Monday, November 19, 2012

Update - Reversing Z's Cavities

Have had a rough few months recently and so have not been actively blogging - something I not only feel bad about from a personal point of view but also just from the perspective of having more to share and not having been able to do it. I talk to so many of my friends daily whose kids are sick and not getting better and I can relate so well sometimes, it makes me want to wave a magic wand and make it all go away, both for the mom and the child because frankly it is both that need the relief (enter Rescue Remedy - if you don't have this at home, run, run, run now and get it!).

While I'm finishing up another post, I thought I'd give an update on how things have been going since I blogged about Z's dental issues. As I outlined in this entry, we went to the dentist last year and found out that Z had cavities. Not cavities as in the odd one or two but a whopping SIX of them, distributed between her upper and lower teeth, right and left sides, molars and incisors. Needless to say, I was not a happy camper. So, rather than filling them we began on a journey to see whether diet & supplementation could make a difference.

I have good news and bad news. Which one do you want first? Well, actually, since I teach R&Z to *always* focus on the good and the positive first, I'll start with the good (sorry for offering and then retracting, that wasn't very nice of me).

The good news is..wait for it..drum roll please...we managed to reverse 4 of the 6 cavities completely! Yayyy!! I mean completely, as in, the new dentist could not see them, feel them or identify them on Z's x-rays. The 5th one is very tiny so I'm pretty sure we are on our way to reversing that one too. Mommy -  5 and Tooth Decay - 0.Yes!

Now onto the bad news :(

The 6th one, which is in Z's upper left molar, is huge and was causing Z a lot of pain. When we started off trying to remineralize (extra points for those of you who remember what this means!), this one was a bit of a doozy. Well, it turns out it hadn't healed and in fact had reached the nerve - the dentist wanted to extract and I almost had a heart attack. Bad flashes of the warnings I didn't heed came flooding back, bringing with them tons of that lovely mommy guilt. Dammit, I should have filled that one when I had the chance. Mommy - 0 and Tooth Decay - 1. Noooooooo!
 
So, I made the extraction appointment with a heavy heart and left the office, dejected and mad at myself. It was a weekend and I was distraught at the idea of Z suffering for a few days before the appointment so I set out, initially, to find ways I could alleviate the pain. I got in touch with my homeopath and then hit the search engines. I found another dentist who used laser dentistry and a therapy called Ozone which basically uses Ozonated water to clean out debris and decay from the tooth. I decided to visit her impromptu for a second opinion and she gave me a third alternative (i.e. aside from root canal therapy or extraction) which involved cleaning out the cavity using Ozone and then placing an interim, sedative filling (using oil of cloves) in the cavity to see if that would help. She didn't make any promises for complete recovery and said we had to monitor it carefully but at least it helped with the pain and we have been sleeping soundly for 2 nights since. Thank God and fingers/toes crossed, knock on wood etc etc!

As an aside, since the decay has reached the nerve and is threatening to damage it - I also researched how to repair nerve damage and what I could give Z to help keep the nerve intact. Turns out B-complex is my best friend (I do have a few too many of these friends, don't I?) and so that is my next port of call along with continuing with the CLO, homeopathic support and trying out Xylitol.

Send some positive vibes over for my princess, wouldja please?

Let the remineralization continue,

~S~


p.s the moral of this story is...cavities can be remineralized but there is a chance you may miss the window if you wait too long. While there may still be a chance I could save Z's tooth, I have been warned that this is probably going to be very difficult to do for the length of time until she gets her permanent molar (4-5 years from now). So start treating your cavities early and even those of you that are lucky not to have to deal with tooth decay, I would strongly recommend incorporating best practices to keep it that way. 

 

15 comments:

  1. hope Z feels better soon, sending lots of prayers her way. I have never had a root canal but I know tooth aches are no fun at all! But kudos on reversing the rest of them, that's really great news. Did you do it using cod liver oil alone? I give you tons of credit for being such a proactive mama, it's not easy but in the long run greatly beneficial :)

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  2. Thx Sania for the prayers & the encouragement! We used a product by Green Pasture called Fermented CLO/Butter Oil. We've used it religiously since the past 8 months or so. I also gave her supplemental D now and again and added raw milk cheese which is the only raw dairy I could find. Also bone broths which I didn't do as much of but they are supposed to be wonderful for teeth health in general.

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  3. kudos on the win!! Z will thank you later :)

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    1. I hope she'll thank me and not turn around and say I've ruined her life ;-)

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  4. It's encouraging to hear stories of remineralization, it can happen.I found your post from the NPN blog hop. I wrote a post about our experiences with naturally curing cavities here: http://blog.childorganics.com/2012/04/holistic-care-of-your-toddlers-teeth.html
    Please feel free to leave your link on my post as a reference for others.
    thanks!

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    1. Thanks for visiting and for your link! I will definitely read it and take a look around your blog. Glad to hear you've had success too xx

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  5. I have been so curious about this. Just this week I was told that my two year old has 'poor enamel' and to put flouride on her tooth twice a day. I am not doing the flouride treatment and have been wanting to read about re mineralization, thanks for the post!

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    1. Thank you, glad it can be of some use to you :-) Good luck with your little one's teeth and lots of positive vibes her way! xx

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  6. Ah, wow, I am so impressed that you have managed to reverse those cavities! You are my new hero! Im going to read that first post and hopefully you said in there what you did, because my son has what looks like the start of his first cavity and I would love to know all my options before we visit the dentist :)

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    1. Aww thanks Christine! I'm glad you found my post and hope you are able to reverse your son's cavity :-) Good luck! x

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  7. Hi Naturallysta,

    I appreciate you sharing your knowledge and I wanted to say that I think your blog is great. Your blog offers some really great ideas on health and wellness for fabulous moms and savvy dads.

    We’ve taken a read through your blog and we think you’ve done a fantastic job covering topics that our brand's audience of parents would also be interested in learning about. It would be great if you could join our community to help educate, inform and converse with other parents and thought leaders who write about health and wellness.

    If you would like to learn more about this, please send an email to info @atomicreach.com
    Sincerely,
    Tina

    P.S. It's good that you've managed to solve 4-5 of your child's cavities. I've never heard of remineralization before, but I'll be sure to look into it!

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    1. Hi Tina - thanks for visiting my blog and for your positive feedback. I appreciate it! I will get in touch; I don't have too much time at the moment unfortunately but would love to learn more about what you do.

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  8. I hope Z’s teeth are in tip top shape now. By the way, I see that even though you’re applying home remedies for Z’s teeth cavities, you didn’t fail to consult your dentist. It’s well and good that we use natural treatments to alleviate common ailments like poor Z’s, but it’s my belief that consulting a medical professional can give you an unparalleled peace of mind when it comes to health issues and general well-being. Nice blog though. A lot of people are looking into natural remedies nowadays, and getting these effective but cheap alternatives are great “life hacks”. Have a good day!

    Marta @ NishaNhalimDMD.com

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  9. Thank you very much. I agree with your article, this really helped me. I appreciate your help.
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