What Your Children’s Teeth Say About Their Health
When looking at the overall health of your child, what signs do you view as a signal of healthy and wellness? How much they sleep? Their skin health? How often they get sick? How much energy they have? It is common for parents to not realize how much their child’s teeth give an indication of health and wellness, and understanding your child’s teeth actually relates to the rest of their body.
Dental health is often categorized on it’s own, seperate from vitality and health. This approach is wrong… according to the book Healing Our Children, “It takes about a 25% imbalance of body chemistry to cause teeth to decay.” 25% is a fairly signifcant imabalance! So, next time your child goes for a check up at the dental office, use the information to get more insight on the wellness of your child in general.
Modern Foods Are Decaying Our Teeth
Everyone knows that acidic treats and sugary foods cause tooth decay, it’s not rocket science. So, many parents try to limit the frequency and quantity of these types of foods that their children are consuming. But, there are a few surprises that most people do’t realize. For example, did you know that tooth decay can be caused by even fruit juice, because it is highly concentrated with sugars and acid?
In addition to fruit juice, sweets, and soda, there are other common culprits in the modernized diet, including processed grain and wheat products, as well as canned fruits and vegetables These foods are lacking in nutrition, and may actually be harmful to your child. When they are consumed, they can actually cause chemical imbalances, which in turn may lead to tooth decay as well as other diseases and illnesses.
It is best to help your children learn how to enjoy a natural, healthy diet and avoid modern, processed foods. You can make healthier choices for them when they are young, and then they will be able to grow up understanding the basic steps to create good health for their teeth– and their entire body.
Tooth Structure Should Be Considered
Most parents talk about preventative options to help their children avoid tooth decay, but it is common for us to assume that the structre of the teeth is simply genetic and cannot be affected by environmental factors. In fact, it is common for orthodontists and dentists to lead us to believe that dental structure is out of our control, and dental procedures such as braces and surgery should be used to move the teeth where they belong. A healthy mouth should have a broad dental arch which will easily accommodate all of the teeth without these unnatural procedures. It is said that mouth and tooth structure is hereditary, and it’s not a problem if a person’s mouth is too small for their teeth.
But, the truth is that when a mouth is too small to fit the teeth, then it’s actually one symptom of an unhealthy, modern diet. In the mid 1900’s, Dr. Weston Andrew Price and a few other researchers found that dietary changes can actually affect the structural problems in the jaw and teeth. 
If you look at these photos above, you will see that the top boy is a native who has well-formed dental arches and a strong jaw. All of his family members are the same, and they have existed on a native, healthy diet for their entire lives. The boy below who eats an unhealthy, modern diet has a much smaller mouth which doesn’t allow all of the teeth to fit, and he looks much less healthy.
Some people may look at these pictures and write them off, saying that it is heredity and race that causes these differences in the dental structure. Dr. Price actually took hundreds of photos detailing these same dental problems, even of families within the same culture with an earlier generation who had fully-formed, beautiful faces and the very next generation with dental problems. Because the genetics are the same, the only differing factor was the foods that were consumed!
You can see from photos like these, that heridity is not as important as food when is comes to the overall health and structure of a person’s teeth!
You Can Make a Choice About the Dental Health of Your Family
According to the book Healing Our Children, the discoveries by Dr. Price are empowering to us, because we don’t have to fall victim to the thinking that our hereditary affects all aspects of our health. Right now, you can begin choosing healthier options for your family, but focusing on wholesome, healthy foods instead of the modernized foods which cause so many health problems.
It’s a parent’s responsibility to watch their children’s health including their oral health. Having good white teeth could boost their confidence.