Help me improve my gum health after entire top extractions

[SimplyRochelle]

Hey wise ones,

I have had dental problems for as long as I can remember. For the past few years, since I haven't had insurance so I've been paying out of pocket for all my problems.

My bottom teeth, while yellow, only have 2 cavities in them. But my top teeth are soo far past saving, just rotten with decay and falling out of my mouth. I had a few root canals on them before seeking other dental opinions. The general consensus has been to pull them all and I finally saved up enough to do just that. I had 3 teeth pulled this past week (2 back molars and a wisdom tooth) and a week from today I am going back to have the last 9 on top pulled. My gum health is awful, which I know has a lot to do with the decay and I'm hoping that fixing that will help out quite a bit, but I would love to do more.

So what's the trick to healthy gums? Any quick healing tips would be welcome as well.

Thanks sooo very much!

[laohaire]

Dental health and full body health are coexistant. If you are interested, try reading Dr. Weston Price's books - Nutrition and Physical Degeneration is a very impressive view into dental health.

I would assume you have some genetic issues that led to such great decay, as other people can eat and drink crap all day and still have relatively fewer cavities (although having any cavities is not really within the normal state of health - but in these modern times we assume it must be because nearly everyone has them).

Sugar plays a role in cavities but it appears it's not what we think it is. It seems that even if you ingest the sugar and bypass the mouth, it still goes to the bloodstream and affects the mouth. White flour has the same effect.

Do you drink carbonated beverages? In addition to being sugary, the carbonation leaches calcium from our bones, and that affects our teeth too.

Ah, but you're talking gums. Well, I think it's safe to say that what keeps our teeth healthy keeps our gums healthy too. A good diet being foremost.

You may find your gums more infected after removing your teeth, at least for a while. Hopefully they will calm down after they have a chance to heal.

If you are not totally certain about removing your teeth, consider putting it on hold and reading Weston Price and looking into remineralization. I don't know if this is something you are interested in or even if it will work for you. But if you're not sure, I'd postpone - you can always remake the appointment, but you can't get your teeth back if you change your mind. Some people have had excellent results healing their mouths (including cavities). But it does require a real change and commitment, it's not just popping a pill or using a particular mouthwash - and I can certainly see how it wouldn't fit everyone.

[Koalamom]

Yes there are alot of important things for taking care of ones mouth Check out the stick Curing Cavities with Nutrition.

Just something to add in with all the good healing stuff is adding in camu camu powder for gum healing.

[SimplyRochelle]

Thanks. If I'd found TF a few years ago, I could have really saved a lot of my teeth but we're way past that point. I am only 22 and my top teeth are so decayed that many of them are just peices of teeth. My front teeth have huge black decayed bits in between them that could be filled with porcelein fillings in them if I wanted to, but I've had 3 different dentist's opinions and 2 out of the 3 told me it would be a waste of $ since I'd most likely still lose them in a few years anyway. My bottom teeth are still healthy, minus two cavities and yellowness, and we are eating much healthier than we have in previous years, I don't drink soda or really acidic drinks, and I am actually putting money away for dental work so hopefully I will be able to keep my bottom teeth a very long time.

I was just wondering if there was anything extra I could do.

[Vancouver Mommy]

I just wanted to let you know that my mom also had all her top teeth out at your age and has had no problems at all. In fact she just got her second denture at age 70 and still has all her bottom teeth (yes, one denture fit her perfectly for 50 years!). One thing to keep in mind is bone health. Smoking contributes to bone loss in the mouth and can make dentures very difficult to fit properly.