I have been trying to write this blog for almost two weeks now. You see, that Frankenvirus that took my family down finally got to me too. I thought I had mastered my escape but noooooo, it was not to be. I had a much easier time with it than the O and A’s did ~ a short-lived head cold but the tiredness seemed to last forever. I am feeling much better now, thankfully, but missed out on a long stretch of fabulous hiking weather. C’est la vie!

OK, now where was I?... oh yes, writing about a trip to the dentist...

I just love it when I receive an unexpected health benefit from the ole blood type diet. This one came from routine dental check-ups for myself and my sons.

Recently, we all visited the dentist. I am usually quite good about getting dental check-ups/cleanings for the family. But it had been two years since our last visit. In the past, a wait of several years between cleanings usually meant extra dental work was needed. So I was a little anxious and somewhat anticipating bad news in at least one of our mouths.

How pleasantly surprised to hear that all were dental caries free! Even the boys! Wow, when I was their age I always had cavities. Now, as a secretor, I am supposed to have somewhat more protection from cavities than non-secretors. But, that certainly isn’t true for me. And certainly not when I was growing up. I think all the sugar and soda consumed when a youngster wreaked havoc in my own mouth, and probably my immune system as well.

I remember a colleague many years ago telling me about this most interesting study that had come out on the relationship between dental cavities and sugar consumption in children. In this study, there were 3 experimental groups: one group consumed sugar, another group did not eat sugar, but received sugar intravenously, and the third group received no sugar whatsoever. The group that received no sugar had lower rates of dental cavities than the other two - no big surprise there. But the group that consumed sugar and the group that received sugar through intravenous injection had almost identical rates of dental cavities. The results of this study point to the possibility that perhaps it is a weakening of the immune system that leads to the development of dental caries, and not the sugar coming into contact with the tooth enamel itself as had been previously believed. I have no idea where this was published, but I would love to get my hands on a copy of this study. Not just from the results produced but, gosh, how the heck did they carry that out!! How intriguing to find out how the researchers managed this one.

My sons do not come by cavity-free naturally from either side - my husband has many dental problems as well, some of it, alas, from poor dental hygiene as a teenager and poor quality repair as a result. Almost every dentist he has seen as an adult takes one look in his mouth and says, “You must have lived in California in the seventies”. Yes, the proof is in his mouth. Back then, there was a popular new repair technique that, as time would soon tell, weakened the structural integrity of each tooth repaired. My poor husband has several such “repairs” that have cost him several teeth.

For my sons to need no dental work is truly a joyous occasion. My oldest has had only one or two cavities in the last several years, my youngest none. And they have never had the “coating” dental caries prevention therapy, nor use fluoride toothpaste, nor drink unfiltered fluoridated water. It is all in their diet, in eating and living right for their type.

The proof is in their beautiful, dental cavity-free mouths.