In this episode of The Functional Medicine Radio Show, Dr. Carri’s special guest Dr. Steven Lin explains the importance of the dental diet and eating right for maintaining correct dental structure.
Dr. Steven Lin is a board-registered dentist, writer, and speaker. He is a passionate whole-health advocate, focusing on the link between nutrition and dental health. His mission is to prevent dental diseases instead of treating them. His new book “The Dental Diet” is a journey of ancestral medicine, the human microbiome, and epigenetics. It explains the foods for healthy teeth based on the Weston A. Price Diet – which is the inspiration for Dr. Lin’s work.
Main Questions Asked about the Dental Diet:
Why do so many people now have crooked teeth?What were the shocking things you learned about nutrition for dental health?Do we have immune cells in our teeth?Is your diet only for children or is it good for adults too?What exactly is the dental diet?How is the dental diet different from the modern diet?How can people find a functional dentist?Key Points made by Dr. Lin about the Dental Diet:
Lin learned about the work of Dr. Weston Price that showed how traditional diet could intercept the effects of modern diet on oral health.He discovered that crooked teeth in kids can be reversed if we can affect the diet early enough which will also correct breathing.“The Dental Diet” was written to show that with the right food we can grow straight dental arches and correct all the problems related to crooked teeth that have been caused by the modern diet.Since jaws make up our airways, malformed jaws and dental arches are leading to sleep problems in children, including apnea.Cranial facial growth is a holistic process.Fat soluble vitamins control cranial facial growth and also the immune system inside our teeth which prevent the teeth from dental decay.Our teeth have immune cells that come from our bone marrow and sit right at the junction of the dental pulp and dentin. These protect our teeth from decay.The immune cells in the dentin keep monitoring what’s happening and in case of a problem, release immune factors to repair the dentin.Vitamins A, D and K2 are the keys to get your odontoblasts, your inner tooth immune cells, working properly.It is known that sufficient levels of Vitamins A, D and K2 dictate accurate jaw growth and dental health.Vitamin D absorbs and directs calcium and K2 activates the proteins.Without K2, calcium cannot be carried into your bones and teeth. As a result you cannot activate immune cells inside your teeth.K2 also directs hormones and sex hormones that direct jaw growth as well.Price stressed eating traditional whole foods and bone broth were essential to grow healthy jaws and teeth.The low fat diet and the modern diet have led us to an orthodontic epidemic.Every chronic disease can be traced back to the mouth and eating in some way, including bad breath or oral thrush, shows signs for imbalance in the gut.It is shocking that out of 125 medical specialties in America, none deal with the mouth or nutrition.Scoliosis can be corrected by growing the dental jaw and setting the cranial facial system properly.When we breathe through the mouth because of jaw distortions, we miss nitric oxide, which is a very strong vasodilator and has implications for the autonomic nervous system.People who are not breathing through their nose while sleeping get sleep apnea.Most women who mouth breath end up with digestive problems, cold hands and feet, anxiety and depression due to nitric oxide imbalance.Kids who are not breathing through their nose while sleeping are starving their brain of oxygen and ending up with ADHD as well as distorted facial structures.Eating the right foods can help grow and reprogram nasal sinuses, nasal airway and upper teeth alignment.With the right foods, hormones will balance for correct bone growth to get the normal human face structure.The main principles of the Dental Diet include: breathing properly; chewing food; and eating fermented, fibrous and gelatinous foods rich in fat soluble vitamins, like organ meats, eggs, cheese, butters, sauerkraut and other fermented foods.Eating the right foods creates a balanced microbiome which sends the right epigenetic messages to our body and includes proper chewing and breathing.Functional medicine and functional dentistry go hand in hand.Functional dentistry goes right back to breastfeeding.Tongue ties to get kids swallowing and breathing properly through myofunctional orthodontics in formative yearsResources Mentioned for the Dental Diet:
Weston A. Price Foundation
Podcast – Effects of Sleep Disorders in Children with Dr. Mark Burhenne
Book – The Dental Diet: The Surprising Link between Your Teeth, Real Food, and Life-Changing Natural Health
Book – Reclaim Your Energy and Feel Normal Again
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