The Ontario Dental Association just started laughable public service campaign claiming that cavities are a contagious disease! What' next a vaccine for cavities?
As for the accusation of cherry picking, I think that is unjust. It's not like he found groups where there was no difference in health outcomes between the traditional diet and the industrial diet groups and excluded them. Or groups that thrived without preformed vitamin A, D3 and K2 and excluded those. It was Keys who used selective perception to push the crazy anti-fat mentality that currently has a grip on our society.
Addressing each point individually--
There is a bacteria in most people's mouths that actually feeds on sugar, and produces acids that dissolve enamel. If you have never had it passed to you by kissing, etc., then you are much less likely to experience cavities, tooth decay, etc. However, you can still be cavity-free through good diet. Good oral hygiene helps too, but we all know diet is very important.
I think you are right. Dr. Price did not cherry-pick. He is often accused of this, but here's why I think he did not:
1. Pottenger's Cats all had similar health on similar diets. The cats that ate a particular diet generally had the same deformations and behavior problems, or lack of them, depending.
2. In these traditional tribes, the people all ate very,very similar diets, within a tribe. They had to. It's just the nature of isolation.
3. At least some of the tribe members (the ones that Dr. Price photographed) had really wonderful teeth and bone structure.
4. Dr. Price noted that most of these groups, except for the primitive-diet Maori and primitive-diet Peruvians, had some crooked teeth. He is very clear and precise in noting this, down to tenths of a percent.
Given all this, I don't think it's fair to say that Price cherry-picked members of specific tribes to photograph. Similar diets will produce similar health, after accounting for individual reactions to different foods. I'm not saying that 1 diet fits everyone, simply that, on my ideal diet, I won't get cavities. roughly speaking. Furthermore, my ideal diet almost certainly will include some raw animal foods, maybe a large percentage, and probably won't be more than 20 or 30% carbs, by calorie percentage. This is true for pretty much any human, with almost no exceptions.