http://www.care2.com/greenliving/a-different-kind-of-dentistry.html
A Different Kind of Dentistry
By Kristin Ohlson, Experience Life
If the idea of a holistic dentist is new to you, you’re not alone. But if holistic dentistry follows the same path that the rest of medicine has been traveling, the concept probably won’t remain unfamiliar to you and other health seekers for long.
Holistic dentists approach care in ways that depart from conventional treatment. They employ holistic practices to the mouth, seeing the mouth as an integral part of a larger system. Holistic dentists generally reject some traditional procedures, especially root canals and the installation of amalgam “silver” fillings, which they perceive as being potentially harmful or downright dangerous.
And as it was with the alternative practitioners, like chiropractors and acupuncturists, who preceded them, their progressive perspectives are not looked upon kindly by the establishment.
The American Dental Association (ADA) declined to comment for this story, instead pointing to a policy statement on its Web site:
“‘Unconventional dentistry’ is defined as encompassing scientifically unproven practices and products that do not … conform to generally accepted dental practices or ‘conventional’ methods of evaluation, diagnosis, prevention and/or treatment of diseases, conditions and/or dysfunctions relating to the oral cavity and its associated structures … The dental profession advocates an evidence-based approach to oral health care that requires the judicious integration of systematic assessments of clinically relevant scientific evidence …”
But alternative practitioners insist that there’s scant science behind some of the standard procedures of conventional dentistry, as well as a long history of problems and health complications caused by some conventional dental treatments. They can also point to plenty of research that supports their own pioneering work and articulate the need for progress in a profession that they suggest has been mired in traditions that have not always served the best health interests of its patients.
“All dentistry should be evidence based,” says David Kennedy, DDS, past president of the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology, which promotes scientific research on biocompatible dentistry (basically, the avoidance of toxic compounds in dental materials). “Dentists think they are doing evidence-based work when they get out of dental school. But unfortunately, dental schools just teach ADA dogma.”
The Whole-Body Connection
The basic tenets of holistic dentistry are simple: Dentistry should do no harm, and dentists must look at the mouth, teeth, gums and jaws as integral parts of a larger, whole-body system. Holistic dentists see the mouth as more than just a receptacle and processing station for food. Indeed, the health and structural integrity of the mouth both influence and are influenced by everything else going on in the body — from skeletal mechanics to nutritional biochemistry.
Beyond those basic tenets, there is great diversity in how holistic dentists practice their craft. They may employ a wide variety of approaches to support and improve their patient’s overall health — and they may define health as comprising many aspects of physical, emotional and even spiritual well-being.
First visits with a holistic dentist generally involve comprehensive examinations and inquiry sessions that may last two hours or more. The intake forms might ask what other healthcare providers the patient is seeing, including herbalists and acupuncturists. They might ask the patient about health issues that are seemingly unrelated to the mouth: for instance, whether the patient has had disorders of the nervous system — from epilepsy to chronic nerve pain — or suffers from depression, digestive trouble, skin irritation or difficulties breathing. They might ask if the patient is sleeping well, has any phobias or has been dealing with an unusual amount of stress.
All these questions originate from the core belief that the health of the mouth and the overall body are connected. “Disease is always multi-factorial,” says Steve Green, DDS, a second-generation dentist who practices in Miami, Fla. “When someone comes to me with a toothache, I see two problems. One, there’s a sick tooth. And two, the patient is rundown. A healthy person can carry a sick tooth for years, but if they go through a divorce or lose a job, their immune system suffers, and the tooth quickly becomes intolerable.”
Recent studies support the connection between oral and overall health. Researchers at the State University of New York at Buffalo — funded by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research — showed that people with periodontal disease have a two- to four-times greater risk of suffering a heart attack.
This tie is acknowledged by even conventional dentists, many of whom employ the heart-disease angle to encourage their patients to floss. But even though the health profession overall is moving toward a greater appreciation of the connection between the mouth and the body, the attention holistic dentists pay to medical issues discomfits the conventional dental industry.
All holistic dentists have completed the same professional training that conventional dentists undergo to earn their Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) degrees. Many also practiced as conventional dentists long before they decided to shift their practices in a more holistic direction and complete additional training to support what they saw as more promising and productive methods.
Next: Different Takes on Orthodontia and Root Canal Concerns
More from Megan, selected from Experience Life (45 articles available)
related stories
-
(39 comments)
-
(4 comments)
-
(1 comment)
Robyn
Melissa
Deepak
Eric
Dave
Dr. Brent
Isha
Susan
Delia
Michelle
Wendy
Megan
Hilary
Ann
Judi
Ronnie
Kelly
Lily
Terri
Betsy
Cait
Andrew
Jana
Annie B.
Veronica
17 comments
add your comment »I recently went to the BEST dentist in town for replacing the 4 side bridges in my mouth. (I was born without many of my second teeth, so I have bridges) He wanted to do a "FULL MOUTH RECONSTRUCTION." Long story short; NOW I have lost my 6 front teeth, my very own, good, strong teeth. I mourn, grieve and kick myself almost everyday. He is so proud of the beauty of all these teeth. Now there are problems. He smiles and says, "Well, we thought that might not last. We can fix that."
I am beginning to believe I lost my front teeth (under the guise that my lower teeth needed to slide on my uppers) so he could pay for his son's dental school. At the VERY END, he said, "Well now your teeth are so vulnerable to decay that you cannot eat anything sugary, even FRUIT. WIthin a month I needed a root canal. He said, "Oh yea, we thought we might lose that tooth." Then he said,"If you want to have your new teeth last a LONG time, you'd better BUY this sleep guard." THe worst part is that I had THOUGHT I had made it CLEAR to him that I did NOT want a full mouth construction. When he first started DRILLING into my front teeth, I FROZE. Now I am hating myself everyday when I floss my teeth that SOMEHOW I did not scream out to stop. But then, he had already begun to drill. I can't say, "Put that back." He's skillful in his dentistry, but the bottom line is that he does not listen. He wants me to use FLORIDE to "remineralize". MY ADVICE? Get it in writing. Review it EACH time B4 you start.
send green star
why is this inappropriate?
Twelve years ago I treated myself to a dentist appointment. I'd spent my childhood poor and unable to have my smile fixed like other girls did all around me. So even though I was a beautiful woman and lots of men told me so, I suffered from self-confidence issues. I am also a very active, artist who works in the medium of dance, so I lived by making my livlihood off part-time work. In other words, I had no money. This dentist for poor folks told me that if I didn't have my jaw moved, I'd soon suffer from lock-jaw. I was terrified and lacked enough suspicion of the medical industry to question these claims. I decided to pool all my resources and treat myself to a little "serious healthcare." I had the surgery. "Horrible," describes the entire process. Slowly, as time unfolded after this awful event, I began experiencing bouts of anxiety and loosing moments in time. I, in fact, began experiencing seizures. Of course conventional, mainstream medicine won't acknowledge the connection between the two events. It is clear in my body that they are intricately connected. I recently found a holistic dentist who talked very openly with me about the possible connections. He didn't think connections were at all strange or impossible. In fact, he suggested we take off a steel retainer the original dentist had placed on the back of my front teeth to eliminate the pressure and the two different metals in my mouth. We did that two weeks ago. The results have been amazing.
send green star
why is this inappropriate?
Oh, I read the labels more, and Tom's Natural toothpaste (the one with Fluoride; they have one without fluoride too for those who don't feel the need to rebuild enamel) has a calcium compound in it, and the fluoride source itself IS a calcium compound. I dunno if it'll actually bind to the enamel that way or not, but it's very possible that it's more effective than traditional. So, that's a second possible option for actual effective toothpaste (the other in my previous comment).
send green star
why is this inappropriate?
Jackie,
Register your name here and you will get a few free videos:
http://tinyurl.com/nsp2sh One of them is with Jameth Sheridan, ND and raw foodist who basically ruined his teeth doing a fruitarian diet. It's all about dental health care. This will not be online forever so do it now. He says flossing is most important and you need to brush with a cleaner, just make sure there's no flouride in it. I use Tooth Soap. It's quite cheap since a jar lasts forever. It cleans the teeth really well. Google and look for a coupon code. Someone always has one or if you're on Twitter look there and get on the list of the formulator.
If you can ever get the money together to do your teeth, go to Mexico. It will cost you well under half the price of what they charge in the US and many of the dentists are from the US but don't want to work under rules that say you can't tell a patient mercury is dangerous and other such nonsense!
send green star
why is this inappropriate?
I am extremely concerned for the future of the dental and thus the general health of my husband and me, since we live in a country with very few holistic dentists and I do not even know about the possible existence of bio dentists. We are in very urgent need of help with our teeth ...and lack of many of them, some extracted and some in a very bad state of disrepair despite the fact that we are now, between us, 70-90% eating organic and raw. We haven't been to any dentist for years , realising that conventional dentists were not for us. We have no insurance and with an extremely limited income a visit to a bio dentist can only be a distant dream for us.To clean our teeth we only brush when eating any cooked food(no toothpaste). Mainly we rinse several times with our spring water, followed by oil pulling (sunflower or sesame oil) followed by water rinsing followed by 3% hydrogen peroxide bought at our pharmacy followed by a good water rinse. We pull the oil around our teeth for twenty mintes and the hydrogen peroxide for 2/3 minutes. That is our teeth care..to care for our teeth properly is just a distant dream. Can any knowlegable person give us some good advice/help, we are truly desperate for it.
send green star
why is this inappropriate?
I am surprised by the number of people who put faith in fluoride. The idea of brushing my teeth with something that was once used in the processing of nuclear weapons is not very reassuring.
Since I moved out of my parents' house and on my own, I have to confess that I don't brush my teeth much. When you eat much less processed food like I do, you have little need for brushing.
90% of the food items found in our local grocery store I WILL NOT buy for my home. Most of my food is organic or minimally processed.
I grew up poor, and still am. But I didn't go to the dentist very often as a kid, and now that I am an adult, I haven't been to one yet. I have never had a cavity. The last time I was to a dentist as a teenager, the dentist was quite surprised that I never had any cavities and had a very healthy set of teeth. I think it must have been a pleasant change for her to meet an adolescent with no dental problems.
Sooner or later if I can find a dentist that will take my insurance, I will go for a checkup again. There is one holistic dentist in the area, but he can't take my insurance. It would be refreshing, though, to go somewhere where things were "different" than the norm.
I put no faith in modern doctors and dentists because they are all taught the same things, with no mention of alternative ideas.
send green star
why is this inappropriate?
I recently was told, I needed a root canal in a crowned tooth. I went to the dentist, because the area under the tooth(15), was really sensitive. The dentist said I had an infection caused by the root of that tooth. She gave me antibiotics and scheduled me for a root canal the following week. I was really suspicious, remembering that when I get bad allergies and sinus problems, it will affect my teeth. I took the antibiotics and as the sinus problems were clearing up, the the tooth sensitivity dissapeared. I never had a bad pain. I cancelled my appointment, and decided they were trying to get an easy $2500, by doing a root canal, that was not even necessary. I am now looking for another dentist, to get a second opinion. But, since that tooth had a crown on it ( 2 years ago), I believe, it was a sinus problem.
send green star
why is this inappropriate?
A constant dosage (via recommended directions on package) of sinus antihistamine OTC meds will usually clear up an abscess. Best if it includes an anti-inflammation ingredient - ascetomenaphen is my choice.
send green star
why is this inappropriate?
Marilyn - yes, bio dentists do cost $$$. When I saw mine, he said, "I can take out your tooth, treat the infection in the bone, make you a bridge, take out your other mercury fillings, and replace them with new crowns. Only $6000." I about hit the floor.
I shopped around, and decided what was really important to me. I didn't just want my tooth pulled, I wanted that infection treated. My dentist and my oral surgeon did not have any way to treat the infection except antibiotics, which for me aren't an option. (That's a different thread of conversation.) However, my dentist would do the bridge even if someone else pulled the tooth. I went to the bio dentist to have the tooth out and to have the infection treated, then to my own dentist for the bridge. In the bridge alone, there was a $1300 DIFFERENCE between the two dentists. I still have the rest of my mercury fillings. My insurance rolls around in Jan, I might have them redone after that.
Even if one can't afford to have work done by a bio dentist, they might be able to tell you what teeth need to come out and which can stay. I have three root canaled teeth, and the bio dentist said only one was infected and causing me trouble. My own dentist said there was nothing wrong at all, and the endodontist said it was nothing to worry about. If it hadn't been for the infection in the jaw bone, I would have let the bio dentist identify the problem, then my own people take the tooth. Much cheaper that way.
send green star
why is this inappropriate?
When an article appears such as this there is indeed APPLAUSE! It was finding a holistic dentist that made it possible for me to regain my complete health. I encourage everyone to read, "Doctor Be Well," by David J. Shuch, DDS - available at online bookstores.
send green star
why is this inappropriate?
Facebook account: