Shark tooth, sounds great except it is not if found in humans. Imagine finding it in your kid's mouth. Apparently, it is very common among kids these days. A tooth that erupts behind another tooth is called a Shark tooth. It's called so as sharks have multiple rows of teeth. I insist that my kids chew their food just like I was taught by my dad. I have to admit it's easier said than done. However, my dentist attributes it to the soft foods that kids eat these days and advises surgical removal. As someone who believes in experts' opinions, I say Yes. But why haven't I been warned of it before? I have been taking my kids to the dentist since they were 3 years old. I guess there's no money in preventive care. What else don't I know about?
Serendipitously, I stumbled across a book, The Dental Diet by Dr. Steven Lin. Dr.Lin is among the few in the medical field, who have stepped outside their comfort zone of treating symptoms. Dr.Lin wrote a book if properly followed would put him out of a job.
Shark tooth is a symptom and more will follow if the underlying cause is not identified and addressed. Out went peeling and cutting of fruits into small bite-size chunks in our household. When you start something new, you always tend to go overboard, so raw carrot or celery is added to every meal. Now it has come down to one daily. It was gratifying that the second shark tooth did not have to be surgically removed as the carrots seem to have done the trick. What a relief when the roots of the tooth naturally dissolve and the tooth falls out without any blood. It's like magic when the shark tooth moves naturally to fill the empty space. The third tooth came out thanks to the permanent tooth pushing up against the baby tooth as nature intended. Eating raw sugarcane the day before could have helped. I am still not sure how aligned his teeth will be.
Phew. Is that all? Sadly no. You could say the root cause for one visible symptom is being addressed. The development of our upper jaw has a major effect on something that we could not live without, breathing. Dr. Lin goes as far as calling oxygen the most important nutrient we consume. As someone with nasal septum deviation, I couldn't agree more. Because of my narrow nasal passages, my lungs do not get filled to its full capacity with oxygen and affects potentially every cell in the body. I was lucky to have a doctor for a father who diagnosed the issue early. But I was unlucky in my year of birth in that the only treatment known at that time was to fix it surgically upon physical maturity. I had the surgery done with no luck. You only need to ask my wife how loud my snoring is to know how successful the surgery was. Actually, most of the jaw growth is done by the age of 12, though development continues until you are 18. It turned out that the probable cause of my condition was due to a vitamin deficiency, K2 to be exact. This no doubt compounded by lack of exercise for my jaws with soft foods, devoid of fiber. Vitamin K2 was only recently confirmed in 2007 though discovered in 1930. Vitamin K2 is the one that tells the body where to deposit the calcium. In cases where K2 is deficient, calcium gets deposited wherever like the cartilage instead of the bones and teeth. Calcium deposits on nasal cartilage stop its growth and have been found to cause nasal septum deviation. Vitamin K2 is rich in animal foods and fermented foods. But it's only from those animals that are fed on grass. So, as you would expect, it's all grass-fed milk/cheese/ghee/yogurt at our household extending to meat and eggs.
In the US, it's all about rip and replace wherever possible. Health care is no exception as seen by the routine removal of all wisdom teeth in the name of prevention. Preventive Care only if it pays seems to be the motto. Since the US dominates the world, what happens in the US today will spread globally. My dentist tells me every time to get them removed but I have resisted so far. My wife, unfortunately, had to get them removed as they were hurting the adjacent tooth. The underlying reason is the jaws have not grown enough to accommodate the wisdom teeth. In Dr.Lin's words, "Since you can't take your jaw to the gym, chewing tough foods is the only way to keep your jaws strong."
The simple solution to all the above is to eat whole foods as much as possible which left unprocessed contains a lot of fiber. Easier said than done in our times. But a little effort now can save a whole lot of pain later
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