Healing Cavities Part 1: How did my kid get so many cavities?

In this series of articles, we’ll cover how to properly provide you and your child with the nutrition needed to begin to heal. If you need closer guidance and support, as well as direction on the exact supplements to use, please schedule a free consultation with Katania.

When my son was 4, his dentist told me he had not one, but six cavities. Yes, you read that right, six! The offenders were wedged between teeth, where food got stuck and can be difficult reach with a toothbrush. To say I was devastated is an understatement.

This was 7 years ago, and I didn’t know what I know now; my kids didn’t eat as well as they do now. However, their diet was far from the Standard American Diet: they ate a wide variety of veggies, meats, fish, fruits, healthy fats and very little processed grains and snack foods. Although when they were very young I did fall for those simple, non-choke-able, melt-in-your-mouth little cereal nuggets, but only as an occasional treat.  Both kids were breast-fed until 13 and 16 months and never had formula.  However, my son did LOVE his milk.  He was breast fed until 13 months and we moved to goats milk after that. He loved, loved, loved his warm milk every evening, probably until he was 4. And it was his favorite activity that ended up being the culprit.

The dentist said the chronic bottle/sippy-cup drinking allows milk to stay on the teeth for too long, causing decay and those six nasty cavities. Even after the explanation I was still in shock. My daughter, 2 years younger, breast-fed until 16 months and never really liked milk, nor the bottle after weaning; and to this day has no cavities. But I still could not believe that just his love for milk was the only cause for 6 cavities. Something wasn’t adding up.

Now, 7 years later, my son hasn’t had a single cavity and after much research, I believe I have discovered the missing pieces that explain why he had so many cavities as a toddler, and why so many children his age experience the same problem.

I dove into some pretty deep research (40 years deep) and dug out what I believe to be the information we’ve been missing. Here’s the gist: While genetics has its role in teeth health and development, we have more control than we think.

There are 4 main aspects regarding the role diet plays in our optimal oral health:

  • Having sufficient fat soluble vitamins in our diets (vitamins A, D, E, K2)
  • Having more minerals in our diet
  • The overconsumption of high phytic acid foods
  • Eating too much sugar

In the next post, I’ll cover:

  1. How to make sure your child is getting sufficient minerals and fat soluble vitamins in their diet.
  2. Which foods are highest in fat soluble vitamins, how to supplement when necessary.
  3. What you can do to maximize the bioavailability of the minerals in the foods your family eats.

Read part II, III and IV here.

Eager for a more in-depth assessment and plan? Get in touch! We’ll look into your specific questions and come up with a detailed, personalized plan covering diet, oral hygiene, what to avoid, and supplementation to achieve dramatically improved oral health.  For bonus material, freebies, lists, recipes and much more on cavity prevention and kid’s health, check out my Toolkit.

 

Learn more on my  podcasts about cavities!

To Your Health,

kt-initial

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