Diseases of Civilization – Dental Decay

As countries become more industrialized and civilized, lifestyle diseases or diseases of civilization, such as dental decay, appear to have increased in frequency.

Increased susceptibility to dental decay due to diet, lifestyle, smoking, alcohol, as well as lack of exercise, seems to increase the risk later in life.

Tooth decay is technically known as dental caries and is one of the most common complaints in the world, particularly among children and young adults.

The debris of food, saliva and bacteria, known as plaque, collects around the gum line, the edges of fillings and the grooved teeth surfaces. This plaque, if left uncleaned, converts into tartar. Tartar contains acids which over a period of time dissolve the protective coating of the tooth and creates holes or cavities.

The causes of dental decay are many. The absence of the most essential nutritional factors and the presence of injurious factors explain why Native people had very healthy teeth, while the so-called “modern” people suffer from tooth decay.

Dr. Weston Price, one of the best dentists the world has seen, in the 1930s, conducted studies on the native people and noticed that these people, who produced physically perfect offspring generation after generation, are almost free from tooth decay, but when they changed their diet to a diet like what we eat today, rapidly experienced dental decay and disease. He revealed that health and well-being of our society is directly related to the food we are eating and if we do not change these eating habits soon, our health will continue to deteriorate and finally crumble.

Another interesting discovery was that the skulls of ancient people that were unearthed, had teeth that were generally intact and showed no signs of decay, even after having been buried for more than ten thousand years. In fact, the enamel of these skulls is much harder and almost double the thickness to that of today’s humans. You can imagine how their teeth must have been when they were alive.

The question that should come to our mind is “why.” Why are our teeth so diseased? When a living being, be it an animal or human, eats food that is given by God and abides by the laws of nature, they enjoy the benefit of health. We, as humans, transgressed the laws of nature in all our modernity.

The modern displacing diet is the main cause of tooth decay and researches say that it has little to do with brushing of teeth. If vigorous brushing helped alleviate decay, people would be having fewer cavities today. Most people today eat the “modern” diet, which is nothing but junk, consisting of refined cereals, fish, meat, eggs, tea, coffee, cigarettes, alcohol, sodas, and several drugs, destroy vitamin C in the body and this leads to the most common problem of receding gums. Our modern diet lacks the bio available vitamins that our bodies actually need.

According to physicians worldwide, it is certainly never too late to bring about a change in our dietary habits and avoid processed foods altogether. Eat fresh foods and vegetables instead.

Did you know that cleaning the tongue upon waking up in the morning, according to studies, is very important? The stomach eliminates toxic material during sleep and this is deposited on the tongue. If you have “breakfast-in-bed” or “bed coffee,” what you are doing is swallowing these toxins again.

Reaching out for those foods like colas, burgers and pizzas does not sound heavenly any more, does it? For our benefit, we should only hope that it does not.