Biological Treatment of Dental Problems
Biological dentists treat dental problems in
different ways. They try to save all healthy
tooth material and use the latest techniques of bioenergetic
medicine, including neural therapy, oral acupuncture, cold laser
therapy, complex homeopathy, mouth balancing, and nutrition.
Neural Therapy
According to neural therapy, the body is charged
with electricity or biological energy. This energy flows throughout
the body, with every cell possessing its own specified frequency
range. As long as this energy flow is unhindered and stays within its
normal range, the body will remain healthy. But, if this balance
breaks down, disruptions in the normal function of cells can
occur, eventually leading to chronic
disorders.
When injury, inflammation, or infection is
present in the mouth, there is usually a corresponding blockage in
the body's normal energy flow. The problem may lie in
the tooth itself, or in a distant organ on the same energy meridian
as the tooth. Dr. Arana says that neural therapy allows the
dentist to confirm if the problem in the tooth is causing illness
elsewhere in the body.
Injection of a local anesthetic such as procaine
around the tooth to remove the energy blockage will often resolve
the problem. Dr. Adler gives an example of a sports instructor
suffering from "tennis elbow." When Dr. Adler injected the
man's two upper right premolars with procaine, the pain immediately
relieved.
Dr. Arana estimates that one
hundred dentists in the United States constantly practice neural
therapy. And there are over four thousand dentists
worldwide practicing neural therapy, including two to three thousand
in Germany where it was developed.
Oral Acupuncture
Oral acupuncture has been taught to dentists since
1976. Now it is widely used in modern dentistry. It involves the injection of
either saline water, weak local anesthetics, or sterile complex
homeopathics into specific acupuncture points of the oral mucous
membrane. It can also be combined with neural therapy.
Some dentists use oral
acupuncture not only to release pain, but also to relax patients before any
dental procedure. Toothache, tooth sensitivities, jaw pain,
gingivitis, and other local problems often respond to oral
acupuncture.
Dr. Gleditsch discovered that there are specific
oral acupuncture points related to each tooth. He called the total of
these oral acupuncture points "a complete microsystem",
related with the system of acupuncture meridians. When a particular acupuncture meridian
is under stress, the corresponding oral acupuncture point(s) become
very sensitive to localized pressure. According to Dr. Gleditsch,
this phenomenon can be used
for both diagnostic and treatment purposes. He usually uses acupoints
in the mouth to treat neuralgia, sinusitis, pain in distant parts of
the body, acute, chronic, and allergic conditions, and digestive
disorders. The oral acupuncture points in the retromolar area (the
area behind the last molar in the upper and bottom jaw) are very
useful in treating shoulder and elbow complaints, pain and
restricted movement of the neck, low back pain, and TMJ. Since
needle acupuncture is impractical within the oral cavity due to the
danger of choking, Dr. Gleditsch uses injections of saline or local
anesthetic into the points. Laser stimulation can also be used.
Cold Laser Therapy
The "cold laser" gets its
name from the fact that its power output and the light spectrum it
uses are incapable of causing any thermal damage to the body's
tissues. Cold laser therapy is an alternative form of
acupuncture that is especially useful for treating patients who
object to the use of needles. Dr. Ravins states, that this therapy kills bacteria, aids in wound healing, reduces
inflammation, and helps to rebalance the flow of energy in the
body's meridian
system. It has also been used to treat TMJ dysfunction
and to promote curing and reduce muscle spasm after removal of
impacted wisdom teeth.
Homeopathy in Biological Dentistry
Dr. Fischer says, that homeopathic
first aid remedies can help lessen the pain or discomfort of
dental emergencies, at least temporarily, until proper dental care
can be received. They are not intended to replace regular dental
care, but rather to serve as a safe and effective complement.
Abscesses can be treated with homeopathic
dilutions of Belladonna, Hepar sulph., Silicea, Myristica, and
Calendula.Gelsemium, Aconite,Coffea cruda, and Chamomilla
can be used to lessen the apprehension of a visit to the dentist.
Postsurgical bleeding is treated with Phosphorous, and if
accompanied by bruising and soreness, with Arnica.Chamomilla
is good for a dry socket after an extraction. A toothache can be
treated with Belladonna, Magnesium phos.,Coffea cruda, or Chamomilla.
The Politics of Dentistry
Today only two to three thousand dentists
in the United States are using new techniques of biological
dentistry in practice. This is due to a well-considered effort by the American Dental Association (ADA) to
cut short such practices, even to the point of rescinding the
licenses of practitioners using them. In some
states, electroacupuncture
biofeedback testing by dentists is not allowed and dentists may lose their license for using it, despite
its proven effectiveness for screening hidden infections under teeth.
For this reason most dentists are forced to use other methods for
detecting hidden infections and other dental problems. Dental
acupuncture is also banned in some states.
In 1987, the ADA wrote a provision into their
code to declare the removal of clinically serviceable mercury
amalgams from patients' teeth to be unethical, according to Michael
Ziff, D.D.S., of Orlando, Florida. Any dentist doing so is in
violation of the code, and the ADA is assisting state boards in
prosecuting these dentists, despite all the evidence of the toxicity
of mercury.
The financial and legal implications of an
admission by the ADA that mercury is toxic and harmful to health may
be a possible motive behind this move. If the ADA was to admit that
mercury amalgams are toxic health dangers, insurance companies or
the government would possibly have to foot the bill for the removal
of mercury amalgams from practically the entire population of the
United States.
Despite this sinister situation, the growing
number of research studies on biological dental techniques, the
information coming out of Europe and Canada on mercury toxicity,
and increasing public awareness of some of the dangers of
traditional dental practice are combining to build support for the
small band of dentists risking their livelihood to practice safe
dentistry in the United States.
Mouth Balancing
Dr. Ravins believes that structural deformities of the skull
influence the entire body. He specializes in "balancing"
the mouth to improve a wide range of health problems, including TMJ
dysfunction. He can diagnose muscle dysfunction and pick up vibrations
from the jaw and movement of the mandible, with the help of new computerized
technology. Often the
misalignment has been caused by a prior accident. By analyzing this
data and making special orthopedic braces to be worn in the mouth,
Dr. Ravins can realign the jaw and remove pain and other symptoms
such as headaches, shoulder pain, and back problems.
Many patients who come to Dr. Ravins complain of
eye problems such as blurred vision (often occurring after eating),
and pressure and pain behind the eyes. Since the bones around the
eyes are close to those of the jaw, a misaligned jaw can easily put
pressure on them, resulting in pressure on the eyes themselves.
Stress in the mouth can also affect the nerves and blood supply to
the eyes, and infections in the mouth can cause muscle spasms which
will affect the eyes. According to Dr. Ravins, once any
misalignments in the mouth are corrected with orthopedic braces, the
eye problems usually disperse. The problems often return though,
when the appliances are removed. So if the problem is not uncovered
after the examination by an eye doctor, then a biological dentist
can help solve it.
Nutrition
Dr. Huggins,a biological dentists,
makes nutritional supplementation part of his overall protocol for
dealing with dental conditions, especially for the patient
recovering from mercury amalgam toxicity. He considers that it is
necessary to use additional supplementation
based on what the patient's chemistry dictates. According to
Dr. Huggins, the basic supplementation program aids in the excretion
of mercury from the cells, prevents the exacerbation of further
symptoms, and provides the patient with a nutrient base for
rebuilding damaged tissues.
Dr. Huggins uses such nutrients as magnesium, selenium, vitamin C, vitamin E, and folic acid, along
with digestive enzymes. He cares that the nutrients
need to be used in specific ratios, and that supplementation done
without proper consultation can actually create further imbalances
in the patient's system.
Dr. Huggins recommends a proper diet
for patients
suffering from mercury toxicity: the
avoidance of cigarettes, sugar, alcohol, caffeine, chocolate, soft
drinks, refined carbohydrates, milk, cheese, margarine, fish, and
excess liquids with meals.
Fluoridation
Today fluoride is usual in toothpastes,
mouthwashes, and drinking water. In the United States many people are now drinking artificially fluoridated water.
Many experts would argue that it poses a serious health risk,
because fluoride is a poison, classified as very toxic to
extremely toxic. Numerous studies have demonstrated
that fluorides are largely retained in the body and concentrates
there.
Drs. R. N. Mukherjee and F. H. Sobels of the
University of Leiden in Holland found that fluoride increases the
frequency of genetic damage in sperm
cells of laboratory animals exposed to x-rays and inhibits the
repair of DNA.
H. Trendley Dean, D.D.S. (the
"father of fluoridation") made a research done for the Public Health Services,
which became the beginning of the experiment of
introducing fluoride into the public
water systems in the United States in 1945. Dr. Dean was trying to determine the reason some people had higher
than normal levels of staining of their teeth. His finding cited
fluoride as the cause of the staining, but also credited fluoride as
the reason these same people had fewer cavities.
In 1950, the Public Health System recommended
using artificial fluoridation in the public water systems to fight
tooth decay. Since the time fluoride entered the water system in the
United States, there have been many health-related problems while at
the same time, no statistically significant reduction in tooth decay.
Dr. Dean himself has twice been forced to admit in court that his
original statistics favoring fluoridation were invalid.
Christa Danielson, M.D., found an increased
risk of hip fracture in men and women over age sixty-five who had
been exposed to fluoride in their drinking water for about twenty
years. At least 10 percent of fluoride in adults is deposited in
bones, and studies have shown a positive correlation between higher
fluoride intake and decreased bone mass and strength.
In 1975, John Yiamouyiannis, M.D., and Dean
Burk, M.D., compared ten large U.S. cities that fluoridated their
water with ten cities that did not. They discovered a link between
fluoride and a 10 percent increase in cancer deaths over a thirteen
to seventeen-year period. As a result of these studies, tests were
ordered by Congress that confirmed fluoride added to water causes
cancer in laboratory animals.
In spite of all the research and finding,
fluoride is still commonplace in the United States today. It has,
however, been banned in Austria, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy,
Luxembourg, the Nether-lands, Norway, and Spain.