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Dentistry | Homeopathic Dentistry
HOMEOPATHY AND DENTISTRY
By Bill Wolfe, D.D.S., N.M.D.
People are becoming more self-sufficient in treating their illnesses.
The number of books and magazines on health–related subjects demonstrate
that consumers are more self-informed about their health needs than
ever before. Dental disease is the most prevalent of all diseases. The
United States Public Health Service reports that 98% of all Americans
have some form of dental disease, most of which can virtually be eliminated
by consumers taking responsibility for their preventive care. In addition:
18% of all Americans have such poor oral health that they can’t
chew properly. Every year in the U.S. there are 60 million extractions,
9 million root canals, over 200 million fillings placed, and nearly
1/8 of all Americans have no teeth at all!
The oral cavity is, by bacteria count, the dirtiest part of the body.
In addition, there are the issues of mercury/silver fillings, nickel
crowns, bio-incompatible dental materials, electrogalvanism/dissimilar
metals, dead teeth (root canals), residual jaw infections (cavitations),
etc., all of which can be additive in their influence on the health
of the body. The major organ acupuncture meridians also flow through
the region of the oral cavity, and the teeth can affect these major
organs at a distance through their influence on these associated meridian/energy
pathways. Recently, there have been numerous articles as to how gum
disease can contribute to heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, premature
births, pneumonia, etc.
These statistics clearly underscore the enormously important role
which good dental care plays in the health of our entire population.
Over the course of the past several years, however, the established
methods of treatment – such as decay prevention through fluoride
application and the usage of amalgam – have been increasingly
challenged and criticized. In light of these facts, growing numbers
of dentists have chosen to seek a means of providing effective treatment
for their patients, while simultaneously maintaining a minimum of side
effects. For a great variety of dental indications, homeopathic preparations
are providing such means.
Homeopathy is a system of healing developed developed around 1800
by a German Physician Dr. Samuel Hahnemann. It is a therapy that seeks
to cure illness in accordance with certain principles of healing utilizing
“remedies made from plants, minerals, or animal products”.
These remedies are prepared by a system of repeated dilution and succussion,
which renders them capable of stimulating the healing process. Homeopathy
is not directed at removing symptoms or killing germs, but rather, toward
strengthening the person so that his or her own healing capacities function
better.
The health of our mouth is crucial to our overall health, and as dentists
understand the relationship that oral disease has to the entire body,
they can be even more therapeutic in their service. Homeopathy is a
therapeutic tool to assist dentists in providing a more comprehensive
approach to healthcare.
HOMEOPATHIC
DENTISTRY
By Bill Wolfe, D.D.S., N.M.D.
The latter part of the 20th Century has brought along with its technical
and synthetic advances a resurgence of the understanding of human beings
as a total entity – body, mind, emotions, and soul – “holism.”
The use of homeopathy is helping today’s dentists give holistic
care to their patients.
More dentists are recognizing that attached to the teeth is a human
being, and that in treating a localized manifestation of disease in
the mouth, it is imperative that due consideration be given to the general
physical state of the patient. Only when the dentist understands the
relationship that oral disease has to the physical and mental reactions
of the patient can he or she offer a fully therapeutic service.
Briefly, homeopathy is a system of healing that seeks to cure illness
in accordance with certain principles of healing utilizing “remedies
made from plants, mineral, or animal products.” These remedies
are prepared by a process of repeated dilution and shaking, which renders
them capable of stimulating the healing process. The treatment is not
directed at removing symptoms or killing germs but, rather, toward strengthening
the person so that his or her own healing capacities function better.
Homeopathy discovers the essence of disease through the symptom syndrome,
or the totality of the mental, emotional, and physical symptoms expressed
by the patient. By means of the totality of symptoms, the homeopathic
practitioner treats the patient as a whole rather than treating the
disease in its localized expression. Therefore, the cause rather than
the effect is being treated.
All patients are unique. Two different patients visit the dentist. Both
complain of a toothache with similar duration, location, and intensity
of pain. However, by talking with each patient, it can be observed that
one of them is reluctant to talk about his problems, wants no sympathy,
and has only come to the office because his symptoms are of sufficient
intensity to force him to ask for help. The other patient is easygoing,
enjoys sympathy, and is clearly ready for help. For the best treatment,
constitutional homeopathy should be applied, along with pathological
homeopathy.
Constitutional homeopathic prescribing involves analyzing a person’s
body type, temperament, disposition, and behavioral tendencies. Pathological
prescribing is a treatment specifically for the disease or ailment.
Homeopathy in holistic dentistry offers a combination of both types
of prescribing. Thus, it is possible to prescribe one remedy to suit
the general temperament or psychological state of a patient and another
for the particular problem the patient is experiencing.
There are many homeopathic remedies that have been found effective in
treating various dental conditions. Below is a partial list of such
remedies and the conditions for which they are recommended. For more
details regarding specific indications, contraindications, potencies,
and dosages, reference should be made to James Tyler Kent’s Repertory
of the Homeopathic Materia Medica (B. Jain Publishers, reprint 1987)
or the Materia Medica with Repertory by William Boericke (B. Jain Publishers,
reprint 1990).
ABSCESS
Belladonna: Best used for early dental abscess accompanied
by redness and throbbing.
Bryonia: Use for acute inflammation or if pricking
pain is relieved by firm pressure.
Hepar sulphuris: Use for abscess accompanied by pus
formation.
Myristica: Use when swelling is accompanied by numbness
of the area.
Pulsatilla: Use when the pain is accentuated by heat
and relieved by cold water.
Pyrogenuium: Use when pus is present without drainage.
Silicea: Use to hasten the discharge when pus is draining.
APPREHENSION
Aconite: Use for panic, fright, and general mental
and physical restlessness, or sudden violent attacks.
Calcarea carbonica: Use for the fearful, weary, and
hopeless person who worries toward evening.
Coffea cruda (potentized coffee): Works well as a tranquilizer.
Chamomilla: Use as a tranquilizing action for restful
sleep. Also raises low pain threshold.
Nux vomica: Works well in many high strung, nervous,
irritable people with stomach problems.
Pulsatilla: Use for states of anxiety.
BRUXISM
Belladonna: Use for grinding problem that causes painful
teeth.
Podophyllum: Use for night grinding when experiencing
a burning sensation of the tongue.
Tuberculinum: Use for children who grind their teeth.
GINGIVITIS, PERIODONTITIS AND ALVEOLITIS
Arsenicum album: Use for unhealthy, bleeding gums.
China: Use for gum tissue that is bleeding.
Ferrum phosphoricum: Use for poor gum tone or gums that bleed after
brushing.
Hypericum: Use for tender gum tissue and to promote
healing.
Kali chloricum: Use for acute ulcerative tissue.
Naturium muriaticum: Tissue integrity.
Hepar sulphuris: Tissue with suppuration, chronic abscesses.
Silicea: Periodontal abscess with swollen glands.
Staphysagria: Loose teeth, pain increased by pressure.
Symphytum: Injuries to periosteum. Stimulates growth
of epithelium on ulcerated surfaces.
Mercurius solubilis: Use for acute ulcerative tissue
with a coated tongue and metallic taste in the mouth.
Nux vomica: Use for swollen painful gums when the back
of the tongue has a whitish coating and when the patient consumes a
lot of stimulants such as coffee and tea.
Phosphorous: Use on swollen gums that bleed easily,
and when there’s an overproduction of saliva.
Ruta graveoalens (“dry socket”): Use for
injured bone and alveolitis.
HEMORRHAGE
Arnica: Use for bleeding accompanied by bruised soreness.
Ferrum phosphoricum: Use when there is bright red bleeding.
NEURALGIA
Aconite: Trigeminal neuralgia
Aranea diadema: Use for radiating pain in the right
side of the face that is aggravated by cold. Also use for sudden, severe
pain in the teeth at night after lying down.
Cuprum metallicum: Use for cramping of muscles.
Gelsemium sempervirens: Use to relieve headache and
pain of the upper back and neck, which extends over the head and for
dizziness and numbness.
Ignacia: Use for headache as if a nail were driven
through the side of the head.
Lachesis: Left-sided complaints.
Lycopodium: Right-sided complaints.
Magnesia phosphorous: Use for spasmodic pains made
worse by cold water and made better by heat and rubbing.
Sanguinaria: Right-sided neuralgia - facial migraine.
Spigelia: Use for pain involving the eye, cheek, and
left temple areas.
Zincum phosphoricum: Sharp pains on the right side
of head.
Zincum valerian: Sharp pains on the left side of head.
POSTOPERATIVE DISCOMFORT
Apis mellifica: Good for post injection soreness after
dental work.
Chamomilla: Give one hour prior to dental appointment
for patients with a low pain threshold. It also expedites the wearing
off of the numbness.
Hypericum: Use where there is an injured nerve.
Ledum: Use for puncture wounds and soreness resulting
from a dental injection.
Magnesia phosphorica: Use for stiff, sore jaws following
prolonged dental work when the muscles are cramped and feel better with
warmth.
Staphysagria: Use for incision-type wounds after soft
tissue surgery.
Symphytum: Use for trauma of bone and periosteum.
SALIVATION
Baryta carbonica: Use when there is excessive saliva
during sleep.
Bryonia alba: Use for an extremely dry mouth, with
dryness of mucous membranes and great thirst.
Phosphorous: Use for hyper salivation and when gums
are swollen and bleed easily.
Pulsatilla: Use for diminished saliva with no thirst.
TEMPOROMANDIBULAR JOINT (TMJ)
Arum triphyllum: Use for pain in joint on swallowing.
Calcarea flourica: Use for hypermobile joints
Calcarea phosphorica: Use when mouth cannot be opened
without pain.
Carbo vegetabillis: Use for vertigo with nausea and
tinnitus.
Chamomilla: Use for low pain threshold. Unbearable
spasms of pain, radiating into the ear.
Cuprum metallicum: Use for trismus of muscles.
Granatum: Use for painful cracking of the joint.
Mangesium phosphorica: Use for muscle spasms.
Phyltolacca decanda: Use for earaches with pain extending into teeth,
jaw, and throat.
Rhus toxicodendron: Use for joint stiffness that improves
with movement and for “Popping” of TMJ.
TOOTHACHE
Antimonium crudum: Use for a toothache that is worse
at night and is aggravated by heat.
Aranea diadema: Use for sudden, severe pain in the
teeth after lying down.
Belladonna: Use for throbbing tooth that’s worse
when pressure is applied.
Calcarea carbonica: Use for a toothache that worsens
when exposed to hot or cold air.
Chamomilla: Use for a toothache with intolerable pain
that’s worse from warmth and not better with cold.
Coffea cruda: Use for toothache that worsens with heat
and is relieved by ice.
Ferrum metallicum: Use for a toothache that is relieved
by ice water.
Magnesia carbonica: Use for a toothache that is worse
at night. Patient must get up and walk about for relief.
Plantago major: Use for a toothache that is better
with pressure and worse without cold air.
Pulsatilla: Use for a toothache that is relieved by
holding cold water in the mouth.
Staphysagria: Use for pain from major decay of a number
of teeth.
TOOTH ERUPTION
Calcarea carbonica: Use for a delayed eruption.
Chamomilla: Use for difficult teething.
Zincum metallicum: Use for teeth gritting during difficult
dentition with loose teeth and bleeding gums.
ULCERATIONS
Natrum muriaticum: Use for cold sores and fever blisters.
Lips and corners of mouth dry and cracked lips.
Nitircum acidum: Use for ulcers with irregular edges
and a raw appearance with a tendency to bleed easily.
DOSAGE GUIDELINES FOR REMEDIES 200 X AND UNDER
Choice of Potency
When the treatment is prescribed on the basis of local signs and symptoms,
prescribe low potencies. (Under 12x)
When the treatment is prescribed on the basis of a mixture of local,
general, mental and emotional signs and symptoms, prescribe higher potencies.
(30x – 200x)
Times Remedies Should Be Taken
- Low potency remedies (under 12x):
-first aid every 5-30 minutes
-acute conditions every 30 minutes to hourly, decreasing to 3-4 times
a day.
- Medium potency remedies (12x - 30x): one to three times a day.
- High potency remedies (30x – 200x): once a day.
REDUCE FREQUENCY WITH IMPROVEMENT.
Potency Vs. Duration of Action
The lower the potency, the shorter its duration of action. (Acute conditions).
The higher the potency, the longer its duration of action, provided
the analogy was clear and correct. (Chronic conditions).
As opposed to pathologic or specific symptom prescribing, constitutional
prescribing does not treat the disease entity, but rather the symptom
complex of the individual who has the disease.
The purpose of constitutional prescribing is not to seek to change
a patient’s character, but by modifying its tone balances it,
thereby giving systematic, systemic support to the self-healing effort
of the organism. By encompassing the sum total of the individual’s
physical, emotional and mental picture constitutional analysis and prescribing
performs psychotherapy while also working on the physical level.
Example homeopathic constitutional remedies
Arsenicum:
-hates to be ill, but loves doctors, delights in discussing symptoms
in exquisite detail
-seems to enjoy his illness
-microbe-phobia, aversion to cold
-excessive and reactive to the extreme
-sensitivity to the environment, allergic
Clacarea Carbonica:
-exertion fatigues/passive personality
-lacks ability to overcome emotional shocks
-sensitive to criticism/fear of succeeding
-dislikes outside pressure (emotional and physical)
-chronically late
-limp handshake
-poorly developed teeth and jaw/high narrow dental arch/chronic sniffles
and runny nose caused partly by narrowness of nasal passages
-poor calcium metabolism (milk allergy)
-handicapped children
Ignatia:
-the “funeral remedy”
-sorrow, shock, stress, and disappointment
-chronic grieving, sadness, loneliness
-deep depression
-claustrophobic fears
-over-reactive mental state
Lachesis:
-from the poison of the Brazilian Bushmaster snake
-erratic moods and behaviors
-split psyche “Jekyll and Hyde”
-highly emotional, switches moods and “lashes out”
-tendency to alcoholism
Lycopodium:
-resilient self-esteem
-example of moderation and reasonableness
-avoids arguments
-feels detached
-feels superior/authoritative
-unwilling to admit error/always right
-little confidence in physicians
-illness offends self-esteem/ignores physical infirmities
-impatient with poor health
-above needing medical help/should overcome sickness by willpower
-except for his main complaint, he has none
-uncooperative patient (headstrong)
Natrum Muriaticum:
-potentization of table salt
-as salt, absorbs and retains water and other body fluids
-tendency to depression
-inability to express
-emotion/mourns the past/can’t let go
-mucus retention with sinus problems
-feeling of unworthiness excessive self-absorption
-chronic guilt
-retains physical pain especially unrelenting headaches
-many mouth and lip symptoms (fever blisters, herpetic blood blisters,
ulceration, geographic tongue, etc.
Nux Vomica:
-potentization of strychnine
-irritable, impatient temperament (short fuse)
-addiction-prone personality, overindulgence
-nervous irritability and quick to take offense/erratic behavior
-moody/mopey isolation
-nervous stomach (associated with TMJ)
-highly strung/insomnia (especially 3:00am)
-“take charge” nature/intellectual
-low pain threshold/fainting tendency
-devoid of self-restraint/irate at not getting his own way
-headaches are like a nail being driven in the side of the head
Phosphorous:
-potentization of phosphorous (only non-radioactive element capable
of producing its own light)
-effervescent, outgoing, emotional excess
-psychic, telepathic, sees auras, clairvoyant
-uninhibited
-spontaneity/expressive/never tires of performing
-unreliable about keeping appointments
-fears exaggerated by solitude
-overflow of feelings/hemorrhage/saliva
-ill effects from anesthesia
Psorinum:
-skin problem, dry hair
-offensive odor, especially perspiration
-enlarged veins
-“never well since”
-sensitivity to environment
Pulsatilla:
-symptoms changeful, pains wander from one part of the body to another
-sweetness, usually female remedy
-a need to be loved by many
-strong desire to make life pleasant for her loved ones
-requires support, fears loneliness – of having no one to love
or turn to for stability/protection
-feeling of helplessness, inability to make up her mind, unable to say
no
-reliance on others can result in her clinging to her illness with hypochondria,
with lengthy description of symptoms, cannot specify whether there has
been an improvement
-tendency to self-pity
Sepia:
-predominantly female
-classic picture-female seeking emancipation
-career woman
-liver spots, skin eczemas
-emotional bouts without apparent cause
-left-handed complaints
-black moods/cold silence/indifferent/enjoys feeling martyred
-tension headaches, nausea from smell of food, chronic sinus, rheumatism
or arthritis in legs, allergic constitution, severe constipation
-woman seeks to emancipate herself from passive, receptive female role
into life of action
-male wants to disengage from active world and lead a quieter more contemplative
life/discontented with job/worn out emotionally, wants to be left alone
Silica:
-potentization of silicon dioxide
-the “homeopathic surgeon”
-hardness is key nature
-tendency to form hard lumps/growths
-teeth are hypocalcified, chip easily
-cracks at corners of mouth
-obstinate/stubborn
-impervious to outside pressure of influence
-difficulty adapting to change
-fear of failure
Staphysagria:
-righteous indignation
-low self-esteem
-possible history of emotion and /or physical attack, especially with
an instrument
-martyr
-sexual obsessions
Sulphur:
-selfishness, engrossed in his own world
-materialistic
-eruptive personality, with caustic aggression
-uneven distribution of body temperature, likes cold air
-feeling of sluggishness and fatigue, tendency to nap
-erupts easily, argumentative
-intellectualism, monopolizes conversation
Tuberculinium:
-slender build, narrow or caved in chest, anemic and frail
As more dentists and health practitioners discover the effectiveness
of using “holistic” treatment for individuals, homeopathic
remedies should prove to be an increasingly important contribution to
not only dental treatment and healing, but also to the overall well-being
of the patient.
Bill Wolfe, D.D.S., N.M.D., graduated from Baylor University College
of Dentistry in 1972 and currently practices in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
To be included on a mailing list for information about Dr. Wolfe’s
seminars and dental products, you may write to:
Bill Wolfe, D.D.S., N.M.D.
1348 Boatright Dr. NE.
Albuquerque, NM 87112
Or
2725 Agua Fria
Santa Fe, NM 87507
(505)299-6950
(505)988-9868
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