Faced with the morbid reality of having one of his patients die in surgery, Dr Steven Lin (Australian Functional Dentist and Dental Nutritionist) started questioning the reactive over preventative approach in dentistry.
Filling cavities, removing molars and straightening smiles is all well and good…but what about preventing these issues from occurring in the first place? Can it be done? Regular brushing, flossing and avoiding sugar just don’t seem to be cutting it!
The title of Dr Lins book, The Dental Diet, offers some hope is suggesting that simply changing our diet may not only fix, but even prevent, a number of the dental issues plaquing plaguing modern society.
However if that’s all your expecting from this book, you’re in for a pleasant surprise. There’s plenty to sink your teeth into!
Main Theme: Food and Nutrients
Happening across Nutrition and Physical Degeneration authored by Weston Price in an Istanbul hotel, Dr Lin shares his eye-opening discoveries regarding the epigenetic influence that food, specific nutrients and breathing have on the formation of our faces and maintenance of teeth.
He also unpacks how your dental health affects and acts as an indication of health issues in the rest of the body.
“Your mouth is the gateway to your entire body.” - The Dental Diet
Dr Lin challenges the food we eat and how we eat it. Revealing his personal diet as an example…swapping out “healthy” foods (low-fat foods, dried fruit, juice, muesli bars) high in simple carbohydrates for nutrient dense foods (eggs, cheese, kefir, avocado, olive oil, nuts, organ meats), rich in healthy unsaturated fats, probiotics and fat soluble vitamins.
Most Importantly:
Vitamin A (Retinol): Promotes osteoclastic function
Vitamin D3: Important for tooth development and immune cell regulation
Vitamin K2: Regulates calcium allotment
Additionally, Omega-3 fatty acid aids in the absorption, transport and utilisation of these nutrients, and acts as an anti-inflammatory.
These nutrients are the foundational building blocks for overall oral health and are found in all the foods Dr Lin recommends and includes in the extensive 40-day meal plan at the end of his book.
The Dental Diet is ultimately the conceptualisation of tradition eating before the modern diet replaced fibrous whole foods with soft processed crap substitutes.
Why Your Mouth Needs Bacteria
The simple understanding of dental decay is: Sugar + Bacteria = Acid; Acid + Tooth = Dental Decay. But that’s not the whole picture. Bacteria isn’t necessarily bad, it just needs to be in balance. Bacteria helps to manage the minerals that salivary enzymes unlock in our teeth when eating. ‘Fast-eating’ bacteria consume simple carbohydrates and release excessive amounts of acid, which in turn leaches too much calcium from the enamel.
By reducing our sugar intake we affectedly slow down this conversion allowing for the calcium to be reintegrated into the tooth.
Dr Lin goes into depth as to how these bacteria also travel into our gastrointestinal tract and affect the rest of our body’s health.
How Breathing Affects Your Facial Structure
The simple act of breathing, chewing and swallowing have a huge impact on the development of your face shape; which in turn dictates the formation and organisation of your teeth.
“The child’s tongue must sit at the top of the mouth, against the palate, which puts pressure on the palate to expand and grow. The child must also breathe through the nose. The flow of air through the nasal passage stimulates the maxilla to keep growing outward and helps to lower and broaden the palate.” - Dr. Seven Lin, The Dental Diet
Dr Lin highlights the importance that breastfeeding (see link in ‘Recommendations’) and nose breathing have on jaw development and teeth formation. Mouth breathing reduces oxygen intake, increases gum inflammation and tooth decay (due to altered oral microbiome), and stunts facial structure formation (resulting in crowding of teeth).
Simply learning to breath through your nose can have beneficial affects on your oral health.
Toothy Recommendations
How to prevent cavities using an ancestral diet
The power of a smile TEDx talk
How breast-feeding promotes oral health
Richest food sources of vitamin k2
Riddle me this…
“Thirty white horses on a red hill,
First they champ,
Then they stamp,
Then they stand still” - The Hobbit
Teeth…affect more than just our physical health and eating habits. They also positively or negatively impact our confidence and smile. Smiling may seen trivial but it can decrease your blood pressure, boost your immune system and release mood lifting endorphins. Isn’t that amazing?!
I was always ashamed of my crooked teeth. I dreaded going to the dentist, would have dreams of my teeth falling out, and never smiled openly in public or for photos. I can empathise with the large majority of us who struggle to grim or laugh because of the formation of our teeth, but as with any bodily insecurity often we must choose to accept our unique physical attributes in order to love and care for them properly.
Question: What are your physical insecurities? How can you learn to accept them and in turn care for your body the way is deserves?