Colors Used In Illustration

Centrals: Purple Bicuspid: Red

Cuspids: Yellow Molars: Green
 Holistic Dental Association
Board of Directors The Holistic Dental Association
COMMUNICATOR
Gerald H. Smith, DDS
Chairman
303 Corporate Drive East
Langhorne, PA 19047
215/968-4781
Vol. 2007, Issue 1 www.holisticdental.org
Ronald King, DDS
Past President
6100 Excelsior Blvd., #E The articles and opinions in this publication are for general information only and are not intended to provide
St. Louis Park, MN 55416 specific advice or recommendations for any individual. We suggest that you consult your health care practitioner
952/929-4545 with regard to your specific situation. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect
the position of the Holistic Dental Association or the HDA Board of Directors.
Tim Gallagher, DDS
President Cover Artwork by Gina Fiore
990 W. Fremont Ave. #L
Sunnyvale, CA 94087
408/739-9050
James Bronson, DDS
Contents
President-Elect
6845 Elm Street, #507 President’s Message by Tim Gallagher..................................... 3
McLean, VA 22101
703/506-9805 HDA Founding Member Honored............................................. 3
Stanley Organ, DDS
Secretary
1317 Southwind Circle
Creating an Ideal Space for Dental Health............................... 4
Westlake Village, CA 91361 Interview with John Laughlin, DDS
805/373-9089
Fen-Hui Chen, DDS Member Profile...................................................................... 7
1030 Pearl St. #6 Jim Kennedy, DDS
La Jolla, CA 92037
858/459-5445
William Megill, DDS
PTS/PTSD Primer for Dental Professionals............................... 8
P. O. Box 185 By Joan Rothchild Hardin, Ph.D.
Rocky Hill, NJ 08553
609/924-9411
Pentti J. Nupponen, DMD, MAGD, SPECIAL FEATURE: THE FUNCTIONAL MATRIX
FIND, AIAOMT
207 Market Street Remembering Melvin Moss, DDS, Ph.D...................................12
Halifax, PA 17032
717/896-3911
Vitamin D – The Antibiotic?...................................................15
Holistic Dental Association Staff
Craig Zunka, DDS Fluoride: Friend or Foe?.........................................................16
Board Advisor
107 West 4th Street
Front Royal, VA 22630
A History of Fluoride..............................................................17
Sandra Orion
Executive Director Recommended reading.........................................................18
PO Box 151444
San Diego, CA 92175
619/795-3292
Upcoming teleconferences & events......................................18
Rhona Gissen Stanley, DDS, MPH
Editor Clinical pearls........................................................................19
460 West 24th St. By Dr. Harold Ravins
NY, NY 10011
212/912-1212

President’s Message
By Tim Gallagher
At the next convention, the diagnos-
tic summit, we will be giving you many
pearls but one I find very interesting is
the relationship between well done meats
and periodontal status. Advanced glyca-
tion end products (AGEs) promote inflammation. While
AGEs are formed in our bodies, especially when blood
sugar is frequently elevated, they can also be absorbed
from the diet. A diet high in preformed AGEs can serious-
ly elevate blood levels of various inflammatory mediators,
including C-reactive protein, tumor necrosis factor-alpha,
and vascular cell adhesion molecules. A low-AGE diet can
lower these inflammatory biochemicals.
What promotes the formation of AGEs in food? High
heat/prolonged cooking does. Deep-fried foods, such as
French fries, fried fish and shrimp, fried chicken, etc. are
great sources of AGEs. Well done meats (including typical
fast food burgers), overly crisp bacon, burnt toast, indeed
anything cooked with high heat or for prolonged periods,
provides an AGE-rich diet. Sugar, on baked goods, that
has been browned, is a double whammy.
Dr. Steve Green, who will be presenting at the conven-
tion, says that puffy, hypertrophic gingival papillae con-
note increased inflammation and diminished apoptosis of
cells (metabolic syndrome X or prediabetes). This identi-
fies increased risk to depression, gall bladder disease, heart
disease, stroke and cancer. AGEs increase this risk.
Steve also advises us to be proactive about health.
The American Dental Association teaches brushing and
flossing to control ever-present disease. Instead, we teach
brushing and flossing to check effectiveness of cellular im-
munity. ‘When you floss, is the floss clean?’ Is there just a
light ‘moss’ on tongue? When our white blood cells do not
keep our mouth clean, cellular immunity is disabled and
inflammatory humoral immunity rises to attempt compen-
sation.
A diet rich in rapidly digested sugars/starches (high
glycemic), especially when consumed by those over-
weight and/or insulin resistant, promotes inflammation.
The typical American diet is rich in carbohydrates, with
roughly two-thirds of the average American’s diet coming
from inflammation-promoting high glycemic foods, such
as bread, soft drinks/sodas, cakes, cookies, quick breads,
doughnuts, sugar/syrups/jams, potatoes, cereal and pasta.
If the inflammation response takes on a life of its own, be-
coming self-perpetuating, chronic inflammation develops.
One of the many ways you can reduce inflammation is
with fish oil. But there is a difference between health-food-
grade fish oil and pharmaceutical grade fish oil. We will be
addressing this controversy, but a simple test to determine
the effectiveness of your fish oil is to see if your oil freezes
in the refrigerator freezer. If it does freeze, it is ineffective.
You can also place oil over water in a small cup and add a
small piece of Styrofoam from a fast food container onto
the oil. If the oil is effective, it will dissolve the styrofoam
within 5 minutes.
HDA Founding Member Honored
Craig Zunka, DDS, a founding member of
HDA, was the 2006 recipient of the Fellow
of the Cranial Academy award presented to
an outstanding leader in the field of cranial
osteopathy.
An excerpt from the qualifications for the award:
Section 12.2 - Fellow of The Cranial Academy Award
The Fellow of The Cranial Academy Award was established
in 1995 to recognize the true leaders of The Cranial Academy. It
is an honorary award intended to recognize outstanding physi-
cians and to honor members of The Cranial Academy who have
distinguished themselves by providing exemplary leadership,
dedication in teaching, advocating and advancing osteopathy,
specifically Cranial Osteopathy. Consideration in nominating
fellowship candidates include:
A. Currently licensed and in good standing or retired with
previous license void of disciplinary action
B. Active membership in The Cranial Academy for a mini-
mum of ten years
C. Cranial Academy competency certificate or equivalent
D. Compliance with The Cranial Academy’s code of
ethics
E. Meritorious service to The Cranial Academy and osteo-
pathic profession in all three areas:
1. Minimum of three years of teaching Cranial Osteopathy
to students, physicians and dentists
2. Advocating Cranial Osteopathy in business and profes-
sional life to the public, patients, students, physicians, dentists
government and other business organizations.
3. Minimum of three years of advancing Cranial Osteopa-
thy through published article(s) or research and/or leadership
service to The Cranial Academy.
We congratulate Zunk on his outstanding achievements.
The Journal of the Holistic Dental Association 
Creating An Ideal Space
for Dental Health:
As holistic dentists, we have certain standards that we follow
in practicing dentistry.   First, we want to be nourishing and caring
of our patients and provide an atmosphere where the patient feels
safe.  This is not easy as even the thought of going to the dentist can
bring up past traumas for many patients.
Second, we need to use dental materials that are biocompatible
with each patient.    2 years and then in private practice. It is wonderful, at last, to
Third, we must make the connection between dental health
and whole health, and acknowledge how an individual’s psychic
and spiritual health contributes to physical health.   other dentist.  The changes I made that follow holistic tenets
Fourth, we must be knowledgeable about complementary al-
ternative medical practices to support each patient’s treatment.   will endure.
Many of the dentists in HDA follow these criteria in their
 The Communicator
practice.  In this issue, one of HDA’s past-presidents, John
Laughlin, DDS, shares how he built a new office for his practice to
incorporate the principles of holistic dentistry.
HDA Interviews John Laughlin, DDS
Q: You spent 1.2 million dollars on new building construc-
tion and equipment.  How long will it take you to get back the
money you invested?  
A: I don’t think about it that way.  I wanted a nicer place
for my team, my patients, and lastly for myself.  I have been in
the practice of dentistry 34 years, first as an Air Force dentist for
have a beautiful place, built according to my specifications.  Even
if I go to part-time work, I will have a gift to pass on to an-
will be perpetuated, and the philosophy of holistic dentistry
 
Q: How were you able to maintain
full time practice and build your new of-
fice at the same time?  
A:  I surrounded myself with my son,
John, and my wife, Judy.  Judy helped with
the design, the interior decorating, the
landscaping, and also painted the Chinese
Brush Paintings that hang on the interior
walls.  Judy is a renowned artist, who has
exhibited at the Lincoln Center Art Gal-
lery in NYC.  Designing the building was
challenging and we ended up using the
services of 3 architects, which resulted in
my son designing a good portion of the
building. John oversaw construction on a
daily basis, as well as serving as adminis-
trator of the existing practice, and at the
same time finished college.  
Q: How did you incorporate the holistic principles of mer-
cury removal into the your new office?  
A: I have had a Mercury-free practice for 27 years.  It has
always been a main concern to maximize the safety of both pa-
tients and team-members when performing restorations that in-
volve mercury fillings. Even in my old office, I made as many
changes as I could to incorporate the IAOMT’s safety guide-
lines. As those changes were implemented, I took note of what
I could not change so that when I built my new office we could
further enhance our safety precautions.  
In our new office, the following protects us everyday from
mercury toxicity: rubber dam usage, positive oxygen flow for the
patient, the specialized suction adapter, the elephant trunk den-
tal air vacuum system, mercury vapor ionizer, masks for doctor
& assistant, an air-exchanger in the HVAC system that replaces
all the air in the building 1 1/2 times per hour, and a mercury
separator to remove mercury from the waste water.

Q: How did you transfer the concepts of holistic practice

into the design of your new office?  
A: I originally looked into a geodesic dome for the design of
the building, but I was advised against it because of its eccentric-
ity and low resale possibilities.  Other innovations I wanted to
incorporate but did not were a green roof and solar electricity.   and lastly for myself.  I have been in the practice of
I decided on a more conventional design for the building,
but did incorporate insulated panels (exterior wall construction),
in-floor heating for both levels, rounded corners and curves as
the interior design, and SolaTubes™ for lighting.  SolaTubes™
gather the light of the sun and through a system of mirrors bring
the light down from the roof and into the room.  This decreases
electrical demand and provides additional natural lighting.  
After the carpeting was installed in the office, we ran the air-
exchanger constantly for 60 days.  I also used baking soda and an
ozone machine to detoxify the carpet, as the glue in the carpet
releases formaldehyde.
Our office uses only digital radiography.  We have incor-
porated a single Dexis™ x-ray sensor, a portable digital x-ray
tube (Nomad™), and a digital panoramic/cephalometric x-ray
machine (Planmeca – ProMax™).  These units are expensive but
as they substantially reduce radiation exposure, they are an im-
portant service to both my patients and our dental team.  My
patients also appreciate the better diagnosis they receive with
digital radiography, and I must tell you the combination of
higher resolution and the ability to manipulate the images are
invaluable.
The linoleum flooring in the operatories is a linseed oil
product that is natural and durable.  We have a separate room
for dental cranial work and for ozone therapy.  The central sound
 “I wanted a nicer place for my team, my patients,
dentistry 34 years, first as an Air Force dentist for 2
years and then in private practice. It is wonderful,
at last, to have a beautiful place, built according to
my specifications.  Even if I go to part-time work, I
will have a gift to pass on to another dentist.  The
changes I made that follow holistic tenets will
be perpetuated, and the philosophy of holistic
dentistry will endure.” –John Laughlin, DDS
system is carried to all the rooms and each room has its own vol-
ume control that the team can adjust.  Each room has two video
monitors, one for the doctor or team-member, and the other for
the patient.  At this time the patients’ monitors show a random-
ized slideshow of over three hundred photos, ranging from un-
derwater photography to beautiful natural and man-made land-
scape scenes.
I have a central-air based aromatherapy system that increases
the “at-ease” and welcoming feeling of the office, and I use only
the most natural essential oils so there are no problems with al-
lergies.
I also had a Feng Shui consultant and interior decora-

The Journal of the Holistic Dental Association 

tor helping to create positive energy flow and to devise a color
scheme that is pleasant, warm, inviting, and easy on the eyes.
We included a team lounge with a kitchen and a deck, as
I believe in the importance of a happy, relaxed staff that is, of
course, well-fed.    
We have landscaped the outdoors to blend with the natu-
ral setting. Our plants are seasonal, due to the chilly Wisconsin
winters.

Things we learned / Things I’d change:

• We strove for efficiency in design, function, and
finances.  There is a delicate balance between having the building
small enough so everything is easily accessible vs. having enough
space so you aren’t “just getting by.”  In retrospect I would like
to have added 6 feet to the length, and 3 feet to the width of the
building.  My advice – strive for efficiency and then give yourself
a little extra, just in case.
• HVAC issues – having computers in every operatory
will considerably increase the heat load of your building dur-
ing the summer months.  This means that larger-than-expected
air-conditioners may be necessary in order to properly cool
the building.  Additionally, plan for a lot of room to be taken
up by the “mechanical area.”  In the lower level of our building,
approximately 400 ft2 is taken up by those necessities– and it is
insufficient because of the air-conditioning error.  Also, rooms with closed doors will heat/cool very differently than those that
are open– I would recommend 4 zones for the size office we have
(2700 ft2 for the dental practice).
• Design Ergonomics is a good name for a company, but
not a very good company for the name.  We have not had a good
experience either with the equipment, nor with the services pro-
vided by the company– I won’t get into any details, but in our ex-
perience the equipment is not the ergonomic evolutionary jump
we were led to believe it would be.
• Health Science Products (HSP) is also not a company or
service we would highly recommend, as we have had continued
problems with the integration of the units. Additionally, the ex-
pensive nature of the product continues to escalate with the need
to hire local dental equipment technicians that have virtually no
experience with this product.

In the end, both patients and staff are enormously pleased

with our new office. Every day we receive compliments about
the office: how nice it looks, how welcoming it is, how pleasant
it smells, how peaceful the natural lighting is. We are grateful
for the extra space and the additional measures of safety our new
office provides. Our ability to incorporate holistic principles in
every aspect of our practice, from the construction of the build-
ing to the services the team provides, has affected all of us on a
very deep, positive level.

 The Communicator
Member Profile:
HDA Interviews Jim Kennedy, DDS
The Holistic Dental Association represents members who
support diverse modalities of complementary alternative dentistry.
Dr. Jim Kennedy focuses on the treatment of TMJ dysfunction,
facial pain, sleep apnea, and orthodontics. When I mentioned his
name to a well-established dental laboratory head technician, he
said of Jim, “He’s a genius!”
Q: How long have you been in practice?
A:30 years–20 years in Detroit; 6 years in Denver, and now in
Grand Junction, Colorado.
I was motivated to relocate from Denver to Grand Junction
and bought a condo space for $210,000. I developed it into the
office I wanted. Now I live less than 20 minutes from my practice
in a small town. In Denver I was driving approximately one hour
to work every day.
Q: How long will it take to recoup your money?
A: We already have return on the space we bought. I spent
another $350,000 for equipment. My loan payment schedule is
20 years, but it will probably take 12 years to pay it off, working
approximately 30 hours per week.
Q: How did you make the transition?
A: I continued to work in Denver while my practice in Grand
Junction was building. It was difficult to decide when to make the
full move. It has taken about 3 years to recover to the same income
level. I started over. I had to meet all the dentists in the area and
educate them about my specialty practice. I am a specialist, not by
degree, but by education and skill.
Q: How did you transfer your
concepts of holistic dentistry into the
design of your new office?
A: We described the feeling we
wanted in our new office to an interior
decorator. We wanted a place where
people would feel comfortable, a safe
place, because we treat patients with a
lot of problems and pain. We used the
principles of feng sui. We used earth
tones and southwestern accents. We
have jute back carpets instead of rub-
ber carpets. We rounded all the cor-
ners and incorporated a water feature.
A water feature in the We made sure there was flow and that
office soothes patients. it was quiet. We have a music system
Dr. Kennedy consults with a patient.
throughout the office and satellite radio and play light classical
music and soft jazz.
There are three operatories, a consultation room, a laboratory,
and a staff lounge. There are computer monitors throughout the
office. All charting is done in the computer and everything else is
scanned into the computer. I do not leave the office until I enter
all records into the computer.
I bought a digital tomogram which was my biggest equip-
ment expense, about $60,000. I also have a Nikon digital camera
in the consultation room for photographic diagnostics.
I have a state of the art sterilization area and new lab equip-
ment, including model grinders and other lab equipment for mak-
ing and repairing splints and orthodontic appliances.
Q: What would you do differently?
A: I am happy with the office. There is not much I would
change. Little things need tweaking, for example, positioning of
staff. In one room, I have rear delivery, access to standing or sit-
ting, and this gives me more ergonomic options when I deliver
patient care.
Q: What advice can you give to other dentists who want to
build a new office?
A: The first and most important step in conceptualizing an
office is the floor plan. How many rooms do you want? What are
their purposes? What are you going to do in the room and how
are you going to practice? And you must plan for future growth.
For example, from the get-go, put in the plumbing for an extra op-
eratory. Set up the present to allow expansion for future growth.
Then you need to look at the office design from a patient’s
perspective. Ask yourself, “What will the patient think?” It is cru-
cial how the patients view the office.
Our patients like the new office. They say it is comfortable
and peaceful. To me, this is most important. I think we have ac-
complished our goals.
The Journal of the Holistic Dental Association 

PTS/PTSD PRIMER FOR
DENTAL PROFESSIONALS:
A Guide for Working with
Sexually Abused Patients
By Joan Rothchild Hardin, Ph.D.
Introduction
I hope that this information will assist dentists, orthodon-
tists, and other dental professionals to recognize the symptoms
of Post Traumatic Stress or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and
avoid re-traumatization of the patient as a result of the dental
experience. The dental staff that allies with the patient will
increase compliance, improve the patient/dental relationship,
and create an atmosphere of working together to achieve an
optimal result in the dental treatment.
Incidence of Sexual Abuse in the US
The sexual abuse of children in our country is more com-
mon than many people realize. Surveys say that at least 1 in 5
women and 1 in 10 men recall childhood sexual abuse (ERIC,
1990). Repression of traumatic events occurring at a very
young age is fairly common, and psychotherapists who work
with anxious, depressed, substance abusing, eating disordered,
and suicidal people know that many have repressed their mem-
ories of sexual abuse and therefore do not have conscious recall
of their experiences.
The 2004 National Crime Victimization Survey found
that every two-and-half minutes someone is sexually assaulted
somewhere in America, that one in six American women has
been the victim of an attempted or completed rape, that 10%
of sexual assault victims are men, and that 44% of rape victims
are under age 18 with 80% being under age 30. Because of the
methodology of this survey, these figures are only for people 13
and older (RAINN).
This means that chances are a significant percentage of the
people who come to sit in your chair are victims of childhood
or adult sexual abuse.
Definitions of Childhood
Sexual Abuse
Childhood sexual abuse is any sexual act performed by
an adult or older child with a child by force or cooperation.
This includes fondling the child’s genitals, getting the child to
fondle the adult’s genitals, rubbing the abuser’s genitals on the
child, penetrating the child’s vagina or anus, mouth to genital
contact, and using the child for pornographic purposes. Even
 The Communicator
sexualized, seductive behavior towards a child where no sexual
act takes place is abusive.
The Abusers
Children are most often abused by adults who are known
to them. The offender is usually a caregiver, an authority figure
whom the child loves or trusts –a parent, another family mem-
ber, a friend of the family, baby sitter, teacher, clergy, coach,
doctor or dentist.
The Child Welfare Information Gateway of the U.S. De-
partment of Health and Human Services (formerly the Nation-
al Clearinghouse on Child Abuse & Neglect Information and
the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse) reports
these US statistics for 2004:
• Of the 872,000 victims of child maltreatment, 62.4% suf-
fered neglect, 17.5% were physically abused, 9.7% were
sexually abused, 7.0% were emotionally or psychologically
maltreated, and 2.1% were medically neglected.
• In addition, 14.5% experienced other types of maltreat-
ment such as abandonment, threats of harm, and congeni-
tal drug addiction.
• Nearly 80% of perpetrators were parents; about 90% were
biological parents.
• For all types of child maltreatment combined, about 60%
of perpetrators were women; about 40% were men.
• 15.5% of all perpetrators were associated with more than
one type of maltreatment. (Child Welfare Information
Gateway).
These figures are for substantiated reports. The numbers
of children experiencing unreported or unsubstantiated in-
stances of child abuse each year are even higher.
Post Traumatic Stress and Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder
Post Traumatic Stress (PTS) is traumatic stress that per-
sists following a traumatic incident (Rothschild, 1995). When
Post Traumatic Stress is not resolved through some form of
healing and accumulates to the point of causing recurrent, in-
trusive thoughts about, images, feelings, and body sensations
from the event(s), it is called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
(PTSD) (American Psychological Association, 2000). Trau-
matic events stress our bodies and our minds, even when no
direct bodily harm has been done, because traumatic stress can
produce persistent arousal in the autonomic nervous system.
We encode our memories first as somatic sensation: sight,
smell, sound, touch, taste, movement, position, behavioral
sequence, visceral reaction. Later on, a sensory stimulus can
evoke an old memory the way the smell of madeleines recalled
a memory for Proust – except that when encoded memories
are of traumas, recalling them is highly disturbing rather than
pleasant.
 One of the hallmarks of PTSD is flashbacks. These are re-
plays of sensory memories of traumatic events, often intense
and frequently accompanied by great, inexplicable fear. Instead
of understanding that a memory of an event has been triggered,
it feels like it is happening right now in the present.
As Babette Rothschild puts it in The Body Remembers,
“Typically … individuals with PTS and PTSD are missing
the explicit information necessary to make sense of their dis-
tressing somatic symptoms ….
“A flashback can be triggered through … something seen,
heard, tasted, or smelled that serves as the reminder and sets
the flashback in motion. It can just as easily be a sensation aris-
ing from inside the body. Sensory messages from muscles and
connective tissue that remember a particular position, action,
or intention can be the source of a trigger…. Even an internal
state aroused during a traumatic event, for example, accelerated
heart rate, can be a trigger… The accelerated heart rate and in-
creased respiration can be implicit reminders of the accelerated
heart rate and increased respiration that accompanied the ter-
ror or their trauma (Rothschild, 2000, 44-45).
When a person gets triggered, flashbacks tend to come in-
stantaneously with no time to realize what is happening. The
experience is often compared to falling down a rabbit hole: one
minute you’re in the here and now, the next thing you know
you’re in a state of fear - or nonexistent, nowhere.
What This Means for You
Professionally
The problem for you as a professional trying to work in
the mouth of someone who experiences PTS or PTSD is that
your work in the mouth may trigger memories, sensations, and
emotions from old sexual abuses - and consequently fear and
possibly a strong need not to cooperate with you, even get away
from you. It is very important to understand that your patient
is a person who has become intensely afraid - not someone who
is trying to make your job harder by being difficult.
The Mouth as an Erogenous Zone
The mouth, lips, and tongue are very sensitive to touch and
taste and are a highly erogenous zone. Adults using children for
their own sexual gratification often choose this site for abuse.
The strong sucking response of infants is even taken advantage
of by adult and teenage males who seek sexual gratification
from someone they think will not tell or even remember.
Sexual abuse in or involving the mouth can produce a con-
fusing combination of pleasurable and painful feelings. For
people who have been sexually abused, the mouth can become
charged with fear and negative energy. Since being touched
around and in the mouth can feel very good, children who have
been abused often experience a conflicted set of feelings for
these events: pleasure, guilt and shame at having been aroused,
as well as anger, feeling out of control, and betrayed.
Oral-Motor Issues and Deficits
Children, who have been sexually abused orally, may
develop an intolerance to touch around the face, neck, and
mouth. That intolerance may cause or exacerbate oral-motor
issues, and the person may develop involuntary muscle move-
ment and facial weakness which manifests as difficulties
with chewing, swallowing, and speech.. For these children
- and these children grown into adults - dental visits can be
emotionally agonizing (Yehuda, 2006).
Carmen Santos, a psychologist who has studied the con-
nection between adult female survivors of sexual abuse and
dental anxiety, describes the psychic overlap between experi-
encing sexual abuse and dental anxiety:
“Varying forms of abuse, such as those that inflict pain or
cause lack of control and powerlessness, may have a dramatic
impact on the individual’s ability to manage routine activities
involving physical discomfort, and may cause dental phobia.
The symptoms that result consist of fear, anxiety, nausea,
dissociation, flashbacks and feelings of shame. The shame can
be about being anxious, about poor oral health, or about hav-
ing someone find out about the abuse.
Many aspects of dental treatment symbolically represent
sexual abuse for many survivors. The following conditions may
trigger a repetition of earlier trauma: being alone with a per-
son more powerful than oneself, being placed in a horizontal
position, having someone nearby and touching you, having ob-
jects placed in one’s mouth, being unable to talk or swallow,
and experiencing or anticipating pain. Many dental experiences
may remind the patient of their abuse experience in that they
restrain movement, produce gagging sensations (impressions),
and the feeling of suffocation(rubber dams).”
Body Memories
In the more than 100 years during which responses to
overwhelming experiences have been systematically explored,
it has been noted that the psychological effects of trauma are
expressed as changes in the biological stress response. Excessive
stimulation of the central nervous system during the trauma
produces enduring neuronal changes. The abnormal startle re-
sponse characteristic of PTSD is an example of such neuronal
change (van der Kolk, Ch 12).
Apparently the cells retain a ‘memory’ of how a traumatic
experience felt physically and emotionally.
Psychotherapists and body workers, such as massage thera-
pists and acupuncturists, have long known that the body re-
tains traumatic memories that can be released and healed
through mind-body work, unblocking of energy, and physical
manipulation. And, with the increasing popularity of yoga in
this country, many people are now experiencing the tremen-
The Journal of the Holistic Dental Association 
dous release of emotion from practicing poses that address
body areas where traumatic memories are stored. Many people
have related to me times when they started to cry deeply while
doing hip-opening poses.
The most salient difference between explicit and implicit
memories, and what makes implicit memories so readily trig-
gered into body memories, is this: Explicit memories include
such things as facts, events, people, and objects and are recalled
consciously. Implicit memories include conditioned responses
as well as motor and perceptual skills, and are accessed and per-
formed unconsciously.
Studies are demonstrating that explicit memories are
stored biochemically in the hippocampus in a spatial context
(Kandel, 2006). That is, we typically remember people and
events in relation to other memories – more or less in a story
that makes sense to us. Implicit memories which have been
acquired traumatically, in a state of hyperarousal, seem to be
stored separately - perhaps in the amygdala (Rothschild, 2000,
71) - as isolated sensations and feelings that pop up when trig-
gered by a stimulus later on (van der Kolk, 1996, Ch 12).
Pathological Dissociation
Garden variety, everyday dissociation is useful and feels
very pleasant –getting lost in music or a daydream, imagining
ourselves at a beach instead of in the dental chair. Dissociating
seems to be something we’re born knowing how to do. When
a person is repeatedly put into a state of hyperarousal and fear
during childhood and needs to use this coping skill over and
over again, dissociation develops into an involuntary way to
deal with stress of any kind.
Dissociating lets the person ‘leave’ so as not to have to feel
physical or emotional pain. However, if dissociation contin-
ues to be used when the original danger no longer exists, it be-
comes maladaptive.
Pathological dissociation is an ongoing process in which
certain information (feelings, memories, physical sensations) is
kept apart from other information with which it would nor-
mally be logically associated (the story of what happened).
A pathologically dissociative person automatically discon-
nects from situations perceived as dangerous or threatening,
without being able to take time to determine whether there is
in fact any real danger, leaving the person inappropriately - and
often inconveniently - spaced out.
Involuntary, pathological dissociation, as in PTSD and
Dissociative Identity Disorder (formerly called Multiple Per-
sonality Disorder), occurs when a person suddenly becomes
triggered by something that feels in some way like the long-ago
trauma. The experience is never pleasant and makes the person
it is happening to feel re-victimized, powerless, and out of con-
trol. When someone gets triggered while in your office, a very
old event gets recreated in which you suddenly become seen
10 The Communicator
as the abuser and the patient is the powerless child who has to
protect her or himself from big powerful you.
Flashbacks, body memories, and dissociation can be trig-
gered by anything that is reminiscent of the trauma: a physical
sensation, a smell, a taste, an emotion, a verbal instruction, a
particular movement like one that happened just before or dur-
ing the old trauma.
Signs Your Patient is Experiencing
PTS or PTSD
The following behaviors may occur if what is happening to
your patient in the dental chair is causing trauma.
1. Holding the breath, breathing very shallowly, irregu-
lar breathing - breathing this way is the hallmark of a person in
a fearful, anxious state;
2. Appearing spacey, disoriented, age-regressed, or
unresponsive;
3. Having trouble concentrating on what you are say-
ing;
4. Flinching or jumping at your touch or a noise;
5. Crying or tearfulness while unable to explain why;
6. Acting outright uncooperatively.
Things You Can Do to Facilitate
Working with These Patients
1. Explain what you are going to do, step by step, in an age
appropriate way. Do not treat a traumatized teen or adult sit-
ting in your chair like a child by talking down to her or him.
2. Do not try to reassure the patient by saying “This won’t
hurt.” It is more the psychic pain of reliving the past trauma
than the present experience of the dental treatment that your
patient is feeling. You are viewed as the abuser and your reas-
surances will not help.
3. Provide frequent opportunities to rinse. This helps
break up the exam or treatment into more manageable steps,
lets the patient regain control between steps, and helps the pa-
tient start breathing again.
4. Arrange a signal with your patient to indicate ‘stop’. This
gives her more control of the situation. Remember always to
respect such a ‘stop.’
5. When you notice the patient is holding her breath or
breathing very shallowly, ask if she would be willing to take
some deep breaths –ask the patient to breathe deeply, in and
especially out five to ten times: “Like this, with me …” You
may need to do this frequently since people in an anxious state
breathe only enough to stay alive. Breathing along with the pa-
tient will probably help you stay calm and focused too. Also, if
you notice your patient pressing an arm or hand into the chest
or belly, gently suggest she move it away so she can breathe bet-
ter, remain more in the present, and feel less scared.
6. Give your patient a pad of paper and pen so she can relay
information to you and ask questions even if she is unable to
speak because her mouth is numb or full of dental equipment.
7. Do not take the stance that this patient is just being dif-
ficult or trying to do something to you. What you are engaged
in with a previously traumatized patient is a struggle to stay in
the present and not see you as another abuser.
8. If the patient is uncomfortable and trying to change po-
sition, allow it. Never push the patient back into the chair or
force her or his face into a particular position for your own
purposes. It will work much better if you explain what position
you need for the work you are doing and ask for cooperation.
9. Do not try to negate the patient’s fear by ignoring it or
trying to engage in small talk.
10. Provide good distractions like music, animal or nature
videos, your spoken explanations of what you’re doing while
you are doing it.
11. Be respectful of the person’s struggle. Even if you rec-
ognize the abuse the patient has suffered, do not try to get
her or him to talk about it – for many reasons, including that
it is inappropriate to the situation, that you are not trained in
how to do this, and that memories of and feelings about much
childhood sexual abuse are often repressed. If the patient re-
members being abused and trusts you enough to bring up the
subject, listening respectfully, thanking her for telling you so
you can make her time in your chair easier for her, and staying
within your comfort area with the material are probably going
to be the most satisfying for both of you.
12. You have to prove your trustworthiness to the patient.
Make reassuring eye contact, smile sincerely, be relaxed and
confident, do not criticize the patient, who is doing the best
she or he can manage at the time.
Conclusions
Recognizing when traumatic sexual experiences have made
patients fearful of dentists and dental procedures and becom-
ing more adept in your approach to these patients will reward
you with better compliance. Patients will come to value you
as a safe person in their lives and stop dreading or postponing
regular check ups and necessary dental work. You may even be
able to assist in their healing by becoming perceived as a trust-
worthy authority figure rather than another violator.
REFERENCES
For references, please contact the author:
Dr. Joan Rothchild Hardin
393 West Broadway #4
New York, NY 10012
Tel (212) 966-9433
Fax (212) 431-9196

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The Journal of the Holistic Dental Association 11

THE FUNCTIONAL MATRIX:
Remembering
Melvin Moss, DDS, Ph.D.
2006 marked the death of Melvin Moss, DDS, Ph.D., Profes-
sor of Anatomy at Columbia University, and father of the func-
tional matrix theory, developed in the fifties and sixties, the dic-
tum that “form follows function,” the establishment of the
significance of the form/function relationship. This concept
revitalized studies in the biomechanics of bone and provided
a foundation for understanding cranial growth and growth of
the skeleton, the development of the facial complex, and its
changes with time, and the importance of function in deter-
mining the form bone takes.
Form follows function is a principle of architecture and
product design which says that the shape of a building or ob-
ject is predicated on its intended purpose. On some level, we
can say that Melvin Moss applied design principles to biology.
The phrase “form follows function” was popularized by the
architect, Louis Henri Sullivan, who developed the steel sky-
scraper in Chicago in the 1900’s and whose assistant, Frank Lloyd
Wright, used the same principle of form follows function in his
designs.
In product design, the auto industry introduced the stream-
lined Chrysler Airflow in 1935, which had optimal aerodynamic
efficiency. Unfortunately, the businessmen of the company real-
ized that a teardrop shape for every car would not generate sales,
and curtailed research in aerodynamics along the lines of form
follows function.
Melvin Moss, in his 1954 thesis proposed an epigenetic the-
ory of cranial growth regulation contradicting the classical cra-
nial growth theory, “the sutural growth theory”, which stated that
cell division occurring at the sutures is the driving force of bone
growth.
To Dr. Moss the growth of the neurocranium was a response
to the primary growth of the neural mass and the sutures were sites
of secondary compensatory skeletal response to that growth.
“The skull consists of a series of functional components, each
of which supports or protects specific, and operationally related
soft tissues, termed functional matrices. All skeletal structural
attributes reflect the morphogenetically and temporally prior
demands of their matrices.”(Moss, M. “A functional approach to
craniology.” Amer. J. Phys. Anthropol. 18:281-92, 1960.)
Theories of facial growth have always stimulated controver-
sy, deriving from the original nature vs nurture debate. Growth
is dependent on environmental and genetic factors. Genetics
is further divided into intrinsic genetic factors, within the cell
of origin, and epigenetic factors, similarly produced by the ge-
12 The Communicator
nome but exerting influence on other cells and tissues. Epigen-
etic factors include how the growth of organs such as the orbit
and brain occur; the role of the extacellular matrix molecules; the
effect of cytokines and growth factors, cell adhesion molecules,
and systemic hormones on growth. An example of an epigenetic
effect is the ability of muscle function to determine the shape of
bone.
Melvin Moss revised the classical doctrine of maxillary
growth, described as the downward and forward translation of
the dentomaxillary complex due to growth at the frontomaxil-
lary, zygomaticomaxillary, zygomaticotemporal, and pterygopala-
tine sutures. He proved how the origin, growth, and maintenance
of the skull and the skeleton depend upon the functional matrix,
those tissue, organs and functioning spaces (oral cavity, nasal cav-
ity) related to that skeleton. Form resulted from the functions of
the adjacent organs. The growth of the middle third of the face is
a response to the demands of respiration. To Dr. Moss, the pri-
mary morphogenetic event in the middle face is providing space
for the nasal complex to facilitate breathing. By applying an engi-
neering principle, he showed that the anteroposterior foreshort-
ening of the maxillary complex in a cleft palate patient was the
result of a biomechanical collapse of the nasal frame and not of
the inability of the nasal cartilage to ‘push’ the maxillary complex
downward and forward.
The classic view of mandibular growth regarded the condyle
as a primary growth center controlled by intrinsic genetic fac-
tors. Growth at the condyle displaced the mandible downward
and forward and regulated the relationship of the mandible and
maxilla. Melvin Moss replaced this view with the concept of
bone growing as a functional unit, not just from the stimulus of
the condyle, but including the body of the mandible, the condyle
and the coronoid, angular and alveolar processes. Experimental
support for the functional matrix theory of mandibular growth
was provided by the results of condylectomy which showed that
growth of the rest of the mandible was unaffected. Moss empha-
sized that the condylar growth occurs as an adaptive response to
the functional behavior of the oral cavity and orofacial muscula-
ture and that some parts of the mandible only reach optimal size
with the full development and functional activity of their associ-
ated muscles (Craniofacial Development, Growth And Evolution,
Murray C. Meikle).
Melvin Moss based his functional cranial hypothesis on his
study and measuring of the craniological collections in the Amer-
ican Museum of Natural History and on the anatomical literature
of the time, namely. On Growth and Form by D’Arcy Wentworth
Thompson and The Development Of The Vertebrae Skull by Gavin
de Beer. He built on the theories that went before. In the lab,
reports his wife and colleague, Dr. Letty Moss-Salentijn, he used
the approach, “If you want to test whether a structure is respon-
sible for a specific parameter of growth, remove the structure and
see what happens to that parameter.” (Moss-Salentjn, L. Melvin
Moss and the functional matrix. J Dent Res. 76.(12)1997). Other
labs tested and verified Melvin Moss’ thesis, first with intramem-
branous bone, the major classification of bone that forms the
skull. Bone forms in 2 ways either by intramembranous ossifica-
tion or endochondral ossification.
The first stage in the development of bone is the migration
of mesenchymal cells (embryonic connective tissue cells) into the
area of bone formation, at about the 6th or 7th week of embry-
onic development. These cells increase in size and number and
differentiate. Some cells become chondroblasts, which form car-
tilage, and bone, and some cells become osteoblasts.
Whether bone or cartilage is the more primitive tissue is
still undecided, but the distinction has long existed. Aristotle,
who lived 384-322 BC, separated fish into chondrichthyes and
osteicthyes. The skeleton of the most primitive living fish–the
lampreys–is cartilaginous. But in extinct jawless craniates, the
exoskeleton consists of a type of acellular bone with dentine tu-
bercles.
Cartilage and bone form from the same mesenchymal stem
cell and their differentiation may well be determined, as Melvin
Moss taught, by their functional imperative.
Bones formed by intramembranous ossification are the flat
bones of the skull, most parts of the mandible, and parts of the
clavicle. Osteoblasts cluster in the fibrous membrane and become
a center of ossification. The cells secrete a matrix composed of
collagen, proteins, and glycoproteins, in which calcium salts and
other minerals are deposited. A network of trabeculae or bony
spicules with vascular spaces radiates outward from the initial
site of ossification until it meets other trabeculae, which become
united by fibrous joints called sutures or fuse into the open lat-
ticework of spongy bone. The spaces between the trabeculae fill
with red marrow. The original connective tissue that surrounds
the growing bone becomes periosteum.
Dr. Moss conjectured that the principle of the functional
matrix would be applicable not only to sutures and intramem-
branously formed bones but also to endochondrally formed
bones–the vertebrae, the long bones, and most of the bones in
the body.
Endochondral ossification is the replacement of cartilage by
bone. Again the mesenchymal cells proliferate and differentiate
and the chondroblasts lay down an extracellular matrix of colla-
gen and chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans. Early in the embryo,
a cartilage model or template of the future bone is laid down and
covered by a membrane called the perichondrium. Blood vessels
penetrate the perichondrium and stimulate cells in the internal
layer to enlarge and become osteoblasts and form a periosteal
bony collar. Cartilage cells hypertrophy and burst. This changes
the pH, making it more alkaline and causing calcification and
deposition of minerals. When the cartilage cells die, they leave
large cavities and blood vessels migrate in and a marrow cavity is
formed.
Dr. Moss viewed cartilage as just one of many connective tis-
sues in the body whose differentiation was established because of
site-specific biomechanical conditions.
For example, growth in the articular cartilage of the condyle
represented evidence of a compensatory secondary growth re-
sponse to the primary growth of the mandible down due to the
function of mastication.
As far as the role of the cranial cartilage, in the basicranial
synchondroses, Dr. Moss believed that they were similarly con-
trolled by the functional matrix and not under genetic control.
He devised an experiment, using a drug that would affect the
functional matrix but not the skeletal tissue, and demonstrated
that if the growth of the brainstem was reduced, the spheno-oc-
cipetal synchondroses was affected and would not grow indepen-
dently.
Bone is constantly remodeled. In the adult, there is a balance
between the amount of bone resorbed and the amount formed.
This maintains mineral homeostasis, acid/alkaline balance, adap-
tation to mechanical loading, and the structural integrity of the
organism. It has been estimated that there is a complete turnover
of the human skeleton every 10 years.
Dr. Melvin Moss’ theory of the functional matrix revo-
lutionized our view of bone and made us aware that bone is
a dynamic and mobile tissue whose form is dependent on use
and the influences of surrounding tissues and other loads. This
new paradigm has changed the way we practice orthodontics
and supports the principles of cranial osteopathy. The func-
tional matrix theory is a holistic approach to the biomechanics
of bone.
The Journal of the Holistic Dental Association 13
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Vitamin D – The Antibiotic?
New discoveries shed light on the
importance of the “sunshine vitamin”
Vitamin D is continuing to make headlines as an extremely im-
portant nutrient. Not only is it essential for controlling osteoporosis,
especially in the elderly, but also it may well be a factor in limiting MS.
Now Vitamin D is being called, “THE ANTIBIOTIC VI-
TAMIN”, based on the work of Adrian F. Gombart who reported
that Vitamin D boosts production in white blood cells of the anti-
microbial, CATHELICIDIN, that defends the body against bac-
teria, viruses, and fungi. Further contributions were made by John J.
Cannell, a psychiatrist at Atascadero California State Hospital, who
gave his patients Vitamin D, simply because they, like most of the
population, were deficient. He noticed that when a flu epidemic hit
the State Hospital, only his patients did not get the flu, and proposed
that Vitamin D was the protective agent.
The hormone 1,25-D, the active form of Vitamin D, binds to
short sequences of DNA and these sequences switch on the activ-
ity of adjacent genes, one of which is the antimicrobial peptide,
CALTHELICIDIN.
More studies are continuing, but the preliminary data shows
that “d sunshine vitamin” and exposure to sunlight are protective
against colds, flu, and other respiratory infections.
In some cases, taking vitamin D supplements to compensate for
a shortage of sunlight may stop diseases before they start. A 2001
study found that giving Finnish children 2,000 IU of vitamin D each
day starting at age 1 reduced the risk of Type 1 diabetes by 80%.
Generous amounts of D also seem to strengthen bones and pre-
vent fractures. A 2005 study in the Journal of the American Medical
Assn. found that an extra 700 to 800 IU of vitamin D, taken with
or without calcium, reduced the risk of hip fractures in post-meno-
pausal women by 26%.
The immune reaction known as inflammation, which can also be a
leading player in gum disease and tooth loss (SN: 2/24/01, p. 116: Avail-
able to subscribers at http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20010224/
fob2.asp), may be reversed by Vitamin D. Low blood concentrations
of vitamin D were linked to gum disease in a study of 11,200 men and
women who had taken part in the federally sponsored National Health
and Nutrition Examination Survey, Thomas Dietrich of Boston Uni-
versity’s dental school and his colleagues report.
The rate of loss in tooth-gum attachment was 25 percent
higher among those participants with the least vitamin D com-
pared to those with the most vitamin. Since poor attachment cor-
related with low vitamin D even when bone density was taken into
account, the investigators believe that the observed effect reflected
vitamin D’s positive impact on immunity. In the July, 2006, is-
sue of American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, they conclude that
Vitamin D “may be important for preventing tooth loss.”
Adrian F. Gombart reported that Vitamin D boosts
production in white blood cells of the antimicrobial,
CATHELICIDIN, that defends the body against bacteria,
viruses, and fungi.
David Feldman of Stanford University School of Medicine
explains.
“What’s now clear is that Vitamin D is a potent force in regulat-
ing cell growth, immunity, and energy metabolism.”
He is the editor of a 1300 page compilation of research findings
from more than 100 labs working on Vitamin D.
“Not only is the vitamin gaining increasing respect as a governor
of health but it’s also serving as a model for drugs that might tame a
range of recalcitrant diseases.”
Calling Vitamin D a vitamin is a mistake as a vitamin is an es-
sential food that the body can’t make, but we can make vitamin D in
our skin, using cholesterol molecules as precursors and sunshine as
an activator. Once vitamin D is available, the body converts it first
into 25-hydroxy vitamin D and then into 1,25-dihydroxy vitamin D
(1,25-D). This final form, which is actually a hormone, is the only
active variety. Researchers loosely refer to all three substances in this
biochemical cascade as “vitamin D.”
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, July 2006, contains
a review article on optimal serum concentrations of 25-hydroxyD
for multiple health outcomes. The abstract states “This review
summarizes evidence from studies that evaluated thresholds for se-
rum 25(OH)D concentrations in relation to bone mineral density
(BMD), lower-extremity function, dental health, and risk of falls,
fractures and colorectal cancer. For all endpoints, the most advanta-
geous serum concentrations of 25(OH)D begin at 30 ng/mL and
the best are between 36-40 ng/L.”
Latest News On Vitamin D
In children with epilepsy on anticonvulsant drugs, Vitamin D
metabolism is compromised and the children exhibit the symptoms
of Vitamin D deficiency. The mechanism of action appears to be ac-
celerated catabolism of Vitamin D. Drugs implicated are phenytoin,
phenobarbital, carbamazapine, valproic acid. 25 OH D is recom-
mended in patients taking anticonvulsants.
The Journal of the Holistic Dental Association 15
 Citations
“Steroid and xenobiotic receptor and Vitamin D receptor cross-
talk mediates CYP24 expression and drug-induced osteomalacia.”
Zhou, C, etal. J Clin Invest.2006 Jun;116(6). Epub 2006 May 11
“Effect of carbamazapine and valproic acid on bone mineral
density, IGF-1 and IGFBP-3.” Kumandas S. etal. J Pediatr Endocri-
nol Metab. 2006 Apr;19(4):529-34
“Bone mineral density and serum levels of 25 OH vitamin D
in chronic users of antiepileptic drugs.” Kulak CA, etal. Arq Neurop-
siquiatr. 2004 Dec;62(4):940-8. Epub2004 Dec 15.
“Bone metabolism and vitamin D levels in carbamazapine-
treated patients.” Verrotti A.etal. Epilepsia.2006 Sep;47(9):1586;
author reply 1586-7.
“Effects of anticonvulsant therapy on vitamin D status in chil-
dren: prospective monitoring study.” Nicolaidou P., etal. J Child
Neurol 2006 Mar;21(3):205-9.
Fluoride:
Friend or Foe?
Fluoridation of community water is one of the top 10 public
health achievements of the 20th century. Yet, there is enormous con-
troversy about fluoride. Do the benefits outweigh the risks? The
major benefit is reduced caries. 1.6 fewer cavities is the most optimis-
tic statistic, and this is provided by the ADA. Many people believe
that the toxicity of fluoride is not worth the decrease in cavities.
Profluoride legislation has been defeated or tabled in Oregon,
Arkansas, Nebraska, Hawaii, California, Colorado, Iowa, Missouri,
NY, Ohio, Utah, Washington.
Other established organizations have issued warnings.
The FDA placed a warning on toothpaste with fluoride: “if
more than used for brushing is accidentally swallowed, get medical
help or contact a poison control center.”
The CDC issued guidelines stating that in communities with
non-fluoridated water the only children who should get fluoride
pills are those at high risk for decay, due to familial tendencies.
In March, 2006, a panel of dentists, toxicologists, and research-
ers, assembled by the National Research Council, under the umbrel-
la of the National Academy of Sciences, determined that the current
level of fluoride, 4ppm, in community water, is too high, and that
fluoride, rather than preventing decay, might initiate decay, as too
much fluoride causes mottling and softening and more susceptibility
to decay(fluorosis). Even more alarming, the committee reported
that fluoride may have systemic effects-- such as lowering of IQ–as
much as 8 points–and that over a lifetime the ingestion of fluoride
could weaken bones and increase fractures.
Also in the spring of 2006, a Harvard doctoral study suggested
an association between fluoride in water and osetosarcoma.
16 The Communicator
No one disputes the fact that fluoride, a natural element found
in rocks and groundwater, protects tooth enamel. Since 1945, mu-
nicipal systems serving 170 million Americans have added fluoride
(mostly in the form of hydrofluorosilicic acid) to their water, and
the prevalence of cavities in the U.S. has fallen dramatically. But
good nutrition and healthy dental habits may protect from decay
as well as fluoride.
What has changed since 1945 is how much toxicologists know
about the harmful effects of fluoride compounds. Ingested in high
doses, fluoride is indisputably toxic; it was once commonly used in
rat poison. Hydrogen fluoride is regulated as a hazardous pollutant
in emissions from chemical plants and has been linked to respira-
tory illness.
The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health
reviewed the scientific literature on the effects of fluoride on bone
structure and reported that 5 major epidemiological studies from
the US, United Kingdom, and France, show a higher rate of hip
fractures in fluoridated regions.
And more studies continue to link fluoride to bone disease,
cancer, and mental problems.
Time Magazine and Prevention Magazine informed the public of
the “danger in the water supply”, in summer 2006, and advised their read-
ers to raise questions about the necessity of fluoride with their dentists.
The ADA continues to support fluoridation and provide point-
ers to help dentists respond to patient inquiries and refute the dan-
gers of fluoride. A quote from the ADA:
“Magazine Article May Confuse Readers
About Water Fluoridation Safety
A cover story in the August issue of Prevention magazine,
‘The Danger in Your Water,’ contains what we believe is misin-
formation about the safety of community water fluoridation. The
article appears to misconstrue the findings of the recent National
Research Council report. It also highlights a research analysis by a
then-Harvard doctoral student that suggests a possible association
between fluoride in water and osteosarcoma (a rare form of bone
cancer). The ‘association’ found in this one, limited study, falls far
below any scientific standard needed to establish a cause-and-ef-
fect relationship.”
ALTERNATIVES TO FLUORIDE
Practitioners concerned about the possible risks associated with fluo-
ride use may wish to try some of the following:
MI Paste: GC America Inc: www.gcamerica.com
Cavistat: arginine bicarbonate/calcium carbonate-containing denti-
frice. Contact: Ortek Therapeutics Inc. israel.kleinberg@sunysb.edu
Magnesium
Milk of Magnesia
A History of Fluoride
As Presented in Prevention Magazine by Timothy Gower
As researched by Joel Griffiths in “Covert Action Quarterly”
#42 and reported by Dylana Accolla, LicAcup
1850: Fluoride emissions from iron and copper industries are poi-
soning livestock, crops, and people.
1900: Lawsuits and heavy regulations threaten to put an end to
these industries in Germany and England. The invention of the tall
smokestack saves those industries by dispersing fluorides and other
toxins into the upper air, so less of it directly effects living creatures
below.
1909: Colorado Springs dentist Frederic K. McKay asks the US den-
tal community to help him find an explanation for the “Colorado
brown stain,” a discoloring of teeth common to the Pikes Peak area.
1927: A dentist in Bauxite, AR, reports extensive staining of resi-
dents’ teeth. The town gets its water from a deep well near the site
of an aluminum mine; fluoride is a waste by-product of aluminum
mining.
1931: The Public Health Service, under the leadership of Andrew
W. Mellon, US Treasury Secretary and a founder and major stock-
holder of the Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa), sends a
dentist named Trendley Dean to several remote Western towns
where drinking water contains high concentrations of natural fluo-
ride from deep in the earth’s crust to determine the effect of fluoride
in the drinking water. He learns that fluoride discolors the teeth but
the people in the towns have fewer cavities.
1933: The world’s first major air pollution disaster, in the Meuse Val-
ley, Belgium, involves fluoride poisoning. Several thousand people
become violently ill and die.
1937: Danish fluoride researcher Kaj E. Roholm, MD, Copenhagen’s
deputy health commissioner, publishes a 364-page report titled Flu-
orine Intoxication. In it, he details the bone disease, skin lesions, and
mortality that result from long-term exposure to fluoride. He also
questions its ability to protect teeth.
1939: Researcher Gerald J. Cox at the Mellon Institute in Pittsburgh
releases results from a rat study (showing healthier teeth) to support
his recommendation that water be fluoridated. Cox gets help from
Edward L. Bernays, a nephew of Sigmund Freud who pioneered the
application of Freud’s psychological theories to advertising and gov-
ernment propaganda. “If you can influence the [group’s] leaders, ei-
ther with or without their conscious cooperation,” wrote Bernays in
his 1928 book Propaganda, “you automatically influence the group
which they sway.” The main targets of Bernays advertising blitz are
doctors and dentists. Under Bernays’ media tactics, a quick shift in
peoples’ perception of fluoride begins to take place.
1942: A National Institutes of Health study of 7,000 children shows
that fluoride at 1 part per million (ppm) in water is enough to mini-
mize tooth decay without causing discoloration–or dental fluorosis,
as it’s now called.
1945: Federal scientists choose four pairs of cities for a 13- to 15-year
study of fluoridation: Grand Rapids and Muskegon, MI; Newburgh
and Kingston, NY; Evanston and Oak Park, IL; and Brantford and
Sarnia, Ontario. Grand Rapids becomes the first city in the world to
have fluoridated water.
1951: Muskegon, the comparison city for Grand Rapids, begins fluori-
dating its own water supply. Communities across the country join in,
well in advance of any published results of the four-cities studies.
1955: Procter & Gamble introduces Crest, the first fluoride tooth-
paste endorsed by the American Dental Association.
1962: Results from the Grand Rapids study are published. The find-
ings are called into question because the control was dropped 6 years
into the study.
1964: The movie Dr. Strangelove or: How I Stopped Worrying and
Learned to Love the Bomb is released. In it, an insane general, Jack D.
Ripper, attributes fluoridation to a communist plot.
1977: A federal report finds evidence that Americans’ consumption
of fluoride from food and water has increased significantly. At these
levels, the report states, bone damage is a risk.
1990: As part of its “Healthy People 2000” plan, the CDC sets a goal
of getting fluoridated water to 75% of Americans. Then, as now,
roughly two-thirds have treated water.
1993: A government review board, the National Research Council,
issues a report indicating that the variety of fluoride sources in the
United States could make limiting fluoride exposure necessary, and
“reduction of fluoride concentrations in drinking water would be
easier to administer, monitor, and evaluate” than alternative cut-
backs.
1997: The FDA requires toothpaste manufacturers to place a poi-
son control label on tubes and boxes reading: If more than used for
brushing is accidentally swallowed, get medical help or contact a
Poison Control Center right away.
2001: The CDC issues new guidelines saying that fluoride supple-
ments should only be given to children in nonfluoridated commu-
nities who are also at high risk of cavities.
2006: The NRC releases a report suggesting that the current upper
limit for fluoride in water could cause tooth damage, bone fractures,
and neurological problems and may be connected to certain can-
cers. It recommends the EPA lower the safe exposure limit.
Addenda: The US Public Health Services has endorsed silicofluo-
ride, a chemical by-product of various industries, to be added to wa-
ter as a cheaper substitute for naturally occurring sodium fluoride.
Research since 1975 has shown that it is much more toxic than so-
dium fluoride.
The Journal of the Holistic Dental Association 17
 Upcoming Events 2007
Iaomt 2007 Spring Meeting
International Academy Of Oral Medicine and Toxicology
March 15-17, Tuscon, Az
Contact: (863) 420-6373
Topics:
• Equipment for mercury-free practice
• Fluoride and perio and political implications of fluoridation
• Dental amalgam mercury release and effects
• Practice management
• Detox and nutrition
• Biocompatible materials
Fordham Page Nutrition Study Club Presents:
Balance the Chemistry; Balance the Energy
James Braly, MD and Beth Gustafson, Medical Intuitive
March 23, 24, 2007
Crown Plaza Washington, DC
Course Fee: $395
Contact: (800) 832-9901 or (540) 635-3610
The Cranial Academy 60th Anniversary Conference
June 21-24, 2007, Tucson, Arizona
Tucson Marriott University Park
Contact: (317) 594-0411
Upcoming Courses Offered at the
International Center for Nutritional Research
For further information visit www.icnr.com
March 8, April 5 & April 19 (2007) • CEUs: 7 AGD Credits
IDI Seminar - Introductory Diagnostic Indicators: 1-Day
Seminar. A prerequisite for all seminars : ALF, PAR, OCB and
DBC,
March 9 & 10 (2007) • CEUs: 14 AGD Credits
ALF Seminar: Dynamics of Correcting Dental Orthopedic
Distortions
FIRST TIME OFFERED: March 30 & 31 (2007) • CEUs: 14
AGD Credits. QNC Seminar: Quantum Nutrition Concepts
April 6 & 7 (2007) • CEUs: 28 AGD Credits. OCB Seminar:
Occlusal Cranial Balancing Technique.
April 20 & 21 (2007) • CEUs: 14 AGD Credits.
PAR Seminar: Physiologic Adaptive Range Concept; diag-
nose and resolve difficult cases
May 4 & 5 (2007) • CEUs: 14 AGD Credits. DBC Seminar:
Dental / Whole Body Connection; learn to diagnose the
dental origins of medical problems
18 The Communicator
Recommended Reading
NOTE: If anyone wants to recommend a
book or review a book, please contact the editor by
writing to rhoney@bway.net.
REIKI: A Comprehensive Guide by Pamela Miles (Tarcher/Pen-
guin 2006) is the first mainstream book to address this increasingly
common healing practice.
The author draws from 20 years of experience to present a rea-
soned and researched overview of Reiki from its beginnings in 19th
century Japan to the current widespread integration into conventional
health care environments. She also reviews the state of research on the
practice and the challenges involved.
Miles explains why Reiki is safe and articulates how Reiki can
support well-being at all stages of life and be a resource for people ad-
dressing a wide range of health challenges. Reiki’s increasingly docu-
mented ability to quickly reduce anxiety and pain, and the flexibility
of delivery makes it a good beginning for dentists wanting to expand
into holistic care. But beware—there are no education or practice
standards. You can learn to practice Reiki in a 10-12 hour training
given by a Reiki master.
Miles includes guidance on how to find one and questions to
help evaluate if a practitioner is credible.
Join Our Teleconferences!
These are FREE opportunities to learn without
cost or travel, and enhance your practice! These confer-
ences are approximately one hour long, and take place about every
other month. Simply call (888) 387-8686 at the appropriate time,
enter the conference room number (2722323) followed by the #
sign, then wait for the conference to begin. Many of these confer-
ences will have handouts that you can download before the confer-
ence on which to make notes.
Our next teleconferences are:
Thursday, Feb. 22, 2007 and Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Both start at 8 pm (C.T.)
The February conference will be on N.A.E.T. and how it can
help your dental patients overcome their allergies and multiple
chemical sensitivities. The April conference will be on how to relax
your anxious dental patients with storytelling and voice control.
In addition, you can listen 24/7 to previous educational con-
ference calls (Building Biology, State Dental Boards 101, Reiki En-
ergy Healing, Occlusal Cranial Balancing Technique, Oral Galva-
nism).  For playback information, go to our website, and click on
“Member Services.”
www.holisticdental.org
 • Dopamine
Clinical Pearls • Gamma amino butyric acid
• Histamine
Jewels for Safe Removal of Defective • L-Tryptophan
Amalgam Restorations • Norepinephrine
3. Evaluate the presence and load of Heavy Metals in the body
By Dr. Harold Ravins by fecal testing, using Doctors Data Laboratories.
   4. Have the patient give you a complete list of all supplements
Before removal of amalgam: he/she presently takes.
1. Check the levels of: 5. Check biocompatibility of all materials used.
• Glutathione
• Magnesium During removal of amalgam:
• Vitamin C 1. Use rubber dam, high power suction, mercury ionizer, ster-
• Selenium ile O2 mask on the nose
• Vitamin E 2. Use a new carbide #1156 bur for all teeth
• Lipoic acid 3. Inform the patient that the basic removal will take under 35
• Acetyl cysteine seconds per amalgam.
(Note a deficiency or excess) 4. Remove corrosive debris with slow round bur
 2. To determine if the blood/brain barrier is intact, check the 5. Rinse cavity with antioxidant
levels of the following neurotransmitters: 6. Replace the amalgam with Fuji 9, for the first phase of re-
• Acetylcholine chloride storing tooth.
• Adrenaline 7. Restore the tooth permanently with a tested nonreactive
• Beta Endorphin material-- filling, inlay, onlay, or crown.

DON’T MISS THIS SPECIAL EVENT!

Holistic Dental Association

Diagnostic Summit 2007
October 17 -20
Tuscany Hotel & Casino • Las Vegas, NV
• Participate in peer discussions
• Find out about new developments
• Learn from our distinguished guest speakers
• And more!
For more information, visit www.holisticdental.org
The Journal of the Holistic Dental Association 19
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20 The Communicator