Remineralize your enamel and stop cavities and sensitive teeth

Many people with good oral hygiene suffer from cavities. You go to the dentist and they tell you that you need to brush or floss better. You come back, you brush after lunch, you use mouthwash, you floss twice a day and you still get cavities.

What your dentist never discusses with you is the role of diet and the remineralization of your protective layer of enamel, which can ensure that you remain cavity-free for life.

The key to the whole understanding is the role of enamel in protecting our teeth from harmful dental bacteria like Streptoccocus Mutans, which live in plaque and produce acid that eats away at enamel and causes cavities.

Our tooth enamel is made up of up to 96% minerals and is the strongest substance in the human body. It’s great to chew and high impact, but the high mineral content can leach out of enamel through poor diet and acidic environments. Once it is lost, the enamel does not grow back. If you’re thinking, my diet is okay, it’s almost certainly not okay for optimal dental and bone health. Even if you shop exclusively at whole food stores and eat organic foods and have a diet that is better than 99% of the population, you can still easily become demineralized by eating the wrong foods the wrong way.

Enamel can be strengthened through a process called remineralization, which basically consists of adding minerals to the enamel matrix through saliva. Enamel is weakened by demineralization, which is the removal of minerals from enamel. Your enamel is in a state of constant flux between the two states of mineralization and demineralization. When acids begin to dissolve mineral faster than your saliva can replace it, a cavity forms.

To reverse this process, you should avoid foods and processes that demineralize teeth and increase foods and processes that remineralize teeth. It’s tricky to do this, because if you don’t prevent demineralization, you won’t balance remineralization. It would be like pouring water into a leaky bucket.

You have to do both.

Acidic foods and acid from bacteria slowly dissolve some of the minerals in everyday enamel. But those minerals are quickly replaced by minerals and enzymes in saliva. When acids begin to dissolve mineral faster than your saliva can replace it, a cavity forms. Remineralization is a microscopic process. We are talking about small amounts of minerals every day. However, add acidic conditions and lots of dental bacteria, and the onset of cavities can be quite fast.

Teeth are remineralized through saliva. Anyone who wants to remineralize their teeth must make sure that their teeth are really clean and can be remineralized. One of the problems with remineralization is actually our toothpaste. Many commercial toothpastes use glycerin as a filler that coats the teeth. It is best to look for natural toothpastes without glycerin, or use dental soaps or baking soda. It is also necessary to encourage saliva production and keep the mouth moist. Oil pulling is excellent for keeping your mouth clean and exercising your salivary glands. Avoid anything that dries out your mouth: smoking, alcohol, etc.

Once your teeth are clean, the next step is to avoid soft drinks, as much processed food as possible, including all flours, sugars, refined products, as well as cereals and breads that have not been sprouted or soaked. They release phytic acid which blocks the absorption of minerals in the body.

Finally, once you eliminate processed foods and add foods rich in vitamin K2, vitamin C, and vitamin D to your diet, you will begin to feel your teeth become less sensitive as you strengthen the enamel layer.