Ever Wonder Why Indigenous People Had Straight Teeth?

The other day, we spent the afternoon at the Museum of Natural History in New York City. We went to look at the dinosaurs, which was fascinating.

I was even more interested in the skeletons of early humans and the exhibits of indigenous peoples. I only had my iPhone camera with me, but I thought I’d share some of the things that captured my attention.

First of all, the skulls.  I always love looking at caveman skulls. I mean, just look at their teeth.

That perfect “U” shape that Dr. Weston Price described in his writings. Unlike the narrowed “V” shaped palate most modern people today have. The wider palate allowed for plenty of room for all the teeth, including the wisdom teeth, with no crowding.

I also enjoyed looking at the exhibits of indigenous peoples. It’s amazing how straight and beautiful their teeth were.

Look at these photos of Indians from the Amazon:

Their teeth are naturally straight. They didn’t have dentists or orthodontists. They didn’t wear braces. Doesn’t this make you wonder why we modern people have such crooked teeth?

I looked at many other exhibits of indigenous peoples — from the native Americans to the Polynesians. The exhibits had all kinds of household items, from spoons to cups to pipes and combs. Not once did I see a toothbrush. Not once did I see any kind of dental equipment like headgear or braces or palate adjusters.

Doesn’t this make people question? Don’t archeologists looking at these “primitive” people wonder why their teeth are so straight? I guess maybe archeologists aren’t dentists, so they’re not thinking about people’s teeth.

It made Dr. Weston Price question. Dr. Price was a dentist in the early 20th century in Cleveland, Ohio. As he saw more and more kids coming in with crooked teeth and cavities, he wondered why it was happening. Which is what set him on his quest to study indigenous peoples. Dr. Price came to the conclusion that crooked teeth and cavities are caused by nutritional deficiencies, particularly deficiencies of the fat soluble vitamins A, D, E & K.

The groups he studied ate very different diets, but they all ate large quantities of these fat soluble vitamins. Ten times the amount eaten by people in the 1920s and ’30s. And people in the ’20s and ’30s ate a lot more butter, lard, eggs, and whole milk than we do today.

If you haven’t yet, check out Dr. Price’s book: Nutrition and Physical Degeneration.  

Just looking at the photos will blow your mind. It’s amazing to see portraits of all these different cultures, all with perfectly beautiful straight teeth. And then to compare those photos to the ones of people who abandoned their traditional diets for “industrial” food.

The good news is, according to a wealth of data out there (including Dr. Price’s book), crooked teeth are not irreversible. Nor are they caused by bottle feeding or pacifiers.

Sally Fallon Morell, Founder and President of the Weston A. Price Foundation, reported in the organization’s current quarterly journal (Fall, 2009) that an in informal survey of Weston A. Price Foundation members with adopted babies who were raised on bottles of homemade formula made from raw milk (see the recipe here), 6 out of 7 of those kids ended up with naturally straight teeth.

Isn’t that incredible? Especially when you consider this:

Some 4.5 million children and adults are undergoing orthodontic treatment in the United States today, a number that has quadrupled since the 1960’s, according to the American Association of Orthodontists. Source

And this:

The AAO estimates that 75 percent of Americans suffer from malocclusion (literally “bad bite”) and could benefit from orthodontic treatment.  Source

75% of Americans need orthodontic treatment, and yet 6 out of 7 WAPF moms raised adopted babies on raw milk formula with naturally straight teeth.

What does that tell you? Tells me something’s going on here. Something very exciting.

I wish more people out there knew about this. Think of the money people would save on braces! Which is why I can’t stop thinking about it and am compelled to keep writing about it.

If you’re new to this information, and you find it interesting, check out Dr. Price’s book and visit the Weston A. Price Foundation website to learn more.

If you’re not new to this information, share this post with someone who is. You never know how powerfully you will impact someone else’s life by reaching out. I know how much healthier my daughter will be, and how much healthier her children will be, and you can’t put a price on that.

I’m eternally grateful to my Uncle Roy for sending me the link to the Weston A. Price Foundation when my daughter was 4 months old. And I’m equally grateful to Dr. Weston Price, Sally Fallon Morell, and everyone who works to get this information out there.