The truth is that tooth decay is a relatively new phenomenon. Until the rise of agriculture roughly 10,000 years ago, THERE WAS NO TOOTH DECAY IN HUMANS. Let that sink in for a moment. Humanity is 2,500,000 years old. For the fist 2,490,000 years no one ever had a cavity. If we understand that tooth decay started when people started farming instead of hunting and gathering for a living clearly you realize that tooth decay is a disease or mismatch between what you are eating and what your body expects you to eat. If we examine the past as prologue it becomes clear that the path to proper health starts in the mouth and the answers are so simple that not only did a Cave Man do it. They perfected it.
—John Sorrentino in a blog post August 6, 2012
Paleo Diabetic 
That’s not actually entirely accurate – teeth did rot prior to the advent of agriculture just as teeth rot in wild animals today. However, the incidence was extremely low and much more likely to be a result of or co-occurance with excessive wear or injury than today. It’s not just tooth decay that’s new, either – misalignments of all kinds are exceedingly rare in hunter-gatherer populations, but the norm rather than the exception in industrial populations.
Just check out the Weston A Price photos in Nutrition and Degeneration. Just google it.
With diabetics when blood sugar levels are high the fluid produced in the gingival sulcus (around the teeth) contains higher glucose levels . High blood glucose levels also result in less salivary flow, so the natural cleansing effect of saliva is reduced. Medications given to diabetics are not usually only drugs that increase insulin sensitivity (like Metformin, for example). Type 2 diabetics are also prescribed medications for blood pressure control. These drugs have a side of effect of reducing salivary flow as well.
Unfortunately blood glucose control is difficult because the majority of type 2 diabetics are overweight and middle aged plus. A complication oftentimes not recognized or treated in this group is sleep apnea. During the night when the person is fighting for breath, the sympathetic nervous system ramps up and the consequence of this is high blood sugar during sleep and a high blood sugar level in the morning regardless of fasting. Snoring and breathing through the mouth during sleep results in drying of the oral tissues.
For my patients I recommend Biotene mouthwash, toothpaste and moisturizing gel. This product contains enzymes which help to digest the dental plaque. For some patients I only recommend the mouthwash to be swished and left in the mouth during toothbrushing with their prefered toothpaste. Follow up with the use of a WaterPik oral irrigator and there is a remarkable improvement in dental health.
Inflammation in the body results in a loss of blood glucose control. Infection can drive blood glucose to extremely high levels. Eliminating inflammation in the mouth helps to stabilize blood glucose.
1.) Of 2,200 skulls from circa 4500 B.C. at the Samara River Valley Project, there were zero carious lesions. The people did not eat grains. They did consume the bulbous starchy roots of water plants and possibly ate the seeds of Chenopodium species of plants.
2.) A study of the inhabitants of St. Helena island (where Napoleon Bonaparte was exiled) done in the 1940s indicated that a diet which contained only potato and sweet potato as a carbohydrate source resulted in only one small carious lesion per mouth in adults. Potatoes and sweet potatoes are not cariogenic. A recent study of this population compared the effect of topical fluoride with historical reference. It concluded that fluoride had no positive improvement on dental caries in this population and has since been discontinued.
3.) Breastfeeding promotes proper facial development. A child needs to be breastfed until all deciduous teeth have erupted. All 20 teeth should have spacing between them. This indicates optimal jaw growth and reduces the likelihood of childhood caries. Usually this eliminates the need for orthodontic intervention. When the teeth function well, the child will eat foods that require chewing. This also helps good jaw development. I tell the moms in my practice to “invest in your breasts”.
cheers,
Dr. G. Kadar DDS
I found myself without any cavities until my mud thirties, then bam! I started getting them all the time. I was shocked as I have excellent oral hygiene and go to the dentist 2x per year. After much searching I found dr Ellie Phillips, dentist. Her www is drellie.com. With a few rinses to kill bacteria, which are what cause tooth decay and exposure to xylitol throughout my day which neutralizes danaging acid, my teeth are all better. She wrote kiss your dentist goodbye. So glad I found her.
Dr. Kadar, thanks for that valuable input.
-Steve