Whole-Body Wellness that Starts with the Mouth

In everyday lifestyle we don’t recognize how much synthetic materials we use and consume. Did our ancestors had tooth decay couple of thousand years ago? Was there any need for a profession called a Dentist? In fact, was cancer a main cause of death back then? Well, there is one story that says natural living is the way to go.

Of all the peoples visited by, Weston Price during his historic research expeditions of the 1930s, none elicited as much awe as the Australian Aborigines, whom he described as “a living museum preserved from the dawn of animal life on the earth”. Dr. Price was a Cleveland dentist known primarily for his theories on the relationship between nutrition, dental health, and physical health. He has been called the “Isaac Newton of Nutrition.” In his search for the causes of dental decay and physical degeneration that he observed in his dental practice, he turned from test tubes and microscopes to unstudied evidence among human beings. Dr. Price sought the factors responsible for fine teeth among the people who had them–isolated non-industrialized people. For Price, the Aborigines represented the paradigm of moral and physical perfection. Their skills in hunting, tracking and food gathering were unsurpassed. Their social organization allowed for the schooling of children from a young age. A series of initiations for the boys were designed to instill both fearlessness and respect for the welfare of the entire tribe, and respect and care for a sizable number of old people, for whom were reserved special foods that were easy to gather and hunt. Price’s photographs of Aborigines on their native diets illustrate dental structures so perfect as to make the reader wonder whether these natives were wearing false teeth. But like all the other primitive groups Price studied, the Aborigines soon succumbed to rampant tooth decay and disease of every type when they adopted the “displacing foods of modern commerce” – white flour and sugar, jams, canned foods and tea. Children born to the next generation developed irregularities of the dental arches with conspicuous facial deformities – patterns that mimicked those seen in white civilizations.

Based on Price’s observation we can ask the question: “Are some of the health related problems we are having, because of the modern lifestyle?”. I believe we can definitely say dental decay and periodontal disease are due to dietary habits we have which constitutes more synthetic food than natural. Moreover, treating those conditions employs materials that also do not agree with our body, however,there is an alternative that is called biological or natural dentistry.

Natural or Biological Dentistry means utilizing the safest, non-metal dental materials, and eliminating metals and other toxic factors from the mouth. Biological or Natural Dentistry Focuses on Whole-Body Wellness that Starts with the Mouth. Holistic (The word itself comes from “wholistic” meaning “the whole”) dentists will educate patients on the importance of overall health and how dentistry can play a role in the overall health.

All dentists to some extent see the importance of the mouth in the overall health of an individual. For instance, studies have concluded a link between gum disease and heart health, diabetes, and pregnancies. Moreover, a dental restorative material, dental amalgam, contains elemental mercury. It releases low levels of mercury vapor that can be inhaled. High levels of mercury vapor exposure are associated with adverse effects in the brain and the kidneys.

However there are materials that agree with our body and are called biological materials or biomaterials. Ceramics are the leading materials within the field of biomaterials. Unlike metals that have low biocompatibility, corrosion in a physiological environment, and mechanical properties very different from those of tissues in our body, ceramics are very biocompatible, corrosion resistant, inert, and has very low thermal and electrical conductivity. Consequently, they become the natural material of choice to restore or replace teeth. In fact, they are even used to replace hip joints.

Before and after images of a patient with ceramic dental crownsCeramics are used in several different ways to restore and replace teeth. They are used as crowns to cover the tooth to restore its shape and size, strength, and improve its appearance and are also used as in-lays, on-lays, and aesthetic veneers. A veneer is a very thin shell of porcelain that can replace or cover part of the enamel of the tooth. Ceramic restorations are particularly desirable because their color and translucency mimic natural tooth enamel. In addition, ceramic dental implants are becoming more popular in implant dentistry due to their desirable properties such as biocompatibility.

Before and after images of a patient with ceramic dental veneersTitanium alloys are the most extensively used dental implants on the market today. This is due to their excellent compatibility and high strength to weight ratio. Dentists agree that titanium is an excellent material for producing durable long lasting implants but recent developments have led to a new wave of Zirconia Ceramic Dental implants.
Zirconia implants provide an improved patient service with a quicker and more patient-oriented implant therapy. As Zirconia is white, it has an obvious aesthetic advantage over titanium as it is indistinguishable from natural teeth. The high corrosion resistance of the material means that there is virtually no danger of corrosion with Zirconia implants. In addition Zirconia dental implants are the only viable option for patients who do not want metals in their mouth.

A Titanium Dental implant and a Zirconia Dental implant.
The key way that biological dentistry can enhance physical health is to address the following areas that compromise the immune system:

• bacteria (gum-bone-tooth relationship)
• metals in the mouth (mercury, nickel)
• unhealed extraction sites (cavitations)
• bite corrections/correct structure – the way teeth fit together

In summation, if you have a splinter in your body, get it out. The same holds true if you have a dead organ or toxic metals in your mouth… get them out. If the structure is not proper, you can’t chew properly. Change it so it will work properly…

Contact Fort Lauderdale dentist Dr. Burak Taskonak at EAST BROWARD DENTAL. His expertise in cosmetic dental procedures, including tooth bonding, can give you a smile you can be proud to show off. Simply call our Fort Lauderdale office and make appointment.