Book Review: Whole Body Dentistry
Discover the Missing Piece to Better Health by Mark A Breiner, DDS, FAGD, FIAOMT Quantum Health Press 1999
Written by the US dentist, Dr Mark Breiner, this book outlines a new conceptual territory for the advancement of dentistry in the 21st millennium. At present, most of the current practices are fundamentally based upon the work of the 'founding father' of modern dentistry - G.V. Black - nearly 200 years ago.
This book, whilst acknowledging the importance of the technical aspects of dentistry, expands this understanding to include the effects of dentistry and oral health upon the entire body - something Dr Breiner calls Whole Body Dentistry. The book is divided into several discrete sections.
I. The new paradigm of reality
In the first section, Dr Breiner outlines the new paradigm of reality. We have, as he explains, previously regarded the body as a machine with parts that can be fixed, replaced or removed using surgery or drugs. But this Newtonian understanding is to restrict ourselves only to the somewhat crude treatment of the physical - although he points out that it does have the advantage of producing measurable and predictable results.
Dr Breiner explains the more recent, Einsteinian paradigm of reality, which is - in a nut shell - that all matter is frozen energy and that less than a billionth part of anything we consider 'solid' could be described as matter. That is to say, that everything in the Universe is ultimately vibration.
We are, as he says, multidimensional beings and we are much greater than the sum of our parts being composed of interacting energy fields of different frequencies. It is one of these subtle bodies of a very high frequency - the energy body - that acts as the 'software' for the development and organisation of the body. He explains how these highly refined energies interact and communicate with the visible body via the meridian energy channels and the chakras.
Dr Breiner's journey
As is the case with many people who have taken an alternative approach, a series of events and a questioning mind have led practitioners in a step-wise fashion to change their thinking and update what they were taught during their training. Almost as if they were sitting some informal post-graduate course of study with life dictating the syllabus!
Dr Breiner recounts his personal transformation from the standard issue graduate dentist to a 'whole body dentist' employing a host of techniques and therapeutic approaches not learnt in dental school.
His journey started, when as a young army dentist, he was embarrassed to fall behind during a training exercise and his resolve to improve his fitness and health led him to research nutrition. Once armed with this information, he started to notice connections between his patients' health problems and their restorative dental status.
Shortly after, he went to a seminar by the US anti-amalgam dentist, Dr Hal Huggins, and at the time discounted much of what he heard. However, he started to become increasingly concerned when a series of articles were published on the handling of waste dental amalgam in learned journals.
A little while afterwards he placed an amalgam filling in the young daughter of his dental assistant and, having previously been healthy, she began to have seizures within two days of treatment. Now he started to give real credence to what Dr Hal Huggins had said and launched a personal investigation into the research, and it is to the topic of dental amalgam toxicity that he devotes the next section of his book.
Later still he became convinced of the efficacy of homeopathy when one of his young sons - after a repeated history of ear infections and antibiotics - eventually required an operation that he was loath to agree to. Pursuing homeopathic remedies his son's ear problems were permanently resolved within a few months. And, after some additional study, he was 'sold' on the efficacy of homeopathy which he also started to incorporate into his dental practice.
Over time, he then started to learn more about the bite and the jaw joint (through The Pankey Institute) and started doing adjustments which also had positive health effects. And so his journey continued.
II. The health effects of dental amalgam fillings
Following the incident with his assistant's daughter, Dr Breiner began to research the topic intensively and unearthed a lot of evidence that questioned the use of dental amalgam. He had always believed the official line held by the American Dental Association that dental amalgam was safe to use and requested information from the ADA to support its position. The scales finally fell from his eyes when he received the information pack requested which - from his own research - he knew to be inaccurate and misleading and which also failed to cite a single study to back up their reassuring claims.
From that moment forward he started to caution all his patients that he had concerns about the safety of dental amalgam prior to placement of fillings. Some patients with health problems started to request that he remove their existing amalgam fillings and their health invariably improved as a result.
He finds that one of the cardinal signs of heavy metal toxicity is feeling cold and when a patient's basal temperature fails to rise upon administration of thyroxine (synthetic thyroid hormone for an underactive thyroid gland) it is invariably because of heavy metal toxicity. Other signs include local symptoms in the mouth such as a metallic taste and recurrent or persistent yeast infections.
One reason why it is difficult to pinpoint the symptoms of mercury poisoning is because they range across a very broad spectrum and can often be attributed to ageing or stress. Symptoms include fatigue, memory lapses, an inability to concentrate, mood swings, anxiety, lack of confidence and depression.
"I feel that heavy metal toxicity from exposure to small amounts of the toxin is the most overlooked problem in medicine and dentistry today. Diagnosis is very difficult to make, if one is not trained to look for this link."
Dr Breiner estimates that half the problems he sees in his patients are caused by the electrical currents created by placing dissimilar metals in the mouth. Dental amalgam contains at least five metals and the galvanic currents created by these metals interacting are enough to interfere with brain and heart function. He uses a Pertec instrument to assess the electrical activity of dental amalgam fillings in three different ways.
In some patients he finds an instant or almost instant improvement after dental amalgam filling replacement which cannot be attributed to the removal of a source of mercury since this often increases the amount in circulation for many months after treatment.
A word of caution: Mercury is a deadly poison, and removing a filling in someone who is near their toxic threshold can make them worse unless careful precautions are taken.
III. Dentistry and your health
As a rule, doctors are taught very little about the mouth and teeth (which are the province of dentists) and dentists, although taught many aspects of medicine including anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, medicine and surgery, still fundamentally think of the mouth as an outpost of the body.
As Dr Breiner points out - whilst the eyes may be the 'windows on the soul', the mouth is the entry point for just about everything else! It is not just that the mouth deserves to be regarded as a part of the body, it is that it is a particularly important part since all the energy meridians run through the teeth and their sockets and because of the proximity of the mouth to the brain and the controlling glands.
Dysfunction in the acupuncture meridians and chakras will manifest in the energy body prior to creating a physical problem. And this means that physical symptoms can be an accurate predictor of dental history and throughout the book he cites various 'Dental Detective' case histories in which he successfully identified and treated a dental cause for many long standing physical problems.
In fact, Dr Reinhard Voll, a German doctor, anatomy professor and acupuncturist developed a technique and instrument for measuring meridian energy flows that has come to be known as Electro-Acupuncture according to Voll (EAV). After 40 years of observation and research, Dr Voll concluded that 80% of all illness is related entirely or partially to problems in the mouth.
Tooth decay Whilst it is true that you need bacteria and carbohydrates for decay to occur (which is the currently accepted theory) there are other factors at play which either make a particular tooth or the individual vulnerable. Fluid flows within the dentinal tubules of the teeth are thought in health to flow outward and to cleanse the tooth and to prevent attachment or penetration by microorganisms and their products. However, a reversal in these fluid flows relating to adverse changes in body chemistry can cause a tooth to become susceptible to decay. These issues need to be addressed in order to effectively tackle the initiating problem which gives rise to most dental treatment.
Immune cycles Dr Breiner and many others believe that the immune system has a 7 day cycle and that insults on day 1 may be tolerated, but if repeated on days 7, 14 or 21 can prove very difficult to recover from.
Detoxifying mercury The chapter on detoxifying accumulated mercury is co-written with Dr Warren Levin MD, who himself ten years after his amalgam fillings were removed still tested positive for chronic mercury toxicity. They suggest eating sulphur-containing foods (the cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli and beans), and promoting excretion through the skin and colon. The use of the chelating agents DMPS and DMSA are discussed.
Root-canal treatments If, having had your amalgam fillings replaced and after following a detoxification programme you fail to feel much better, the author suggests that this is likely to be due to any remaining root-canal filled teeth or the presence of cavitations. Like most dentists, Dr Breiner was taught to preserve a tooth at all costs. However, over time he has come to rank root canal fillings right behind dental amalgam as a cause of chronic health problems.
This again occurred after the wife of a friend was completely cured of a long-standing kidney problem after having a root-filled tooth removed. He explains the anatomy of the tooth and how the many miles of tiny tubules that make up the body of the tooth cannot be effectively sterilised. Over time, once the blood and oxygen supply have been severed, the microorganisms present within the tooth become anaerobic and secrete noxious toxins.
Dr Breiner refers to the work of the eminent US researcher and dentist, Dr Weston Price, who conducted 25 years of meticulous research into the safety and efficacy of root canal treated teeth. Counter-intuitively, if root-filled teeth are NOT showing a response on X-ray, then this indicates that the body's immune response is weak and should illicit concern. Some holistic dentists advocate the extraction of all root-filled teeth, but Dr Breiner feels that each case should be taken on its own merits and that for some people a tooth may pose little problem or may be effectively countered by the immune system.
Dental materials Everyone is an individual, and the author also suggests that it is worthwhile getting restorative dental materials tested before replacement especially if you are already sick. He also states that everything we place in the mouth is toxic to some degree - the issue at hand is choosing the least toxic substance for that particular patient.
Implants Dr Breiner also finds a variable individual response to dental implants which are usually made of titanium. Some people tolerate them well, whereas for others they may cause health problems.
Cavitations These may form after extraction particularly of the lower wisdom and molar teeth. Remnants of the ligament may remain and bacteria can flourish in these sockets and although apparently healed these can act as a source of toxins that can adversely affect the health of the individual.
Periodontal or gum disease This is almost endemic in the developed world, with 85% of people over the age of 30 showing some degree of gum disease. The currently accepted theory is that this is almost exclusively an issue to do with oral hygiene and bacterial deposits. However, Dr Breiner feels that whilst this is undoubtedly a factor, the general health and resistance of the individual are implicated if the problem is generalised. And that if the problem is localised, problems with poor restorations, electrical current emissions, bite problems and other factors are often overlooked as a cause. Successful resolution of gum disease involves balancing the patient's body chemistry in addition to accepted periodontal treatment.
Chronic headaches These are often related to the presence of impacted wisdom teeth (although the current official guidance in the UK is not to extract such teeth) and problems with the bite can often be the cause of temperomandibular joint (jaw joint) problems.
Neuralgia This is often caused by the presence of cavitations (see above).
Orthodontic treatment This can cause various problems created by the metals used in the appliances. With prominent or buck teeth the current accepted solution is to remove two premolar/bicuspid teeth from the upper jaw and move the front teeth back into the space created to fit around the smaller lower jaw. However, since the problem is fundamentally one of the lower jaw being too small rather than the upper jaw being too large, this creates a flattened, sunken appearance to the face with all the knock-on effects on the structures of the face such as the sinuses, airways and jaw joint. An alternative non-extraction approach and the use of functional appliances can be used to advance the lower jaw.
Paedodontic or children's dentistry Current 'best practice' is to use toxic stainless steel crowns and topical applications of, or prescriptions for, fluoride which is a known poison causing mottling of the teeth.
IV. Tools of the trade
In this section, Dr Breiner outlines the different diagnostic and therapeutic tools that he employs including:
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Electroacupuncture according to Voll (EAV) to assess teeth and meridian flows
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Kinesiology (muscle testing)
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Neural therapy which involves injecting anaesthetic into the autonomic nervous system
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Lasers
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Nutritional counselling
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Hair analysis
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Homeopathy and
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Flower essences.
Resistance to change
The author also discusses why dentists are so resistant to the ideas contained in his book. The conclusions that he has reached are that dentistry is already fairly demanding and it is easy to become focussed exclusively on the technical aspects. The second factor is that it is difficult for dentists to admit to the full enormity of the harm that they have unwittingly been inflicting on their patients when they accept these ideas. Denial is easier and more comfortable. Finally, a paradigm shift can seem threatening until inevitably accepted.
Having puzzled over the intransigence of the various authorities involved on the issue of the toxicity of dental amalgam, he now he feels that in view of the recent class-action silicone implant and asbestosis lawsuits the American Dental Association is holding the line to help protect the position they have adopted in the past.
The fact that the authorities refuse to admit what is obvious to many would not be so bad if it weren't for the harassing of highly ethical, informed and caring practitioners like Dr Breiner who have invested much of their own time, money and energies in providing the highest standards of service of which they are capable to their patients. As he says:
"You have to begin to wonder: Why are we arguing over whether a poison is a poison?"
A hundred years have now passed since Einstein's breakthrough understanding in the nature of reality and yet we are still dragging our heels with 19th and 20th century technologies. And over ten years have elapsed since Dr Breiner wrote this book and sadly, not much has changed in the interim. I pray that the next ten years see the embracing of Whole Body Dentistry.
The vision he outlines is of a much bigger, more fascinating and more complex reality than we have been led to believe. This should be embraced as being exciting - not threatening. And dentists need to wake up to the fact that they are potentially playing a much bigger role for good or for ill in the health of their patients than anyone could have believed possible.
Further resources
To listen to podcasts by Dr Breiner on the subject of Freedom of Speech in Healthcare or Whole Body Dentistry go the Mercury & Dentistry section of the Audio hub. For more about the book Whole Body Dentistry click the appropriate link for Amazon UK or US or for Dr Breiner's Whole Body Health Center in Connecticut, USA.
"Although written in order to offer help to those suffering from chronic fatigue and auto-immune diseases, this book has information that is of interest to absolutely everyone. It is comprehensive and amazingly, despite its title, a really good and informative read."
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