Homeopathy in the management of dental caries (decay)

I have been sidetracked from writing about repeating remedies this week, but, fortunately our friendly, homeopathic dentist has written some words for us.
I have been seeing a lot of articles in my feeds on tooth health — teeth are alive, how to heal cavities, etc, so I turned to Samantha Jugdev, our friendly, homeopathic dentist to see if she would be so kind as to write another article for us. (Samantha previously contributed a very well received guest post to “Ruminating on Remedies, “Straight from the Dentist’s Mouth.”) My email request turned into a little back-and-forth exchange because I realized how little I really understand about our teeth in general.

Here is our email discussion. I hope you find it as enlightening as I did!

Julia

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The formation of teeth is something quite miraculous. They start to develop at 5-6 weeks in utero, so the mother might not even realise she is pregnant yet and already the teeth are forming. They start as a ribbon of ectoderm [the outermost layer of cells or tissue of an embryo] and mesenchyme [a loosely organized, mainly mesodermal embryonic tissue which develops into connective and skeletal tissues, including blood and lymph — according to OED], a few of them move away from each other depositing hydroxyapatite crystals as they go. The ameloblasts (enamel forming cells) lay down the enamel, the hardest material in the body; beautiful hexagonal pillars that, under an electron microscope, resemble the Giant’s Causeway* in Northern Ireland. Once these cells have done their job of forming the enamel and the shape of the crown of the teeth they are lost to us forever.

What does hydroxyapatite do? My son was suggested by his dentist to get toothpaste with this in it.
It is the name of the mineral that makes up our enamel. It is indeed an ingredient of some toothpastes. Emerging evidence is suggesting that this mineral in toothpaste can help protect the surface of the teeth, help with sensitivity and even positively affect the oral microbiome.

So, I’m thinking this sounds like all of this happens as we become us – not something we have control over?
Yes, correct. The development of our teeth is programmed into our DNA just like our spinal cord, brain and all of our other organs. Malformed teeth are rare and usually genetic.

On the other side of the ribbon are the odontoblasts [a cell in the pulp of a tooth that produces dentin] that lay down the dentine making up the bulk of the tooth including the roots. Rather than being lost, a few of these remain and continue depositing dentine whilst the tooth remains vital. Dentine has its own beauty and complexity of minerals and organic components and also house fine nerve endings accounting for our teeth being notoriously sensitive. Again, dentine formation is dictated by our genetic code but how much dentine continues to be deposited around the nerve later in life can be influenced by stress, wear and tear and how close any fillings are to the nerve. The nerve needs to be protected and if fillings are large or deep dentine is laid down in protection.

From this initial formation of the teeth we can see that enamel, once damaged or lost, cannot naturally be repaired or replaced. The main causes of wear are: erosion from eating or drinking acidic foods; abrasion from excessive pressure whilst tooth brushing or using an abrasive toothpaste; grinding teeth often in response to stress. Having said this, the surface is constantly under a microscopic flux between mineralisation and demineralisation caused by eating and drinking, creating an acidic, enamel dissolving, environment. Thanks to our saliva, our mouths are good at balancing the equilibrium. The dentine, on the other hand, in the centre of the tooth, has some ability to undergo some repair as some odontoblasts continue to work in order to be able to protect the pulp and nerves.

Our teeth have potential to remain perfectly healthy, other than natural slow wear and tear, for the whole of our lives. Dental decay and disease is essentially preventable, not inevitable.

How can we prevent disease?
Cleaning and good oral hygiene is essential, physically cleaning off the plaque and biofilm twice daily from the surfaces of our teeth. We can do this with tooth-brushing and interdental brushes, floss, toothpicks whatever works for you. Toothpaste is also very useful but I won’t go into ingredients here because this is a subject in its own right.

Do we need toothpaste?
Good question! The most important part of brushing our teeth is the mechanical removal of debris and bacteria so what does the toothpaste add? You could argue not a lot if you are brushing well. What do you want to achieve by using a toothpaste? Remineralisation; help with sensitivity; probiotic; antibacterial; healing; anti-inflammatory; fresher breath; or you just like the sensation?

Diet is possibly the most important factor with sugar being universally associated with dental decay. Other things that can contribute to destruction of the tooth structure are acidic foods and drinks that dissolve away the crystalline structures and refined carbohydrates having similar effect to pure sugar. Crackers and refined breads can be just as destructive as sugar as the carbohydrate is readily available to the bacteria and they can often cling to the tooth surface. Dried fruit and juices also have a high level of available sugar that the bacteria can easily feed on and when we graze on these throughout the day we increase the risk of getting tooth decay.

Other factors are our general health. Recent research is showing that low vitamin D levels carry a higher risk of dental decay and gum disease. Vitamin D is essential for bone health, our immune system and sense of wellbeing which are all intricately connected to our dental health. Other vitamins and minerals that can support our immune system and dental health are Vitamin C, Vitamin B12 and Zinc.

All medications also cause dry mouth to some extent reducing the protective effect of saliva to bring back the oral environment and enamel surface into equilibrium. Unfortunately, the management of dry mouth is very difficult with saliva substitutes often not performing as well as their advertising promises. In the case of dry mouth prevention of dental disease is of the utmost importance and only some relief can be achieved by sipping water throughout the day.

What role can homeopathy play?
Whilst improving diet, oral hygiene techniques and general health we can use homeopathy to support dental health and prevention.

Tissue salts have a valuable role to play in supporting healthy tissues and can be used almost like a vitamin supplement. For teeth and bone health Calc Carb, Calc Fluor and Calc Phos are of particular value with the beauty that these remedies come from minerals that predominantly make up the structure of the teeth and bone. Silicea can also be value to support bone and gum health. However, one of the keynotes for Silicea is expulsion of foreign bodies. Those with implants may wish to avoid this remedy even though this is only a theoretical risk of contributing to their failure.

Many more remedies have characteristics and rubrics that are associated with dental decay. The fantastic thing about homeopathy is that we can truly individualise the presentation and experience of the decay. Just looking at the Murphy’s repertory and the rubric Teeth, DECAYED, teeth rotten, hollowed, there are 102 possible remedies with 14 of these strongly associated with this situation. There are also sub-rubrics of “appears, as soon as they”, “crown at”, “enamel, loss of”, “gums, at edge of”, “internal”, “premature, in children”, “rapid”, “roots, at”, “sensation, of” and “sides, of teeth”. Other rubrics we might consider might address the feeling of the teeth, other disease in the mouth, general health and even looking at the desire for sweets.

Once decay has started on the surface of the teeth we can manage this with preventative measures such as good oral hygiene practices and alterations to diet and general health. This is why it is recommended to see your dentist regularly so decay can be spotted early and then monitored. Once decay in the teeth has progressed beyond the enamel we often cannot avoid further intervention and the tooth is likely to need a filling. Homeopathy can play a valuable role alongside dental care whether it is in an acute situation to help with pain, during dental treatment and healing and as long term measures to promote whole person health and prevention. The mouth is reflection and a window into our inner world and the health of the whole body and person and dental decay can give us vital clues and rubrics into discovering the remedy that fits the similimum.

Can teeth be repaired without intervention from the dentist?
The internet and social media will offer the promise of healing teeth by various methods such as crushed eggshells amongst other remedies (homeopathic and non-homeopathic). Sadly, once the tooth structure is damaged beyond a few micrometres it cannot be replaced naturally. But what we can do is halt early progression and maintain the remaining structure with prevention, cleaning, diet, whole health and we can use the support of homeopathy.

Samantha

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Dr Samantha Jugdev BSc(Hons), BDS(Brist), PGCME, FFHom(Dent)
www.thirtythreedental.co.uk

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Thank you, Samantha!




Julia Coyte, CHom
Classically Practical homeopath


#wellnessawaits
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*Being unfamiliar, I asked an AI to compare ameloblasts and the Devil’s Causeway:
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Ameloblasts are tall, columnar cells that secrete enamel in tightly packed, organized rows, forming the prismatic structure of tooth enamel.

The Devil’s Causeway (and similar formations like Devil’s Tower or Giant’s Causeway) consists of hexagonal basalt columns formed by the cooling and contraction of lava.

Here is a picture of ameloblasts to compare to the above image:

And, another one because it's so very cool…