Percentages of Teeth Attacked By Dental Caries in Primitive and Modernized Groups From Statistics by Dr Weston A Price.
Group: Primitive Diet Agrarian Diet
Swiss 4.60 29.8
Gaelics 1.20 30.0
Eskimos 0.09 13.0
Northern Indians 0.16 21.5
Seminole Indians 4.00 40.0
Melanesians 0.38 29.0
Polynesians 0.32 21.9
How to have dental health? Fewer caries, tartar and no gum disease? Even with a low-sugar diet and regular brushing, flossing and professional cleaning, cavities happen. It is impossible to keep the mouth free of bacteria with dental hygiene. Dr Price observed that people with active tooth decay had high levels of Lactobacillus acidophilus (a bacteria commonly found in the gut but that causes cavities when in the saliva). After getting adequate amounts of Vitamin K2 the levels of this bacteria in the saliva dropped by 95%.
High levels of Lactobacillus acidophilus in the saliva will rob the teeth of minerals. Vitamin K2 can replace the dentin in the teeth so teeth will become re-mineralised.
Vitamin K2 can also help to keep our teeth free of tartar buildup. Tartar is a build-up of bacteria (plaque) and minerals (calcium) from the saliva. When K2 is provided, not only are the bacteria levels reduced enormously, but the minerals will no longer be deposited as tartar and instead get deposited into the enamel. A similar occurrence happens to the calcium deposit in arterial plaque (a mix of oxidised LDL cholesterol and calcium), with K2, calcium is no longer deposited into the arteries but goes back into the bone where it should be.
Most importantly Dr Price discovered the effects of adequate K2 on the forming of the palate in babies and children. When children are given adequate amounts of K2, teeth crowding no longer happens and wisdom teeth will not need to be extracted. One of the most obvious problems in children is the lack of room for eye teeth which can be totally avoided.
Eating very low carbohydrates, creating good gut health, creating the right bacteria in the mouth and having adequate amounts of Vitamin D3, A and K2 will enable teeth & gums to become healthy and disease-free. These three vitamins are supplied to the body together as they work synergistically. We can use Cod Liver Oil with butter oil to obtain all 3.
Eating an alkaline paleo diet will supply all these nutrients to feed our teeth and saliva from grass-fed meats and dairy, but we will need to supplement our diet and brush and floss our teeth temporarily until the return to full health has been achieved.
Urinary Calcium Loss through eating Grains and Casein, and Lactalbumin (from milk and whey)
Yes even without being intolerant of Gluten and Dairy these two will still cause problems. Purified proteins such as casein, lactalbumin, and wheat gluten added to a diet typically produce hypercalciuria (urinary calcium loss)
On the other hand long-term calcium balance studies during a high-protein (2 g/kg) diet with the protein provided as meat have shown
no hypercalciuria and no indication of calcium loss.
Add to this the phytates in grains
Phytates in unprepared (not soaked and fermented) grains inhibit the absorption of calcium by the body.
Calcium in Evolutionary Perspective is a great study to read all about how our Palaeolithic ancestors got their calcium the only thing I will say though is they didn’t take into account the Vitamin K2 consumption that our Palaeolithic brothers were consuming due to the pasture-fed animals they were consuming. This could be a very big reason why the Inuit did not have good bone density as their access to K2 would have been minimal.
