Holistic Dentistry: Myths and Facts

What? Holistic dentistry? Dentists drilling holes in our teeth?

Article by Edzard Ersnst

No, it is something quite different; this article tries to explain it in some detail:

… holistic dentistry involves an awareness of dental care as it relates to the entire person, with the belief that patients should be provided with information to make choices to enhance their personal health and wellness…

Some of the philosophies include:

— Alternatives to amalgam/mercury fillings

— Knowing and following proper mercury removal

— Multi-disciplinary, or integrated, health care

— Nutritional and preventive therapies and temporomandibular joint disorder therapy.

Personally, I find this sounds a bit like a string of platitudes designed to lure in new customers and boost the dental business. An awareness that the mouth and its content is part of the whole body is not a philosophy; alternatives to amalgam have existed since decades and are used by ‘normal’ dentists, integrated health care is a con, nutrition is part of conventional healthcare and temporomandibular joint disorders are most certainly an issue for conventional dentistry. Perhaps another article might do a better job at explaining what ‘holistic dentistry’ is all about:

…Holistic dentistry is not considered a specialty of the dental profession, but a philosophy of practice. For those dentists who take the concept to its core, holistic dentistry includes an understanding of each patient’s total well-being, from their specific cosmetic, structural, functional, and health-related dental needs to the concerns of their total body and its wellness. Holistic dentists tend to attract very health-conscious individuals.

Some of the things holistic dentists are especially concerned about are the mercury found in traditional amalgam dental fillings, fluoride in drinking water, and the potential relationship of root canal therapy to disease in other parts of the body. Holistic dentists’ primary focus is on the underlying reasons why a person has dental concerns, and then help correct those issues by strategic changes in diet, hygiene and lifestyle habits.

Natural remedies to prevent and arrest decay and periodontal (gum) disease can also be utilized. Many holistic dentists are skilled in advanced levels of nutritional physiology and use natural means of healing patients, often avoiding the more standard use of systemic antibiotics, pain control management and surgical procedures.

This partly describes what good dentists have always done and partly it seems to be nonsense. For instance, natural remedies for tooth decay and gum disease? Really? Which remedies precisely? I know of no such treatments that are backed by sound evidence. Let me try a third quote; this one is directly from the horse’s mouth (pun intended), i. e. from a holistic dentist:

Holistic Dentistry, many times referred to today as “Biological” or “Biocompatible” Dentistry, is based on the concept that the mouth and oral structures are an integrated part of the body. It is a paradigm or a philosophy within dentistry and not a specialty.

Holistic dentistry supports your choice to live a healthier, more natural and less toxic life. We bridge the gap between conventional clinical dentistry and natural healing modalities. All holistic health care models share basic philosophical foundations. They all promote health and well being through healthful nourishment, elimination of toxins, and the promotion of physical, mental and energetic balance.

As holistic dentists we recognize that the mouth is connected to the body and that it cannot be viewed as an independent system. It is a reflection of the overall health of the body and much can be done to impact it both positively and negatively. Like many conventional dentists we first look to see if the foundation is solid. Are your gums bleeding and swollen? Is this a reflection of poor nutritional habits? Or are there signs of infection and disease? Are the teeth moving? Is there a stable bite? Can you chew comfortably on both sides of your mouth? Do you get frequent headaches? Are your teeth in harmony with your jaw joint? Are there signs of oral cancer?

We check the condition of the teeth themselves. Is there more filling than tooth structure? Are the fillings made from the most non-toxic materials available? Are they supporting the bite correctly? Will they be there in five years? Is there decay? Does your diet support your oral health? Then together with our patients we formulate a plan to determine what we can do to help you achieve a stable and healthy mouth. This examination can be a first visit scenario in many dental offices.

Holistic dentists also make fillings, take x-rays and use anesthesia to numb your mouth. However we only use mercury-free white fillings. More importantly, we take extra precautions when removing your old silver fillings to minimize your exposure to mercury vapor. Why don’t we use Mercury? Mercury is one of the heavy metal toxins implicated in Alzheimer’s Disease and autism. However according to the American Dental Association, it is a safe filling material and, as recently as two years ago, the Florida board of dentistry attempted to pass legislation to prevent doctors from advertising as mercury-free dentists.

In holistic dentistry we minimize your exposure to toxic substances in every area of our work. Therefore we use a digital computer generated x-ray unit to take your x-rays which reduces your exposure to radiation by as much as 90%. We don’t advocate the indiscriminant use of fluoride in adults or children, for it is a known poison (check the label on your toothpaste tube) and a commonly used pesticide. We have installed distilled water sources in our office to minimize bacterial contamination. We research and attend courses to find the safest and most biocompatible materials available for dental work. Further, because we recognize that each individual has a different threshold of tolerance for dental materials, we sometimes suggest further testing to determine an individual’s ability to tolerate particular restorative material over long periods of time.

Ultimately you are responsible for your own health. You can choose your health care partners consciously. You can reunite with a part of your body that has been disenfranchised and polluted with toxins. You can reclaim your own unity and wholeness by taking the time to notice what goes into your mouth and how it comes out of it. Your mouth is a sacred portal through which breath, mantra and food travel in and out of your body.

See what I mean?

This is more of the same again. PHILOSOPHY? PARADIGM? REUNITE WITH DISENFRANCHISED PARTS OF THE BODY? The more I read about holistic dentistry, the more I suspect that it is the equivalent of integrative/integrated medicine: a smoke-screen for smuggling bogus treatments into conventional care, a bonanza of BS to attract gullible customers, a distraction for highjacking a few core principles from real medicine/dentistry without getting noticed, and a dubious con for maximizing income.

‘Holistic dentistry’ makes not much more sense than holistic banking, holistic hairdressing, holistic pedicure, holistic car-repair, etc., etc. Dentistry, medicine, hairdressing, etc. are either good, not so good, or bad. The term holistic as it is currently used in dentistry is just a gimmick, I am afraid.

If I am wrong, please tell me so, and explain what, in your view, ‘holistic dentistry’ means.

Read more at: edzardernst.com