Holistic Dentistry Denver

Holistic Dentistry

Denver

There are lots of philosophies here. From metal free or just mercury free dentistry to effects of teeth on the whole body and environment. With the vast world of the internet, people can form any dental philosophy they choose to form. It’s really not up to the dentist anymore, it’s up to the patient to tell the dentist what philosophy they believe. Our dental office in Denver, CO believe that patients have every right to believe in what they want to. It’s not our job to shoot down or build up that belief. It is your body. I can tell you my opinion of your belief, but honestly with the body, we believe anything is possible. Beliefs are powerful motivators that can have an effect on medical outcomes. The world is increasingly adopting outside the box ideas and concepts, especially when it comes to biology and medicine.

There is one important message I have to get across. As a state-licensed dentist, we are not allowed to tell you something we do to your mouth or teeth can guarantee you another effect on your body. This is called practicing medicine without a license. There is a fine line here that is getting crossed routinely by Holistic / Biological areas of dentistry. Again, your philosophy will determine what you want me as a dentist to do for you.

As we look and study the holistic and biological dentistry philosophies, here are some (not all) of the offerings we have in this philosophy, we can also offer other services by request.

CBCT (Cone Beam Xray)

We have had this technology in our practice for about 8 years now. It’s really is amazing how blind we have been practicing dentistry with traditional dental xrays. Bite Wing xrays are still the best xray to diagnosis decay between the teeth, but after that the cone beam xray really does the rest.

Some controversy to this has been does an oral radiologist need to read every image? No, but we do offer those services if we see something we feel like needs to have another opinion. This xray should be the standard of care, but most dental insurances are yet on board to pay for them. This is a 9 second scan, much like a panoramic style dental xray

Just some important data we get to evaluate on a cone beam scan

True Jaw Bone Levels – in Periodontal disease
Nerve anatomy (esp. when it comes to wisdom teeth removal)
Width and Height of Jaw Bone (esp. when it comes to dental implant planning)
Tooth Anatomy – we can view many aspects of tooth anatomy
Digital implant surgery Planning
Sinus Evaluation (lots of sinus issues come from the teeth)
Pathology –true anatomy of a pathological complication in the jaw bone
Root Canal exams – are root canals healthy or have a chronic infection to them
Existing implant positions – are they in the bone

Metal Free

Dentistry

Metal or Alloy fillings have served dentistry for years, but its far past time to move on.

These fillings were many different metal particles blended with mercury (think thermometer mercury) to form a filling. One major problem with them (besides the mercury) is they thermo expand and contract. This means every time you eat something hot or cold, they are micro expanding or shrinking. This can cause cracks in the teeth. Some cracks are minor, while others become major. Many times when we remove a metal filling we find large cracks under them and undetected decay. Some of these cracks can be fixed, some can’t and some we just leave alone. It’s a clinical decision.

Also metal free dentistry means, no porcelain fused to metal crowns, which have also served dentistry well. The crown is made with a mix of gold and other metals to form a coping then the porcelain is baked on it. The week spot is that junction and often the porcelain will chip off the metal coping.

We use Cerec same day dentistry here with lots of different types of porcelain crowns, even the latest porcelain, Zirconia. Its debatable whether zirconia is a true porcelain or has metal properties to it. What we do know, is metal allergies are low so far to zirconia.

We can also make fillings out of porcelain and cement them in or bond them in directly with resin composite , both Very nice tooth colored materials.

Safe Metal Filling Removal

We understand many want to have metal fillings removed safely and environmentally friendly. We have a mercury filter to ensure mercury doesn’t get into the sewer system. We also are aware to cut the metal filling out in pieces to ensure less mercury vapor is released. We also do rubber damn on request with other isolation units. Again, this us up to you and your philosophy.

PBA Free Fillings

Upon request we can use PBA free direct resin filling material. There are a few BPA free resin filling products on the market we can use. If you are concerned about BPA, let us know. Another option is to make your restorations out of porcelain on our Cerec CAD / CAM system.

Extraction and the Periodontal Ligament

After extraction, especially on an infected tooth, we completely clean the bone to help ensure most all infection is removed. It’s important to note, the periodontal ligament is a microscopic ligament. We can see chronic granulation tissue and do our best removing anything from the bone socket that can hinder healing of the bone.

PRP and PRF

We do offer plasma protein services. This is where we draw blood and put it in a centrifuge to get plasma growth factors. These can be packed in surgical sites to promote faster healing. The research is showing a lot of positive results from this. Let us know if you are interested in this service.

Zirconia Implants

If you believe zirconia implants are the best route for you, we can certainly complete them for you. We will be glad to discuss pros and cons of zirconia implants vs the standard titanium implants.

Have Questions?

Call us at (303) 975-6987 or fill out or contact form here to get in touch. We would love to answer your questions.

Holistic Dentistry Denver