The term “biological dentistry” gets tossed around quite a bit these days. So what are we talking about when we say that our office is “biological”?
We’re fluoride-free, mercury-free, and mercury-safe. But it’s more than just that.
We address dental situations that can drag down a person’s overall health – mercury amalgam “silver” fillings, for instance, or root canal teeth or jawbone osteonecrosis (cavitations). But it’s even more than that.
It’s about addressing the needs of the whole person – body, mind, and spirit – through a blend of the best in modern clinical dentistry with the insights of physiological energetics and traditional healing wisdom.
Biological Dentistry’s Roots: The Body’s Deep Wisdom
The term “biological dentistry” didn’t exist until the mid-1980s, when two dentists formed what has since become the International Academy of Biological Dentistry and Medicine (IABDM). It described how they were learning to apply the principles of German Biological Medicine to dentistry, under the guidance of their mentor, Dr. Walter Sturm.
This naturopathic approach is built around the fact that health is the human body’s natural state, and it was designed with complex mechanisms to help it stay that way. The body wants to maintain balance. When something throws it off, its self-regulatory systems will react in an effort to get it back into balance.
But problems arise when it’s challenged by too much at once or so consistently that its regulatory systems are overwhelmed. They don’t function as well or as appropriately or efficiently. We experience symptoms.
In our modern, always-connected, always-on culture of convenience, it’s easy for this to happen. We make poor dietary choices. We rely on drugs – prescription and otherwise – to create the illusion of well-being. We’re bombarded by environmental toxins of all kinds. We grapple with chronic stress, lack of sleep, physical inactivity.
Then there are the dental burdens, which can remain persistent sources of toxicity. For instance, the relationship is now well established between gum disease and medical issues such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke, rheumatoid arthritis, Alzheimer’s and other cognitive problems, kidney disease, and even some cancers.
Other problems may be caused by “silver” fillings, which in reality are mostly mercury, not silver. Root canal teeth can become harbors of residual infection and toxic buildup from the metabolic waste of pathogens. The dead, decaying tissue that can form under healthy-looking surgical sites – osteonecrotic lesions, or “cavitations – can be yet another source of toxicity.
It’s no wonder that about half of all Americans currently have at least one chronic health problem.
How Biological Dentistry Can Help
German Biological Medicine holds that if you stimulate and support your body’s natural healing abilities, the body can heal itself.
Most people who turn to biological dentists do so because they have read or heard about how mercury fillings, root canals, and cavitations can impact overall health. We can evaluate the situation, then let them know their options for addressing their concerns.
When they choose to have their amalgams removed, we can do so safely. When they choose to have infected root canal teeth extracted, or when cavitation sites need to be cleaned out, we can do so with advanced surgical techniques and healing supports such as platelet rich fibrin (PRF).
After that, we can provide biocompatible restorations or prostheses so that the rest of the body can eventually stop worrying about the mouth and get on with the rest of its metabolic business.
The biological dentist may also oversee any necessary detox and healing process both before and after the dental procedures have been done. Some prefer to work in tandem with naturopathic and other integrative physicians, who focus on this part of the issue while the dentist focuses solely on the dental work.
The the therapies that may be used as a part of or in conjunction with biological dentistry include energetic modalities such as homeopathy, as well as botanical medicine, clinical nutrition, chiropractic, body work, and more.
Always, the specific modalities depend on the specific needs and health situation of the individual, as well as the practitioner’s experience, orientation, and preferences.
The result is a comprehensive approach to healing, treating the mouth and body as the unified whole they are, just as you are a unified whole of body, mind, and spirit. All three of these must be taken into account during treatment.
Biological dentistry aims to help you achieve your optimal level of health and well-being, oral and systemic alike.
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