Holistic dentistry: more than just a label?

I have a confession to make, which may shock you. I am not vegan or vegetarian, I don’t practise yoga every day (although I would love to), I don’t believe in any form of dietary supplements for healthy people (I do, however, believe in good nutrition), my parents are health workers — a doctor and a nurse — so I have this enormous trust in all (mainstream) health professionals.

I know, I should probably challenge what I am being told by the people in white coats (at least occasionally), but I come from a place where these professionals are revered and where for many decades free medical care and universal access to care were the norm. I was raised a believer in science. Medical science. Mainstream medical science.

When I graduated from dental school, I was told to believe and practise only what could be backed up by the highest and second highest levels of evidence: a long-term prospective longitudinal human study or randomised double-blinded clinical trial. It is sometimes said that it would technically be possible to actually memorise the titles and authors of all of these pieces of evidence because there aren’t many of them out there (they cost too much to do and humans are protected by all sorts of laws, so difficult subjects to get for lab tests), so I began my career taking great care not to practise any “quackery”.

As my skills and confidence as a dentist improved, so did my view of  what constituted “quackery”. In my profession as well as in my life, I have come to a realisation that health is not just something we fix when it is broken; it is something we nurture and maintain constantly. Health is a gift we give our children when we teach them good hygiene and good eating habits, when we encourage them to play and take on physical challenges. Health is not just absence of disease, but also the ability to meet our daily challenges with strength and energy and a positive mind.  Everyone has their own unique recipe for health. To be able to nurture health, we all need different kinds of motivation, different types of exercise, different diets, different mentors who inspire us and teach us, different health professionals to help when things break down.

Here’s another shocking confession: up until recently, I thought of holistic dentistry as a form of “dental quackery”. I had a chance to think and re-evaluate this belief when I recently had a request to write a blog about holistic dentistry.

What I used to think about holistic dentists

Holistic dentists hate fluoride. Fluoride is an element which, when combined with phosphate and calcium ions from the dissolved enamel of our teeth, forms fluorapatite on the surface of the dissolving tooth and makes the surface harder and more resistant to dissolution.

As a mainstream dentist, I believe there is a place for (topical) fluoride in treatment of those patients who are at high risk of tooth decay and tooth erosion. Fluoride only works when it is in contact with teeth, so it should not be swallowed. High doses of fluoride are toxic if ingested.

Holistic dentists hate amalgam fillings (silver fillings). Silver fillings are an alloy of silver, tin and mercury. They use masks and oxygen to protect themselves and their patients from the “dangers” of mercury when removing amalgam fillings. The content of toxic mercury in these fillings has been a subject of a long and heated debate in the dental world.

As a mainstream dentist, I don’t use amalgam fillings either. I am less concerned about mercury toxicity in the mouth, but I do believe that the removal of amalgam and its disposal into waste water does contribute to environmental pollution. I also believe there are far superior materials out there (which also happen to be better looking) for tooth restorations, which makes amalgam a bit outdated.

Holistic dentists don’t advocate root canal treatment and extract teeth instead. Some holistic dentists believe that root canal treatment is toxic to the body because it uses chemicals to kill bacteria inside the tooth as well as potentially harbours bacteria (if not done properly) and creates sources of chronic infection in the body.

As a mainstream dentist, I have never been worried about chemicals used in root canal treatment (as long as safety protocols are followed), but the issue of unsuccessful root canal treatment is a real one. I also don’t recommend root canal treatment if I suspect that it probably won’t work.

Holistic dentists use weird potions and chants to appease their highly neurotic patients.

I can’t actually back this up with anything. My ignorance of holistic practices always made me a bit uneasy and I imagined all sorts of scaremongering and near witch-craft going on in these practices. Ultimately, I had suspected that patients were being suckered into treatment they did not necessarily need or which was not going to make their IQ any better.

However, I wasn’t going to write a blog based on what I had imagined a holistic dentist to be like, so I contacted one.

My introduction to holistic dentistry begins…

Dr Prue King runs a holistic dentistry and holistic health centre (Lotus Dental and Lotus Health) in Sydney’s Neutral Bay. She was very kind to accept to meet with me and give me a brief introduction into the world of holistic dentistry.

As I begin to chat to Dr King about her practice philosophy and training, I realise I have more in common with her, as a dentist and as a person, than I ever imagined. I begin to feel very relieved that my preconcieved ideas about holistic dentistry may not actually all be true.

Dr King began to explore a more rounded view of dentistry as a young dentist who regularly practised yoga. Yoga shaped her view of life and health and influenced her to apply this view to dentistry.

Over the past few years, my own views of health have also changed a lot, especially after having children. I find myself wanting to learn more about preventing disease and giving my children the best start in life, ensuring they eat, play and sleep well. Speaking of sleep, holistic dentists seem to have a keen interest in sleep disturbances and how that affects our physical and emotional wellbeing. That can’t be bad.

In fact, looking at a brochure on Dr King’s table, it looks more like a brochure of a modern and highly skilled general dentist than some practitioner of  “quackery”.

Here is what I found out about holistic dentistry from Dr King:

Not all holistic dentist are the same. There is no official classification to warrant that when seeing a holistic dentist you are getting a certain standard of care or service, but here’s what they should all have in common:

• They should have a general interest in the whole body and the mind and how teeth, gums and jaw joints fit within this whole.
• They should practise safe removal of amalgam fillings, under a rubber dam with a separate air supply for the patient and masks for the dentist and assistant.
• They should practise biocompatibility testing of dental material.

Dr King does advise root canal treatment of those teeth where chances of success are high and where the person is fit and healthy and with no chronic medical conditions. She is in favour of retaining one’s natural teeth wherever possible, as long as they are not chronically infected and affecting their general health. If the chances of such treatment failing are high, she prefers to guide patients towards more predictable and longer-lasting treatment options, such as implants or bridges.

Dr King does not necessarily recommend that all her patients have their amalgam fillings removed immediately, if they are healthy and not experiencing any symptoms. She does feel, however, that amalgam (with its mercury content) has no place in dentistry. She emphasises to me that being healthy relies on people being biophysically (structurally), biochemically and emotionally balanced, and no treatment is necessary if they are well balanced. She calls this the “triad of health” and this forms the basis of her practice.

Dr King works closely with other dental specialists, general medical practitioners, naturopaths, chiropractors, osteopaths, acupuncturists, healers and health coaches, breathing specialists and other practitioners. She does not pretend to have all the answers. Instead, she works as a part of a large team to give her patients the best care possible. She also tells me that she only treats patients this way if they are open to these types of therapy. If they are not, she uses her great dental skills to help as much as she can as a dentist.

Dr King is a yoga teacher and she opens her studio to her patients and other members of the community alike. She has not only built a modern, successful dental practice, she has also built a hub for the people in her local community to gather to learn and nurture their health, together.

Holistic or mainstream dentist?

If you are thinking of seeing a dentist soon and are wondering what weird and wonderful special-interest dental practice you should choose, keep the following in mind.

All young, newly graduated dentists come out of dental school with the same skills and are all aware of the connection between oral and overall health. During our career, we meet and are inspired by our older colleagues to set out on a long road of learning and improving our skills and our knowledge in various fields of dentistry. We also incorporate our personal values and beliefs into our daily practice and all these things combined shape us into the dentists we ultimately become. Whether that way of practising dentistry has a special label or not doesn’t really matter. Not all holistic dentists are the same, not all cosmetic dentists are the same and not all “plain” general dentists are the same.

What matters the most when choosing your dentist is that your dentist connects with you on a deep and personal level, so that they can understand when you are truly healthy and when you need some help.