Stephan Guyenet's "Malocclusion: Disease of Civilization" Series.

It's amazing the effect the right fact at the right time can have.

When Justin Owings posted a link to one of these posts in Stephan Guyenet's series*, he couldn't possibly have imagined the effect it would have on my life.

As someone who had stopped eating sugar in hopes it would have a beneficial effect on cavities (it did!) I was primed for the message of this series, but I couldn't have imagined the effect it would ultimately have on me.

Since I mention it regularly, I thought I would provide links to the entire series, as it's been somewhat buried in the mists of time in the internet (it's from 2009!).

Enjoy!

1. "Malocclusion: Disease of Civilization"
   "In his epic work Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, Dr. Weston Price documented the abnormal dental development and susceptibility to tooth decay that accompanied the adoption of modern foods in a number of different cultures throughout the world. Although he quantified changes in cavity prevalence (sometimes finding increases as large as 1,000-fold), all we have are Price's anecdotes describing the crooked teeth, narrow arches and "dished" faces these cultures developed as they modernized.

   
   "Price published the first edition of his book in 1939. Fortunately, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration wasn't the last word on the matter. Anthropologists and archaeologists have been extending Price's findings throughout the 20th century. My favorite is Dr. Robert S. Corruccini, currently a professor of anthropology at Southern Illinois University. He published a landmark paper in 1984 titled "An Epidemiologic Transition in Dental Occlusion in World Populations" that will be our starting point for a discussion of how diet and lifestyle factors affect the development of the teeth, skull and jaw (Am J. Orthod. 86(5):419)*....
   
   "...Over the course of the next several posts, I'll give an overview of the extensive literature showing that hunter-gatherers past and present have excellent occlusion, subsistence agriculturalists generally have good occlusion, and the adoption of modern foodways directly causes the crooked teeth, narrow arches and/or crowded third molars (wisdom teeth) that affect the majority of people in industrialized nations. I believe this process also affects the development of the rest of the skull, including the face and sinuses.

2. "Malocclusion: Disease of Civilization, Part II"
   

3. "Malocclusion: Disease of Civilization, Part III"
   

4. "Malocclusion: Disease of Civilization, Part IV"
   

5. "Malocclusion: Disease of Civilization, Part V"
   

6. "Malocclusion: Disease of Civilization, Part VI"
   

7. "Malocclusion: Disease of Civilization, Part VII"
   

8. "Malocclusion: Disease of Civilization, Part VIII"
   

9. "Malocclusion: Disease of Civilization, Part IX"

"A Summary

"For those who didn't want to wade through the entire nerd safari, I offer a simple summary.

"Our ancestors had straight teeth, and their wisdom teeth came in without any problem. The same continues to be true of a few non-industrial cultures today, but it's becoming rare. Wild animals also rarely suffer from orthodontic problems.

"Today, the majority of people in the US and other affluent nations have some type of malocclusion, whether it's crooked teeth, overbite, open bite or a number of other possibilities...."

Two identical twins, the only difference is in dental treatment. From post IX.

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* Whole Health Source was Stephan's original site, which he's (mostly) left up as it was. All these articles were posted there. His new site is here.

Original post February 17, 2021.