Orthotown December 2017 - 38

Now we have reached the final pieces of
the puzzle. Let's look at the ways that these
vitamins work together to direct bone and
teeth growth.

Vitamin D
Vitamin D deficiency and its impact
on the skeletal system is firmly established.
Osteoporosis and rickets in children (which
occurs when bones don't mineralize properly)
are well known. Vitamin D is the main
conductor of minerals in the body and vital
for calcium balance.
Ninety percent of the population now
has impacted wisdom teeth. Jaw growth, like
any other bone growth, is three-dimensional.
In order to erupt, teeth rely on overall space
in the jaw length, but also the width of
the bone.25
To gain width, the bone must go through
appositional growth. This builds bone
thickness during late-stage jaw development
and houses the wisdom teeth. 26
Today, many children's bodies seem to
lack both the raw materials and the signals
to continue this growth process. The jaw
bones are less developed in all dimensions
and wisdom teeth simply don't fit.

Vitamin A
While bones are growing, they must
remain functional. Growing bones must also
support joint movements. Bone growth is
a material-hungry remodeling process that
must break up active bone before adding
new layers.
Price established the absence of foods
rich in vitamin A in the modern diet. Vitamin A activates osteoclasts that disrupt
these bony surfaces to stimulate growth.27
Vitamin A also influences gene regulation,
vision, reproduction, cell division and cell
differentiation, and works with vitamin D
throughout the body.28

Vitamin K2
While vitamin D supplies the materials,
vitamin A supplies the workers that keep
the process running. Together, they activate
the proteins that stimulate demand for
vitamin K 2 .29
Like vitamins D and A, vitamin K 2 is
passed on to children by their mothers.30
Vitamin K 2 activates the protein osteocalcin,
which carries minerals into bones. Once
osteocalcin is activated, its calcium receptors
open and carry minerals into the bone and

teeth.31 It also works with vitamin D in
osteoblasts to produce bone.32
Vitamin K 2 also activates MGP protein,
which stops minerals from going into the
soft tissues, including vascular tissues.33 Rats
show that septal calcification may cause a
deviated septum, which may prevent the
functional growth of the maxilla by reducing
nasal breathing.34 However, studies need to
confirm this relationship.35
All three fat-soluble vitamins are the
heart of our yolk-Price's theory. (And
they're also all found in egg yolk.)

The nutritional model
of malocclusion
Food is the primary cause of crooked
teeth. Oral health should be our primary
concern when creating dietary guidelines.
Many factors combine to inf luence
jaw and teeth growth, and many nutrients
combine to inf luence the body and its
development. To date, nutrition research
has focused on one vitamin's action and one
outcome; however, the fat-soluble vitamins
work together in a system. A reductionist
approach that studies how nutrients work in
isolation fails to account for the complexity
of the human growth and development.
Price taught us to look at the body and
the mouth as a whole system. Today, with
the benefit of ancestral factors, the human
microbiome and epigenetics, we can progress
forward with a complete explanation for
his theory. ■
References:
1.
Gungor, Ahmet Yalcin, and Hakan Turkkahraman. "Effects
of airway problems on maxillary growth: a review." Eur J
Dent 3.3 (2009): 250-4.
2.
Peres, Karen Glazer, et al. "Effect of breastfeeding on
malocclusions: a systematic review and meta analysis." Acta
Paediatrica 104.S467 (2015): 54-61.
3.
Rowan-Legg, Anne. "L'ankyloglossie et l'allaitement." Paediatrics & child health 20.4 (2015): 214.
4.
Peppard, Paul E., et al. "Increased prevalence of sleep-disordered breathing in adults." American journal of epidemiology
177.9 (2013): 1006-1014.

orthotown.com \\ DECEMBER 2017

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Orthotown December 2017