Enamel

The problem is that because nearly everyone eats cooked food, the alkalinizing minerals available to build that protective plaque are severely compromised. Cauterization of minerals through cooking converts them into glassy, sharp, sleek particles rather than the soft, permeable, clay-like mineral forms that can permeate tissue and react biologically. Calcium from cooked food retains only about 50 percent of its alkalinizing ability. Phosphorus is even more fragile: it begins to be transformed at 98 degrees Fahrenheit and loses its alkalinizing ability almost entirely at around 105 degrees. Potassium and magnesium are similarly degraded. So the plaque that forms around the toxic metals is built from partially inert minerals that are 10 to 30 percent less effective than raw, uncauterized equivalents.

At the same time, cauterization makes the toxic metals more aggressive, not less. When mercury or thallium is cauterized, its destructive chemical activity intensifies. This asymmetry means the body needs 100 to 200 times more calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and potassium to construct a plaque that will actually protect the tooth from the toxic chemistry of those metals. With cauterized, partially non-functional minerals available, the plaque that forms is insufficient. The heavy metals work through the plaque over hours or days, neutralizing whatever alkalinity remains, and once they break through they begin burning the dentine directly. One molecule of mercury can destroy approximately 5,000 healthy cells. Applied to dentine even in small concentrations, mercury, thallium, or lead will produce damaged dentine within 10 to 14 days.

Aajonus described testing this in a laboratory at least 30 times. Applying bacteria alone, with no toxic minerals, to tooth surfaces for periods of up to six months, with no brushing, never produced any decay. Applying thallium, mercury, or lead in small amounts produced damaged dentine within two weeks without exception. The longer those metals remained, the deeper the damage progressed.

Once dentine cells are damaged and dying, bacteria arrive to consume the dead and damaged cells. This is the standard biological process of degeneration and regeneration throughout the body: bacteria, like janitors, clean up waste so that healthy cells can replace the damaged ones. The problem is that nobody eats properly enough to actually replace the lost dentine cells, so the cavity deepens not because bacteria are eating healthy tissue but because toxic metals keep arriving and damaging more dentine, and the body lacks the materials to regenerate. Blaming the bacteria for cavities is, in Aajonus's framing, like blaming the janitors for the damage a rock band left in a hotel room.

Fluoride is presented by the medical and dental establishments as protective of enamel, but Aajonus flatly rejected this. Fluoride interferes with the enzyme adenosine diphosphatase, which normally delivers phosphate to calcium on tooth surfaces, and that delivery is precisely the mechanism by which teeth re-enamelize. By blocking that enzymatic pathway, fluoride prevents the re-enamelization that would otherwise occur when teeth are clean and the diet supplies adequate calcium and phosphate. Fluoride in toothpaste and fluoridated drinking water cause the same damage.

The epidemiological evidence cited in the 1950s tests to support fluoride in water was, by Aajonus's reading, misrepresented. The populations receiving fluoridated water had fewer recorded cavities not because enamel was better protected but because they experienced dramatically higher tooth loss, approximately 22 percent more teeth falling out than in non-fluoridated groups. With fewer teeth remaining, there were statistically fewer cavities to count. The actual effect of fluoride was accelerated destruction, not protection.

Re-enamelization, the genuine regrowth of enamel and filling in of cavities, is possible under the right conditions but is hampered by two main obstacles beyond diet: the ongoing flow of toxic metals through the gums, and the coating effect of commercial toothpastes.

All commercial toothpastes contain glycerin, which coats the tooth surface with a sticky film. Approximately 25 washes are required to remove that film after even a single application. As long as that glycerin film is present, the tooth surface cannot re-enamelize because the calcium and phosphate from food cannot reach and integrate with the tooth surface. Rinsing the mouth with milk or another liquid after eating can help by making calcium and phosphate available at the tooth surface, but only if the tooth surface is actually clean.

Aajonus reported that over approximately a ten-year period of not allowing dentists to re-drill his teeth, three cavities that had been present for decades closed and filled in as new tubule and dentine growth pushed out the old fillings. He had additional open cavities that he was monitoring without filling to observe whether the same regrowth would continue. He described this as beginning to grow his teeth in, noting that cavities he had carried for 30-plus years were filling and repairing themselves.

For re-enamelization to occur in a population that consumes dairy and eats the Primal Diet, the teeth must be free of glycerin coating, free of heavy accumulations of toxic plaque, and the body must be supplied with raw calcium, phosphorus, and other minerals in bioavailable form. Consuming food high in calcium and phosphate such as raw milk increases the probability of re-enamelization, but only when the teeth are clean.

Aajonus developed a toothpaste formula based on the principle of the jeweler's rouge: oil combined with a mild abrasive to polish without scratching. Clay used without fat as a binding agent would abrade the teeth, potentially creating grooves and causing enamel loss, just as a jeweler using dry clay on a stone would scratch and weaken it. Adding butter or coconut cream provides a lubricating fat that allows the clay to polish the surface without causing that damage.

The formula as described in multiple workshop contexts:

A level teaspoon of Terramin clay mixed with one tablespoon of coconut cream, combined in a small one-ounce glass jar and kept refrigerated. The coconut cream was identified as preferable to butter for this application. Brushing is done with an infant's toothbrush, which works on one tooth at a time and allows the mixture to be worked up into the gum tissue. This mixture makes it difficult for the teeth to build plaque within a 48-hour period.

Vinegar, specifically raw apple cider vinegar, is added to the mixture approximately once every ten days. The proportion described is a few drops to a small amount mixed in with the clay and coconut cream. The vinegar dissolves plaque deeply, including plaque that has built up under the gum line in pockets. It can dissolve mineral-based blockages the way it dissolves mineral scale in a clogged drain. However, vinegar cannot be used more frequently than once every seven to ten days because it will also dissolve enamel if used too often and in too large quantities. Distilled vinegar must never be used; only raw apple cider vinegar.

An alternative method for removing plaque from deep gum pockets involves combining one tablespoon of coconut cream, one tablespoon of lemon juice, and one tablespoon of vinegar in a cloth (not cheesecloth, which is too fine, but something like a t-shirt material) for delivery into the pocket area.

The clay used in this formula is Terramin, spelled T-E-R-R-A-M-I-N, mined from the California desert from an ancient hot aquifer spring. The clay is mined from depths where the temperature never exceeded 98 degrees Fahrenheit, meaning the phosphorus and other minerals in the clay have never been cauterized. The website for sourcing this clay is terramon.com. Aajonus reported that in approximately 12 to 15 people using this toothpaste, one person who had gum pockets measuring 8s and 9s reduced those pockets to 2s and 2.5s within two and a half to three and a half months.

The formula also whitens teeth. Aajonus noted that his lower teeth, which were mostly his original teeth, had noticeably whitened after using the formula.

A Water Pik used with diluted hydrogen peroxide was mentioned as a complementary tool for deep cleaning gum pockets without the abrasive trauma of a dental hygienist scraping, and the hydrogen peroxide activity of the solution would help bleach the teeth while dissolving plaque. Using the Water Pik with this kind of solution every ten days was described as a way to avoid the need for professional deep cleaning every six months.

The same toxic-metal-plus-mineral-binding process that produces plaque on the teeth produces white coating on the tongue and salivary secretions. The white tongue should be regarded as a positive sign: it means the body has sufficient calcium, potassium, phosphorus, and magnesium to bind with the toxins and immobilize them before they do cellular damage. A blue tongue indicates insufficient minerals to bind with the toxins, meaning those poisons are reaching tissue without being neutralized. The recommendation in that case is to eat more cheese and drink more dairy immediately.

Plaque on the teeth must be removed regularly, not because plaque itself is the enemy but because as the toxic metals sit within the plaque they gradually neutralize the alkalinity of the surrounding minerals. Once that alkalinity is exhausted, the metals break through to the dentine. The body cannot regenerate fast enough in a toxic food environment to stay ahead of the damage if the plaque is left in place.

Teeth turning gray is not primarily an external phenomenon in Aajonus's framework. Gray discoloration comes from heavy metals and toxic alkaloids being forced through the nerve tissue into the tooth from the inside out. Tetracycline and cocaine are the specific examples he cited: both are heavily concentrated in toxic metals and alkaloids. These compounds enter the brain, travel down the nerve to the tooth, and deposit their metallic load within the dentine and nerve tissue itself, turning the tooth gray-brown. The pattern begins as white spots that then gray. Aajonus described his own lower teeth as showing discoloration predominantly from tetracycline exposure. People with a history of cocaine use show the same pattern because cocaine is heavily laden with alkaloids.

Vegetarians whose diets are low in calcium, magnesium, potassium, and phosphorus cannot produce sufficient plaque to buffer the toxic metals dumping from the brain. As a result, those metals enter the nerves and dentine directly and the teeth turn gray and brown quickly without adequate mineral binding occurring at the gum line.

For situations where a cavity requires filling, Aajonus gave detailed guidance. His general preference evolved over time. He initially recommended porcelain inlays but found they caused too many cracked teeth because the fit tolerances required are extremely precise, to within a hundredth of a centimeter, and any slight mismatch causes the tooth to fracture under the snap-in force. He moved away from recommending porcelain inlays as a result.

The book "We Want to Live" states that the best dental filling material is porcelain or ceramic inlays, and for crowns and bridges, those reinforced with gold are preferred because more of the original tooth must be removed for crowns. This represents an earlier stated position that his later workshop discussions modified with the cracking concern.

His later and more frequently stated position was to use composite, meaning hard plastic. He noted that some people are allergic to certain composites, and that a biological dentist who tests for reactivity can identify which plastic formulas a given person can tolerate.

He stated clearly that amalgam fillings, described as silver fillings, contain large quantities of toxic mercury and should not be used. The mercury vapor coming off a single 25-year-old amalgam filling exceeds the Environmental Protection Agency's allowable limit for breathable air by more than 1,000 times even at rest. When stimulated by chewing, by heat from coffee or warm water at 110 degrees Fahrenheit, or by rubbing (as a hygienist does during cleaning), the mercury vapor release increases dramatically and continues for at least an hour and a half following each stimulation. People who grind their teeth or chew gum expose themselves to continuous stimulation. Aajonus had 16 amalgam fillings removed in 1978 and replaced with composite at that time.

His personal protocol for dealing with cavities was deliberately minimal in terms of drilling. He instructed dentists to scrape only the softest, most visibly dead tissue from the cavity surface without drilling into healthy tooth substance, then glue the composite onto the existing surface. Because the glue does not adhere well to living tubule tissue, these fillings pop out approximately once every two to three years. When they do, his protocol was not to allow re-drilling but to have the dentist scrape only obviously black material and re-glue composite onto the surface where previous glue had been applied, building glue upon glue without ever penetrating new tooth tissue. He attributed the filling in of three previously open cavities over a ten-year period to this approach combined with the Primal Diet.

He stated he does not permit X-rays and does not use anesthetics when having dental work done, and that he travels to Mexico or the Philippines for dental care because the ADA rules in the United States prevent dentists there from working in the manner he requests.

The fundamental dietary support for enamel protection and re-enamelization is adequate raw dairy. Sipping raw milk frequently throughout the day allows the minerals in the dairy to bind with the toxins being eliminated through the gums before those toxins can contact and damage the dentine. Eating cheese with a small amount of butter approximately every hour provides a continuous mineral supply for the same purpose. The recommendation to eat cheese and honey was described as something Aajonus wished he had understood and acted on 20 years earlier than he did.

Because the mechanism of tooth decay is the brain discharging toxic metals through the gums, any approach to dental health that does not address the body's mineral status and the ongoing detoxification of the brain is, in his framework, addressing only surface symptoms.

In passing references in the source material, Aajonus also used the term enamel in the context of food storage containers. He noted that jar lids with white plastic enamel sealing are preferable to those without, because the white enamel layer prevents the metal of the lid from rusting and leaching into food. If that enamel layer is breached, the exposed metal can begin oxidizing and the resulting compounds can drip into stored food and cause metal poisoning. Ball jar lids carry this white enamel seal on all lids; Kerr brand lids do not have the same patent-protected seal. This is a separate and distinct use of the term enamel from the dental context and refers to a protective coating applied to metal surfaces, not tooth anatomy.