Tooth ache from keto?

#15

I’ve had tooth pain and sensitivity to hot and cold quite often since starting keto. It’s not from keto per se, it has a lot to do with sinuses. My allergies used to be horrendous and I had so many other symptoms I think I just didn’t notice the tooth pain. Now that I’m keto almost all of my allergy symptoms have subsided with the except of some minor sinus inflammation that makes my upper teeth sensitive at times. That is my long winded way of telling you I concur with your thoughts that sinuses are the culprit.

(Kowh ) #16

Sooo I have to say that there is definitely something to keto and tooth sensitivity. My symptoms are similar to those that Kori and Lisa have described; the tooth that was JUST filled (like two months ago…like this should actually be the strongest tooth in my head!) is the one hurting. And it happened quickly…no sensitivity in the morning…nothing in the afternoon, but I went to have a sip of water (room temp!) after my workout and had to hold my jaw because of the pain…not sure how to make it go away…(I’ve used a straw to bypass that one tooth, but it even hurts when my saliva touches it.) So maybe we could agree that the keto diet has something to do with tooth sensitivity (even if it is a secondary effect of changes in the sinus cavity?)…but how to make it go away?

(Laura Z) #17

I do not believe it is a Keto diet that causes tooth sensitivity, merely a coincidence. If you drink ACV this with open the tubules on our enamel and dentin and they can become quite temperature sensitive. It is important to rinse your mouth after consuming ACV drinks or citric acid drinks as that is what we use to actually “etch the enamel/dentin” when we “bond” fillings to a tooth. Your situation of having a recent filling can be another situation, altogether. Silver fillings or Plastic bonded fillings expand and contract when the temperature of what we consume is different than our oral temperature. We can detect even a few degrees. It can take several months before sensitivity diminishes after a new filling is placed. The tooth responds to decay and the resultant fillings by laying down a layer of secondary dentin to protect the nerve. This can take 6 months or more for this to happen. Every time there is a filling or replacement of a filling it insults the nerve and the body does its job by responding…First thing you should try is a desensitising toothpaste such as Sensodyne or any of the brand names. Most important is NOT to rinse out after brushing with these toothpastes. Leave the residue on your teeth and do not eat or drink for 30 mins after using. I know the grit is too much for some to tolerate. If so, rinse and then put a small dab of the desensitising paste on your finger and rub on that specific tooth that gives to pain and leave it. It is best before you go to bed. It may take a week or so to help with the sensitivity but does help tremendously. If you still have sensitivity, return to your dentist to check the occlusion (bite) on your new filling. You may be not hitting it just when you close but when you are using the tooth in a chewing motion. That motion can really jostle the tooth and since you are numb during the procedure of placing the filling, when they check the bite you can not really feel the nuances as when your tooth is fully awake. It only takes 5 mins to “check the bite” and adjust the filling if that is the problem. Please note, even a small disturbance in your chewing pattern on a tooth can result in a lot of discomfort for some of us. “Keep calm and Keto on.”

#18

I know I"m late to this party but the opposite happen to me. One of my molars was sensitive for a good year before starting on keto, my dentist and I together decided that I would wait until I felt it was time (when it became painful) to have a root canal. One month into keto and the sensitivity went away. I don’t know if it’s improved, I would need an X-ray to confirm, but I don’t even know which tooth it was now, that’s how much it improved.

(Atmane Chenaf) #19

Hi I have same problem for one week now. I am on Keto since 6 weeks. my filled tooth (25 years ) I have also a kronic sinuzit .but nver had pain till I went in keto. I am sure is side effect of ketosis.
any suggestion pls?

(Rachel Brooks) #20

I have been working on a keto lifestyle for over a year - honestly, I have yet to make it more than 2 months in a row.

However, with all of my fresh starts, I have a lot of experience with the transition symptoms. I have found that during the first 2-3 weeks of any attempt I will often experience pain - standalone or temp/pressure sensitivity - in my front teeth and molars. It usually disappears after the 3 week mark, which leads me to believe that it is one of my keto-flu symptoms. Incidentally, my ankles and hands also are in intense pain during that same timeframe.

(Bunny) #21

I like playing with Dr. Weston Prices’s vintage experiments…lol. Stops teeth from hurting, tightens up loose teeth and heals cavities too completely; reverses cavities or dental carries…

BTW: Trisodium phosphate is what your bones and teeth are made of! Mixes with the Vitamin K in your saliva (very high concentrations) and infuses the calcium back into your teeth through the phosphorus being that your on low sugar diet like keto! Dentists will want to kill me for this!

My teeth hurt
(Aminah ) #22

Started keto 2 weeks ago and severe teeth pain started. I went off for 2 days due to travel and it stopped as quickly as it started. :thinking:

I’ll be starting back again today and wonder what the results will be.

('Jackie P') #23

Its possible that you had inflammation around the damaged tooth, which would be a normal physiological response to damage. Keto, being anti-inflammatory may have reduced that inflammation therefore, the pain has returned! So keto has not caused your pain, just made it apparent!
I hope that is as clear as mud!

(Brittany Edmunds) #25

Same thing with me, I did Atkins for 3 weeks a while back and my teeth were in constant horrible pain, aching very badly. I had a feeling it was the diet, so I stopped and sure enough in about a week of eating normally for me the pain went away. I would like to go back on the diet but I don’t know how to keep from the tooth pain so :woman_shrugging:t2:

(Kate Ovcharenko) #26

You may be right, I see other people are also having issues with their teeth in the initial stage of keto adjustment. I’m in my second week of keto, and I just got a terrible tooth pain, the whole jaw, from nowhere… I wonder what’s behind this keto tooth pain…

#27

What type of keto diet?

One of the signs of oxalate dumping that can occur about 2 weeks in to eating a low oxalate low carb diet is tooth pain.

(Keta) #28

Hi, I also want to chim in. Three weeks in Ketosis (not for the first time, btw 0,5 and 1), several teeth at different places became highly sensitive and quite painful. Nothing was wrong with them last checkup at dentists only a few weeks before starting keto. And it is the typical “outside” pain when gums recede and when there are demineralized spots. As soon as I went out of Keto sensitivity become much better, literally in less than an hour. This indicates causality.

My assumption (pls correct or support):

  1. Lack of minerals in food through Keto (I do take supplements, but always unclear what is really absorbed) --> demineralization
  2. General loss of water etc --> demineralization
  3. Acidy Ketones or related substances in mouth / salvia (I have reflux, that might increase the availability of acidy stuff) --> attack on weakened teeth.
  4. Receding gums because of lack of insulin etc.

Will see dentist next week, doubt he understands the Keto effects, but perhaps he has something better than Sensodyne.

What are your experiences and recommendations about “oxalate dumpings” and teeth?

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #29

It is highly unlikely that reducing carbohydrate will cause tooth pain. In fact, the vast majority of people on a ketogenic diet experience the opposite. Tooth pain goes away once sugar, starches, and grains are eliminated from the diet.

If your ketogenic diet is lacking in minerals, I would suggest switching to whole, real foods; that is, meats and vegetables. You will need to increase salt intake a bit, for reasons explained many times on these forums (the search function works well, here, by the way), and that will help keep your other electrolytes balanced. You should also be drinking to thirst.

Ketone bodies generally remain in the bloodstream, except when excreted in urine or breath. If you are indeed breathing through your mouth enough of the time to make ketones a problem for your teeth, that is a symptom that needs to be looked at, as it indicates a non-keto-related problem.

Gums do not recede from lack of insulin. Populations that eat diets that keep them generally in ketosis have a vanishingly small rate of gum disease or dental caries. In fact, an increase in the rate of cavities in a population, almost invariably associated with an increase in carbohydrate intake, is one of the first signs that the diet is changing for the worse, as Dr. Weston A. Price demonstrated, years ago.

As for oxalate dumping when plant-based food is reduced, the best course of action, as recommended by Dr. Annette Bosworth, is to ride it out. It’s like the Candida die-offs experienced by people with systemic yeast infections who go keto: it may be unpleasant, but you are better off getting through the unpleasantness because the increase in health afterward is worth it.

Your best course is to look for possible sinus problems and deal with them, since that is the most likely factor for reducing tooth pain.

(Jane) #30

Our teeth have never been healthier since going keto 3 years ago. No cavities.

In my husband’s case he had radiation on his face nearly 20 years ago to treat non-Hodgkins lymphoma and they told him he would have chronic dental problems as a result. He did. Lost several teeth and got implants. Frequent cavities.

Not now!

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #31

In my case, the build up of plaque and calculus, that was a constant while eating SAD, has virtually disappeared eating keto. I’m 75 so I also have receding gums although I still have my original teeth! On several teeth the receding gums have exposed the roots which caused extreme sensitivity to heat, cold, sweet, sour, etc (aka everything). My dentist covered the exposed roots with white filling which would last several years before chipping off and requiring recovering. Well, the last recovering was many years pre-keto and all have chipped off exposing the roots again. But since keto, no pain at all in any of them. So in my experience, keto does not cause teeth to become sensitive. Occasionally, I eat something that causes temporary ‘tooth ache’ which could last a day or two then goes away. I haven’t had much motivation to investigate this phenomenon, but my guess would be that this is what @Keta is really experiencing. Nothing to do with keto per se.

#32

Twining a few threads together. My experience with very low carb eating (dirty carnivore) covers the scenarios mentioned. The sore teeth feeling is cyclical or ‘tidal’. It comes and goes.

The teeth soreness is an interesting feeling, quite unique. It’s like a muscle soreness, like an ache, rather than the electric, sharp pain of an exposed tooth nerve, either by cavities or by gum recession. It’s an inside the tooth, or teeth, pain generating outwardly. Whereas the more common pain is one experienced from the tooth surface going into the teeth, and zap!, down the pain transmission nerves. There is also jaw ache for some people.

I mentioned it is a symptom that occurs (n=1) for me at about 10 to 14 days in on a strict carnivore eating plan. It coincides with increased tooth mineral calculus deposits. I also note that the wax from my eyes and ears gets a bit more productive with a slight itch. The result being a gritty waxy material. Over a few weeks following the grouped symptoms, I’ll notice dry skin patches with fine white sand-like crystals around my feet heels.

My best explanation is oxalate ‘dumping’ though I have not had theses gritty exudates tested for composition. The microscopic calcium bound oxalate crystals are sharp and splinter-like and can work their way through soft tissues. But I wonder if they get concentrated in certain areas? We know they get concentrated in the kidneys for excretion and can cause painful kidney stones. But they seem to be seeking exit through mucus, sweat and wax producing body tissues as well, if my observations are correct.

The other correlation I have observed is heart palpitations at these times. The oxalate is a strong binder of positive mineral cations, like calcium and magnesium. Those minerals are important in regulating heart electrical activity.

A ketogenic diet allows leafy green vegetables. People starting a keto diet can associate leafy greens with ‘healthy eating’ accepted by the main stream, and it can be where we meet our vegetarian friends (over a bowl of salad). But be aware of the green smoothie and salad risky combination that could be loading your body with excess oxalates, that may manifest, after a period of time as aching teeth that is not a classic toothache.

I’ll note that as a teenager I had quite a few fillings on a standard processed food diet. Since eating keto my dentist is amazed at my gum health and teeth strength and health, with just check ups and dental clean ups for calculus required for the past 6 years. The dental hygienist has noted increased and more rapid calculus build up over the past 2 years with my dirty carnivore WOE.

(Edith) #33

I agree with possible oxalate dumping. Think about it: when we first start keto, it tends to be very Atkins induction-like. Meat and a few veggies. That would definitely be a big shift to lower oxalate. Hence dumping. Tooth aches/soreness are one of the symptoms.

Once we get settled in, that’s where the return to high oxalate eating begins. We eat nuts, lots of veggies, berries, and unfortunately, dark chocolate. And we start making keto baked goods using almond flour. Very high in oxalate. Think about 1/2 cup of almond flour. How many almonds are in that half cup of flour? Way more than we would eat as a snack. The way to reduce or stop oxalate dumping is to eat foods that contain oxalate.

Dr. Berg suggests eating 10 cups of greens a day. That can be loaded with oxalate depending upon the greens. I’m currently eating carnivore at the moment, so I can’t give you a list of what greens contain the most oxalate, but spinach is at the top.

Many of the foods we start eating on keto tend to have high oxalate content. And as @FrankoBear mentioned, oxalate binds with minerals, particularly calcium and magnesium, preventing them from being absorbed by the body. A high oxalate diet can cause mineral deficiency over time.

A long explanation on why people may get tooth aches on keto. :blush:

(Sam) #34

I’m experiencing the same thing. I have a couple teeth that need fixing and would always get sore when I ate too much sugar. Now, I’m 9 days into keto and they’re aching just like they would when I was eating lots of sugar. It’s rather bizarre.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #35

For me, it’s the reverse. My teeth don’t hurt at all, unless I eat too much carbohydrate.