As Dr. Bill Kellas of CAM has said, “Your dentist can be your best friend or your worst enemy.” Your dentist can do a lot to improve your overall health, or can, even with the best of intentions but insufficient knowledge, undermine it.

Biological dentistry – what it is and why you need it

A biological dentist knows how what goes on in the mouth affects the body and what to do about it. Such a dentist can safely identify and remove or replace those things in your mouth that can be contributing to disease, such as metals and infection.

Like practitioners at CAM, most biological dentists aim to get to the root causes of illness, some of which may be in your mouth. They are aware of the impact of dental and other toxins on health, and that some materials are better than others for each person.

So what are some of the dental nasties that a good dentist will take care of?

Mercury

Metal, amalgam, silver, and mercury fillings are all names for silvery to black fillings, which can be causing you harm.

Mercury, a well-known poison, has been proven to come out of fillings, even years after placement, and enter your body through breathing and swallowing. Mercury is a major contributor to nervous system diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS), as well as other health problems such as fatigue, brain fog, and depression.

It’s almost always best to have your metal fillings removed, but it’s crucial to have them removed properly and safely by a well-trained biological dentist. If you just go to Dr. Cheap and have them all drilled out, you can end up worse off because you’re breathing and swallowing all that mercury during removal, and it’s now in your body causing problems.

Oral galvanism

How do you make a battery? Put two or more different metals in a conductive liquid, and you can produce electricity. Saliva is a conductive liquid, so if you have metal in your mouth, you might actually be making electricity, called oral galvanism or the battery effect. Since the nervous system and the heart’s rhythm are electrical in nature, having a different type and amount of electricity in your body can have effects from headaches and tremors to heart arrhythmias.

The solution to the battery effect is to have the metal in your mouth replaced with non-metal alternatives. Metal fillings and crowns can be replaced with relatively nontoxic composite. Ceramic posts and implants can replace metal ones. If you’re not sure whether the battery effect is a problem for you, there’s a simple test that measures electrical currents in your mouth.

Nickel

Nickel is another dental metal that can cause plenty of problems. Nickel can so reliably cause cancer that it’s used by scientists to give cancer to lab animals for study. It’s very allergenic; if you react to cheap earrings with itching and redness, that’s a sign that you’re allergic to nickel, a component of stainless steel. A lot of dental work, including some crowns, posts, and orthodontic wires, is stainless steel and contains nickel. This is yet another reason to get your metal dental work replaced.

Dental infections

Many people have infections within their gums, and most aren’t aware of it. Infections may produce pain and swelling…or they may not. Often an undetected dental infection will linger for years, causing health problems from brain fog to shoulder pain to an overall feeling of unwellness. If you have ever had an abscess, root canal procedure, or extraction, even if decades ago and now painless, you might well have a problem that should be dealt with by a good dentist.

Root canals

Let’s say you have an abscess or deep cavity that’s causing pain. You get a root canal done; it no longer hurts, so the problem is gone, right? Wrong, actually. The root canal procedure reams out the inside of the tooth where the nerve and blood supply live, and replaces it with a synthetic material. With the nerve gone, there’s no more pain, but that doesn’t mean the infection is gone. With the blood supply to the tooth lost, nutrients and immune system cells can’t get to where they’re needed. There’s no way to make a root canalled tooth sterile, so you have an ongoing infection that the body can’t reach to heal.

The only way to take care of a root canalled tooth is to extract it, a procedure that has to be done properly.

Extractions and cavitations

Most dentists will simply extract a tooth, assume your mouth will heal, and send you on your way. Infection that is both cause and result of extraction will usually linger long after the tooth is gone. The extraction site, called a cavitation, needs to be cleaned out as part of the extraction procedure, but most non-biological dentists don’t do this.

Cavities

One of the main reasons that people go to the dentist is to find, fill, and prevent cavities. Fillings have already been discussed; let’s talk about prevention. Most conventional dentists recommend fluoride in water, toothpaste, and dental treatments to prevent cavities. However, there is ample evidence that fluoride not only doesn’t help prevent cavities, it’s quite toxic and can harm both the teeth and the rest of the body. It can cause soft discolored spots on teeth, bone disintegration, aging of body tissues, and even cancer.

So what can help prevent cavities? Brushing, flossing, and regular checkups, of course, but the best way to prevent tooth decay, dental infections, and for that matter pretty much any health problem is good nutrition. There are plenty of books and websites on that subject.

But all this dental care is expensive!

Yes, good dental care is expensive. Biological dentists often charge a lot more than conventional dentists because their way of doing dentistry takes more knowledge, time, and specialized equipment. They often also need to undo previous work before they can do it right, adding to cost.

BUT…we hope you now realize just how important properly – or improperly – done dentistry is to your overall health. Money is a renewable resource, but your health may not be. Pay with your wallet or pay with your health…your choice.

How do I find a good dentist?

Practitioners at CAM can recommend good dentists in the San Diego area. You can also look up Biological Dentists online.

For more information

The book Detox or Disease, written by Dr. Bill Kellas and Dr. Andrea S. Dworkin, goes into detail about some dental hazards. The book Back From MS, by the same authors, discusses mercury and how it can contribute to multiple sclerosis.