Promoting Optimal Oral Health - Dentist as Nutritional Pioneers

When is the last time you looked at a really old portrait or photograph? Better yet the pictures of distant ancestors who came of age in the late 19 to early 20th century. When you get a glance, and pay extra attention to their overall facial structure, and see if you notice anything unusual. First of all, no one really smiled in the pictures back then as it took awhile for a photograph to be taken or portrait painted. While we can’t see their teeth, pay attention to their facial structure and the size of their jaw. Did they seem like the types who needed braces in their adolescence, and the subsequent removal of wisdom teeth? Did everyone back then simply have “good genetics” or could some other factors be playing a role?

We take it for granted that most of us will experience varying degrees of dental diseases throughout our lifetime, and develop facial structures that require braces and wisdom tooth extraction for straight teeth but this wasn’t always the norm. In fact it was actually a major cause of concern during the late 18th to early 19th century as societies throughout the world adopted what it known as the modern diet. The nutritional sciences were in their infancy and few could fathom that replacing their traditional diets could have such a delirious effect on their health.

Dental pioneers were the first to suspect that one’s diet could affect not only oral health but also ones overall wellness. This came through the careful observation that those with the worse oral health tended to be more lethargic, predisposed towards emotional and physical distress, and likely to contract the chronic diseases that had yet to reach today’s epidemic proportions. Certain maverick dentist including Dr. Weston A. Price, DDS, actually traveled the world in the 1930’s in search of pre-modern societies noted for their robust health and perfect teeth. Meticulous research was conducted to assess the nutrition of these societies, along with thousands of photographs to document the impact of their transition to the modern diet.

Do an internet search for “Weston A Price and Images” for photographic documentation of what happens when isolated societies noted for their perfect teeth and robust health transition to the modern diet. Or try these links:

Weston A Price Photographs (Transitioning to the Modern Diet

https://www.google.com/search?site=&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1403&bih=698&q=weston+a+price+teeth+photos&oq=weston+a+price+photos&gs_l=img.1.1.0j0i8i30.808.4500.0.7222.21.20.0.0.0.0.196.1731.12j6.18.0….0…1ac.1.64.img..3.18.1724…0i30j0i5i30j0i24.2BT96qh

Two Brothers (The older brother was raised on a traditional diet, whereas the younger was brought up on the modern diet)

https://www.google.com/search?site=&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1403&bih=698&q=weston+a+price+teeth+photos&oq=weston+a+price+photos&gs_l=img.1.1.0j0i8i30.808.4500.0.7222.21.20.0.0.0.0.196.1731.12j6.18.0….0…1ac.1.64.img..3.18.1724…0i30j0i5i30j0i24.2BT96qh

Dr. Weston A. Price and other dental pioneers of this era used such findings to transform the health of those who entered their clinics. This is quite remarkable when one considers that dentistry had yet to develop the sophisticated preventative treatments available in today’s modern office.