BIOLOGICAL DENTISTRY

Little known, much needed

We all know the dental chair. Most of us take for granted that fillings and braces, root canals and crowns are a normal part of life and aging. We entrust our dental health to dentists just as we do our bodies to physicians.

Yet, we should be aware that change has been happening in the world of dentistry just as it has been in medicine and agriculture. The new dental paradigm is based on an awareness that the mouth and body function together as a whole, and that what happens in one affects the other. ‘Holistic’, ‘mercury-free’, and ‘biological’ are terms for dentists offering some version of alternative practices.

Dentists who choose to work with specific recognition of mouth-body connections and how both dental procedures and oral health affect overall health are called ‘biological dentists’.

The International Association for Oral and Medical Toxicology (IAOMT) was founded in 1984 by 11 dentists who questioned whether commonly used mercury-based dental amalgam was a harmful filling material as some were claiming. Today the IAOMT has an active membership of 1400 who look to the organization for training and science-based guidance on alternatives to conventional dentistry.

As for mercury amalgam fillings, the use of mercury in dentistry seems gradually to be coming to an end with a long-fought-for international ban on mercury. Although the American Dental Association does not agree that there is harm, the number of mercury-free and biological dentists continues to grow. And evidence continues to mount that harm does exist. One notable example is the connection that can exist between dental amalgams and multiple sclerosis for some patients.

Mercury in amalgam fillings is but one issue. Root canal infections, incompatible materials, fluoride’s toxicity, jawbone necrosis, and structural issues are all areas that biological dentists address differently than conventional dentists. For example, a biological dentist will use special protocols during the removal of amalgam fillings to protect both patients and dental staff from mercury exposure.

It is not easy for any professional, especially MDs and dentists, to retrain and offer alternative practices. It is both challenging and expensive to relearn a technical craft, buy new types of equipment, and educate patients. Perhaps the biggest challenge, however, is that medicine and dentistry are conservative professions with medical boards and licensure requirements. Stepping outside standard-of-care can be risky, as many holistic and alternative practitioners have experienced. Patient support has been key to their continued existence.

So, how does this relate to Living Well Locally? With personal wellness as the driver for the LWL vision, root causes of illness need to be understood and community residents need to have access to practitioners who can address them. This makes biological dentistry a necessary part of place-based wellness.

Until recently, our home state of Mississippi did not have any listings in biological dentistry directories. Living Well Locally finds it hopeful that this is changing. (IAOMT’s practitioner directory can be found here.)