Can you cure cavities and gum disease holistically on a vegan or plant-based diet?

Whether you are strictly vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free or just minimizing meat, there are a suite of holistic strategies that you can use to cure and prevent cavities. 

It’s common for vegans or those on other meat-less diets to be looking for holistic teeth healing solutions that allow them to cure cavities and improve their oral health, without compromising their commitment to a plant-based diet.

In this article, I’ll use the term ‘vegan’ but the information really applies to anyone. It is particularly helpful for those on any kind of restrictive diet and it is important to know that because there are a variety of options don’t let anyone tell you that you have to bend on the values around what you eat, though you may need to change up the specific foods you eat and the frequency in which you eat certain things.

In the video below, I use the game of Jenga to demonstrate how different influences in your unique situation give you more, or less, resilient teeth, and what you can do to make your teeth stronger to help cure cavities.

Why your teeth may give you trouble.

What causes cavities?

There are lots of reasons why some people’s teeth stay strong and healthy no matter what they eat, or don’t eat, yet others (like me) have teeth that are prone to decay, no matter how hard we try to take care of them well.

Vulnerability and resilience to cavities

The health of your teeth and gums is influenced by earlier generations’ health, diet, stress and events.

Any stressful experiences in your own life experience as a baby, child, adolescent and adult accumulate their affect on your teeth as you get older.

The particular nutrients you’ve consumed or not consumed at different points in your life, from the moment of conception until today, play a role.

Environmental influences on cavities

Pregnancy and motherhood, especially long periods of breastfeeding more than one child can really deplete your teeth’s resilience.

Environmental toxins including fluoridated water, GM foods and exposure to pesticide and toxins in your own body including old dental work may influence the current and future health of your teeth.

All or any of the following factors (and more) can also influence whether your teeth are able to stay strong on a plant-based diet:

• illness
• medications
• recreational drugs (including tobacco and alcohol)
• lip or tongue piercings
• long-periods of travel or even short periods of homelessness
• relationship break-ups
• job losses
• depression
• anxiety
• loneliness

How to cure cavities on a vegan diet

It is possible to heal your teeth holistically without compromising your commitment to a plant-based diet.

Because there are so many potential factors influencing your vulnerability to decay, there are also many potential ways to increase the strength of your teeth and gums.

The more demands placed by your current lifestyle, the more stress and strain you place on your teeth (e.g. motherhood), the more important a multi-faceted approach becomes.

Vegan diet hacks that can help to cure cavities

• Minimize phytic acid from grains, beans, nuts and seeds
• Eliminate sugars including dried fruit and juice
• Eat lots of organic, fresh vegetables
• Add minerals from sea vegetables, supplements and/or cell salts
• Add Vitamin K2 from fermented foods especially natto
• Add high quality, cold-pressed fats
• Use herbs such as black walnut
• Drink spring water
• Use a good sea salt or Himalayan salt

4 pillars of the Holistic Tooth Fairy (no matter what your diet)

Can you be just as whole-heartedly consistent with all 4 pillars of the Holistic Tooth Fairy Way as you are to your vegan or vegetarian identity?

In practice, this means:

• Relaxing and stretching your jaw every day,
• Honestly and courageously addressing underlying emotional or environmental influences on your oral health, however uncomfortable,
• Gentle, appropriate oral hygiene rituals every day
• Mindfully eating the foods and supplements that nourish your teeth and gums every day (and avoiding those which don’t support your healing).

Other holistic strategies to help cure cavities

Vegans who are vulnerable to cavities due to accumulated influences not only need to ensure you are getting the best possible teeth healing nutrients through your diet, you also need to to incorporate additional holistic strategies.

• Do guided meditations for teeth healing
• Don’t sleep with your cell phone
• Don’t use drugs or medications that inhibit your mineral uptake
• Do investigate meridian connections between cavities and the rest of your body
• Don’t get a tongue or lip piercing
• Don’t use alcohol based mouthwash
• Do research before getting dental work
• Do use your intuition to ask your body for guidance on how to get rid of cavities
• Do be consistent with the best oral self-care routine for you

What are you going to implement first to prioritise your oral health?