There's a pretty good chance that if you're reading this you know I'm not a dentist or anything else that gives me the 'authority' to give you any advice about your teeth. My opinion is to be your own health expert, do what works for you. All I can go on is my experience and my beliefs based on my experiences and reading articles from others, some of whom do have dental and/or medical training.
My teeth have always been a bit of an issue for me. My mum tells me that as an infant/toddler I had many ear infections requiring lots of anti-biotics. These supposedly can lead to stains on the teeth which is exactly what happened to me. I have always had quite a dark yellow stain, mainly on one front tooth and this, along with having somewhat crooked teeth, led me to being a little self conscious about my teeth growing up.
I also had many fillings growing up as well, I think between 10-12. My teeth were obviously not healthy at all and I'm sure that was thanks in most part to eating more than my share of sugar and despite brushing twice a day.
I never had braces to straighten my teeth and I'm now glad that I didn't but I did try many things to get rid of that stain. Whitening toothpastes were the obvious place to start but they did nothing at all. I went to the dentist and had a mouthpiece made so I could fill it up with whitening gel and wear that each night for 15 minutes or so. That didn't do much either. Then when I was about 17 or 18 I went back to the dentist to have my teeth professionally cleaned which I believe involved an abrasive paste in the hope that the stain was on the outside of the tooth. It was not, my stain remained.
At that time I think that was the last option available to me short of replacing the tooth and I had become more confident in myself anyway so wasn't as concerned although it did still bother me a little.
Now we fast forward to about 18 months ago or roughly 10 years later and my next visit to the dentist (yes it took me about 10 years to go back!). It was discovered that I needed 4 fillings. By this time I was already firmly of the belief that we are capable of healing ourselves and so before going ahead with those fillings I did some more reading into how to remineralise teeth naturally and reverse tooth decay. I also read parts of Nutrition and Physical Degeneration by Dr Weston A. Price and if you want further information about diet and health particularly around teeth, I would strongly suggest you check it out!
Most of the points from a scientific view are raised in the article I just linked, however I do like to try and break down biology into simple logic and I have two main points. The first (raised in the article) is that the teeth are made of bone just like the femur or the ribs and we have a very good understanding that they heal and re-grow. The second point, and this is the one I like to make for basically every dysfunction in the body is that each cell in the body is made of certain nutrients. For instance bones contain calcium, phosphorus and collagen mainly. If that bone doesn't get enough of one of those nutrients it will begin to break down. The way the body transports these nutrients is through the blood so therefore as long as the tissue has blood supply, is still functioning normally (part of which includes avoiding the things causing the damage in the first place!) and your body is absorbing enough of these nutrients, the tissue will repair. The body wants to heal we just need to give it the resources.
My goal after the visit was to reverse my cavities but to be perfectly honest, I still haven't gone back to the dentist to find out and I'm not confident that I have been as careful with my diet as I would need to to reverse them. However 2 things have changed. I was getting some sensitivity to cold, which is gone. The other I didn't even notice until my brother asked me about 6 months ago whether I was whitening my teeth because they were looking much better. When I checked my teeth in the mirror I was very surprised to see the stain that I hadn't been able to get rid of for maybe 20 years was almost completely gone. How did that happen??
I couldn't find a great before photo but if you compare the front tooth on the left to the teeth either side you should be able to see a noticeable discolouration. This was from about 3 years ago. Compare that with the after photo and although there is still some slight yellow staining it looks much better (to me at least)!
The big thing I changed from that dentist visit was to include flossing in my morning routine, it is quite possible that it would be more beneficial at night but I have been happy with how it's going and don't feel the need to change it. I had tried flossing a few times in the past but I'm sure I don't need to tell anyone how frustrating it is with a long piece of floss wrapped around your fingers. I use the toothpick looking individual floss things and they are far easier and quicker and I would recommend trying them out if you hate or avoid flossing!
I also need to note that I only brush once a day generally (as much as my wife hates it) and do not brush with fluoride toothpaste and haven't really done so since I was about 15. Also things like mouthwash and chewing gum I am not a big fan of, at best they cover up a deeper issue (bad breath can come from things like health problems and infections which neither treat!) and at worst doing more harm (I never like the idea of wiping out all bacteria, some are protective). I really don't think there is that much of a need to brush your teeth all the time, it probably doesn't hurt but a quality diet will do far more for the health of your teeth than brushing an extra time per day.
The only other thing that I have done routinely over that time is a glass of water with the juice of half a lemon. I have no idea whether that would have any impact on teeth, it may even be that the acidic lemon juice has worn away my teeth and the stain but I would imagine I would be getting more trouble if that were the case!
Obviously avoiding sugar and wheat for the most part has had a beneficial effect and those benefits may very well be increasing the longer I avoid them. The only other things I can think that may have helped are the occasional bone broth and oil pulling with coconut oil.
I will eventually go back to the dentist and see what is happening with the cavities but in the mean time I feel very confident that my diet, as long as I keep it fairly healthy, will keep my teeth (and gums) very strong and healthy and even reverse those cavities.
