Dentistry is not an Exact Science
Dentistry is an art form, and every dentist develops their personally unique way of “practicing” dentistry. For me, my personal conception of the practice of dentistry began when I was 14 years old and working as a part time dental assistant. At this time, in the early 60’s, the technology of mixing mercury/silver, amalgam fillings was to add the liquid mercury from a dispensing vial to the powdered metal phase and to then mix the two components in an “amalgamator” device to incorporate the mercury into a mixture, or amalgamation, with the other metals. The resulting proportions were approximately 50% mercury, 30% silver, and the rest varying percentages of zinc, copper, and tin. (similar percentages as modern day amalgams) The amalgam was then squeezed by the assistant in a cotton “squeeze cloth” to express the excess mercury from the mix (no gloves were used in 1962) into a jar to be stored in a “safe place”. Invariably, some mercury would be spilled onto the counter top. In the process of wiping the mercury globules across the table top into the jar, I would play with the globules, separating and recombining them, although the dentist I worked for would tell me not to touch the mercury.
One day I asked him why he didn’t want me to touch the mercury, as it was fun to play with. He replied that mercury was a poison, to which I asked him, “then why are we putting it in the kids’ mouths?” He said “that’s different”. I figured he was a doctor, he should know. I was “seduced” by the doctor image and didn’t question the use of mercury in dentistry again until 27 years later in 1979, after having been a dentist for 7 years, at which time I had become very ill. This time I was the doctor, and I made the decision to no longer use mercury in my practice.
In a quest to regain my health, to stay healthy, and to develop a wider range of therapies for my patients, I studied homeopathy, electro-acupuncture, the meridian system, applied kinesiology, naturopathy, magnetic, color and sound therapy, myotherapy, auriculotherapy, enzymatic therapy, detoxification, etc. The conclusion resulting from studying all of the above is that yes, the body is all “one piece,” and that the oral cavity, the teeth and the dental materials within are a vastly overlooked and important component to the systemic health puzzle.
The Western medical paradigm taught in medical and dental schools is basically that if you can’t dissect it in gross anatomy class, it doesn’t exist. They are right. My cadaver in dental school didn’t have acupuncture meridians. However, you and I do have Chi (life energy) distributed throughout the body by the intricate meridian system. Classical acupuncture (needle stimulation) and electro-acupuncture (electro-dermal stimulation) are techniques to stimulate and/or sedate these meridian/energetic pathways. However, the original advanced approach to acupuncture, upon which more advanced and complex/computerized systems have now been developed, was the electro-acupuncture system according to Voll (EAV).
Dr. Reinholdt Voll, a German physician and scientist developed EAV in 1953. Dr. Voll was trained not oniy as a medical doctor, but in classical Chinese acupuncture, as well as electronics. After developing an instrument named the Dermatron to measure the electrical characteristics of acupuncture meridians, Dr. Voll established how the electrical characteristics of an acupuncture meridian measurement point remote from the associated organ can reflect the pathology of the organ to which those points refer. Another premise which EAV proved was that a seemingly insignificant process going on in the body (a focus) is capable of producing a disturbance in this meridian flow and creating effects distant from the site of the focus. Furthermore, Dr. Voll found that the most common site of a focus is in the teeth and jaws!
I was very fortunate to study with Dr. Voll, and by following his testing techniques I repeatedly demonstrated how a disturbance field (focus) in the oral cavity can effect distant organs. The basic meridian system runs through the oral cavity and a focus in the mouth can be an energetic disruption on a particular meridian flow. The partially blocked meridian flow creates a reduced energetic nourishment to that organ, resulting in a physical symptom.
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