Big Changes Part I

So I hinted in my last post that we aren't exactly vegetarian anymore. And if you aren't exactly vegetarian, then you aren't at all, because it's really an all-or-nothing proposition.

I have strong feelings about eating animals. I've been vegetarian for over four years and vegan for about 2.5 of those years. I read and prayed and studied scripture about this, and I came to the conclusion that animals are not for consumption unless needed for health. I believed that due to modern science and food availability veganism was the healthiest and most spiritual way of eating. I felt that eating animals when not needed was sinful.

Well, I still have those same feelings. What is different is now I believe that for me and my kids eating animals will contribute to our health.

This all started with BuugaBoo's teeth. He had some major reflux as a baby, and will still spit up sometimes if he eats or nurses and then runs around. It runs in The Hubby's side of the family. His first teeth erupted at 3.5 months, and he had a mouthful of pearly whites by the time he was one. They were beautiful.

Right after he reached his first birthday his front upper teeth began to decay. This is him around the age of two, notice his upper teeth:



And I don't know why he looks so old in this picture, must be the angle and the lighting. Believe me, this is when he was younger, he has a ton more hair now.

My midwife and pediatrician chalked up his tooth decay to the reflux. A dentist we saw said it was due to night nursing, which I totally disagree with. We became extra diligent about brushing his teeth and the decay stopped. It got to the point that when we took BuggaBoo into a pediatric dentist the dentist didn't even know he had decay, he thought BuggaBoo had malformed teeth. It took a lot of insistence on my part that his teeth came in perfect for him to believe us. His confusion stemmed from the fact that BuggaBoo's side incisors were worse than the middle ones. He said the only way that would happen is if his side incisors came in first. When I informed the dentist that exactly what happened, he then agreed that the decay stemmed from the reflux.

A few months ago BuggaBoo's teeth started decaying again, despite the fact that we were careful to brush his teeth and he's been nightweaned since 20 months old. This is what his teeth looked like on his third birthday:


So I started reading a lot about how to nutritionally heal cavities, because the proposed plan of action was fillings or extractions. And I ran across this thread and thought, "Huh? Tooth spacing? Baby teeth are supposed to have GAPS?!"

Why, yes, yes they are. Like so:

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The gaps provide ample space for the adult teeth to erupt. Did you know that teeth are supposed to be straight? Straight teeth are normal, braces are here to correct jaw deformities. Wisdom teeth are supposed to stay in the mouth. In order to have enough space for all your adult teeth you need to have wide dental arches.

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Notice this diagram has all molars present and the teeth are not crowded. Compare this drawing to this mold of a narrow dental arch:

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Actually, that last example looks a lot like my bottom teeth. Here is a picture of my top teeth:


I always liked my unique teeth, I like the way they look. They are very tight, so flossing is a big problem for me since I often shred the dental floss. Also, if I get kissed too hard or I accidentally bump my mouth my teeth will slightly split my bottom lip, and I often get canker sores from that.

I went in for a braces consultation once and the orthodontist said he wanted to pull 4 of my molars(!) to make room for the other teeth. I asked why they wouldn't pull my wisdom teeth (I still have them, they have not erupted yet) and he never gave me a good enough answer.

Where was I? Diet? Right. So I had always thought that teeth were the result of genetics and that was that. So I was surprised to run across internet mommas who had fixed their children's teeth issues with nutrition. And the way they were healing their teeth was by eating animals products.

The nutritional regime that seems to work the best is lots of raw milk and milk products, lots of animals fats, lots of organ meats, lots of bone broths, lots of cod liver oil, lots of fermented foods, lot of raw eggs.

So, in the next part I'll talk about how this jives with our family.

Part II here.