Did you know that in August 2016 our Principal Dentist, David Cook and Sports and Remedial Massage Therapist, Lynn Rae were interviewed for an article on holistic dentistry in Yoga Magazine? Well, the writer was yoga teacher, Jane Egginton, and she undertook two treatments at The London Holistic Dental Centre – the removal of an amalgam filling and an internal face massage to relieve tension in the jaw.
In this article Jane describes her experience at the London Holistic Dental Centre as well as her thoughts on holistic dentistry.
Check out the content of the article here:
“I realise I’ve made a big mistake as soon as I get to David the holistic dentist. I just wanted my mercury fillings out in a safe, painless way and nothing toxic to replace them. I hadn’t realised that holistic dentistry really does do what it says on the tin: it treats the whole you, inside and out.
After examining my teeth and gums, the affable David announces, “you have a tendency to inflammation, which is a precursor to all sorts of degenerative diseases.” Afterwards I tell him that I had no idea that the consultation would be so comprehensive. David smiles and kindly says, “Yes, that’s what holistic dentistry is, it is pretty amazing.”
He is more low-key about the possible effects of the removal of my mercury fillings. I don’t know if I believe the person who told me it will make me feel like I’ve had lead shoes removed, but I do know I want the toxic metal out of my mouth. David can, and does remove them quickly and easily, replacing them painlessly with a white, non-toxic filler.
It is a surprise to be given X-rays – at my regular dentist I always refuse them, but these have reduced radiation exposure. David finds some work that needs doing that my own national health dentist hadn’t. I am shocked, although apparently it happens all the time. Private dentistry certainly doesn’t come cheap, but it is worth weighing up the cost of missed or wrong diagnoses and what exactly you get for your money.
David packs me off with a little pack of homeopathic pills, made of arnica and some other non-chemical ingredients to help with the shock and the pain. From here I go straight to my next appointment at the centre, with the lovely and committed Lynn Rae. I am going to have an internal face massage, which is a first for me. I am a bit surprised to be asked to take off my dress and also whether I have scoliosis (I do – it was only diagnosed late in life in a yoga class), but these are just further indications of the comprehensive approach of the practice.
“We spend so much time looking in the mirror, but pay so little attention to our thoughts and expressions and how they create an imprint in our muscles”,
Lynn tells me. She sees it as her role to educate her clients so that they can both learn from and inform their own bodies and create ‘muscle memories’.
I am told how to create and visualise an inner smile in my mouth, imagining it spreading outwards and upwards. Tests have been done to show that hormones are produced when we smile and this inner version also creates space and relaxation in our mouths and our whole head, which is then felt in the rest of the body.
I once broke three teeth through clenching during a particularly stressful time in my life. At the time I didn’t even realise that I did clench or grind my teeth.
“Dentists sometimes say you can’t stop clenching, particularly at night. I say that you can do anything you want”,
says Lynn as she breaks into a beautiful, light smile.
It feels strange to have someone massaging the inside of your mouth and under your tongue, and it’s incredibly intimate. After all, most of us have never been touched there, but Lynn’s touch is assured, intuitive and very gentle. “Is that ok?” she asks at one point and I wonder why, until I realise that I had thought about a document I had lost on my laptop that she was able to pick up on the anxiety from feeling a physical response in my mouth.
Afterwards there feels as if there is more space in my mouth and it certainly feels more relaxed. Lynn is a Pilates teacher, massage therapist and ex makeup artist whose whole face glows. She gives me some tongue exercises to do at home, which will create a muscle memory. I decide the whole experience is a bit like a facial and a natural face-lift combined with Yin yoga for the mouth. As I leave London Holistic Dental I practice my inner smile or ‘meditation face’ as Lynn calls it and it almost seems as if the crowds in Oxford Street smile back at me.”
To book either of these treatments with The London Holistic Dental Centre, or to find out more, please contact our reception on 020 7487 5221.
ABOUT JANE EGGINTON
Jane is a yoga teacher and highly experienced travel and health writer. She writes about yoga for a range of publications including the Huffington Post.
