Holistic vs General Dentistry
In the wider field of healthcare, many disciplines have emerged over time. Some become redundant as knowledge and learning improve, as evidenced by the stark differences in psychiatric care provided today compared to half a century ago.
However, varied disciplines remain despite significantly differing methodologies and technical considerations offered by each.
This is certainly the case for oral care. In the dental field, two disciplines have emerged, that of general and holistic dentistry.
In this post, we’ll define and compare these two disparate disciplines; discussing the role of functional dentistry, a relatively new but blossoming practice intending to bridge the gap.
What is holistic dentistry?
In some medical environments, holistic healthcare is regarded with a certain level of professional contempt. Those who may be accredited with conventional qualifications and specialized skillsets may look to holistic care as a vague and unmeasurable means of treating health and wellbeing.
However, holistic care simply seeks to integrate the entire understanding of how mutually-linked systems within the body synchronize; affecting health outcomes as a result. So for example, sometimes treating tinnitus is not just the purview of an audiologist, but also a dentist as they treat dental issues causing this problem.
However, holistic dentistry can also go further, such as by offering non-toxic treatments, and natural therapies, even considering the physical, emotional and spiritual conditions of the patient. Treatments may also include herbal remedies and homoeopathy.
For example, holistic dentists are often known to rally against amalgam fillings, arguing that the mercury exposure within can potentially cause toxic side effects to their patients.
Holistic dentists may also look towards nutrition, sleep, stress reduction (which can help prevent issues like teeth grinding), and more.
What is general dentistry?
General dentistry is everything you think of when picturing conventional dentistry. It’s a highly accredited, measured, regulated field. It’s likely that every dentist you’ve visited before now has been stationed under this umbrella.
These highly qualified professionals focus on the diagnosis, prevention, and direct remedial care of a whole range of dental issues.
While holistic dentists may claim to hold sole dominion over preventative measures (and yes, a whole-body approach to health and wellbeing is certainly valuable), dentists can help prevent notable issues from becoming worse and are effective at treating localized symptoms.
General dentistry is also permitted to conduct a range of essential medical treatments such as root canals, extracting teeth, installing crowns, and treating infected gums. Holistic dentists may be qualified to offer these practices depending on the clinic, but not all of them will be.
What is a functional dentist?
A relatively new field, functional dentistry, seeks to balance these separate sides of the same coin.
Leveraging the technical specialism of general dentistry alongside the integrative approach of holistic methods, functional dentistry aims to not only treat the dental environment, but the entire person that it belongs to.
Working in collaboration with other healthcare professionals such as functional medicine specialists, nutritionists and more, they aim to provide long-form treatment and prevention of medical issues before they even begin.
For example, a functional dentist may work towards helping someone achieve complete cessation from smoking as opposed to only treating black gums and decay at the root of the teeth.
However, while functional dentists seek that holistic approach, many will focus on accrediting themselves as practicing general dentists, able to properly handle expert clinical treatments as and when required.
Which dentistry approach is best?
Fundamentally, all disciplines of approved dentistry methodology are focused on improving the well-being and preventative care of each client.
As of the time being, general dentistry is by far the most proven, regulated, and demands the most training. As such, it’s always wise to visit conventional dentistry services such as Polished – A Dental Studio.
However, holistic and especially functional dentistry pursue a noble goal – to treat the entire integrative system that is the human body and to determine the full scope of how lifestyle habits and environmental factors affect us.
No healthcare field is “complete” in its understanding. As AI tools developed to arm medical researchers with better investigative tools, and the wider corpus of patients and their measured results feed back into understanding about each discipline, it’s not hard to see how, like psychiatry, dentistry will continue to evolve continually over time.
Put simply, while conventional general dentistry is by far the most reliable discipline, any healthcare professional that cares about the well-being of patients will hope that all three disciplines succeed.
If you’re looking for treatment today, call us or schedule an appointment online. Our expert team of friendly doctors will be pleased to assist you.