Dental Health, Digestion, Nutrient Deficiency? Please Help!

[sgraeber]

Hi, I'm new to this forum and haven't actually read Dr. McDougall's materials (I should!), but I recently watched Forks Over Knives and read the China Study. After that, my family and I changed to a completely plant-based diet. Previously, we were pescetarian. I have a 2.5yo daughter, whom I breastfed until 27 months. In the few months since she has weaned I have noticed a serious decline in her dental health. She has at least 7 cavities, large ones, and I see new ones all the time. The pediatric dentist wants to put her under anesthesia to fix the cavities and cap her four front teeth. I'm hesitant to do this unless absolutely necessary, mostly because I don't feel it addresses the cause of the problem.

Everything I'm researching is suggesting that to have good dental health you have to eat a meat-based diet, with an emphasis on fermented cod liver oil, butter and butter oil, and bone broth. Is there a way to eat a plant-based diet and have great dental health, or do I have to swap one for the other?

The other important piece to this puzzle is my intuition telling me that she has some nutrient deficiencies. Her stools have always been very, very loose and I thought they would firm up once she weaned, but they haven't. They're always very loose, almost runny, and her food comes out undigested, often to the point that you can tell exactly what she ate by looking in her diaper. The pediatrician has been little help. She has just started under the care of a Chinese Medicine Doctor and even he is recommending meats, dairy, eggs, and bone broth. So, I reintroduced eggs and fish, because I don't know what else to do. I'm considering the bone broth, but I won't do dairy or meat. I'm at a loss. It breaks my heart to see her teeth rotting out of her mouth.

What can I do???

[jamietwo]

I'm raising my son on the McDougall diet, and he has great teeth!

As for the undigested foods and loose stools, you might want to try removing gluten and/or corn and/or soy from your child's diet to see if that helps. You can always do a full-blown elimination diet if that doesn't work. Definitely recommend you read about Dr. McDougall and the diet. He has it all spelled out on this website ... for free! I've noticed that many of the "natural" doctors have a "thing" for animal products. Not sure why that is.

[janluvs2heel]

You have to fix the cavities, she will get a bad toothache or multiple ones if you leave them. Since you said 2.5, that means they are all primary teeth. As far as why she is getting them, it is very possible that she does have nutritional deficiencies that is contributing to this, but also, what is her diet like now? What does she eat on a daily basis? That would be the place to start. Are you around her all the time, I mean do you work, she is in day care? Maybe if she is in day care, she is getting other things to eat? I just do not see adding protein as a fix to your problem. I am not an expert, just someone who was in Dentistry for over 40 years so I have seen pretty much everything. In the offices that I worked that accepted Medi-Cal, it was quite common to see rampant decay & many times it was in the front teeth as well. I always assumed it was due to poor diet but of course it might not have been. Does she take fluoride? I am not a fan of it but in this case, might be a good idea. Also, be sure that you brush her teeth thoroughly. If she is taking fluoride, I would not use a toothpaste with fluoride, but if she is not, then I would. Hope that you find the answer.

[sgraeber]

I do plan to do something with her teeth, whether it's attempting dietary changes to try and remineralize them as I've been reading is possible or through traditional dental care. As for now, though, the dentist won't touch her teeth because she says she is too little (weight wise) to put under anesthesia. She weighs 24 lbs and the dentist wants her to gain another 2-3 lbs before going under anesthesia, which for her could take several months to gain. I want to do everything I can to turn this around before we get to that point.

As far as caring for her teeth, I have always tried to take very good care. I started cleaning her mouth and brushing her teeth as soon as her very first tooth erupted. She was a very frequent nurser though. I'm not a fan of flouride either, but I have started her on a flouride toothpaste to try and slow down the decay, even though she doesn't understand to spit out and not swallow the toothpaste. I've stepped up the brushing too, trying to do it several times a day. Even with this, I see new cavities forming.

For diet, she eats pretty healthy. She is in preschool two days per week, but due to her peanut allergy, I send all her own food. Our typical diet is as follows: Breakfast is usually oatmeal with fruit and honey, or toast, fruit and a scrambled egg. On weekends she might get a piece of french toast or waffle. Lunchs and dinners are soups, quesadillas (no cheese), stir-fry, roasted veggies, occasionally a piece of salmon, whole grain pasta, brown rice, quinoa, beans, lentils. Her favorites are sweet potatoes, carrots, beets, broccoli, and green beans. Snacks are usually fresh or dried fruit, sunflower seed butter, veggies or crackers and hummus, or organic air-popped popcorn. She used to really like yogurt and granola until we eliminated dairy.

She doesn't eat a ton of sugar (well she eats a lot of fruit). But, our bad foods/habits are convenience foods like those organic graham cracker bunnies and organic packaged fruit smoothies (those mash-up ones). She doesn't drink juice, but over the summer I would let her eat 100% juice popsicles and occasionally a few chocolate chips. She doesn't get extra food at school, only what I send, and she doesn't spend a lot of extra time outside my care. Only at grandma's occasionally, but I know when she is she's eating Oreos and other crap that I don't want her to because my mom doesn't respect my wishes around food, which is partly why she's only there unsupervised maybe once a month.

[lamazemama2]

What was your pregnancy with her like?

If you were sick, especially in the first trimester, that can affect the development of the enamel on her baby teeth.

Some kids have weaker enamel than others.

I have one child out of four (knock on wood!) that has had a handful of cavities. All my kids share the same dental habits and the same diet.

I recommend xylitol. We dip their toothbrushes in a mixture of water and xylitol and brush with it. I also sometimes give them xylitol gum and mints. Since starting the xylitol my son has not had any further decay (again, knock on wood).

There is an excellent book written by a dentist about using xylitol. Just try not to allow her to swallow too much- it can give them loose stools.

I think it's pretty normal for a child with a high fiber diet to have looser stools. The undigested food is somewhat normal for this age too, I think?

Definitely fix all those cavities with good dental care and get really diligent to prevent further decay. I'm sorry you are going through this. I was so upset when my son had cavities too.

[scooterpie]

Her teeth and loose stools the way you describe them may be warning signs of something else that needs to be addressed medically. Doesn't sound like you have a very attentive pediatrician. By the same token, her teeth may have gone south no matter what she has eaten and now eats.

I'd get a second or third opinion on all of it. Chinese medicine may be all well and good, but at the same time it sounds like there's something else going on.

I'd be seriously alarmed!

[Debbie]

Look in to celiac disease. I googled and found a lot of interesting articles about celiac disease and recurrent cavities, among other oral problems.

That would also affect her gut health. Runny stools are not normal, although for EBF it can be, but usually stops once they start solid foods.

Here is one article I found interesting.

http://capitaldistrictvitalitycenter.co ... -cavities/

[GregR]

Hi, I'm new to this forum and haven't actually read Dr. McDougall's materials (I should!), but I recently watched Forks Over Knives and read the China Study. After that, my family and I changed to a completely plant-based diet. Previously, we were pescetarian. I have a 2.5yo daughter, whom I breastfed until 27 months. In the few months since she has weaned I have noticed a serious decline in her dental health. She has at least 7 cavities, large ones, and I see new ones all the time. The pediatric dentist wants to put her under anesthesia to fix the cavities and cap her four front teeth. I'm hesitant to do this unless absolutely necessary, mostly because I don't feel it addresses the cause of the problem.

Everything I'm researching is suggesting that to have good dental health you have to eat a meat-based diet, with an emphasis on fermented cod liver oil, butter and butter oil, and bone broth. Is there a way to eat a plant-based diet and have great dental health, or do I have to swap one for the other?

The other important piece to this puzzle is my intuition telling me that she has some nutrient deficiencies. Her stools have always been very, very loose and I thought they would firm up once she weaned, but they haven't. They're always very loose, almost runny, and her food comes out undigested, often to the point that you can tell exactly what she ate by looking in her diaper. The pediatrician has been little help. She has just started under the care of a Chinese Medicine Doctor and even he is recommending meats, dairy, eggs, and bone broth. So, I reintroduced eggs and fish, because I don't know what else to do. I'm considering the bone broth, but I won't do dairy or meat. I'm at a loss. It breaks my heart to see her teeth rotting out of her mouth.

What can I do???

I am curious, did you ever resolve your daughter's dental problems and other issues? If so, how did you resolve them? If not, has anything changed since you posted?