Integrative Health Blog

by Mark McClure DDS, FACG

Biological Dentistry is Whole person dentistry:

Whole - person dentistry, which is gaining understanding and support among the public and professionals, is the awareness of the intricate web-like relationships between dentistry and one’s general health and wellbeing. Its practitioners have advanced skills and knowledge in intervening to regain and maintain patient’s health. The whole - person dentist will embraces other descriptive terms like holistic, integrative medical and biological dentist. The whole - person dentist must wear multiple hats – first he/she is conventionally trained, incorporating the best developing dental technologies and aesthetics that modern dentistry offers but there is much more to a holistic dental approach.

Biological Natural Dentistry

Whole person, Biological Dentistry refers to routinely using biological (or natural) products and principles to help people be healthier more effectively and efficiently. The use of herbs, super-foods, nutrients, drainage remedies and homeopathics, and oxygen- ozone (as well as drugs and surgery when needed) in routine and specialty dental services defines the whole body approach that is employed. In summary, the principles of biological dentistry is treatments that are safe and effective, non-toxic with little or no side-effects, allowing the patient to heal themselves and ultimately reaching a state of biologic homeostasis - meaning health.

Dental Health Affects General Health

Whole person dentistry is aware that Dentistry is critically important in Integrative Medical health and healing. Dentistry is often the missing link in Integrative Medicine strategies resolving the root causes of health issues. Consider the opinion of an influential physician in Integrative Medicine: "80% of patient’s health problems can be partially traced to the mouth”, says Dietrich Klinghardt MD, PhD. An Integrative Medical Dentist understands that:

• The mouth and all its structures are intricately connected to your whole body (Holistic).
• Your teeth, jaw bones, gums and periodontal tissues, and the structural relationship of your mandible (jaws) to the cranium can be a major root cause of your health issues.

Dental problems may often contribute to:

• Toxic overload – heavy metal toxicity, microbial infection and their toxins
• Profound dys-regulation or neuro-immune overloads. This results in dys-autonomia or neuro-immune collapse, which is a root cause of all chronic problems from cancer to neurodegenerative diseases, from allergies to autoimmune, from fibromyalgia and other pain syndromes to chronic fatigue, from Lyme to all other chronic infections.
• Structural Dental stress issues, initiating or perpetuating chronic head and neck pain, cranio-sacral problems and other skeletal alignment problems.

Principles of Biologic Dentistry:

• Treatments that are safe and effective, non-toxic, no (to minimal) side effects, allow the patient to heal themselves, and ultimately reaching a state of biologic homeostasis.
• The body has the capacity to heal itself (self correcting) if given adequate nutrition, the building blocks, neuro-immune support, and sometimes reducing the infectious load, and other supporting therapies for the neuro-immune system.

In summary: Whole-person Biological Dentists need to be excellent craftsman to be successful but in addition are conventionally trained and holistically oriented to deliver dental prevention, restorative, and specialty services using biologic products with the emphasis of promoting whole-body healing.

Mark McClure DDS, FACG, is a biological dentist with a holistic family dentistry practice at National Integrated Health Associates, NIHA, one of the largest integrative medicine and dental centers on the east coast.