Do you have a crooked smile? So do I!
When I was a kid, my parents started me on the road to good oral health. I went to the dentist regularly, had my teeth cleaned and took care of any cavities that I had.
Then in my early adolescence, I got braces. My upper palate was too narrow for all of my teeth. So we started with this bar that went across the roof of my mouth and everyday my mother would insert a kind of key and give the apparatus a quarter turn.
Over the course of a year, this was to widen my palate and give my teeth the space that they needed.
After that, I got the braces on all of my teeth and had to wear rubber bands in order to shift my upper and lower jaws into a “perfect” alignment. This process went on all through high school.
I did what I was told and there were days that my teeth hurt very much.
So, imagine my surprise when just a few years later when I went to a dentist in another place, because I was now in college… that this new dentist told me that I needed braces.
I had worn the retainer for the required year after the first time, but now my teeth were crooked again.
Well, because I have always known that good oral health was important, I did what this dentist said as well.
Two more years of braces and again, a retainer afterwards. Now I am decades older and my teeth are just as crooked as before my first painful experience with braces.
And guess what, my current dentist is suggesting strongly that I get braces once again.
I realize that all of the healing arts evolve. As we learn more and understand better how this incredible body works, we re-evaluate how we do things.
Frankly, though, I feel very much like a guinea pig. And my parents and I have had to pay a very high price for their learning curve.
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In the 1920s the dental profession started noticing that people’s teeth were starting to get crooked.
Largely, the profession developed a way to straighten people’s teeth, and thus the whole orthodontic (braces) specialty came into being.
One dentist however; Weston A Price, asked the question –
“Why are people’s teeth getting crooked?”
The reality was that this was a new phenomenon; it had rarely occurred before.
Price decided to do massive research and what he discovered as he toured the world and found pockets of people who were not eating commercially processed foods, but were instead still eating whatever their native diet was.
When they did this, generation after generation had a wide enough palate for all of their teeth. The teeth were straight with no crowding or crookedness.
Jaws were wide and there was a more even symmetry of people’s faces when compared to their more “industrialized” neighbors.
What we eat does indeed affect our overall health, but even more so, it affects the development of our children.
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Several of my patients have been realizing that many of their health conditions seem to have started after a visit to their dentist.
We are all starting to be aware that the mercury used in dental fillings are toxic to our bodies.
Several dentists have now jumped on board and are suggesting that people get their old fillings removed and replaced with the latest and greatest.
So, they have moved from mercury to aluminum oxide. Is this better?? It’s still a metal and foreign to one’s body.
Please realize that every time we drink something hot or chew food, we are creating a chemical reaction with the fillings that we have in our mouths.
If you have already replaced your fillings, and you haven’t done any metal detox, it’s highly likely that there is now metal toxicity in your body.
The good news is that there are natural ways to deal with this issue. The metal toxicity can cause all kinds of health issues.
Many of the products that are promoted commercially for our oral hygiene are also toxic; as are many of the products that the dental profession uses in their “care” of our teeth.
There are other natural alternatives for toothpaste and mouthwash.
Taking care of our mouth is very important as each tooth has an organ association. If there is an infection in a tooth, it does get reflected in the body, as there is a connection.
There are also homeopathic ways to deal with any infections that start in one’s mouth.
Next month, I will address the root canal issue.
