I was hoping oral hygene would be easier after going primal page

[adrians]

I've been on a pretty strict primal diet for about 5 weeks now. Not too long after I started I noticed that my teeth got that coated feeling all the time whereas before I had no such problem. I really don't take in a lot of sugars other than from berries, a couple of apples per day and yams/sweet potatoes every now and then. I notice this coating coming from eating pretty much anything and occurring rapidly.

A quick search online led me to some facts about lack of K2 vitamin possibly causing this (Good to know information regarding supplements and a LC/paleo diet : Nutrition & Supplements Forum : Active Low-Carber Forums). Can someone with more knowledge confirm that this is possible? When it comes to meat, I eat just the grocery store usual (not grass-fed) beef, but mostly I eat eggs, fish, calamari, mussels. I do eat quite a bit of broccoli, cauliflower and bok choy type veggies so I should be getting some K (is it the right kind, though?) from there.

I'm brushing/flossing all the time trying to overcome this tartar build-up, but I don't think I can win. Worried about longer term oral health, as a result.

I think I'm going to try some K2 supplements (maybe around 120 mcg/day as recommended) to see if it helps. I would appreciate any words of wisdom,

Cheers,
Adrian

[jojohaligo]

I don't know much about those supplements.

I don't think a few weeks is going to affect how much plaque you have on your teeth that quickly. I know that when I eat nuts or nutbutters, my teeth feel coated afterwards.

I just came from the dentist this morning. Before reading PB I had already cut out a lot of sugar from my diet, but made the changes recommended in PB this past January. I brush once a day (unless I am going out somewhere, then I'll brush again) and floss once a day. I am too lazy to do more. No plaque to speak of, just a bit of calcification next to where the saliva glands are, super healthy gums, and I am 50.

[sakura_girl]

You may also be interested in trying oil pulling

+1

My teeth are now always fairly white despite drinking lots of coffee (compared to before, when I was drinking a lot of coffee without pulling), plus they always feel nice and smooth. You could try giving this a shot.

[sbhikes]

It's probably due to the reduction of carbohydrate in your diet. Your body takes some time to get used to burning fat for energy instead of the constant infusion of sugar. As it tries to get used to it, it dumps ketones into your breath, sweat and urine. Some people feel a coating on their teeth. You'll adjust after a while. In the mean time, if your carbs are really low and you have no particular reason for them to be so low (not diabetic or insulin resistant) you can ease into things by consuming more sweet potatoes and fruit.

[Pinup]

My teeth are now always fairly white despite drinking lots of coffee (compared to before, when I was drinking a lot of coffee without pulling), plus they always feel nice and smooth.

Seconded.

[ChiltonDom]

I know that when I eat nuts or nutbutters

[peril]

Check out your Vitamin D level. Getting that up makes a huge difference to oral hygiene. Vitamin K2 is also important, but you won't get enough just from vegetables. Fermented foods are the go

[adrians]

Thanks for the comments, everyone. In my case, I'm sure it's the diet change that is the cause of the rapid build-up of "stuff" on my teeth. It's night and day from how it used to be before I started eating like this. It didn't take long either. Before going primal I was thin and I used to eat a good amount of carbs, but I suppose my metabolism was active enough that I never went over about 160 lbs. Now, I've cut way down on most of the carbs, though, as sbhikes suggests, maybe I don't really need to. I'm finding it pretty hard to not lose weight.

Sihana, I used to eat dairy, but now it's pretty much an insignificant amount. Never had problems with that, so I might start having more again. As for vitamin D, it's possible that I don't get enough sun and the other sources where I was likely getting it before (along with carbs in the form of cereals, bread, etc.) have pretty much gone away. WRT oil pulling, I might give that ago - thanks for the suggestion.

Sbhikes, wrt ketones, you're probably right, but since I don't have a lot of fat to begin with and I don't get many carbs, I think I'm always at the limit and this is not likely to change unless I add more carbs to the diet. Problem is that I don't want to put on fat either. I'd have to compensate for the extra carbs with more exercise, and I don't see that fitting in to my schedule too easily. As it is, I think I'm balancing the calories in and out since my weight has stabilized at about 155 lbs.

Peril, what fermented foods do you suggest in particular?

I want to mention that outside of the coating on my teeth and some tartar that is hard to remove, I see no symptoms of problems. i.e. my gums don't hurt, they don't bleed when I floss, etc.

I went to the pharmacy to see about the K2 supplements, but I couldn't find anything.

BTW, I cook pretty much exclusively with lard (can't seem to find any coconut oil in the nearby grocery stores). Could this have something to do with it?