Biologic Dentistry: a Holistic Approach to Tooth and Periodontal Disease

I have a friend who is attending dental school in New York. She is originally from Russia and though her command of the English language is excellent, she occasionally sends me some of her papers so I can look them over. Recently I received a paper titled: "Traditional Chinese Tongue Diagnosis." It was an examination of some of the methods the ancient Chinese used to diagnosis disease by looking at the surface texture, color, and general appearance of the tongue. I'm not sure whether studying this was part of the curriculum or an assignment that she came up with on her own, but it did strike me as a little unusual. Now new evidence suggests that looking in the mouth to diagnosis and find the cause of disease in other parts of the body may not be so farfetched after all.

One thing for certain is that the face of modern dentistry is changing, and some of it is a realization that some of the things that were considered "alternative" in the past are now becoming more mainstream.

Take the "mercury debate" for example. That one has been going on among dentists and research scientists for the past 150 years. But before the late nineties, there was no mention of the topic in dental school, nor was it in any of the dental journals. Today, the sensitivity to mercury is still being debated, but newer, safer materials are being developed and used. We know that mercury is bad to have in your system, but how much? And how much do you get from fillings in your teeth and how much from eating tuna fish?

Holistic medicine has long said that problems in one area can lead to problems in other areas of the body and affect overall health. That is the "whole' part. Now there are a lot of studies that suggest that oral health, and gum disease in particular, are related to serious cardiovascular problems and heart disease. According to the American Academy of Periodontology, people with periodontal disease are almost twice as likely to have coronary artery disease. Another study found that the presence of common problems in the mouth such as gum disease, cavities, and gingivitis were as good at predicting heart disease as cholesterol levels.