We recently received an email from a caring mom asking for ideas what she can do to help her son who has dentinogenesis imperfecti (DI). Ā DI is a genetic issue where the teeth come in very weak and crumble easily.Ā Think, tooth decay on steroids.
This mom shared with us the challenges she faces watching her one-year oldās teeth cut through his gum only to begin crumbling soon after.
I sat for many days with this email staring me in the face.
I mean, what can I offer this mom?Ā The frustration and grief in her email were strong, yet I also read hope in her words as she was still searching for solutions.
Sure.Ā She would probably benefit from knowing how teeth decay and how to reverse tooth decay with diet.Ā But would that be enough for this child?
Her dentist suggested that she use pastes that harden enamel and ‘stop’ tooth decay (that have a bunch of junk in them too).
But it seems that this would only put a bandaid on a more fundamental breakdown and potentially further weaken an already challenged system (due to the less than optimal ingredients in the products).
What came to mind for me was a chapter out of the book Primal Body,Ā Primal Mind from Nora Gedgaudas (which by the way is a fabulous read) titled “What Generation of Pottengerās Cats Are You?ā Ā Truly, you could consider this title a second title for this article.
So, after writing back a lengthy email to this courageous mom, we decided to share our thinking with you all with the hope that youāll find inspiration and benefit for your family too.
Dr. Pottenger and his famous cat studies…
Dr. Pottenger was one of these inspired (albeit a bit crazy) physicians that loved research.
His work goes down in history with the work of Dr. Weston Price, Drs. Edward and May Mellanby, Dr. Melvin Page and Dr. Ralph Steinman (to name a few) as the foundation of our current understanding how nutrition plays a critical role in the creation and/or destruction of our health and vitality.
Dr. Pottenger studied the relative health of cats over several generations isolating the quality of food they received as his focus of research. Ā Essentially, he fed one group of cats deadĀ ācat foodā and the other group of cats foods that cats would more accurately represent their natural diet like raw meat, organ meats, and raw milk. (I realize that cats in the wild wouldn’t find raw milk, but Dr. Pottenger used raw milk with the second group since he gave pasteurized milk to the ‘dead food’ group.)
He allowed the experiment to run for many generations all the while noting the changes in physical capabilities.
As you can guess, the cats raised on real food maintained their genetic health all throughout. Ā In the cats fed devitalized food, he found several markers emerge over the generations.
They slowly became less vital and more lethargic. Ā Then they stopped having as many kittens. Ā Finally, the kittens’ teeth werenāt fully developingĀ or breaking down easily (sound like the young mom and toddler story from earlier?)Ā Eventually, this group of cats became fully sterile.
It took 3 generations of eating foods that didnāt fulfill their nutritional needs, overburdened their systems with metabolic toxins, and created sufficient dysfunction in their microbiomes for the cats to reach this level of breakdown that ended in sterility.
The Silver Lining of PottengerāsĀ Research
The elegance of Dr. Pottengerās work is he didnāt stop there. Ā He asked himself, ā I wonder what would happen if I put these deficient, dysfunctional cats back on real food?ā
Amazingly, it took only 4 generations to restore the weakened cats back to full functional health. Ā They regained sexual function, their teeth strengthened, their vitality returned, all within only 4 generations!
So, whatās going on here?
We see Pottenger’s research as a great demonstration of our ability to express our genetic potential. Ā In the field of epigenetics, itās clearly shown that our genes turn off and on on a āreal timeā basis as a response to environmental influences.
In other words, unlike what our culture thinks of when the word āgeneticsā comes up (that we are dealt a deck of genes and are victim to how they unfold regardless of our choices through life), people who study epigenetics like to say, āGenetics loads the gun and our environment pulls the triggerā.
In other words, our day to day choices has a HUGE impact on how our genes express themselves as health and vitality or dysfunction and disease.
So, depending on where you are on the continuum to shoulder the full burden of responsibility for your health, this may be great news or a real bummer. š Ā This means that our day to day choices have a profound impact on whether we experience disease orĀ vitality.
The multi-generation marathon to optimal oral health…
It’s all about the ‘genetic momentum’ (to use a term we learned from our friend Dr. Cate Shanahan, author of Deep Nutrition).Ā Genetic momentum is the tendency or general trend of how well our genetics are expressing themselves as vitality.
Think of a soccer or basketball game where one team is much stronger than the other.Ā If the health giving efforts are dominating the game, genetic momentum will be working on your side.Ā However, if you are on the receiving end of several generations of people who haven’t been making the wisest choices, your genetic momentum needs a good jump start.
Itās time we look beyond the super fast paced, flash in the panĀ approach thatās so addictive and pervasive in our modern culture. Ā How about making changes in our lives for the potential increase in genetic momentum that our yet to be born grandchildren can benefit from?
Yes, we can make changes to better support our own genetic expressionĀ while we support future generations as well. Ā Thankfully, many of these actions are complimentary and align with one another very well.
Actions we can take to create lasting positive changes in our kidās oral health
1. Ā Reflect on what generation of Pottengerās Cats you are.
How is your oral health?Ā What was your diet like as a child? Ā How many boxes of packaged cereal were you raised on? š
What was the diet of your parentās like?
Did your grandma cook like our culture talks about āgrandmasĀ cookingāĀ or had she already fallen prey to the modern kitchen? Ā This will give you some clues as to how vital your genetic momentum is.
On a personal note, I recall reading lots and lots of cereal boxes as a kid.Ā To take it a generation further, my mom has shared with me that it was her job as a child to stir in the coloring for theĀ margarine she was raised on!
(Apparently, in theĀ 1940s margarine was sold asĀ a putrid white/gray color product like Crisco of today and to make it more appealing aka look like butter, a color packet came with the margarine that you would stir in once you took it home.)
So, itās clear to me that genetic momentum is not on my side, which explains my passion for both my own selfish health as well as the health of our future generations.
2. Ā What small stepĀ can you take today and make the habit in your home to begin to turn around the loss of genetic momentum in your family?
Remember, every step you take is a step along the marathon.
Look around your kitchen. Ā What one food can you remove like the kitchen ninja you can be and never allow to come back? Ā Some of your biggest bang for the buck options would be: Ā replace margarine with real butter (the yellower the better), remove candy from the home (and offer a healthy substitute as a once a week treat if needed to avoid mutiny), or make sure that all kids have some form of quality protein in their first meal of the day.
Just making small steps along this multigeneration marathon to optimal genetic expression is a huge step. Ā The game is to consciously choose to make the change (as the leader of the family that you are) and hold the line.
How to destroy the progress…
You canāt just do it in front of the kids. Ā Thereās no point in removing candy from the house but having your own secret stash of chocolate. Ā Thereās no hiding the truth.
So, better to wait until you are really ready to lead your family with a step that you know you can hold to than to try to ‘fake it til you make it’.
Integrity has so much powerĀ and the damage caused by undermining trust in the family (when the kids find your stash) is tough to recover from.
3. Ā How do you know when youāre making progress?
Look for signs of overall improvement.
Sure, you may be thrilled with your child’s dental checkup with no cavities. Ā But even if there are cavities, remember the marathon. Ā It can take time to get enough genetic momentum back toward the health giving genetic expression to get a great dental check up.
The worst thing you could do is assume that because there were cavities at the most recent dental visit that āthis stuff doesnāt workā and give up. Ā Depending on where you find yourself (and your kids) along Pottengerās genetic decline, it may take several action steps to reach a cavity-free dental visit.
Remember the marathon…
Look for calmer moods around the house (signs of a more stable blood sugar balance), more vitality and vigor (not to be confused with hyperactivity), a stronger, fuller facial structure, healthy physical development, improvement in attention, etc.
On a personal level, perhaps the biggest āfeather in our capsā as parents is that by the time she was 11 years old, our daughter had a wider dental arch than either of us have as adults!
If you are familiar with Weston Priceās work, youāll realize the wonderful sign of progress this is for us. Ā This is a HUGE sign to us that the actions weāve been taking for the past many years are expressing themselves in the form of a more completely formed dental arch.Ā (Needless to say, we wonāt be rushing off to have her wisdom teeth removed at 18 given the more fully developed dental arch.)
4. Ā Teach your children how to cook real food (and enjoy the flavors of eating it too!)
Itās one thing to increase the amount of fat-soluble vitamins in our childrenās diet or decreasing the amount of sugar they consume. Ā But if they never learn how to cook real food, we are ultimately not arming them with the tools āhow to fishā on their own.
Everyone in our family knows how to prepare quality real food. Ā Whether itās preparing another pot of bone broth or making homemade cheese, these foundational aspects to each of us knowing how to nourish our health and vitality are critical components to making sure future generations are raised on real food.
The combination of providing the very best nutrition for current generations along with raising your family in the kitchen cooking real food will hopefully reap grandchildren with even stronger genetic momentum. Ā In this way, we are beginning to reestablish the idea of helping yet unborn generations to live healthier, happier, more vital lives.
So, what generation of Pottengerās cats are you? Ā What do you do to provide your children with a little better start toward improving the genetic momentum in your family?
Weād love to hear from you as weĀ all have so much to learn from one another!
Want to take a deeper dive how to stop decay in your home? Download our FREE eBook āHow to stop tooth decay and remineralize your teethā today.
Helpful, Related Resources:
How to stop tooth decay and remineralize your teeth [free eBook]
How to Reverse Tooth Decay with Diet [article]
How Teeth Decay [article]
Is fluoride Safe to Use? [article]
5 Steps to a Healthy Mouth [free video tutorial series]
What TO eat to Support Greater Oral Health [article]
What Foods Undermine Our Oral Health and Why [article]
What Causes Tooth Decay (and How We Can Stop it) [article]
Thank you for publishing these articles! I was reading the “What Causes Receding Gums and How to Stop it” and clicked the link to learn more about Pottenger’s cats when I came to it. Wow! Can the concepts here explain why so many of my peers (including myself) went through orthodontic treatment (culminating in braces) during our teenage years? I don’t think my parents’ generation had as many people with crooked teeth. There is so much more to research, but I appreciate how you make it easy to get started by producing these articles on your site! Thank you, Orawellness!
Aloha Jenna,
Thanks for stopping by. š
Weāre glad you find the information we share useful!
There certainly seems to be a connection between the modern prevalence of crooked teeth and sub-optimal dietary habits of older generations.
You may be interested in checking out our interview with Dr. Mike Mew (lecturer and lead clinician at the London School of Facial Orthotropics). His work helps to shed more light on why modern society is suffering from many mouth and facial issues (e.g. tooth crowding, narrow jaws, downward āmeltingā facial structure, and airway issues) that werenāt common in our ancestors.
Aloha! š
Thank you for reminding families to pass on the joy and health of cooking together.
Loved this article and the part on epigenetics was particularly encouraging and hopeful!! Iām always SO thankful for all the amazing information you present to us! Thank you!
Great post! Thanks for sharing and keep on sharing this kind of practical information, since this is what mothers need on a daily basis.
Thanks for all your work!
Thanks Tina! We are glad you find this type of info helpful!!
My recently turned four yr. old son’s upper four front teeth have serious decay at the gum level, one front tooth has an abscess (not infected) but very close to the permanent tooth (inside the gum). His problem started very early on, and I changed my way of thinking – through my internet research, and valuable sources, such as yours, as to what my definition of healthy WAS – whole grain cereal, nuts (un soaked), organic packaged cereal/anything…I tried to put him on the Weston price diet, and used the cod liver oil (rosita) and butter, (but they weren’t blended) but I did not see much change…and they steadily worsened. (We have a large family, he is the only one with this issue, although we’ve had our share of cavities and fillings?), and not all older siblings -or DH?, were fully ready for complete diet change. I live in northeast Iowa, and have recently taken him to a pediatric dentist, because the teeth are literally crumbling away. She now wants to remove front four teeth, and both my husband and I are concerned to not cause further possible damage to permanent teeth, or possible infection…can you give any advice, she is scheduled to remove them in a couple of weeks?. Sorry for the long story here- we are in a bit of a quandary as to how to best take care of this, and if it is problematic from a health standpoint to remove the front teeth.
Thank you so much for your help, and products.
B.R.
Aloha Momofcrew,
Thank you for reaching out to us. I’m sorry to hear about your challenging situation with your one child (at least it’s just one, right?)
I hear you on the major learning curve once we realize that what we thought was healthy and good food really ended up being not so great for us.
As to why this one child and not the others, there are so many factors including: order of children, spacing of kids, your nutrition/level of stress pre and peri pregnancy of this one, etc. It’s tough when part of the family is on board with a diet shift. After all, they don’t need to make the shift (or so it seems) to have healthy teeth, right? š
Whenever someone asks us questions like this, we essentially ask ourselves, “What would we do given the information being shared with us?” then share what comes. Please don’t misinterpret this as advice or a suggestion what to do. That said, we are honored to be part of your research and guidance team on this situation.
There is a risk of very active decay from baby teeth ‘infecting’ the adult teeth as they begin to cut through. So, in my mind, given that you’ve tried to stop it with diet, there may be a warranted reason to have them removed. I just really appreciate to try everything before such a drastic step. It sounds like your ‘gut’ for you and your husband is leaning toward doing the removal. That’s where I lean as well reading where you’re at with this.
Given this, the next question in front of you and your husband is, “How are we going to support his oral health even better for his second chance (adult teeth)? For this, we have plenty of resources on our site. Be sure to check out our free video tutorial course, the 5 steps to a healthy mouth.
http://orawellness.com/answers/5steps-ora/
I hope that helps!
Hi Will and Susan,
Thank you for your article and your products. We really love Orawellness drops. Here is my dilemma. I have had rampant tooth decay for 15 years (since I had my first child), leading to 10 crowns, 4 extractions and so much more. I have been to two biological dentists who have had me try multiple things. I have been grain-free for 2 1/2 years (prior to that I followed nourishing traditions), did all that Ramiel suggested (minus some of the organ meets and some fish), took FCLO, vit D, calcium, calc four and fos, drank raw milk and fermented everything. I make my own everything (including toothpaste with the Orawellness drops.) I have had my amalgams removed and I am heading into surgery next week to remove screws, plates and wires that were placed when I had corrective surgery on my jaws when I was 12.
My family has followed the same diet for the last year and a couple of my kids have tooth decay, my youngest daughter has it the worst. I am at a complete loss to know where to go. I just do not want this to continue for my children.
Just voicing my frustrations. Thanks for “listening.”
Aloha Terri,
Thank you for sharing your story with us here. I’m sorry to hear about your frustrations and challenges with dentistry for you and your children.
We know just how frustrating it can be to watch children’s teeth become compromised. It’s like we literally are witnessing Dr Pottenger’s experiments in our families.
No surprise that your youngest has it the worst for a couple reasons. She got the least nutritional and prenatal support from you (after all, you were already running around taking care of other kids) and she most likely has been exposed to the cultural nemesis (sugar) earlier than the others (something she can forgive her older siblings for when she is an adult! š
The question is, what can you step up even more? Where can you improve her system’s ability to support an even greater immune response? After all, the game for each of us is to support ‘the host’ (that’s each of us) to optimize the genetic expression of vitality and vigor.
Generally, what we find is most people on a WAPF diet (or following the excellent suggestions Ramiel has relayed in his book) is they don’t use as much FCLO and HVBO in nearly the quantity necessary (and for good reason, that stuff isn’t cheap! š
So, what can she reduce in her diet, what can she increase, how can she get more fulfilling rest, more healthy exercise, etc.
I hope that helps Terri!
Yes, we have slacked off on the FCLO in the last several months. I can bump that back up and see if that will help her more. Thanks for your resonse. Interesting about the younger child comment. I had not thought about that. My youngest actually has the best teeth, but there is a big gap between him and the others.
Thanks.
Terri
Does your mouth open at night? Could you have undiagnosed sleep apnea? Reflux issues? These can play a role in acidifying the saliva by dryness combined with mild apnea-induced respiratory acidosis…if 1/3 of your day keeps your saliva acidic, it is a frustrating and uphill battle to dental health!
I have started giving my son a small ‘espresso’ cup of veg soup pre dinner. He likes the novelty of it.
Love your articles x
Hi there again, I have done a lot of reading (and posting) on your website today. I think I will give you time to answer now. This is my third question cause I really want to get to the bottom of things. What do you recommend as a first meal of the day that is protein rich for the kids (and us as adults)? Could you please make some suggestions? Would be so grateful….Thanks so much!Hope to hear from you soon!
Aloha Anne!
Thanks for stopping by. Great questions!!
The subject of what to eat for breakfast is a very fun and challenging one in our culture. It’s fun because we can redefine what breakfast however we choose. And it’s challenging for each of us (and for our children) depending on how much we/they have ‘bought into’ the modern cultural ideas around breakfast.
For example, when I was a child, breakfast was cold cereal in milk. Breakfast on the weekends was something to look forward to like pancakes or waffles (of course drenched in a very sweet syrup). So, for me, redefining breakfast was challenging until I had to for health reasons. I always wanted something sweet to start the day (even if I judged the quality of the sweet food as ok because it was organic, etc). What I have found is if I start the day with something sweet, I crave sweets throughout the day. This is the slippery slope most of the modern world is on.
So the game as I see it is to start the day with a savory meal.
Our friends, Dallas and Melissa Hartwig of Whole9.com really reframe this subject of breakfast well. They suggest rather than think of breakfast (with all the cultural baggage associated with that), just consider it meal 1 of the day. I found this a very simple, elegant way to rethink the subject.
With all that theory out there, what are some real life ideas?? Eggs are fantastic for breakfast. For variation, it’s easy to make up a quick ‘frittata’ using pastured eggs with some grated, par boiled sweet potatoes (can definitely be savory spiced well). It’s really not so much to avoid any carbs in breakfast but to make sure that protein is well represented and the flavor profile is savory.
Another common one for us is a bowl of leftover soup. Talk about a hearty, healthy way to start a day! When I start my day with a bowl of soup, it carries me until mid afternoon easily.
While soup may seen odd for breakfast for many, I reflect on a very rich life experience I had as a teen when I spent some time in Japan. I recall being served a bowl of cold, very small fish in a bowl for breakfast (yeah, talk about a culture shock from my cold sugary cereal!).
If children are resistant, then perhaps do a transition where there’s a small bowl of soup as a first course followed by more comfortable foods for them. FYI, if our mouths start with sweet, we will want more sweet. So start with savory foods first (the notion behind something small and sweet after a meal).
I hope that helps Anne. Thanks for reading my long reply. Good questions like this bring my ideas out for sure!
Oh, in addition to the fermented cod liver oil and raw milk, we also use homeopathic remedies calc fluor 12x and calc phos 6x — on the recommendation of homeopath Joette Calabrese (another Weston A. Price supporter). She recommends each of those remedies 3 times each day — throughout childhood to promote strong, cavity-free teeth.
I usually put it in the glasses of water that the children have around the house because it gets complicated giving 7 kids 3 doses every single day. Joette recommended putting the calc fluor and calc phos into milk or water in such cases. I found this information on Joette’s book about cell salts, but there is an article about it on her blog/ website.
As a child and teen, I had problems with my teeth pitting and crumbling around the edges. My parents didn’t take me to a dentist until I was 13 or 14 and they were told that the water I had been raised on had too much natural fluoride in it. Our drinking water came from an aretesian well or cistern, for me from the age of two until mid teens. After that we went on community water. I didn’t have cavities due to the excessive fluoride, but had to have many teeth capped for cosmetic purposes. Just wondering if fluoride has played a role in this baby’s tooth issues.
Aloha Kay,
Thank you for stopping by to offer your ideas and share your story with us. I don’t know where this family lives. That would help to determine if their drinking water is really high in fluoride. My understanding is naturally high fluoride water occurs commonly in the eastern Rockies through Oklahoma and all the way to west Texas. Where did you grow up that had you experience this?
I grew up in central Texas. The cistern water was from a spring fed source. My older brother did not have these issues even though he was not quite old enough for his permanent teeth, when we moved to where we grew up. This was in the mid 1950’s.
Yep, that area would definitely fall into the ‘danger zone’ for high natural fluoride content! I think there’s even a town in the general region named ‘Black Tooth’ due to the high incident of dental damage from fluoride.
What have you done to manage the early exposure to high fluoride you received?
Hmmm, I’m not familiar with a town called black tooth. My teeth issues were pitting of the edges and some crumbling due to that. This resulted in orangey little pits on my teeth. I had 4 ‘smile teeth’ capped. Ironically my two front teeth and eye teeth were not overly affected, so they are not. Perhaps from not being stressed from chewing as much as the other four? I suppose 50 some odd years later, I don’t really have any more issues from the fluoride overload.
Glad to hear that your health has not been negatively impacted long term Kay.
Green Pasture Fermented Cod Liver Oil!!! We actually use the butter oil/ fermented cod liver oil blend. It is pricey, but we have not had to visit the dentist to deal with cavities, so I think financially I am saving a lot.
I had many, many cavities as a child. We ate a pretty healthy diet compared to most people, but I still had a lot of cavities. We even took cod liver oil during my childhood, but it wasn’t fermented.
Now my children (all 7 of them, ages 3 to 17) have very few cavities! (Thanks be to God.) We don’t have a perfect diet. But we do eat “roughly” Dr. Weston A. Price diet — very roughly. We eat mostly homemade meals. The kids love their fresh salads and other raw veggies, and we drink raw milk. They also love to cook and create their own meals.
The Healthy Home Economist blog has quite a few posts about dealing with children’s teeth issues. Also the Mommypotamous blog. Actually I think the Mommypotamous herself had the exact same problem — a child whose teeth were crumbling, even though they had a very healthy diet. Those two blogs are definitely worth looking up. (They are probably where I first read about OraWellness.)
Thanks for sharing Faith!
We are honored to be among such fine bloggers as part of your team to help your family navigate to optimal oral health!
Agreed on the FCLO/butter oil combination!
Thank you!
Thank you so much for sharing this!
Thank you for all your wonderful information! I plan on passing this info on to others š
Great article! Very interesting information that sheds some light on a topic so important. Thank you for sharing!
Is there an alternative you suggest vs the ‘paste’ that’s used to harden enamel?
Sit tight Jenna. We’re working on it. š
Jenna,
Since time is of the essence in kids, until they develop a product that has absolutely nothing negative and still maintains the ability to remineralize enamel, I personally would have my child use MI paste without fluoride. It contains calcium salts that help the enamel remineralize from the base as opposed to the way fluoride hardens the enamel, from the top down. The product does contain titanium dioxide (used in many products as a whitener) but it sure is better than nothing! It has helped many of our patients tremendously.
Aloha Lori,
Thank you for stopping by to share your professional experience with us!
We are honored to be networked with you and have your help with questions and issues like this.
Thank you!