HIYA!

I am really interested in this topic. I have every intention to continue brushing but I'm curious to read stories of people who don't brush. And, equally interested to read stories from people who didn't brush, but do now.

For years and years I just didn't get the message to eat sensibly, and, to brush my darned teeth. Now, boy, I'm paying the price. I'm sitting in the dentisist lobby right now, waiting to be called for the second of several treatments on one certain tooth.

I'm looking for a raw food dentist so I'll make a separate post in a minute. Wanna keep these things short because I don't know when I'll be called in to the chair!

Troy.



This way is not compatible with Zen practice. This way IS Zen practice. - Dr. Doug Graham

Nothing whatsoever should be attached to. - Buddha

Hiya, TroySantos,

I brush my teeth, but I haven't been raw long. My dentist implored me to rinse my mouth out after acidic fruit, and to follow up with brushing after rinsing(this prevents acids from being etched into the enamel by brushing). Since I started doing this, my teeth are less pitted and whiter. But I do use a natural toothpaste, which may matter. I also am starting to drink a lot of green juice, and I have this feeling, it's irrational I suppose, that the green stuff and chlorophyll and calcium are somehow "strengthening my teeth." Nothing I've observed, mind you. Just an intuition. I'd love to find a dentist that knows about raw food diets and their effect on tooth health, but I don't think there are many out there. My own dentist is very methodical and diligent and I figure, as with doctors and general health, it's not her job to keep my teeth well-- merely to monitor my own care of them. It's up to me to keep them well.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/06/2009 02:11PM by Tamukha.

i use a water pik , it takes longer but the oral hydrotherapy massage really makes my mouth feel nifty

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

I've found it's best for me not to eat anything that
'sticks' between my teeth. I mean...who wants to spend all day
brushing and flossing their teeth? So it's only Juices and Smoothies
for me...easier to digest too.
As far as brushing teeth goes...I rinse with water first, then
use a small amount of Baking Soda to further remove the film,
then a little Clay (Pascalite) goes in. Works for me for healthy
Teeth and Gums....WY

A few years ago when I went raw for the first time I didn't wash my teeth... terrible idea!!!!

A few months later I had to have one of my teeth removed and many fillings done.

The thing is that our teeth are already grown and fragile since we were infants. Sure we would LOVE nutrition to automatically solve everything, and it does hold miraculous cures to nearly everything... however there are some things such as our teeth that will be forever permanenty damaged and will need continual treatment.

*********************************************************************
ATTENTION: PLEASE LOOK AT THIS EXCELLENT BOOK, IT'S PUBLIC DOMAIN:

[www.journeytoforever.org]
*********************************************************************

It's from 1939 and yet the author is lightyears ahead of modern science in many things. Most impressive of all the things he shows the comparison between teeth of "civilised" peoples and ones who eat traditional diets, even though they NEVER washed their teeth... he was a dentist. I disagree with many of the things he says, such as tribes taking cow's milk for vitamin d (although perfectly organic, raw, cow's milk is nothing like today's hormone-laden poison called milk)... back then they didn't realise you could get vitamin D from the sun.

Obviously many of his peers and dentistry and mainstream medicine completely ignored his work and distanced themselves from it.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 07/06/2009 04:12PM by SuperInfinity.

Yes, I brush and floss. Rinse with water when I can't brush right away.

I brush with a "natural toothpaste" and also use the water pik. I love the water pik! Great for strong healthy gums and also getting out anything stuck in there that even flossing won't remove.

yea i really dig the water pik , i wish id had one years ago i really think its done a good job of strengthing my teeth and gums

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

Superinfinity, thanks for the link. I didn't realize this book is in the public domain, at least, as it says, in some countries. I intend to read it someday.

I've also read about the book on Quackwatch, which I like to read from time to time. It's good to get opposing perspectives, even though I sometimes don't know what to believe and what to not believe.

And, yeah, I use a waterpik too. Got one at the end of May and have used it every evening since. I swear though that my oral health has worsened since. I feel pains at teeth I didn't used to. I believe it's better to use it than to not use it though. Could be that other improvements in my life have led to this! Like a marked improvement in my diet just a couple of days after starting wtih the waterpik. I read somewhere that during detox acids are released into the mouth and this causes cavities.

I wanted to see what people had to say about brushing because I've read time and again that there really isn't a need to brush. No other animal on the planet brushes, so why should we? Yeah, but look what happens when we don't. I figure that since it seems there are many long term raw foodists here that maybe a couple don't brush.

Dr. Wynman didn't brush for a few months when he was eating fruitarian, but figures that this is when he developed several cavities. He's got some really useful things to say about oral health in an interview he did with Chet Day for Chet Day's Health and Beyond Newsletter in 1994.

He's got a thing or two to say about how cavities develop. About mercury, about flouride in water. Also, if you think toothpaste, even the "natural stuff" is good for you, but you're open to other ideas. Read the interview. It's a bit long, but really interesting and informative. Here's the address

[www.wynman.com]

Sorry, I don't know how to liven this link!

Troy.



This way is not compatible with Zen practice. This way IS Zen practice. - Dr. Doug Graham

Nothing whatsoever should be attached to. - Buddha

SuperInfinity,

Oh, no! The dreaded Weston A Price! The problem with his "hypotheses" is that they weren't scientific. He did not take genetics too much into account, for example, but focused overmuch on environmental factors. As every dentist should know, tooth health can be largely genetic. I have basically healthy teeth because of my Mongol ancestry. My brother didn't get that phenotype; too bad for his teeth.

Troy,

Here's where the argument stretches a bit--animals in nature don't brush their teeth, but they do lose them to trauma and decay. I think if we can avail ourselves of better hygiene tools/habits than they, it doesn't mean necessarily that we are betraying "The Cause." : )

Tamukha,

Okay thanks for you opinions. I think you mean "I'm not a fan of Weston A Price, in my OPINION his hypotheses weren't very scientific".

It's good to hear alternating views as well though.

Tamukha Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> SuperInfinity,
>
> Oh, no! The dreaded Weston A Price! The problem
> with his "hypotheses" is that they weren't
> scientific. He did not take genetics too much
> into account, for example, but focused overmuch on
> environmental factors. As every dentist should
> know, tooth health can be largely genetic. I have
> basically healthy teeth because of my Mongol
> ancestry. My brother didn't get that phenotype;
> too bad for his teeth.
>
> Troy,
>
> Here's where the argument stretches a bit--animals
> in nature don't brush their teeth, but they do
> lose them to trauma and decay. I think if we can
> avail ourselves of better hygiene tools/habits
> than they, it doesn't mean necessarily that we are
> betraying "The Cause." : )

SuperInfinity,

Of course what I am doing is expressing my opinion; need I expressly stipulate that? I presume that's what we're all doing here except when citing published data or quoting a secondary source : )