Whole-Body Dentistry
My Eye Tooth can Affect my Vision… I’m all Ears!
The concept of a Mind-Body connection has been all over the news lately, but have you heard about the Tooth-Body connection?
If you’re familiar with Chinese Medicine or acupuncture, then you’ve heard about meridians… the channels through which energy flows in the body. Each organ, gland, and body structure has an associated meridian … including the teeth. All the body structures on an individual meridian can be affected when energy flow through that meridian is altered or blocked. Energy flow can be altered in a meridian when an organ on that meridian is diseased or infected.
What does all this mean to you? Well, if you have a bad tooth, the energy flow through the meridian belonging to that tooth will be altered. This in turn can affect the health of all the other organs on that meridian. The example below shows that the upper right first molar tooth is on the same meridian with the liver, kidneys, pancreas, stomach, and breast. So, if this tooth has a problem it may affect energy flow through the meridian and the health of your liver, kidneys, pancreas, stomach, or breast may be affected as well.
Bio-Compatibility Testing
I’m ready to replace my fillings . . . will the new materials be any better?
I’ve been a mercury-free dentist for a long time so I understand the process that people go through when deciding to replace their mercury fillings. Once the decision has been made to replace them, the next question is usually . . . what will you replace them with? The answer is . . . it depends on your immune system.
Environmental sensitivity or allergy is a well-known immune system phenomenon that may cause problems throughout the body. You can be sensitive to food, you can be sensitive to chemicals in the environment, and you can be sensitive to the materials used to restore your teeth.
Most dentists believe that if a material carries an FDA Seal of Approval that it is safe and effective for everyone. However, the approval process for dental materials has very little to do with long-term safety. Rather, the process focuses on esthetics of the product, its strength, and durability when placed in the mouth, and its ease of use by the dentist.
When appropriate or when requested, we utilize the Clifford Materials Reactivity Testing (CMRT) to help identify which of the 6300 available dental products are best tolerated by your immune system. The Clifford Test may be useful for any patient who desires the peace of mind that comes from knowing the dental materials placed in their mouth will be well tolerated by their immune system. In addition, several groups of people may derive special benefits from the added safety of materials reactivity testing:
- People with a history of dental material compatibility problems
- People with severe immune system compromise
- People with identified autoimmune diseases or conditions
- People with endocrine, liver, or kidney problems
- People with environmental illness
- People with severe allergies
- People with known sensitivity to jewelry, watchbands, clothing fasteners
- People who receive daily doses of numerous medications
- People facing high-cost, complex dental restoration
- People previously treated by multiple unrelated healthcare professionals
While Clifford testing can be useful, especially for the people listed above, we have studied the trends from the nearly 50,000 patients already tested and found that certain materials test suitable in the vast majority of people. These safe materials are the ones we routinely use in our practice and feel confident that they are well tolerated in people with normal body chemistry.