I asked Dr. Smith the other day... Are dental services toxic?
Here is his answer:
Yes, just about everything we do in dentistry will have some element of toxicity. It reminds of what the late nutritionist/fitness expert, Jack Lallane, once said about food choices…”if nature made it, eat it, if it’s man-made, throw it away. Carrying that into the real world, most of what our children eat is man-made. And, most of the materials we use in the patient’s mouths is also man-made in a pharmaceutical lab. And that doesn’t even include the radiation we receive from x-rays.
The question is not whether or not we are exposing ourselves to unsafe levels of toxicity, but whether the toxicity is outweighed by the benefits of the services we provide. Dental health in America is by far the best in the world. Maybe some of what we do as routine practice can be modified for individual patients, and we try to do that. But, overall, the product of modern American dentistry is the highest standard of dental health on the planet. That doesn’t mean it can’t improve, but using the knowledge and tools of the early 21st century is a safe choice.
Now, I have other things to say about Jack Lallane’s food choices, but that’s for another day.
Here is his answer:
Yes, just about everything we do in dentistry will have some element of toxicity. It reminds of what the late nutritionist/fitness expert, Jack Lallane, once said about food choices…”if nature made it, eat it, if it’s man-made, throw it away. Carrying that into the real world, most of what our children eat is man-made. And, most of the materials we use in the patient’s mouths is also man-made in a pharmaceutical lab. And that doesn’t even include the radiation we receive from x-rays.
The question is not whether or not we are exposing ourselves to unsafe levels of toxicity, but whether the toxicity is outweighed by the benefits of the services we provide. Dental health in America is by far the best in the world. Maybe some of what we do as routine practice can be modified for individual patients, and we try to do that. But, overall, the product of modern American dentistry is the highest standard of dental health on the planet. That doesn’t mean it can’t improve, but using the knowledge and tools of the early 21st century is a safe choice.
Now, I have other things to say about Jack Lallane’s food choices, but that’s for another day.
