hello- help with enamel issues?

[kanotim]

Hello everyone. Sorry for the long intro but I'm eager for your thoughts. I don't eat completely raw so I'm not sure where else to put this topic. Due to several reasons, I still eat most of food cooked but last year when 60-70% raw for a week or so, some of hard plaque started to chip off. But I had to discontinue the diet and so only ate raw fish few times a week- plaque returned soon.

Recently, I noticed darker areas of tooth, especially on all my bottom molars, near the gum (looks like a thin stripe). I don't know when this started happening but I think its connected to another change in diet:

From nearly half a year this was my diet:
-nearly paleo/primal (occasional dairy from grassfed cheese),
-grainfed meat, small intake of bad PUFAs (family insists on using vegetable oil)
-VLC, carbs mainly came from vegetables, avocado, and very rarely, blueberries
-90% cooked, raw animal food a few times a week in form of sashimi

When summer started, I went to live at a relative's home in a subtropical country
-1 serving of fruit 3-5 times a week (guava, wax apple, coconut, durian etc,)
-pretty much no raw meat/fish
-One 24-30 hr fast a week
-no grains but I probably had higher intake of bad PUFAs/sodium due to relative's cooking style
-no cheese but I ate grassfed butter
-less fresh seafood (canned fish)

Other stuff: Stress/sleep/exercise time improved during summer and I brush teeth with water only. I also take no supplements (hard to get where I live and I can't afford them). Getting hold of organ meats is also hard so I rarely eat any organs.

I think the long period without sweet fruit, and then suddenly adding some fruit back in was the main factor in causing the enamel loss. Before summer though, I already had a little enamel loss for while (1-2 years before seriously eating paleo) on my front teeth. I also didn't get a sugar rush after the fruit and I usually ate higher Gi fruit with some fat. And even after I eating primal/paleo, I still have hard white plaque forming behind my front teeth. Any theories/suggestions?

btw i posted similar topic at:
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/forum/showthread.php?11458-cause-of-enamel-loss
to get more ideas about whats wrong with my teeth. Its possible that acid reflux may be eroding my teeth but I still think my diet played a role. i don't know 

[miles]

Well, wouldn't acid reflux be to do with diet anyway?

[Susan]

Hello Kanotim, I know this darker areas of teeth near the gum very well too. I asked several dentists what's the reason for but till now nobody could answer my question. Proposals like "maybe you are drinking to much tea" were useless because I don't drink tea. The only thing I know is they are harmless.

The loss of enemal can happen when you eat a lot of fruits. Fruits only have little minerals and maybe their acid has a bad influence on the enamel too.

[kanotim]

Sorry for bumping this thread but today I went to the dentist. I was so anxious but turns out I have no cavities. However, I had lots of tartar buildup. The gumline 'enamel loss' was only brown tartar, easily removed by the dentist. I do have small areas on my teeth that look sort of transclusent though. Anyway, I can't eat completely raw but maybe vitamin D and/or K supplements will help prevent tartar? Which one is more useful? Ideally I would take both, but vitamin K is expensive..

[TylerDurden]

Isn't sashimi a lot cheaper in Japan than elsewhere? You really should up the raw intake as much as possible.

1 caution:- dairy, even raw dairy, is often very injurious to the teeth and the bones.

[kanotim]

Isn't sashimi a lot cheaper in Japan than elsewhere? You really should up the raw intake as much as possible.

1 caution:- dairy, even raw dairy, is often very injurious to the teeth and the bones.

Not really. Most things in Japan are generally more expensive at least in my experience. Fish that hasn't been cut into sashimi are cheaper though. I'm trying to eat less dairy but I recently ate some not raw yogurt. A moderate amount of dairy occasionally doesn't seem to negatively affect my teeth but I guess the long term effects may not be as good.

[miles]

In Tokyo they sell melons for the equivalent of £50 or something I think =D Because they use them as gifts.

Um I have a question:

My parents' house is very cluttered, and when I was younger my dad left a toolbox on the floor, and I tripped over it and broke off half of my tooth on a wooden step one Christmas eve >.>. Anyway, I got a cap at the time on the tooth, don't remember what it was(might have been 'composite' or something), it was meant to be temporary but I had it for like 8 years. I recently had a long-term 'veneer' placed over the top of it. When I first had this veneer put in, it tasted horrible, like petrol or something but now I don't taste it.

Could these things I've had on my tooth be really damaging to me?

[Michael]

Could these things I've had on my tooth be really damaging to me?

Possibly miles.  I would certainly suggest finding out exactly what was used in the tooth capping and the subsequent treatment and then perhaps consulting a mercury-free dentist.

I had all of my amalgam fillings removed in Germany 12 years ago before it was evenly barely recognised as an issue in the UK.  It cost me a small fortune at the time but was well worth it.  As part of the treatment, they also removed and replaced a cap I, too, have on my upper front tooth following a swimming accident when I was 10.  The treatment was 9-5pm for 7 days and was very comprehensive.  It included stool samples, mercury testing etc to monitor how much was coming out (alot!).

I'm not sure what the original material of my cap was but, if I recall correctly, the replacement is porcelain.  The original was replaced 2 or 3 times due to subsequent breakages.  The non-toxic replacement has remained in place 12 years and counting!