One of the ways anthropologists date human fossils is by looking at skull teeth. The more modern the fossil, the more tooth decay. Analyses of striations on fossilized teeth show no decay or premature wear when hominids ate a raw-vegetation diet. Most paleontologists agree that tooth decay coincided with the discovery of fire and accelerated with the advent of agriculture.
An unbalanced, cooked diet lacking in alkaline minerals (calcium, magnesium, silicon) and high in sugar and acid-forming minerals (phosphorus, chlorine) damages teeth formation. Because the “buds” that become the teeth are formed in the pre-natal stage, the diet of the mother has a lifelong influence. Due to improper nutrition, the body does not have the energy or minerals with which to properly control the eruption of teeth into the mouth. Poor nutrition results in crowded and malformed teeth, along with an altered bite. These structural dental challenges begin essentially as birth defects and are exacerbated by continuous improper nutrition. T.C. Fry reported in an article entitled, “The Myth Of Health In America” which appeared in Dr. Shelton’s Hygienic Review (37:7, p. 150-152) that 98.5% of the US population suffers from dental problems of one type or another. These may often be reversed and corrected in one or more generations of eating significantly more mineral-rich organic green-leafed vegetables, grass (wheatgrass), certain herbs (horsetail tea or bamboo sap) and other raw foods in general.
The average adult human has 32 teeth: 4 canines (the dullest of any primate), 8 incisors, 20 molars: 12.5% dull canines, 25% incisor teeth, 62.5% grinding teeth. This indicates that the majority of what we should eat is food which must be chewed (ground up), such as fibrous plant matter and seeds.
Calcium combines with phosphorus to form calcium phosphate crystals that build the structure of bones and teeth. These crystals are incredibly light and are formed into a pattern similar to that found in a diamond. They have a weight-bearing capacity four times greater than an equal amount of reinforced concrete.
Teeth and bones are dynamic living tissues that are constantly being replaced and rebuilt. To support this process, both calcium and phosphorus are required in a 1:1 ratio. Most people follow a diet high in phosphorus (foods such as: cooked rice or grains, nuts, potato and corn chips and meat), but they do not balance their diet with easy to assimilate calcium-rich foods (green-leafed vegetables). This creates an acid-condition that leaches calcium from the bones, and especially the teeth, to neutralize the acid, thus leading to tooth weakening and decay.
Meats, nuts and grains are the heaviest foods in acid-forming minerals. Undoubtedly, the introduction of milk products (high in calcium) into the human diet coincided with the explosion in meat and grain consumption when humans domesticated grazing animals and wild grains. Because pasteurized (cooked) milk products are not suitable for human consumption (and for other reasons mentioned in earlier lessons), calcium should come primarily from green-leafy vegetables and/or their juices.
Contrary to the belief that fruits are alkaline, many fruits are slightly acidic in their end-mineral breakdown, meaning they contain slightly more phosphorus than calcium (reference Lesson 14: Alkaline and Acid). Even alkaline fruits, such as oranges, have such a strong citric acid content that, if eaten excessively, may damage tooth enamel, unless the teeth are cleaned with a brush and an antimicrobial substance (i.e. colloidal silver or essential oils) or green leaves after a meal. Raw-foodists and fruit enthusiasts can develop dental challenges if green leaves are not included in the diet in adequate proportions to provide alkalinity and an excellent calcium-phosphorus balance.
Green-leafy vegetables help clean sugar from the teeth. The harmful effects of refined and processed sugars on the teeth have been well established, but even excessive fruit sugar can damage the teeth, although not to the degree as these other types.
The body best assimilates calcium, when both magnesium and manganese are present together. Green-leafy vegetables are high in magnesium, manganese, and silicon. Spinach is the best source of all three of these minerals together. When eating, one should daily consume 1,000 mg of calcium, 300 mg of magnesium, and 5 mg of manganese (one to two pounds of whole or juiced green-leafy vegetables will be adequate).
Silicon-residue foods play a major role in bone and teeth formation in the body. A high-intake of silicon-residue foods has been shown to heal broken bones at an accelerated rate (see Louis Kervran’s book Biological Transmutations). Silicon-residue foods include: bamboo sap/shoots, horsetail (an herb), hemp leaf, oats, cucumbers, lettuce, nopales (prickly-pear cactus leaves), okra, ripe bell peppers, radishes and tomatoes.
Chewing green leaves helps clean and repair the teeth. I like to say in my seminars, “A few days of ‘leafarianism’ (eating leaves) naturally brushes the teeth and helps heal mineral deficiencies.”
Wadging like the primates is an excellent way to heal the mouth of pyorrhea, gum disease and cavities. Wadging means to load your mouth with greens and chew and compress the pulpy matter into the teeth and gums like a ball-player who chews tobacco. Continue to chew and compress the pulpy matter in the mouth for 30 to 45 minutes without swallowing. Years ago I did this every day for weeks at a time for lunch by chewing on mouthfuls of wild malva for 20-30 minutes — wadging with wild food heightens the healing potential.
Having said all that, the coup de grace of tooth health and healing comes back to the simple logic of observing nature. Which animals possess the strongest teeth? The ruminants. The cow, horse, zebra, goat, wildebeest, etc. These animals are primarily grass eaters. I have made light of this observation and in my experience, nothing works better for strengthening teeth than chewing wild grasses.
Be sure to maintain excellent dental hygiene by doing the following:
1. Be sure to daily floss between all of the teeth. Unlike a natural animal’s teeth, the average person’s teeth are crowded together.
2. Brush your teeth daily. Be sure to also brush your gums and tongue. The apes are often seen cleaning their teeth with small chewed up branches rich with resin, much as we use a toothbrush. Consider using 3% food-grade hydrogen peroxide, sea salt and/or essential oils instead of toothpaste. Brush your teeth, rinse and gargle with fresh ocean water if at all possible. I do not use toothpaste and have not since 1992. I used to brush my teeth with sea salt and/or essential oils. Since I have had the metal taken out of my mouth, I now always use food-grade 3% hydrogen peroxide in a spray bottle for my dental hygiene. If you have metal fillings in your mouth, do not use hydrogen peroxide as it can draw metal and mercury ions into your salivary environment, thus degrading fillings and exposing one to heavy metal toxicity. Of important note here is that a mouth environment of high acidity and a diet high in sugar are relatively incapable of damaging teeth without the aid of plaque-forming streptococci bacteria. Certain essential oils and especially hydrogen peroxide kill these bacteria.
3. Eat green-leafy vegetables and chew on grasses. Green leaves and grass blades are the best source of calcium and mineral salts. Chlorophyll is a mineralized medicine. Our teeth are living bones whose primary minerals are calcium and phosphorus aided by silicon, magnesium and manganese.
4. In my experience working with people, I have found that fasting is a good way to heal a minor toothache. A minor toothache may be the body’s signal that it needs a rest from the constant food bombardment, so that it may heal. After fasting on water for a few days, brush your teeth clean and then consider giving your gums a complete physiological rest from food and brushing for several more days. If you have severe pain in a tooth, have lost a tooth, have an infection, have a chipped tooth, have bleeding gums, or if teeth problems persist, please see a holistic dentist.
1 As you begin The Sunfood Diet, set up an appointment to have your teeth cleaned by a dental hygienist. Have all the excess residue removed from your teeth. This will help give you a fresh start.
2 Have mercury amalgam fillings removed from your mouth as soon and as safely as you are capable. Mercury is one of the most toxic substances known and should not be in our mouths. I know individuals and friends who were close to death from mercury poisoning due to leaching amalgam fillings. They had the mercury removed, discovered eating raw plant foods, sought other alternative healing methodologies and healed. Consult a holistic dentist for proper removal and replacement. Be sure you are protected from mercury amalgam dust by a “rubber dam” when you have your fillings removed.
The presence of metals in the mouth causes an ‘electrical short circuit’ of the vital nerve energies. This is true not only for the specific area where the metal is located, but will also be reflected in other parts of the organism that correspond to that area of the body’s circuitry. Thus an amalgam filling in the lower, left molar(s) may affect the sigmoid colon, or an amalgam filling in the “eye tooth” may affect the eye, etc.
3 Read Whole Body Dentistry by Mark Breiner, DDS and It’s All In Your Head by Dr. Hal Huggins.