Can your zip code determine your dental choices? According to Charlie Brown of Consumers for Dental Choice, the answer is a resounding yes. Especially if you live in Connecticut. Last week, Charlie stood on the steps of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to bring attention to the fact that low income Medicaid […]
The Integrative Health Blog
Rainbow of Risks: Artificial Food Dyes
The whole purpose of artificial food coloring is to snag our sense of sight, capture our attention, and lure us in. Maybe it’s a latent survival mechanism – nutritious fruit and veg is brightly colored, too – but technicolor foods appeal to us. And though most of us don’t think so, food dyes are probably […]
Should You Try an “Oil Pulling Mouthwash”?
With a headline asking “Is Fluoride the New Mercury?” how could you not go see what it has to say, even if it’s on a site you never, ever visit – in this case, Vogue? Is fluoride the new mercury? Neither belongs in the human body. Both are neurotoxins. But that’s not what the article […]
The Energetic Aspect of the Mouth/Body Connection
Once upon a time in dentistry, the idea that oral health and whole body health were connected was something that a lot of folks mostly scoffed at (if they thought about it at all). Now it seems not a week goes by without some new research illuminating or confirming the mouth-body relationship. Scientists are consistently […]
Too Much Radiation: Ways of Controlling EMF Exposure
Since the start of the Industrial Age, we humans have transformed our environment more radically than our distant ancestors might even have been able to dream. In many ways, this has been for the good. It’s increased democracy and raised standards of living around the world. But any achievement also comes with costs. Industrial practices […]
Handling Mercury Amalgam Is No Laughing Matter
Surprisingly, there hasn’t been a ton of research on dental workers’ exposure to mercury – perhaps because the party line is that mercury amalgam is “safe.” Of course, the American Dental Association’s “Dental Mercury Hygiene Recommendations” belie this, urging caution at all points in the process of handling amalgam. And what research has been done […]
The Ongoing Fight for Health Freedom
You may have heard the heartbreaking story of David and Collet Stephan, two Canadian parents now on trial for the death of their 19 month old son Ezekiel. The government claims that they failed to provide him “the necessities of life” after he became ill with what turned out to be bacterial meningitis. According to […]
Root Canals Raise Your Risk of Chronic, Systemic Illness
About this time every year, the American Association of Endodontists tells us that it’s “Root Canal Awareness Week” – an opportunity for concentrated spin on the wonders of a procedure that’s not all that different from mummification, only with a tooth instead of a complete corpse. And that’s what a root canal is: a dead […]