How to Heal Your Cavities & Remineralize Your Teeth
~ by Dr. Judene Smith
The idea that you can actually heal your cavities is widely debated in the field of natural, oral health care. To help clear up the mysteries and set the record straight is alternative dentist, Dr. Judene Smith, whose strong interests in the remineralization of teeth are the topic of this blog post.
Can Cavities Really Heal?
You may have heard about the idea of cavities healing before. Perhaps you may have heard about it at a health food store or read about it in a book, or maybe your friend told you about it. But chances are you didn’t hear it from your dentist. In fact, chances are that your dentist told you the opposite.
Chances are you have been told all your life that cavities can’t heal – that teeth cannot heal and that anyone who thinks so is… well out of their mind!
Being a dentist myself, I am acutely aware of this huge disconnect. Some people claiming that teeth can heal, and dentists insisting that they cannot. Regardless of whether a dentist is conventional or holistic, the idea that teeth can heal is simply not in their vocabulary.
When you have a cavity, both conventional and holistic dentists insist that some sort of treatment must be done. Granted depending on the dentist, the type of filling material or procedure will vary immensely but, without fail, some sort of dental treatment is sure to be completed.
So is it true? Can cavities really heal?
Yes! Your teeth can heal.
Proof Of Cavities Healing
That’s right, the too-good-to-be-true idea is, in fact, true after all! How do I know? I have seen hundreds upon hundreds of teeth heal. Cavities that have remineralized, arrested decay, hardened up teeth – however one prefers to refer to it.
You know that other parts of your body can heal.
Why would other parts of your body heal but not your mouth? It only makes sense that all parts of your body can heal – and your mouth is certainly no exception.
The first exposure I had to this phenomenon was in the mouths of people who had accidentally healed their teeth. I noticed that some people, who had been living on the streets and/or were drug addicts who had turned their lives around, had teeth filled with arrested decay (cavities that started but stopped – no longer requiring treatment).
Likely had they gone to a dentist when the cavity was active, they would have had the cavities filled, but they hadn’t, so years later I was able to see the evidence of healed teeth.
Of course they would often have areas that required treatment as well – but the proof was plain to see for me. I knew that teeth could be remineralized and heal. And this got me thinking, if teeth could accidentally heal, couldn’t you purposely heal your teeth as well? (The answer being, YES!)
Exciting news right?! But how did you do it?
It Takes More Than a Toothbrush
In my experience as a dentist, people want to ask me two questions:
- Can teeth really remineralize?
- How do I remineralize my teeth?
Now, while the answer to the question as to whether your teeth can heal or not can be sufficed with a simple ‘yes’ response, to answer the question of how to accomplish remineralization is significantly more complex.
How To Remineralize Your Teeth
There are so many aspects that are involved with the healing of your body. Imagine the answer to the question, “How do I heal the wound on my hand?” Indeed, the answer would be quite multi-faceted.
Despite being a topic that is complex, there are some simple things that you can do which will have a huge impact on your teeth.
Dental problems and healing of dental problems have both external and internal factors involved. When you think about the question I asked earlier, ‘how to heal a wound on your hand?’ one would likely come up with some answers relating to both external and internal factors.
An external solution might be, washing the wound and putting ointment on it. Internal ones might be, eating vitamin rich foods and getting enough sleep.
When it comes to your mouth though, you’ll almost always hear about the external factors and the external factors only. Brush your teeth, floss your teeth and use mouth rinses.
If you continue to have dental problems, the usual suggestion for improvement is to brush your teeth even more or use a different toothpaste, but brush, brush, brush, floss, floss, floss. This may lead to partial success but how could you expect great success if only the external factors are addressed?
You Must Address Internal and External Factors
I have an interesting story.
When my dad was in dental school over 40 years ago, the dental students had to do an experiment. First they had their teeth examined for any problems, particularly cavities. Then they were instructed not to brush or floss their teeth for 3 months. Yes 3 months of not brushing their teeth. (I’m certainly glad I didn’t have to do that in dental school!) But guess what happened after 3 months of not brushing?
You might expect the dental students had mouths full of cavities. But that was not the case at all – they didn’t have any cavities. What the students learned was that there are other factors involved with cavities besides brushing and flossing.
But today this is not the popular thought. Today the focus is on impeccable oral hygiene and everyone has a toothpaste that they swear by. Now I’m not saying don’t brush your teeth, I’m saying that a major piece of the puzzle is missing – the internal components.
Once the whole picture is addressed you will reap the benefits and having far greater success having the mouth that you desire.
How to Test Your Saliva and Remineralize Your Teeth
One of the main functions of your saliva is to remineralize your teeth. All this hype about whether your teeth can remineralize and here your saliva has been quietly doing it all along! But the key is having the proper pH levels; there’s a simple yet powerful way to test your saliva right at home – even the kids will have fun doing it!
pH is the measure of your acid/alkaline balance. Both internal and external factors can influence your mouth’s PH.
[tweet_dis]When your mouth is neutral (pH 7) or slightly alkaline your saliva will naturally remineralize your teeth. [/tweet_dis] Granted, you must have enough saliva and enough minerals to remineralize, but that’s another article for another time. 😉
Your saliva is there to help you.
When your pH drops below 7, your saliva is not able to remineralize your teeth and in fact, your teeth will be demineralized (minerals drawn out). At pH 5.5 there is so much demineralization occurring that a cavity will form right then and there. I see children all the time whose saliva is pH 5.5.
Do It Yourself pH Testing
You don’t need to wait to see a dentist to check your pH. You can check at home. I recommend buying pH strips anywhere – health food stores, online, even a swimming pool store. Put the pH strip in your mouth or spit into a cup and dip the strip in (now you know why kids find this fun).
Watch for the color that comes up on the strip. Remember, you want a pH level of 7.
Check several times a day – in the morning upon waking, after meals, after drinking, before bed. Learn what is going on inside your mouth. Do you ever have acidic saliva? No? Excellent! Yes? Then you will need to put greater attention on raising your pH levels.
Experiment with both external and internal factors to raise your mouth pH. Put chlorophyll drops in your water, drink green smoothies and make sure to never leave your mouth in an acidic state.
My final piece of advice for naturally healing your teeth: everything you do, big or little, makes a difference. Truthfully, some areas of your teeth are much more challenging to remineralize than others (such as in between your teeth). Knowing that you have the power to affect your mouth health will increase your ability to make the right choices in the future.
Meet Dr. Judene Smith
Dr. Judene Smith has been a dentist for over 5 years during which time she has changed her beliefs dramatically. Having graduated from a conventional dental school and started work with her father and brother at a conventional dental office, she started questioning why certain things were done. Thinking she may enjoy holistic dentistry she joined several associations and began shadowing holistic dentists only to be disappointed as well.
She concluded her belief is that the ‘best healthcare is not needing any treatment’ and that regardless of whether a treatment was deemed conventional or holistic, she would prefer to have no treatment for herself and for her (future) children. And so Dr. Judene Smith became passionately focused on natural remineralization of teeth. Dr. Judene is a founding member of the American Academy for Oral Systemic Health and continues to work in St. Catharines, Ontario with her father and brother where she focuses on orthodontics and strives to bring about more awareness and education for healing teeth.
Heal Tooth Decay By Remineralizing Your Teeth
If you’re struggling with tooth decay, then chances are you are mineral deficient. When the human body is missing important vitamins, minerals and nutrients, your teeth begin to weaken and rot. If you want help to restore your pH balance in the mouth and balance your internal chemistry try our 21-Days to Healthy Teeth & Gums e-Course. Your whole body will benefit!
