unhealthy our food is, it is that time after time when observing people who go from a traditional, ethnic diet to a "Western diet" or an American style of eating, they begin experiencing all sorts of health problems. You might say this is related to smog, different chemicals we use to clean, etc. But much more likely (based on the diseases and health problems I'm referring to: type 2 diabetes, blood pressure and heart problems, etc.) the issue is diet. We think of ourselves as so advanced and the protections offered by the USDA and FDA so superior to that of some developing country, but the people without those protections are far healthier than us and the worst thing they can do for their health is move to America and start eating like an American. So if you come here, before you load up on refined carbohydrates, processed sugars, hydrogenated vegetable oils and all the great things that Americans munch on three meals a day, go get some health insurance. You're going to need it.

(As an aside, I have been thinking about downgrading my health insurance considering I have not been to a doctor in about 5-6 years, wouldn't take medicine they gave me unless I was convinced my life depended on it, and would pursue all other remedies before considering the advice of an M.D. How would you feel if your doctor was a chain smoking alcoholic? Would you question his advice? What about if he ate a diet you were convinced is the root of most of the problems he deals with in patients on a daily basis?)