Finally - all clear!!

 

All of Leif's baby teeth have long fallen out. Permanent teeth in, even the wisdom teeth buds are in. We have been going for regular check ups every 6 months.

This past visit Dr S asked Leif and I to be quiet as he showed his new doc in training Leif's xrays from when he was 4 years old and then had him examine Leif.

He used Leif as an example of why in some cases, drilling can be avoided.

Now, to be clear, Leif had 6 cavities, 4 of which were root canals, which needed 6+ hours of sedation .. we were not a case where drilling was an option to be considered. We were a case where his inital dentist told me she would report me to CPS if I did not have him sedated and have his cavities filled and capped.

5 dentists later I found Dr S who called the initial dentist and told her that we were in his care and that he would ensure Leif was ok - like I would ever let my child suffer - but whatever - as long as I could prevent Leif from being sedated before he was in pain, I could not care less what anyone thought of me.

Dr S told me I could try my "home remedies" which he mentions to the other dentist as long as I bring Leif in if he is in pain ... an easier promise has never been made! Done and Done!

Dr S does recommend not filling teeth willy nilly, however, I, in my professional, non medical opinion think that diet plays a huge part in it. Just not filling the teeth is not enough ...

But, nobody is asking me for my opinion.

The biggest root canal tooth falls out

This was the tooth that the dentists said would have to have a root canal ... 

Well, the decay fell out , leaving behind a half tooth that survived in his mouth for 2 years, finally falling out about 2 years ahead of schedule. 

The new permanent tooth has started to come up. We are now cavity free as the upper teeth has small cavities that also fell out. All his permanent teeth are healthy. We go to the dentist every 6 months. 

We have done what every dentist told me was impossible.

2014 xrays

2015

July 2015

Tooth with the dark spot in his lower left jaw is the tooth with the huge cavity ..

Cavity is starting to fall out, tooth has started to chip.

2016

2017


Lower right tooth loose. This is the tooth with the smaller cavity which fell out, leaving a partial tooth.

His left premolar - the tooth that was deemed to be impossible to save falls in 2018!!

Was it luck? Sure, we had some luck .. was it only luck? Dont think so ... 

Diet does make a difference to your teeth. 

Teeth are like bones, they are alive, have nerves and blood supply .. 

You can change your diet for your bones, so why not your teeth?

This was not easy but our health has improved so much going on this diet .. not only have our teeth benefited bu so has our overall health.

I have a cavity in my wisdom teeth that my dentist told me was very large and would have get filled .. well, that was 6 years ago, and I followed the exact same routine as my son ... my cavity is on the inside so my tooth is whole on the outside, no pain and I have let it be ...

I contact Sally Fallon at Weston Price and emailed her pictures of my son's tooth that finally fell out. She asked if she could publish our story in their magazine .. I said sure ... never followed up with her so dont know if it was published or not ...

First "root canal" tooth falls out!!!

We have continued with the tooth diet all these years and dentist visits ..

Today, the first of the root canal teeth fell out!!

Teeth stabilized

Says L's dentist.

Huh?? Said I ...

He checked L's teeth and xrays. The 2 teeth that have huge cavities are lodged firmly in the gum, the xrays show healthy bone beneath the root. One tooth, about 30% of the tooth has fallen away leaving behind an incomplete white tooth, xrays show that the nerve has pulled away from the surface. The dentist said that is nature's way of protecting the tooth.

We compared xrays from last year to this year. Dentist said that there looks like minor progression, however, xrays are not accurate at that level of detail, so he was going more on how the tooth and gum looked visually and in the xray.

He said - goodbye ... you are doing great.

I sat there blinking.

His other teeth are doing great. Permanent teeth look fabulously healthy - strong white enamel.

I am still cautiously optimistic. We are still on the diet for the most part, although I let him have grain now and then. At home we still have bone broth every day and fish oil most days. I have sprouted or fermented stuff for him and limit pasta. I kind of made a lifestyle change for him and me and now it is not a struggle to eat grain free for the most part.

I know I will have won the battle when those teeth fall out and are replaced by the adult teeth .. until then I know that I might need to pay the piper any day ...

I will post xrays of his teeth when I get them.

L ate rice crispies at school last week and since then has been complaining of pain. Our 6 month well visit is scheduled for June 16 - not sure I can hold out until then. L complains only when I floss or brush that tooth .... gums are not swollen, he is eating and sleeping just fine .. all the same, I am not used to him complaining when I floss so am worried ...

We have continued with grain free food, fish oil, bone broth at home .. at school he gets normal food and he loves candy which we give him once a week ..

dont know if I am losing this battle ....

Dejection and worry :(

Xrays of the front teeth

Xray of the lower jaw showing the permament teeth under his gum line .. see how they have dissolved the roots of the teeth next to the incisors ...

Here is the xray of the top jaw ... where is the space for these huge permanent teeth in his little 5 yr old face????? the front teeth should start shaking soon as the roots are almost totally dissolved by the permanent teeth ...

He is over the hump ... said the dentist :)

Our dentist visit today was extremely positive.

The hygenist who cleaned his teeth said that the decay looked black - she said that she could not see brown any more - which is very positive. Black is arrested decay, brown is active decay.

The teeth in which the black decay fell out were ruled as totally arrested by the dentist. No soft spots, enamel hard and no active decay.

The big root canal molar, the one on his lower left had a lot of arrested decay. The dentist said that he could see some decay activity but far more arrested decay than active - he said "keep doing what you are doing and he will sail into his adult teeth with no issues"

He also said that L's adult teeth looked "fabulous". He said that the enamel was shiny and hard and very strong..

He said that there was no need for xrays of the molars as he saw no cause for concern any more! He said that if L had pain, to rush to his office, but he said that he did not think L would have pain now if he  made it this far.

He took xrays of the front teeth, his 2 lower teeth on either side of the incisors are in and have dissolved the roots of his baby teeth making them shake a little - just this morning L told me that his teeth were shaking.

His top permanent teeth have queued up behind the baby teeth and are ready to come down.

The 6 year molars are in on the top as I saw last week and yesterday. Dr S said that once they came in and meshed with the lower teeth, we could easily extract the trouble molars if necessary with no need for place holders. He said that we are almost there .. another few months and we can afford to lose the baby molars, but he did not think we would need that ...

Sigh ....

The visit was a lot more positive than I expected. The only thing that could have made it better was if we took the xrays today and compared it with those of June, but Dr S was so positive, and L has had xrays in March and June, I did not insist.

Onwards we go with bone broth and fish oil ... I have relaxed my no grain rule with him some ... but for the most part, I avoid grain like the plague .. nutritionally we are doing SO much better since having stopped grain  ....

I do have to plan meals ahead of time and can no longer fall back on boiling pasta for dinner ... but I'm happy to do anything to ensure his health ...