How to Stop Tooth Decay Naturally with Nadine Artemis

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In this episode of The Functional Medicine Radio Show, Dr. Carri’s special guest Nadine Artemis explains how to stop tooth decay – naturally.

Nadine is the author of Holistic Dental Care: The Complete Guide to Healthy Teeth and Gums. She is the creator of Living Libations, an exquisite line of serums, elixirs, and essentials oils for those seeking the purest of the pure botanical health and beauty products on the planet. Her potent dental serums are used worldwide and provide the purest oral care available.

Main Questions Asked:

What is really in our toothpaste and mouthwash? And, what about those plastic microbeads?
Can you talk about the microbiome and how it impacts our dental health?
Can you explain the lymph system that’s in all our teeth?
Is there hope for those of us with cavities and fillings? Can you explain how to stop tooth decay?
Can you talk about your dental pack and elixirs?

Key Points made by Nadine:

Never before have we had so many choices but still, right now, there is a staggering number of cavities, crowns, root canals, and extracted teeth. We know that something’s amiss because even though we have this whole plethora of periodontal promises, there is now more dental decay and dysbiosis than any previous century.
One of the things we have to look at is what is going on with these commercial products that contain sodium laurel sulfate, glycerin, triclosan, plastic beads, all of these really harsh things.
There are two root things to really understand about the mouth which is the microbiome and the dentinal lymph system which is the lymph system within the teeth. This is key to how to stop tooth decay.
The microbiome is the term for the colonies of the trillions of microbes that live all over our skin, in our guts, and in our mouths. There are even other areas like the nose, ear canal, and for women, the vagina.
We’re almost in a post-genomic era because what we now know is we’ve got our DNA and genes but what’s more important is the DNA and genes of the trillions of microbes that our body is dependent on. This microbiome enables endless essential body functions. Now we know we’re actually 90% microbial and only 10% mammalian. We are host to this bacterial banquet. The key to the vitality of our mouths is bacterial balance.
What’s been going on with modern dentistry is that we’ve been disrupting the beneficial bacteria in our mouths and that many practices of dentistry and many commercial dental care products actually mutate the mouth’s microbes.
The triple threat to our mouths is: these harmful procedures, lack of understanding of the dentinal fluid, and this periodontal scorched earth policy we have on bacteria. This trifecta is creating the perfect periodontal storm that’s fostering receding gums and dental decay. On top of this we have a system that’s creating these band-aid solutions of bleaching and gum graphs, veneers and fillings. Instead of understanding the root of the issue and befriending those bacteria, we’re literally just ignoring that and doing the bleaching, the gum graphs.
We have other things that are taking away from our mouth’s microbes including antibiotics. Antibiotics given for one disease could affect the teeth. It’s devastating when you see the results of what that does to our teeth.
How to stop tooth decay: Stop using fluoride. Fluoride contributes to brittle, discolored, and crumbling teeth by suppressing this dentinal lymph system and that affects bone mineralization, nerve health, saliva pH and endocrine function.
Scientists are now figuring out that what’s making Streptococcus mutans more virulent is that it’s missing its ancestral bacterial buddies – the ones that will keep it in check.
That pathogen is only going to cause a problem in the mouth when it can begin to form a biofilm that adheres to the tooth surface. We will always have pathogens in our bodies but when they grow in numbers, they’re able to gain traction by communicating through what scientists call quorum sensing and that enables them to colonize into these biofilms which is then where they can build communities and cause more disruptive plaque.
Dental plaque is a biofilm that can entrap the existing pathogens. It makes the pathogens hide from the alkalinizing saliva flow. Then you start this whole snowball effect. Then the teeth can’t breathe anymore and then that prevents the saliva and this dentinal lymph from doing its job of cleansing the teeth with a protective coating.
Going back to the ingredients in toothpaste, generally speaking, things like sodium laurel sulfate and mercury fillings make the gums bleed so then you’ve got these toxic chemicals that are mutating the microbes. They’re going into the bloodstream which is going to also then go into the gut. We might also have digestive health issues because of what we’re doing in our mouth. Obviously the mouth and the stomach are very connected.
Even before we knew about the microbiome, we knew that these ingredients were disturbing the very thin skin in the mouth, the epithelium, which is only one cell thick.
Since the 1940s, what the American Dental Association decided upon was the acidogenic theory – sugar and acids on the teeth create cavities. That’s not really true and has been proven as so by other dentists.
Acid and sugar on the teeth are fine if the teeth are strong. What we really want to understand is how decay happens so we can see how our teeth are alive and that they are live bones and that we can re-mineralize them. We can change the health of our mouths no matter what state it’s in today because our mouths are alive. They’re part of our body and they’re going to respond.
Teeth are fed by their roots by this dentinal lymph system. Just like tree roots draw up nutrients via the sap, the dentinal lymph flow is a toroidal system: The lymph liquid spins inwards and upwards into the tooth’s core. The tooth’s core is called the pulp chamber. So the dentinal lymph flows through the tooth and out onto the enamel like microscopic sweat. There are tiny droplets that coalesce on the surface of the enamel and that forms a fluid layer that prevents biofilm formation and mixes with the saliva to lubricate and communicate to the mouth’s microbiome.
When we have this secretion and it’s properly functional and our bodies working with it, it’s like an invisible toothbrush. This is how to stop tooth decay.
If we’re eating a diet of processed food, sugar, carbohydrates, if we have a lot of chemicals and medication in our lives, if we have a lot of stress that then takes its toll on the hormone system then the dentinal lymph flow can actually stagnate. It can get to a neutral stagnant position or it could actually fully reverse.
When reversal happens capillaries in the tooth suck in bacteria and other microbes in the mouth into the tooth like a straw. This can cause infection and plaque formation within the pulp chamber and within the tiny dentin tubes in each tooth. What is supposed to be a self-cleansing system actually becomes a self-contaminating system. That causes a leaky tooth, like leaky gut. That is actually the genesis of cavity creation.
A cavity is actually an infection in the tooth and like all wounds, it has the ability to heal because teeth are alive and we can change the condition of our mouths.
How to stop tooth decay: Studies have shown that by including dietary magnesium and phosphorous into the diet, decay rate was reduced by 86%. Also when K2 and D3 were included, that also inhibited decay.
What we can see from this is that fillings are band-aid solutions. When we put in a filling, we’re also susceptible to recurrent decay in that tooth so it’s not necessarily addressing the issue. When there is decay in the mouth that is a sign of a deficiency in the diet.
How to stop tooth decay: When we’re able to address the underlying causes of cavities then restore our dentinal lymph and teeth re-mineralize, that tooth is more resilient to cavities in the future.
How to stop tooth decay: First, get the mouth in order. Then you want to find your biological dentist. Once you do that, it might be years and years before you have to go back to the dentist or maybe you’ll need to get a hygienist cleaning every couple of years. Once you’ve re-mineralized and got the microbiome in your mouth happy again, you really will be seeing the dentist less. I like to call it “How to avoid the dentist without ignoring your teeth”.
All silver fillings have mercury in them. Mercury is a cumulative toxin that actually passes through the blood-brain-placental barrier. It also tenaciously binds with tissue altering DNA, nerves, cell membranes, mitochondrial function. It’s linked to dementia, MS, Parkinson’s, and other degenerative disorders.
Nobody needs mercury in their mouth. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) claims that the highest body burden of chronic mercury toxicity comes from silver fillings.
How to stop tooth decay: Follow the eight steps to successful self dentistry.