Introduce A New Paradigm Of Disease Prevention To Your Life
Does it seem like something’s wrong with the way we handle illness and disease in today’s society? It seems that the advice from the medical community over the last 10 years or so about preventing cancer, heart attacks, diabetes and other diseases is seriously missing the mark. When you take a close look at these serious issues and consider the very latest research, you begin to see many myths masquerading as medicine. For example, is the impact of cholesterol on preventing heart disease being overstated? We think it is.
Here’s what’s certain: a small group of diseases — heart disease, cancer and diabetes — will be responsible for most of our deaths, and there must be something that can be done about that. We believe there is.
The causes of these terrible conditions aren’t being represented correctly by the medical community in many cases. Whether for personal gain or because their thinking is simply wrong, many medical professionals don’t tell the truth about the causes of ill-health.
Research shows clearly that the following factors are the primary issues creating today’s epidemic of disease:
– excessive consumption of refined carbs, not to mention sugar itself
– excessive consumption of Omega 6, a bad fatty acid that people often consume at ten times the safe and recommended rate
– excessive consumption of processed and highly refined foods
– the increase in the sedentary and isolated way of life.
But it’s absolutely possible for people to make changes for the better that can make a dramatic difference in their lives and the lives of their families. We can make tweaks and adjustments that will protect health for years to come.
It may come as no surprise that the most important and best possible adjustments are quitting or avoiding smoking and getting more exercise. How simple is that? For many, these two simple adjustments are all that’s necessary to dramatically increase overall health.
Other important changes that can be made include:
1. Cutting the sugar and refined carbs. These things do more than just make you fat. They create inflammation and can lead to organ degeneration, probelms that in turn can cause life-threatening and life-ended diseases that could have been avoided.
2. Balancing the consumption of Omega 6 fatty acids. When Omega 6 is consumed in proper balance with Omega 3 fatty acids, overall health can improve. A simple way to do this when cooking at home is to season food with plenty of fresh, uncooked flaxseed oil. When cooking, it makes sense to use clarified butter rather than unhealthy vegetable oils or animal grease.
3. Getting in more raw, uncooked and minimally processed fermented foods. This includes delicious choices like sourkraut, kefir, kambucha, kimchi and plain old pickles. (And avoid taking antibiotics whenever you can because they destroy the good bacteria that fermented foods cultivate.)
4. Eating more unprocessed food. Whenever possible, swap in fresh fruits and veggies as well as real protein sources for processed, packaged and refined alternatives. Refined foods have their nutrition refined away and often have highly undesirable additives put in their place.
5. Getting your mind in order. Meditating, contemplating and other practices to order your thoughts can help you feel better. When you develop an attitude of gratitude and kindness, you’ll feel better and live longer. It also helps a lot to spend time with family, friends and other uplifting people who can help you relax both body and mind.
When you turn your back on misinformation and look toward real answers from real foods, you can start to see that narrow and ill-informed views about health and medicine don’t serve anyone very well.
If you are interested in a (free) consultation with Dr. Daniel Vinograd, call (619) 630-7174
Homeopathic Remedies Enhance Comfort And Safety During Root Canals And Implants
In many cases, we recommend safe and effective homeopathic remedies as part of treatment at our clinic. Relying on the law of similars, homeopathic remedies have been used in many parts of the world since the 1800s to deal with all sorts of medical and dental conditions.
In truth, use of homeopathy and related principles goes back even further, perhaps to before recorded history. Our experience has proven that taking these remedies at the right time and in the right quantities can help fend off pain, swelling, bruising, infection and other complications that can occur with root canals and dental implant surgery.
A Wide World Of Homeopathic Options
For root canals and dental implants, we recommend a simple program of two homeopathic remedies along with the powerful antioxidant alpha lipoic acid taken three times per day until symptoms go away. We find that arnica is especially useful for most dental patients because of its effect on bruising, swelling and nerve pain. It’s a standard choice in homeopathy for any sort of trauma or soreness.
Some dentists also use the following remedies:
– Hypericum, also for nerve pain and post-op pain as well as soreness from dentures or facial trauma
– Myristrica Sebifera, which can prevent nerve abscesses when taken a few minutes before an invasive procedure like a root canal or implant
– Belladonna, used for gum or tooth abscesses and anytime there’s redness, throbbing or inflammation, especially if there’s soreness to the touch
– Ferrum Phos, a homeopathic dentistry remedy often used for bleeding following surgery that isn’t well controlled simply with gauze
– Hepar Sulphuris Calcareum, for the early stages of dental abscesses with pus and tender gums that bleed easily
– Silicea, an option that can help with the drainage of pus
– Myristica, used when a dental issue involves swelling and numbness, as is common with wisdom teeth problems
– Ledum, a homeopathic remedy commonly used for trauma that can come along with dental injections
– Staphysagria, used extensively for gum surgery and similar soft tissue invasive procedures
– Apis memifica, a remedy for sudden swelling and burning pains
– and many others.
We try to keep things simple, but we have years of experience in homeopathy and welcome the opportunity to make your experience better and less painful with homeopathic remedies.
Prefer Modern Medicine?
We have some patients who question the effectiveness and validity of homeopathic treatments. And that’s okay. It isn’t necessary that homeopathic remedies be part of your treatment at our clinic. But it’s important to understand that modern homeopathy has two centuries of evidence from doctors, dentists and patients that shows these simple dilutions can make a big difference in many case.
At our clinic, we use homeopathic remedies as an adjunct to modern dental practices. We use the very best equipment and the latest procedures to ease the discomfort of fearful patients and make surgeries and other complex dental procedures less painful and more likely to be successful.
We’ve learned that combining the best aspects of many kinds of medicine — including Eastern medicine, homeopathy and modern technology-based medicine — gives us the widest array of choices to help the widest possible array of patients. No one approach is right in all situations.
Why not give us a call and schedule an appointment with Dr. Vinograd to discuss what approaches will work best for you? There’s sure to be a way to provide you with the good dental health you deserve. A simple phone call to (619) 630-7174 can start the ball rolling on a better life.. with less pain, and with functional and beautiful teeth that you’ll enjoy showing off.
Amalgam Removal Goes More Smoothly When Homeopathic Remedies Are Used
Because dental amalgam contains toxic mercury, removing it is an important part of creating a healthy oral environment. And removing it is also necessary when a more extensive restoration is required. But there is a concern anytime amalgam is disturbed that the mercury released during the procedure can put you as a patient in jeopardy.
At our practice, we take extraordinary precautions to contain mercury that we drill out, making sure it doesn’t cause harm to you or to our clinic staff. When you take homeopathic remedies before and after the amalgam removal process, you make sure that you get the best results from the procedure without any of the harmful side effects of mercury exposure.
It’s amazing that some dentists are still installing mercury fillings in mouths around the world despite the proven harmfulness of mercury. But there’s nothing we can do about their actions or what you’ve had done to your mouth in the past. We can, however, take precautions to make sure that undoing their work doesn’t create harm to your body.
Homeopathic Remedies Work
At our practice, we prescribe a complete collection of homeopathic remedies for taking the day before the appointment for amalgam removal, taking the day of the appointment and for taking after the appointment. Most of these come in the form of small pellets that you take directly from a storage container. These remedies include special formulations designed especially for combating mercury toxicity.
We include arnica, used for centuries to combat nerve and muscle pain and reduce bruising. Arnica is an intelligent choice of homeopathic remedies anytime work is being done to the body that could cause bruising, swelling or pain of any kind. Hypericum is also a vital part of the program we recommend.
But homeopathic remedies can also play another role in the amalgam removal process. For patients who are fearful of going to the dentist, there are also choices that can help reduce anxiety and calm the mind. Look around online and you’ll see aconite, gelsemium and other homeopathic substances recommended for treating the symptoms that go along with fear of the dentist’s office.
A Long History Of Effectiveness
Homeopathy dates back to before recorded history and really took hold in the modern world in the 1800s. It became clear to some medical people at that time that there are ways to treat pain, injury, disease and toxicity that reach beyond what medicines in the modern sense can do. While we understand how important medications and drugs can be in certain circumstances, we also know that some have adverse and even deadly side effects.
Harmless homeopathy — sometimes called the medicine of similars — works alongside today’s modern medicine to improve the outcome of a variety of conditions and circumstances, not just dental office fear and mercury amalgam removal.
As drugs became more prevalent in the early 20th century, use of homeopathy dropped off significantly, but doctors, dentists and patients are now rediscovering the healing effects of homeopathic dilutions. In Europe, homeopathy is widely accepted today, and re-acceptance is growing in the United States. You may use a popular brand of homeopathic ear drops or eye drops every day.
Using so-called laws of similars, homeopathy is touted to cure some conditions and improve the outcomes of others. But this much is certain: mercury is toxic, and your amalgam fillings contain as much as half mercury. When you and the dentist decide these fillings need to go, you need to take every action possible to keep this harmful substance out of your bloodstream — and homeopathic remedies are an important part of those actions.
Why not schedule an appointment at (619) 630-7174 to discuss safe amalgam removal right away?
Homeopathic Remedies Can Make Dental Surgery Easier On You
Using the right combination of simple but effective homeopathic remedies can ease the stress and anxiety associated with dental surgery and allow you to heal quicker. At our practice, we give dental surgery patients a specific protocol of remedies to follow before and after surgery to make the process go more smoothly.
One important component of this process is arnica, a well-regarded extract from a plant in the sunflower family. Arnica is used topically by athletes and others for joint pain and muscle pain, but when taken internally it can have a powerful impact on bruising on other issues. In fact, in the UK homeopathic arnica preparations are approved to be marketed for these purposes.
Our plan also includes the use of other homeopathic preparations to limit or eliminate other stresses on the body from dental surgery. This includes the use of alpha lipoid acid, not strictly a homeopathic remedy. ALA is an antioxidant with a variety of benefits, including the easing of nerve pain symptoms, and it has been shown to help patients of our holistic dental practice heal better and with less pain.
A Basis In History
Homeopathic remedies were largely formulated in the 1800s by German doctor Samuel Christian Friedrich Hahnemann, although others had used some form of homeopathy throughout history. Hippocrates, the founder of medicine, wrote about the concept of homeopathy in 400 BC. Hahnemann, however, developed specific formulations for specific purposes and created an encyclopedia of therapeutic agents that’s still in use today by many physicians and dentists. While others have expounded on and expanded his work, Hahnemann can be viewed as the father of homeopathy.
The idea of this kind of treatment may seem strange or backwards at first. Simply put, a homeopathic dentist or physician prescribes substances that have proven to create similar conditions in healthy people. In some cases, a single agent is given at a time. At our practice, multiple agents are given to help with multiple symptoms possible from dental surgery. Since homeopathy has been found to have no side effects, this seems a reasonable approach.
Interesting, homeopathic agents are considered to be more effective as they are made weaker, so something that is said to have 6x potency has been diluted six times and is more potent in homeopathic effect than something that has diluted only three times.
Increasing The Effectiveness Of Homeopathic Treatments
A number of concept and processes are traditional when dealing with homeopathic treatments. Some are based on science while others are more based on superstition or possibilities, but we recommend observing all standard procedures. These include:
- avoiding touching remedies and taking them directly from the container into the mouth
- placing them under the tongue for maximum effect
- not eating or drinking for 20 minutes before or after the remedies
- avoiding using tea, coffee or mint while using remedies since these substances have a neutralizing impact, and
- avoiding the use of perfumes or other volatile substances in storing the remedies since this can decrease effectiveness.
Our goal is to decrease the pain of all our patients and to increase the effectiveness of every treatment program we prescribe or action we take. Using homeopathy along with standard surgical techniques and other holistic and alternative practices can make dental treatment more pleasant.
Unusual and hard to understand but proven through generations of use, homeopathic treatments can ease dental symptoms and the symptoms of dental surgery, so they should not be discounted. Why not contact us about handling your dental surgery? We’ll make sure we take every action possible so that things go well for you. – (610) 630-7174
Feedback from Dr. Sonia Gupta
We appreciate your kind words Dr Sonia!
“Aloha Dr. Vinograd,
I came across your awesome website and videos and wanted to say thank you for your efforts to educate the public on the raw truth of dentistry and health.
I appreciate your candid and honest approach to providing information and education to people. It is unfortunately rare to find practitioners who take the approach of “do no harm” and “let food be thy medicine”. Your information provided is true and honest and I commend you for that.
My mother always taught us “everything in moderation, including moderation”. You have beautifully mastered this. I love that you point out that there is no one true protocol or website or product. The truth is in the practitioner’s heart and how he or she chooses to use all the protocols and all the information to “do no harm”.
I am a young dentist (somewhat young – 35 yrs old haha) and when I got out of dental school I became somewhat disillusioned with dentistry as I saw it as a “sell out corporate business” instead of healthcare. I followed my passion and stayed true to my soul all these years. I practice yoga and meditation daily. I see dentistry and healthcare as my calling and passion in life to do good for others while balancing running a business. I appreciate that I can share this spirit with someone else in the profession. You are a rare find and a true gem.
Thank you for sharing your wisdom.
With much aloha,
Sonia Gupta, D.D.S.
Maui Dental Group
President, Maui County Dental Society
UCSF School of Dentistry
www.mauidentalgroup.com
Dental Implants Vs Dentures- Making the Right Choice
Everyone’s seen those old movies where the grandparents are talking and their dentures slip out and fall to the ground, or the shows where people have to put their teeth in a glass before they go to sleep. While such things might provide comic relief in cinema, in real life, they can be hugely uncomfortable. Dentures are something that have been in use for centuries. In the olden days, they were extremely expensive as they were made out of ivory or bone. Now, even though the cost is cheaper and the materials less objectionable, they still cause plenty of other problems to people who wear them.
The image of a set of teeth slipping out is actually very plausible. Dentures are fixed inside the mouth by using strong adhesives, such as acrylics. And a lot of it has to be applied to make sure that the dentures stay fixed in place. Applying them every morning or twice a day is an arduous process, and has to be done correctly. Keeping them in position is another nuisance. Dentures often slip and move while talking, eating, and the chances of them actually falling out are high. It becomes very embarrassing, especially in public places, and is psychologically very damaging too.
But it’s not just the social drawbacks. Physically, dentures cause serious pressure effects and bruising on the surrounding area, as well as the area on which they are attached. The constant abrasion as well as irritation from the adhesive causes friction leading to ulcers and sores, which can be extremely painful. Even in partial dentures, the adjacent teeth get eroded and decayed because of the pressure effects of the retainer clamps.
In contrast, dental implants are much easier to use and blend it with the rest of the teeth, too. Dental implants look and function like real teeth, without the nuisance of attaching them and fixing them in place. Once your dentist puts the implant securely into your jaw, he can then place a crown on top of them to strengthen and reinforce. Implants are the best permanent solution to resolve the problem of missing teeth. They don’t need to be replaced, they do not require as much cleaning or maintenance as dentures, and there are no pressure effects on the gum or the surrounding teeth.
The other big advantage of using dental implants is that they have no long term effects on the jawbone. The base of the implants helps reinforce the root of the tooth in the jaw, and make it stronger. This helps prevent erosion of the mandible as well. People are often put off by the price of getting implants as dentures are comparatively a lot cheaper. However, if you take into account the cost of buying dentures again and again, buying binding and acrylic glues, and treatments for the side effects, not to mention the long term side effects themselves, dentures are clearly the better option.
To explore your denture and implant options, call (619) 630-7174 for a free consultation
Dr. Vinograd – Nominated For Best Dentist
Thank you to Jill for nominating Dr. Vinograd as UT San Diego’s best dentist. If you would like to cast your vote for Dr. V, visit http://uniontrib.secondstreetapp.com/l/sdbest-2015-nominate/Ballot/HealthyLiving , click on dentist, then type in Daniel Vinograd, DDS.
Thanks!
San Diego Dentist Eases Your Dental Anxiety with Aromatherapy
According to Wikipedia, approximately 75% of people experience some degree of anxiety about going to the dentist, with as many as 20% experiencing anxiety intense enough to delay dental care until they are in pain. Because of this anxiety, small problems go unaddressed until they become big problems requiring invasive, usually uncomfortable, expensive dental work. For many of these patients, sedation is needed to help them relax.
Our goal at San Diego Dentist is to put you at ease so you are comfortable while we care for your oral health. With this in mind, we are always looking for new ways to ensure your comfort.
When we heard about recent research regarding the ability of aromatherapy to lower anxiety levels, we were intrigued and started offering it to our patients during appointments. Aromatherapy has been used for a variety of problems since ancient times and citrus is well known to alternative medicine for lowering anxiety.
One study that caught our attention was done using orange essential oil on ten boys and twenty girls from six to nine. The children had two separate treatments, each consisting of pain-free treatments that included prophylaxis and sealant. The painless nature of these treatments ensured that discomfort would not skew the results.
Half of the children received the orange aromatherapy during the first treatment and no aromatherapy during the second. The other half received the aromatherapy during the second treatment and nothing during the first.
Anxiety levels in the children were measured both before and after each treatment using their pulse rates and by measuring the amount of salivary cortisol (stress hormone). Both groups of children experienced less anxiety when receiving the aromatherapy than without.
In many people, dental anxiety stems from a previous uncomfortable or painful experience. Anxious patients are more sensitive to pain, making future visits more painful, leading to a neverending cycle of anxiety and pain. Patients may then begin neglecting their oral health, leading to more frequent and severe cavities, and more gum disease.
At San Diego Dentist, we believe that your oral health depends on your comfort. This is the foundation of our practice, and the reason we keep looking for new ways to make sure you are comfortable and relaxed.
If you have dental anxiety and finding yourself dreading going to the dentist, do yourself a favor and give San Diego Dentist a call today – (619) 630-7174
Does Gum Disease Cause Or Worsen Lung Problems?
At first, it seems like there could be no relationship, but it’s a question that’s been studied recently: does periodontal disease cause or worsen the progression of pneumonia and other lung diseases? Amazingly, a review of current research indicates that treating gum disease can reduce pneumonia occurrence by 40 percent.
And there are other findings that show a strong connection between the two conditions.
Nearly 1,700 studies were examined, and 36 of them had relevant information that was included in the analysis by Susanna Paju of the University of Buffalo’s School of Dental Medicine Department of Biology.
This review resulted in two main findings:
– that oral interventions to improve dental hygiene with mechanical or topical chemical means or antibiotics reduce a certain kind of pneumonia by about 40 percent, and
– that numerous studies show a link between gum disease and the collection of debilitating lung conditions called COPD.
Based on the information gleaned from the review of the studies, Paju was able to make some important conclusions, including:
– that colonization in the mouth of lung pathogens that results from bad oral hygiene and the presence of periodontal disease is associated with nosocomial pneumonia
– That more studies are needed to help the medical community better understand the effect of oral hygiene treatment to help prevent this type of pneumonia in high-risk patients, and
– that there isn’t enough information yet to understand the strength or depth of the connection between oral health issues and COPD, so more research in this area is needed as well.
This much is certain, however. The bacteria that causes gum disease is also associated with a growing list of other issues and conditions. It seems prudent, then, for patients to do whatever is necessary to get their mouths healthier so they can enjoy better overall health for years to come. If they don’t, a variety of illnesses may be in the waiting, including serious lung issues.
Link Shown Between Poor Dental Health And Alzheimer’s
A study has show that those who have gum disease and practice poor oral hygiene may be at an increased risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease over those who have good teeth.
The research, conducted in the United Kingdom at the University of Central Lancashire, found that people who have dementia sometimes have the bacterium Porphyromonas gingivalis, associated with gum disease, in their brains. This was found in brain samples of 10 patients with dementia that were donated for medical research compared with 10 brain samples that came from people without this brain condition.
This limited study was published in the respected Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.
This type of bacteria is usually found in the mouth and goes into the bloodstream through all sorts of activities that people do every day, like chewing and eating as well as brushing the teeth. The bacteria is at an increased likelihood of entering the bloodstream immediately following invasive dental treatment.
This study is another in a line of research findings that show a strong link between the brain condition Alzheimer’s Disease and poor oral condition. Researchers in New York found in 2010 evidence that linked the brain issue with gum inflammation. They concluded that gum disease can increase cognitive dysfunction.
Those analyzing the current research indicate that while a link between dementia and other kinds of bacteria and viruses is already established, there has never been evidence of a possible connection between gum disease and Alzheimer’s. The indication of dental work as a trigger is also new.
More research is needed, experts say, to establish whether the link can be proven completely. It isn’t known if bad dental hygiene can cause dementia in healthy people or whether the existence of the bacteria can make an existing dementia condition worse.
It’s even possible that presence of Porphyromonas gingivalis could prove to be a blood test marker that predicts Alzheimer’s development or high risk.