ByDiane Meyer B.S.,D.D.S.

Could your teeth be responsible for your ill health? As a Holistic Dentist, I believe theconditions present in a person’s mouth are a reflection of their overall health. In fact, this is inaccordance with Chinese medicine where they too believe that the mouth is a reflection of theperson’s overall health. Chinese physicians examine the person’s teeth, gums, tongue and oralcavity before they examine the rest of the person’s body. In Holistic dentistry, I focus on theunrecognized impact that dental toxins, dead teeth and hidden dental infections can have on aperson’s overall health. Tooth decay, periodontal disease, restoration materials, root canals,misaligned teeth, and jawbone infection are all factors that may affect a person’s health.

Focal Infection Theory states that a condition in one part of a body may be the cause ofa health issue located in another part of the body. We see this when people are suffering from chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, thyroid dysfunction, infertility, kidney dysfunction, breathing problems, cancer, digestive complications, joint pain and limited joint motion just to mention a few. This is not to say that the people became ill as a result of their mouth problem(s) but that it may be a contributing factor. So how do emotions fit into this picture?

It has always astonished me how a person could exhibit tooth decay on only one toothwhen they were free of dental caries just six months prior. Rather than the typical Dentist thatwould drill and fill, I would ask why? Could this decay have anything to do with an ongoingstressor in the individual’s personal life leading to an emotional block? Or could it be due topoor nutrition, a poor bite, unusual sleeping patterns, etc.? Thus, in addition to analyzing andaddressing the person’s immediate problems, I seek to answer these questions first.

Interestingly enough, more and more scientific literature is being released verifying thatemotions do indeed impact our general health.; you have probably heard that stress will cause ulcers, headaches, heart disease, etc. However, it is just recently that I am now beginning to understand the connection between emotions and oral health.

Dr. Bruce Lipton, Dr. Dawson Church and Dr. Gregg Braden detailed the ability to change ourDNA through our thoughts; the more positive life-giving the thought, the more positive lifegivingthe outcome. This would mean that with the power of our thoughts, which affect our emotions, we could, in theory, reverse tooth decay or abscessed teeth. Okay, you are probably saying WHAT!! Me too; I had those same thoughts. However, being open minded, I decided to read the research presented.

The most fascinating research to date that I have seen is the work of Dr. Masaru Emoto. Hegained worldwide attention through his groundbreaking research and discovery that water isdeeply connected to our individual and collective consciousness. This shows that your thoughts and feelings (i.e. emotions) can alter the state of water. Thus, if humans are 50 to 75% water at any given time, emotions should also be able to alter the state of the water within themselves or those around them.

Now, how do we understand the emotional component to teeth? Well, a great place to startis by first understanding the relationship between emotions and organs. This organ-emotionsystem is analogous to the circuitry in your house. The electric panel will supply energy to eachpart of your house along a particular path (i.e. circuit). Now, if a circuit breaks in your house,
everything on that circuit goes out as well. This is similar to what happens when a tooth site istraumatized by decay, abscess, or gangrenous tissue. The energy meridian (i.e. circuit)associated with the tooth site is disrupted and this disruption travels along the breadth of themeridian affecting everything along the way including organs. Even if a tooth has been removedthere still may be an infection in the bone (i.e. cavitation) at that location that could cause thesame disruption.

It is also important to note that there is an area located behind the wisdom teeth called theninth space. These areas are evolutionary remnants which were occupied by teeth at somepoint in our history. Some individuals may develop primordial cysts (i.e. an undeveloped tooth)in these areas. These cysts can disrupt the energy meridians located in the 1, 16, 17, and 32
tooth site.
Please feel free to use the interactive chart located at:http://www.holisticdentistillinois.com/for-patients/interactive-meridian-chart/ to learn moreabout each tooth’s relationship with the organ system. Just click on the tooth to see which teethand organs are located on the same meridian.The next question to ask is how do we address these situations to reverse the process ofdental disease? Although this process is multifaceted, here we are focusing solely on theemotional component. Therefore, if the above-mentioned research demonstrates that ouremotions can affect our health, it is logical to presume that a positive affirmation is an
acceptable starting point.

In the book by Louise L. Hay You Can Heal Your Life, there is a process described fortransmuting negative thoughts using positive affirmation. For abscessed teeth, the affirmation is “I allow my thoughts to be free. The past is over. I am at peace.” Of course, there are many more affirmations available for a number of different dental ailments and I suggest starting your search either on the internet or in books to find the affirmation for your particular need.

Now, these affirmations are for helping the conscious mind feel better, but what if it isnot a conscious mind issue? In particular, what if your emotions are at the level of thesubconscious mind which is not always accessible with your conscious mind? On the surface,your conscious mind is saying one thing but the subconscious mind is saying somethingcompletely different. Thus, a different approach is needed in order to access the subconsciousmind.
There are many ways to describe programming of the subconscious mind, but in order tobetter understand this concept I will first start with a few classic quotes:“Give me a child for the first seven years, and you may do what you like with him afterwards.” —Jesuit Maxim, recorded in Lean’s Collectanea vol. 3 (1903).”Give me the children until they are seven, and anyone may have them afterwards.” – attrib. St.Francis Xavier.These statements indicate that the child is more or less “programmed” by the age of 7.In fact, it is widely accepted that around 90% of the brain development in a child occurs withinthe first 7 years of age.

Moreover, the subconscious mind is downloaded with everything wesee, hear, feel, touch, taste, and experience during this time. There is a saying, “From themouths of babes”, which expresses that children have the capacity to reiterate what is told tothem but with no logical reasoning to speak of. Everything they experience is true to them asthough the conscious filter is nonexistent.

To conclude this point, we use positive affirmations to reach the conscious mind and wehave “tools” to access the subconscious mind. But, what are these “tools” that I speak of? Well,there are many ways to access this subconscious programming; perception reframing using theZyto technology EVOX, Biofeedback and Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) are a few examples.In my office, we use EVOX and Biofeedback.

EVOX facilitates a process called Perception Reframing. A perception is the organization,identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understandthe environment around us. All perception involves signals in the nervous system, which in turnresult from physical or chemical stimulation of the sense organs. In general, we perceive more
than we are aware of and because of this, perception is something we feel rather thanconsciously think about.

The perception of specific topics such as health, work, relationships, etc. are mapped byEVOX using the voice (VOX is Latin for voice). This map is then analyzed and EVOX creates anindividualized protocol which is played back to the person to allow that particular perception tobe reframed. Reframing is nothing more than viewing a particular topic in a different manner.E.g. Instead of focusing on the negative aspects of a relationship, EVOX can help to reframe therelationship to where the positive aspects of the relationship are the focal point.

Now, how do we access the subconscious mind to allow perception reframing to takeplace? The first step to answer this question begins with the concept of brain wave entrainment.Entrainment is a phenomenon which occurs when two independently oscillating systems areallowed to interact with one another. Initially, the two systems oscillate at different frequencies,but after contact, the two systems will gradually begin to oscillate at the same frequency. Whenattempting perception reframing, light frames (i.e. glasses lined with LED lights around the eyes)are implemented in order to achieve this very result. Additionally, music is implemented tofurther relax the individual.

In brain wave entrainment, the two oscillating systems of interest are the flashing LEDlights on the light frames and the individual’s brain waves. During operation, the brain willperceive the oscillating LED lights and then gradually shift to the same frequency since the brainis dynamic (i.e. capable of changing) and the light frames are static (i.e. unchanging).

It is imperative to choose the correct frequency of oscillation for the light frames inorder to access the subconscious. It turns out that the frequency range of interest is between3Hz-8Hz, which are known as Theta waves. When an individual is operating in the Theta waverange, he or she is now in the most receptive state to access the subconscious. In fact, these arethe same brain waves that children operate in for the first seven years of life; the optimal timeframe for learning. Thus, through these methods, EVOX can access an individual’s subconsciousmind and allow perception reframing to begin.
Moving on, Biofeedback is one of the other “tools” implemented in my office to accessthe subconscious mind. This machine generates electromagnetic frequencies which are thentransmitted into the body and a response from the body is successively recorded. Whenconcerned with emotions, this machine is capable of detecting emotional blockages within thesubconscious mind. Once they are detected, corrective frequencies are then transmitted intothe body for mitigation. Furthermore, the corrective frequencies can be, and often are in myoffice, imprinted into a homeopathy for therapeutic use.

The last “tool” that I mentioned was the Emotional Freedom Technique. This techniquecomprises tapping in series on varying acupressure points while stating positive affirmation. The tapping allows one to access his or her subconscious mind and coupled with the positive affirmations serve to clear any emotional blockages. I encourage you to visit Tapping.com, which provides free introductory videos to learn more about how this technique can be beneficial to your life.
There exists a significant amount of evidence that our minds, both the conscious and thesubconscious, play a vital role in our overall health. Whether it is an autoimmune disease ortooth decay, if the emotional blockage(s) can be cleared the body will then be able tocompletely heal. EVOX, Biofeedback and EFT are a few of many such methods that can be usedto alleviate these emotional burdens. In the end, the choice is yours and I encourage you to takeaction before the emotional blockage(s) manifests into a physical ailment.

References

1. M. Barnett (2006). The Oral-Systemic Disease Connection. Journal of the American
Dental Association, 137.
2. J. Middlebrooks, & N. Audage (2008). The Effects of Childhood Stress on Health Across
the Lifespan. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control of the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention.
3. Bruce Lipton. “Biology of Belief”. United States: Hay House, 2005.
4. Masaru Emoto. “The Hidden Messages in Water”. United States: Beyond Words
Publishing Inc., 2004.
5. Douglas L. Cook. “Rescued by My Dentist”.
6. Louise Hay. “You Can Heal Your Life”. United States: Hay House, 1984.
7. Katherine Astrich (2013). Most of a Child’s Brain Development Occurs Before
Kindergarten. Washington Insider.
8. EVOX. Zyto.com unabridged. Retrieved September 17, 2014 from:
http://www.zyto.com/evox.html.
9. Serina Deen (2012). Tapping Away Trauma: ‘Emotional Freedom’ Techniques. Huffington
Post Healthy Living.