This feature was written by Studio MSP writers. While some of our advertisers were sourced, no advertiser paid to be included.
via Shutterstock
Dental Health
As an accredited holistic dentist, Amy Ha Truong, DDS, describes her practice as a good blend of Eastern and Western medicine. It’s something familiar to her because of her upbringing.
“A lot of the things that we grew up with were a little bit of Western ... and also Eastern, because my parents used a lot of Oriental medicine,” she says. “Once I started practicing, I felt like in Western medicine and dentistry you were looking at the problem, but you weren’t looking at the whole problem,” she says. “So that brings us to holistic dentistry, where we look at the whole body.”
She studied for two years with the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology to add Eastern medical thinking to her practice. Like traditional dentists, she does checkups, fillings, and other treatments, but she is also trained to, for example, connect a sore tooth to other issues in the body.
Here are some of the ways your appointment with a holistic dentist might feel a little different:
A FOCUS ON NONTOXIC MATERIALS
If you have silver amalgam fillings, Truong says you should know that your filling is 50 percent mercury. Every time you chew or consume a hot drink, a filling can release a small amount of mercury vapor, which can bind to your brain and kidneys, potentially causing mercury toxicity.
“If you have mercury toxicity, you can get brain fog. You’re tired; you could have ringing of the ears,” Truong says.“If people have other health problems, these are made worse when you have mercury toxicity.”
Her office has special equipment to ensure that mercury vapor does not escape if she removes your silver fillings.
TREATING THE WHOLE BODY
As a holistic dentist, Truong can connect dental issues to other symptoms in your body. As with acupuncture, she says, there is a meridian for your teeth that can reveal if your sore tooth is related to another ailment in your body.
“If you have an infected tooth, maybe it’s not giving you problems, but there’s infection there, and that’s related to your kidney and your bladder. So, a lot of people say, ‘Oh, well, I’ve been having gut issues.’”
Truong says gum disease in expectant mothers can lead to low birth weight or preterm birth and is also related to heart disease.
“The most common site of initial inflammation in the body is in the mouth ... We help patients understand that our diets can be a major contributor to inflammation.”
—Steve Gorman, DDS, The Gorman Center for Fine Dentistry
A FOCUS ON INDIVIDUAL NEEDS
Because people have sensitivities to many materials, Truong does a blood test, almost like allergy testing, to find the best material for each patient—and everyone does not get the same product.
She often uses a biocompatible alternative to silver fillings. It’s white and is mercury- and BPA-free. When polishing teeth, she uses toothpaste free of fluoride and gluten.
“We want to make sure that what we’re putting in your mouth is the safest for you and your whole body,” Truong says. She recommends the best products for dental care at home and refers you to like-minded practitioners for treatments she doesn’t offer.
HELPING THE ENVIRONMENT
Dentists are the top producers of mercury waste in the world. “Obviously, we already have too much mercury in the lakes and our water, and here we are still putting it in people’s mouths,” Truong says. Mercury waste from her practice is properly disposed of, she says, noting if she wouldn’t use a product on her two children, she’ll never use it on a patient.
A Window to Your Overall Health
The role of dentistry has never been so important as now, when all eyes are on health issues, says Steve Gorman, DDS, of The Gorman Center for Fine Dentistry. Many common underlying conditions we hear about are connected to inflammation, “and the most common site of initial inflammation in the body is in the mouth,” he says.
While there are many helpful and necessary bacteria in our bodies’ biomes, he says, there are those whose byproducts are harmful. The bacteria found in tooth abscesses, for example, are often found in areas of blockage that cause strokes.
“Besides very effective interceptive treatment, gum disease therapy, and strong home care instruction and evaluation, we help patients understand that our diets can be a major contributor to inflammation,” he says. “We can also test the relative susceptibility of the host in reacting to these bacteria. This is valuable information in planning how aggressive therapy needs to be.”
Read more from our Annual Health Guide in the November issue of Mpls.St.Paul Magazine or here.
