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DENTAL DISEASE SOCIETY PLAGUE MODERN The epidemic of dental disease in the industrialised world is a consequence of poor nutrition from eating foods grown in depleted soils and denatured by commercial food processing. The Problem ental cavities are a huge problem in the United States and many other industrialised countries around the globe. This is not a new problem, as it has been with us for as long as there has been industrialisation. Dental caries, tooth loss, gum disease and other such oral health concerns are widespread and ubiquitous worldwide. For the past 150 years, the dental profession has been filling our mouths with mercury in order to deal with the consequences of tooth decay. The government has claimed vic- tory over dental deterioration by these measures, citing the fact that "[t]he baby boomer generation will be the first where the majority will maintain their natural teeth over their entire lifetime, having benefited from water fluoridation and fluoride toothpastes".' But let's take a closer look at the numbers. They want us very badly to believe that things are getting better, that their strategy has worked and that we really are doing well on mercury fillings and water fluoridation. However, the statistics are sobering. Today there are some 100,000 dentists installing over 100 million mercury fillings per year in the United States alone. An estimated 140 million Americans have at least one mercury filling,’ while 25 per cent of the entire population has at least one untreated cavity* (and who can blame them for forestalling treatment). An astounding 20 per cent of all adults between the ages of 55 and 64 will have lost all of their teeth! One younger adult out of 250 will also share this fate.’ _In-born deformities of the jaw and dental arch, impacted wisdom teeth, the need for braces and orthodontic therapies, crooked teeth, gum disease, pyorrhoea, gingivitis, oral cancers and root canals are widespread and common to the extent that they touch almost everyone in some way. We have come to accept dental disease as inevitable and commonplace. It seems that the United States is a country founded on the notion of tooth loss as a patriotic endeavour, what with the well-known childhood stories of the father of our country, George Washington, having had wooden dentures! In relation to all of the other health concerns our nation is experiencing, this one seems only minor in comparison. Governmental authorities would just as soon sweep it under the carpet. Anyone who has ever suffered from the pain of a decayed tooth knows the true cost in agony of this illness. Some would claim that dental caries are just the tip of the iceberg and that they are a small symptom of a much larger problem which only becomes more and more buried the more we try to treat it with the current approach. Our dental system has two simple solutions to cavities: fill the tooth or pull the tooth. When there are no more teeth, it seems the problem is permanently solved. But for those who must go through life with no teeth, the problems only multiply. Aside from the altered appearance that they cause, those dentures can be uncomfortable and they don't seem to do a very good job in chewing food. Consequently, malnutrition in the elderly population is very common, and it is not unthinkable that the complete loss of teeth encourages this condition. The American Dental Association (ADA) and other agencies attempt to treat dental decay as a "local" issue.° We have been fed such propaganda for generations. Their central dogma is that tooth decay results from an overgrowth of bacteria in the mouth.’ The bacteria are fed by sweets, sugar and starchy foods. These organisms, they say, produce acids which corrode the dental enamel and lead to cavities. They say that the bacterial growth in the mouth causes other problems, too, such as plaque build-up, tartar deposits and gum disease. Therefore, their position in treating this problem is to advocate by David Zeoli, ND, LAc © 2005 NEXUS + 17 Email: dzeoli@yahoo.com FEBRUARY — MARCH 2006 www.nexusmagazine.com