I really urgently need help and advice!

[Zena]

Hey everyone, long time no post. :o This is... long. But this is serious and I REALLY need everyone's help. I have been raw for a year now, 100% save for like cashews that aren't really raw and a few bites of organic vegan soup. And in that time I've lost 10 pounds, need to lose another 20(but I barely ever exercise or MOVE away from the computer so I blame that), lost my period completely(?!), gained a wonderful healthy glow, had my frizzy and nasty matted hair improve TREMENDOUSLY, generally feel BETTER and various other benefits... but I've been ignoring something very important, and I'm afraid it's too late now: My gums are recessing REALLY, REALLY BADLY. They have been for a while but it's just... very rapid. Noticable differences over a matter of days. I've been swishing my mouth with salt water after eating, brush and floss three times a day using Frederic Patenaude-recommended Tooth Soap, using this (http://store.agoodvitamin.com/nade1ozdrbo.html), this (http://www.albrite.com/) and this (http://www.caycecures.com/Holiday/catalog/2006/ipsab.htm), which I thought were improving it for a while but have only slowed it a little, if anything. I'm incredibly worried. The only real option right now is going to a dentist who will recommend flouridation and surgery to take gum from the roof of my mouth to use as my gums... root planing... bad, bad things. It feels hopeless. I really don't understand! I've improved my diet because of this, cutting all all dried fruits and trying to eat more greens(but failing), trying to eat less sweet fruit... and I swish after every single thing I eat. But nothing is helping. My mom is really worried of course, and she is really proud of me for being 100% raw and desperately wanting to STAY 100%, but she says that... all she knows is that even when I was eating the most disgusting and unhealthy corn syrupy, gelatin, commercial candy nastiness and not brushing for weeks, I still had gums. It's undeniable. But I don't want to eat cooked food again, I see no point. I really need to know how I can improve my RAW diet, whatever deficiencey may be causing this... anything. I took pictures: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Perpetual_Hysteria/teeth.png http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Perpetual_Hysteria/teeth2.png The top row looks worse than it really is, but the bottom row doesn't look bad enough. My two front bottom row gums, you can almost see clear through to the white of my teeth. My gums hurt sometimes. My teeth are really thin and clear, and sometimes the bottom row gets kinda loose. I have no clue what to do but try and improve my RAW diet even more. I'm gonna HAVE to go to the dentist but we really don't have much money, we could never afford periodontal surgery and I don't wanna go through it. So I can try and describe what I eat everyday, and you wonderful people can try and help me(PLEAAAASE):

Lots of fruit. Usually bananas, watermelon, grapes, cherries. I've cut out citrus fruits 'cause of my teeth. I overeat a lot, I never actually know when I'm hungry(which is a huge problem and probably why I'm still overweight), and just keep eating.. in the night, too. Normally for 'dinner' I just keep eating fruit or make some raw chili(recipe here) or curry(own recipe) or a big salad. Big dinners, shouldn't be so big I know. Sometimes I make banana ice cream. We've done like no dehydrating since I realized my teeth were in terrible shape. Don't use much honey. And nothing I eat is organic, which makes me soooo sad. The closest organic food is $12 in gas away, not to mention expensive. We live in a really small town. :( Wheatgrass is in the same place, and I don't think our juicer can even juice it. I would just chew on it if we could get it, and we'll try. Should've tried a long time ago. I'm very scared. I'm only 14, I need my teeth and gums for the rest of my life! I just feel like I'm doing something wrong, like "Where is my fit and healthy body? How can I eat so well yet have problem teeth, bad digestion and still be fat?" I've heard of raw people having tooth problems, but never THIS severe! But I really have faith in raw, otherwise I wouldn't be doing it. I really do. So anyone, any advice, any help, any ways I can change this for the better... please, PLEASE share! PLEASE! :(

Edit: Just to add to how bad this is, my gums used to go halfway up the bottom row teeth's white parts that are showing.

[Rawkinlocs]

Zena, your teeth and gums look so healthy to my untrained eye...but I did a little bit of search and found this link: http://experts.about.com/q/Dentistry-966/Receding-gum-line.htm

It's possible that you are causing your gums to recede by brushing too much, too often, too hard according to the Dentist who gave the young girl in this link advice.

I know you don't want to go, but I would go to the dentist just to have THEM tell you how bad it is, what you can/should do about it and while they may suggest fluoride, you can probably take mineral supplements to help with this. I know there are some other threads about things you can do to improve dental health here on the forum as well...but as concerned and scared as you are about this, perhaps you need to seek professional advice and take from it what you can and what you don't want (i.e. the use of fluoride) find an alternative...but at least get it checked out to find out if it really IS as bad as you think it is or not.

[berrymarymac]

My mom had this problem! She was brushing WAY too hard and she was shocked! But yeah...use a soft tooth brush and go easy. You might need to go to the dentist to double check!

[Rawkinlocs]

Zena, you might want to take a look at this thread and the link to the article contained in it: http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10144&highlight=periods

[Davylp25]

Go to Curezone.com They have so many forums there.

Go to Oilpulling.com as well.

Curezone.com has an oil swishing board. As well as a dental board.

Also, find a holistic dentist if possible.

[Spectatrix]

First, get a toothbrush for sentitive teeth, if you don't have one already. Brushing hard can cause gum recession, as others have mentioned. Second, start eating greens! Peridontal bone loss can cause recession as well and the solution is to remineralize your teeth, best done by eating greens and other foods high in calcium and other minerals.

[Revvell]

As I stated in another thread just recently, Victoria Boutenko had a similar problem. She solved it with 2 quarts of green smoothies a day. Not to say over-brushing or brushing w/ a hard brush may not be the problem... and Pierre recommends dulse for teeth/gums.

[Framboise]

Excessive fruit eating will usually cause problems with teeth and gums. And dried fruit is the worst.

[michigan roman]

just typed in receeding gums in browser and did a search which came up with several saying could be vitamin c shortage , and its also said that comfrey root dranken as a tea , so can be held in mouth before drinking , helps .

some dentist says get vitamin c in the calcium absorbate form , a powder , so that you can put like half a teasponn in mouth and use tongue to coat gums then let it sit for 5 - 10 minutes for direct application .

[LNdolls]

A soft, soft tooth brush, a dental stimulator used daily (the kind that uses toothpicks in it), using a very gentle brushing technique, doing floss a couple times a day with a very thin floss and daily tongue scraping all made a huge difference in how my gums hugged my teeth - in just a couple months - with no change in diet.. and believe me my food was far from ideal. This changed was documented by two different dentists - I am having major renovation work done because of a skating accident way back when, the repair of which needs updating. I do not use toothpaste.. I use baking soda and hydrogen peroxide to clean my teeth, rinse my gums.
This made a huge difference in me.. the gums are rowing back where they receded and are pinker, thicker and tighter against the teeth.

[dreamrawalwz]

My gums were doing that after I went raw. Not sure if it was the raw though. I switched to a softer toothbrrush and am not brushing as hard. The doctor said my gums look like they're healing themselves and they look good.

[vgloveforlife]

Like everyone said, get a softer toothbrush and stop brushing 3X a day and eat more greens.

Check this out:

http://www.karinya.com/teeth.htm

[Guppy]

They look beautiful in those pictures, but if you say they are receeding, I echo what has been said here about brushing too hard. I went through a period of a few years where I did not see the dentist and b/c my teeth felt so fuzzy, I unconciously began brushing much harder. Like you, I began to panic when my gums were noticably receeding. I finally went to the dentist and she diagnosed mild gingivitis and did the scaling procedure, which is just a very gentle water cleaning just below the gumline. It was not painful. No root planing was necessary. It was not too too expensive.

Now I go back every 4 months to have that repeated. I just went last week after being raw for 4 months and she proclaimed the gingivitis healed. Now I just go for cleanings every 6 months for maintenance.

She has taught me the following:
-Use an electric toothbrush with an extra soft head and brush gently along the gumline where the plaque builds up.
-Floss gently every day
-Use a tongue scraper to clean your tongue as this will make your mouth feel cleaner and you will be less likely to overbrush

Now, as far as being overweight and having bad digestion, I think you know what you need to do. The raw diet is ONE PART of a healthy lifestyle. Your body was built for movement! Take a walk, do some yoga, go for a hike, jump rope... There are a million possibilities. Just get moving and like dental care, do it everyday.

Good luck,
emily

[Zena]

Thank you so much everybody! You've all given me much hope and determination. I think brushing too hard and too long may be it! I feel dumb for the possible solution being sooo simple, and mom had warned me about it before too... so I'm going to brush a lot softer(Already have a soft brush), drink a lot of green smoothies, I already scrape my tongue... try and get vitamin C, check out all the links... and of course, exercise! Get up and move! :p

LNDolls, what do you mean by dental stimulator?

Rawkinlocs, thank you for the link to the period thread! :o I had seen it before but looking at it again is so reassuring.

I feel sort of guilty for freaking out about it here first instead of looking to other sites regarding dental health(besides, um, Google)... but it just shows how much I trust this place!

[Sharon in Colorado]

Your teeth/gums look great to me. White teeth, pink gums what more could you ask for? Heck, you are brave to be baring your mouth to the world here. What in the world did you use to open up your lips like that?

You may want to seek out a biological dentist. I had one see my kids for a while, but it got to be too expensive and they wouldn't charge my insurance other than sending a claim in. I had to prepay and then they'd send anything back to me that the insurance paid them.

[Zena]

ANNOUNCEMENT! I just got back from the dentist! Caved and went... but she said, unbelievably, that my teeth are PERFECT. That I had NO plaque at all and NO cavities! Mom and I are TOTALLY blown away. :eek: We were certain that my gums were in horrible shape and I was going to have to get surgery and root planing, all this terrible stuff, but Doc says they're amazing and to keep up the good work. She said what I thought was recession(And really really looks like it!) was my gums tightening up against my teeth like they SHOULD. What I was USED to was apparently bad! Imagine that. And that I could see through them just because the tissue is thin and it's normal. I really can't believe it. It's like I'm in a... a Pime Taradox! I feel so foolish now for freaking out, but so gald that now I can share this amazing news! So using all these products has just made my already improving teeth even better, I guess! I'm so incredibly relieved. But I'm not gonna go eat dates or anything still. And I'm still gonna drink a green smoothie every day. :D So thank you for the advice, everyone! I'm so shocked that I don't need to use it now!

Oh, and Sharon, I used this beastly looking device that came with the linked vita-pick thing to hold my mouth open:

[Rawkinlocs]

YAAAAAAAYYYYYY!!!!!!

I SO happy to hear that Zena! You are the epitomy of health and dental wellness, young lady and very much an inspiration to us all on so many levels.

Thank you for sharing your results and I'm glad to hear you got such a wonderful dental report after hearing so much about "dental problems arising on raw"...it's totally refreshing. I knew those teeth and gums looked pretty healthy to me...but what do I know? :D :p

[Lay-Lay]

Your teeth look amazing! So happy everything went well at the dentist! Congrats on 1 year raw. Wow! what an amazing accomplishment!

[Sharon in Colorado]

Oh, and Sharon, I used this beastly looking device that came with the linked vita-pick thing to hold my mouth open

Good heavens that thing looks like a gigantic pacificier!

Wow, now I knew your teeth and gums looked too great to have problems. This will be the model on our board here. Anyone asking questions about teeth, etc, can be referred to this thread, these pics are totally awesome and a testimony to how great teeth can be on a raw diet!

[Zena]

will be the model on our board here. Anyone asking questions about teeth, etc, can be referred to this thread, these pics are totally awesome and a testimony to how great teeth can be on a raw diet!

Sounds like a wonderful idea! Rawkinlocs, as a moderator and thread link queen, can I trust you to link this thread to any individuals in the future with tooth problems? :p

And thank you~!

[Linda1970]

Hi Zena,

Your teeth looks so beautiful. I'm sorry you got all scared, but at least now everything is great. Thanks for sharing because this is very inspiring. Congratulations on 1 year raw!

In your first post, you said that you have bad digestion. Really? Can you give us a little more detail?