Why do these healthy traditional folks lose their teeth? - PaleoHacks.com

Why do these healthy traditional folks lose their teeth?

2012-10-28T13:18:47Z

The Island Where People Forget to Die is a nice article about the healthy centenarians of the Ikaria island. It makes me wish I could live there.

These folks have a healthy lifestyle with strong social community, active, and traditional diet: Mediterranean, high levels of olive oil, fish twice a week and meat (goat,pig) five times a month, Kalamata olives, goat’s milk, two to four glasses of wine a day, sage tea, coffee, honey, bread, beans (lentils, garbanzos, black-eyed peas), potatoes, yogurt, greens (fennel, dandelion or a spinachlike green called horta) and whatever seasonal vegetables their garden produced. At Christmas and Easter, they would slaughter the family pig and enjoy small portions of larded pork for the next several months.

This was really interesting as something seems different about Ikarians:

We do know from reliable data that people on Ikaria are outliving those on surrounding islands (a control group, of sorts). Samos, for instance, is just eight miles away. People there with the same genetic background eat yogurt, drink wine, breathe the same air, fish from the same sea as their neighbors on Ikaria. But people on Samos tend to live no longer than average Greeks. This is what makes the Ikarian formula so tantalizing.

When I flipped through the photos I was noticing a few were missing teeth and I was curious about the bone loss. Not sure at what ages it's occurring (50s ... 90s). Maybe it's simply normal aging to lose bone, but I'm also wondering if it could be something else like some missing nutrients, inflammation, infection ... obviously nothing affecting longevity, but possibly quality of life.

Also considering Weston Price's findings that indigenous groups retain healthy gums without cleaning:

Many primitive peoples not only retain all of their teeth, many of them to an old age, but also have a healthy flesh supporting these teeth. This has occurred in spite of the fact that the primitives have not had dentists to remove the deposits and no means for doing so for themselves."

Answer by carlos for Why do these healthy traditional folks lose their teeth?

2012-10-28T14:06:59Z

Because they don't floss.

Answer by Matt for Why do these healthy traditional folks lose their teeth?

2012-10-28T15:15:48Z

Because even 50 years of chewing is a lot of wear and tear on teeth. All it takes a chipped tooth or an infection and the tooth can be easily lost. Geriatric animals loose their teeth as they age, it's a natural process.

Traditional and paleo diets does not make one immune to natural aging processes.

Answer by JayJay for Why do these healthy traditional folks lose their teeth?

2012-10-28T15:16:21Z

Hard to say from just the few photos you saw. Could very well be trauma induced. Without a dentist I would currently be missing two of my front teeth just from trauma, and I'm only in my thirties. You would have to differentiate that from decay before you draw any conclusions.

Answer by MiMintzer for Why do these healthy traditional folks lose their teeth?

2012-10-28T15:49:59Z

I'm not sure that you can say anything about their teeth. From the pictures some have their mouths closed or you can only see some teeth due to the way they are smiling. You also can't tell whether the teeth of some others are natural or dentures. Additionally, Mr. Moraitis spent considerable time in the U.S., so we don't know whether he lost his teeth there, or in the war, or once he returned to Ikaria. It does sound like a wonderful place to live, though, and the article makes it appear that the social aspects of living are just as important as the diet the people eat.

Answer by VB for Why do these healthy traditional folks lose their teeth?

2012-10-28T15:54:48Z

I don't know because I have not lived there and did not have a chance to ask them. However, I have read about inuit women who lose their teeth in the old age because they keep one part of skin in their mouth while scraping it with some tools to soften it so they can make clothes. So their teeth cannot withstand pressure for 80 years.

My guesses:

They do some kind of activity that involves their teeth.
They drink too much wine and hit each other, thus losing teeth. Notice that most women have their teeth intact. (I do not mean it in a bad way, it is a common activity among young guys in some cultures).
They hold something with their teeth.
They have some kind of nutritional deficiencies, although I doubt it.

Answer by manul for Why do these healthy traditional folks lose their teeth?

2012-10-29T00:30:25Z

Judging from description, their diet is mostly neolithic. It is superior to SAD, as any traditional diet, but far from being optimal. No wonder they lose teeth as minerals are poorly absorbed from grains and beans.

Answer by MarkES for Why do these healthy traditional folks lose their teeth?

2012-11-02T18:29:27Z

Smoking could be a key factor - 82% of the Ikarian men were former smokers.

Why do some people lose teeth across their lifespan whereas others retain a functional dentition into very old age? :

Smoking is a well-known risk factor for oral disease and tooth loss

Or, maybe the King of the Windmills has the secret ... ranch living, hard bread, and beans. ;)

Frank Medina is 94 years old, and has never had a cavity. He still has all his teeth.