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Please forgive me if this is boring!

Dentists pulled some of my baby teeth, for crowding, when I was six. (I did not see dentists regularly, and we couldn't afford toothbrushes or paste.)

When I was twelve an orthodontist decided to pull one eyetooth because both were sticking out. The teeth shifted to slightly off-center, but the appearance was apparently 'normal'...the first bicuspid looked something like the cuspid (eyetooth) that was missing.

Teeth tend to drift towards the front, filling any empty spaces.

With my crowding issues, in later years, when I was in my forties, a dentist discovered that my bite was all out of whack.

Where they met at the back, on one side, the upper molars crushed the lower...while on the other side of my mouth the molars did not meet at all. In fact, the jaw on that side was somewhat locked open.

The dentist spent a lot of time grinding various teeth until I could actually chew all round. That was a shock, I must tell you...to be able to chew with all my teeth!

Then my poor jaw had to re-learn to close, all around.

Back to age 17 - 18...

I had seen dentists on only two occasions in my life, at ages six and twelve. I hadn't drunk cow's milk from a glass, ever, because I was allergic to it from infancy. They bought a goat when my mother couldn't nurse me.

I had cow's milk in cooking, on cereal (Sunny Boy), and sometimes buttermilk...the way it was made in those days. I had some cottage cheese, other cheese, a little sour cream and whipped cream...but no red meat, pork, or poultry...lots of fish, and vegetables. Little fruit. I was 14 when I first saw the inside of a restaurant...scary!

I never brushed or flossed. I didn't think of it even when I was earning my own living at 16.

I had never had a cavity.

But, at age 17/18 I went to work for a dental supply house...a wholesaler which supplied dentists with all they need. Was that an education?!!!

(I won't describe how I felt from reading at random in an oral surgery manual, with pictures!)

Co-workers convinced me that I 'should' have a 'check-up'. So I did.

Immediately, the dentist showed me my beautiful white teeth in a mirror, while he picked at the top of one molar with a metal hook called an 'explorer'. As he managed to break loose a tiny bit of enamel, he explained that the tooth was 'soft', and needed a 'filling'.

I believed him. Groan!

And so it began.

(Oh, I could give dentists SUCH smacks!!!)

Fifty years later, I am convinced that Amalgam in my mouth has bred cavities...hollows that 'needed' more fillings...though not as many as some people I have known.

I also believe the poster who suggested that Candida overgrowth covers mercury bits, to save our lives. (The suggestion was that kelp may supply the needed mucilage to do the job...plus lots of other good things. I munch a little kelp every day, partly to help digestion.)

Today, I am happily hoping that the filling I lost last night really has helped the vague aches in my head and elsewhere. (Related?)

No, the lost part of that tooth, though substantial, does not hurt...thank my lucky stars.

Interestingly, I still don't brush much. I feel that the man-made bristles become sharp, even on the softest of brushes...and that floss cuts the tiny fibers that connect the gums to teeth.

I once scraped the remaining fruit from a mango pit with my lower front teeth. Big mistake! A small pad of the mango fibers sunk into the gums beside a lower central tooth.

Talk about PAIN. We drove from dentist to dentist, trying to get a shot to relieve it. No dice. The only thing they would offer was a 222, because they couldn't see the cause of the pain (I didn't yet know, either), therefore I was just after drugs...right?

I went to my in-laws and drank a few fingers of rye, straight, for the only time in my life. The pain went away. Weeks later the little pad of mango fibers popped out. But, the gums receded in that spot, and didn't grow back...they were disconnected from the tooth, permanently.

Why, oh why is it that we have to learn all this stuff AFTER the fact? The 'experts' should be telling us, before-hand! But, I suppose that even they have to learn by experience. Anybody know any elderly dentists?

I tried oil-pulling, at irregular intervals, till the one bottle of really good sesame oil ran out.

Whitened my teeth wonderfully...and my gums firmed up. Even a flouride mark that had appeared (one dentist had insisted), disappeared.

I tried several ways to remove the gummy residue after oil-pulling...finally settling on dry, clean towelling I keep for the purpose.

Dh bought carefully-made oil from TOASTED sesame seeds...and promptly opened the bottle to smell the delicious smell...which made the purchase unreturnable.

I love the stuff, but I don't use it because it contains trans-fatty acids, from the toasting, doesn't it?

I haven't yet tried my best olive oil, nor my coconut oil. I will read about and try one of these now that I have this broken tooth.

I will also try Pascalite slurry on cotton batting in the cheeks, overnights. http://www.acupla.net/ - see the section on clay. (Apparently the cotton in the tops of jars of capsules may not contain mercury.)

I know I must have missed answering some of your questions in this long post, so please remind me, will you?

This post is long because I feel that some of us must tell the story, in order for many to see that we are all quite the same, and that we need to hear actual experiences long before we age.

I am nearly 70, and I have grandbabies to teach and protect...gently and quietly, so as not to aggravate 'resistance', of course.

The beauty of my sum-total experiences is that I am connecting the dots, and learning that 'healing' may yet be ahead.

Vague head and other aches disappearing is a wonderful promise, I think.

My best,

Fledgling