A Healthier Me

Have you heard the tale of loosing one tooth for every pregnancy?

I've never had great teeth or great dentist visiting habits. Honestly, my teeth are awful (English genetics) and the dentist makes me cry. But, I was on my way to a fully fixed mouth when I became pregnant. Only one more root canal to go and a few cavities to fill. As soon as I found out I was pregnant in April I canceled my root canal appointment. This wasn't my first rodeo and I didn't want anyone in my mouth for an hour until I felt 100%, not to mention the X-rays. No, thank you.

That tooth didn't bother me at all until I was 3 days postpartum. My body obviously had other things to focus on. So, I go see the dentist, new Xrays and a hour of consultation determine that the tooth that was due for a root canal had another cavity in the side. A cavity that grew 5 times the size while I was pregnant. Was it the fact that I treated my pregnancy like a cinnabon eating contest or does pregnancy really suck the nutrients out of your teeth?

A quick google search leads me to this article that suggests it was indeed my Cinnabon eating ways. But I do believe that the gum swelling, nutrient sucking my body did during pregnancy helped too. Nevertheless, my tooth is gone and I never ever want another root canal, extraction, bridge fitting or even a deep scaling. For the first time in my life I am on schedule to have regular cleaning and fix cavities when they are small and not wait till my brain is rotting. This isn't a New Year's resolution, because those are usually given up for Lent. This is a life term goal. To stay on top the health of my teeth.

While talking with my dentist he mentioned a few more things. While I did genetically inherit bad teeth, habits are hereditary too. I want my children to have good teeth health. I want their habits to better than mine, and this means that I need to lead by example. No juice after dinner, no grazing on sweets & no anything after P.M. teeth brushing.

I was turned on to the book Cure Tooth Decay and plan to take heed. I don't plan to totally change my eating habits because I mostly cook real, fresh, nutrient rich foods, and consider myself a pretty healthy eater, but I have a SERIOUS addiction to sweet (as I sprinkle mini chocolate chips on my granola cereal). It is interesting to think that we can heal our teeth from the inside out. I am super excited to dive into this book. I'm sure I will be helping a number of other unknown ailments too.


I think that consciously eating healthy for a purpose will help with my overall health. Even though my routines make me more active than the average Jane, I feel like I have been sedentary for a year. It's not true, but this pregnancy was not met with the umph I had with my first. Maybe I was too..uh..busy? Yah, I'll go with that. I need to get moving, get stronger and eat better. No, that's not a New Years resolution either. Onward!

Happy New Year.