Tooth Decay, Wisdom Teeth

[Charles David]

Dear Friends and Family,

I would like to address this question to those of you who are studying or practicing medicine, or who otherwise have experience in these matters.

My wife recently visited a dentist who recommended that she have her three remaining wisdom teeth removed, and also have her old mercury fillings taken out and replaced with gold ones as there is decay around the mercury ones.

My first question is: can the damage of tooth decay be halted and reversed with the proper practice of Shaolin Cosmos Chi Kung?

Secondly: Do we know of any instances in which improperly growing wisdom teeth reright themselves through Chi Kung?

Thirdly: Are fillings, in your experience, an advisable way to deal with tooth decay?

Fourth: Is there any other wisdom on this subject which could help us make a more informed decision.


Thank you for your time.

[Grimlock]

Cha,

Thanks for asking this question. I am starting to deal with a very similar situation!

One of my wisdom teeth is starting to come in, and it is definitely crooked and may be slightly under another tooth. It causes a dull ache. Unfortunately, I'm about to go travelling for a week and a half, so while I'm trying to schedule a consultation before I go, I will have to deal with it afterwards.

I really look forward to responses to Cha's question, and additionally, I'd like to request some advice on dealing with my tooth between now and when I get it taken care of, as well as tips for the recovery. This may also be helpful for Cha's wife if she has to get hers removed.

I believe one of the factors with wisdom teeth is gum space. If there isn't enough room for them to come up, their alignment doesn't matter much. OK, I'll leave it for the pros now!

On a positive note, while my tooth pain isn't bad enough to change how or what I eat, I have noticed that the only time it never bothers me is during my practice. Surprise, surprise!

[drunken boxer]

I too am interested in this (see my thread "Chi Kung Dentistry" - sorry I don't know how to link them).

I have another appointment with the dentist soon, and wanted to know if there were any kungfu techniques to ignore pain, and failing that - which defenses / counters would be most effective against dentists?

[Grimlock]

perhaps give him a dose of his own medicine with your drilling punch?

OK, that was really bad, but I couldn't help it!

[Alberto]

Here´s the address for the thread mentioned by DrunkenBoxer

http://wongkiewkit.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4069

[beggarsu]

Hello cha muir,

Although I don't practice Shaolin Cosmos Chi Kung, I thought I'd share my experience. I've mentioned a couple of times before in other threads the health problems I used to have before practicing Qigong. Besides having asthma, overweight, and frequently sick with colds etc, I also had quite bad teeth health in retrospect. I brushed my teeth 2-3 times a day regularly and floss had special dental products like special gum gels etc. But I had to go to the dentist frequently with toothe aches cavities and concerns etc. When my adult teeth came in, I had to get 4 teeth essentially replaced and rebuilt because they had bad cavities. Now that I practice Qigong, I eat many many times more sweets than I did before (and I ate a lot of sweets then too! ). I don't brush my teeth as frequently anymore, about once a day. My wisdom teeth feel about fully in. I never had any pain from them, and they seem to be normal like all my other teeth (my real ones ). I haven't been to the dentist since when I began Qigong, three years ago. I never have any toothe discomforts, aches, cavities etc anymore. I also mention in other threads how I have obtained some powerful abilities from Qigong practice also. But it's really incredible. Comparing my benefits, I treasure my health fruits I got from Qigong more than my psychic powers. You cannot know health unless you know unconditional health. I can't imagine now being happy in conditions again . Everybody should be allowed to enjoy life in such a way.

Back on topic, I believe dental problems can be treated with Shaolin Cosmos Qigong.

[drunken boxer]

perhaps give him a dose of his own medicine with your drilling punch?

Ha ha, I like it! Unfortunately I can't tell it to my friends as I think it would be lost on them!

[KungFuJoe]

I've been practicing chi kung for over a year now, and while I've experienced many benefits, the wisdom teeth are still coming out!

[Michael Udel]

mercury and other heavy metals

Dear Cha,

Regarding the mercury fillings, there's a lot of talk on this topic in the alternative health circles. Generally speaking, mercury is bad. One of the reasons, perhaps the prime reason, there is no consensus on how bad mercury fillings are and whether or not they should be completely avoided is that the negative effects vary from person to person.

Like anything introduced to the microcosm of an individual person's health, each external factor will affect different people's health in different ways. For all of you science fiction "what if" people who say "But a bullet will kill anyone..." there are plenty of real life examples of the varying effects of bullets, poison, and even the electric chair. Remember Rapsutin?

Anyhow, typical heavy metals fillings made from an amalgam of silver, mercury and other stuff have a certain time period of usefulness or effectice life. Some say 20 years, others point to fillings that are 50 years old and have not failed by allowing gaps between them and the tooth where decay can begin.

I came up against my mercury fillings three years ago when their effective life was used up and my dentist said some gaps were visible as they were about 24 years old. My alternative doctor at the time said mercury was causing me some minor problems and contributing to my headaches. I had all eight fillings removed and replaced with composite material free of all metals, and hopefully not leeching any poisons into my system. There's tons of material on this topic on the Internet. Here's one. Whoops, can't insert links with Firefox, so try http://www.amalgam.org/

If your wife's health is good, I'd say the deleterious effects of the mercury are not a big problem for her currently. If she practices qigong, that can offset such a thing, and also eating cilantro (aka: coriander or Chinese parseley) can help remove heavy metals from a person's system.

Besides fillings, I don't know of a way to deal with tooth decay, especially with a typical cavity, although I agree with beggarsu's comments. My limited experience with the topic has lead me to believe the kidney energy system is the most influential on the general health of the teeth, but I can't find anything written on this, although it's well-known in Chinese Medicine that each tooth is directly linked to a specific meridian.

I recommend against replacing one type of heavy metal fillings with another. So-called "gold" fillings are not 100% gold, and even if they were, they may be detrimental to health as well. Heavy metals are only meant to exist in the body in tiny amounts.

Best wishes for you and your wife and kids,
Michael

[Charles David]

Dear Michael,

Thank you for your kind reply.
My wife has begun to get her mercury fillings removed and replaced with "gold" ones. I will inquire to see what they are really made of.

She has determined that she will not have any new cavities filled but will work on them herself.

[Michael Udel]

mercury dam

Cha,

One important part of removing old fillings, something that you'd expect any dentist to know how to do, is to install a dam in the back of the mouth to prevent the old fillings from flowing down the throat. It's usually a piece of plastic that looks a lot like the mouthguards they wear in American/Canadian football (Go Grey Cup!). My dentist appears to be well-experienced at removing old mercury fillings, and he has a lot of high tech gear so you can watch the inside of your mouth on a computer monitor while he's playing Doctor Drill 'n Fill. I saw that he installed the dam very well, but despite the precautions, large bits of metal amalgam containing mercury slid down the back of my throat like slow-moving poison, and I feared I had swallowed perhaps two or three grams of amalgam fillings during the procedure.

As luck would have it, after he was done and I went to the washroom to rinse my mouth, I automatically ejected all the old fillings like a lion spitting out the "goodness" of his prize in a lion dance. They had not made their way past my pharynx, but were stuck somewhere around my tonsils. I suppose my esophagus rejected them? Guess my body knew best.

As far as regenerating tooth enamel and bone in a situation where cavities are visible to the naked eye, all I can say is I hope you have a digital camera and your wife will permit you to document the before and after. It would be astounding evidence of the benefit of chi-kung. Or Photoshop

Like any ailment, there's an underlying cause or reason as to why cavities occur, and my theory is that it's not directly due to type of food eaten or brushing and flossing habits. Those three things are factors in the equation, but there's something more fundamental, although I don't know what it is.

Best always,
Michael

[Paul bird]

Teeth

I think that using Chi Kung to fill well develope cavities is rather like 'forging a spear when the battle has already begun' . Wilst it is possible, I like to think everything is, it is very difficult. By practising Chi Kung and having a generally healthy lifestlyle the kidneys will become strenghened and they will be able to put more energy into the teeth's protection, in (Chinese medical) theory.

I recently had seventeen (!) mercury fillings removed and re filled with neutral material. I feel it has made a difference. If the mercury does exude from these type of fillings then it surely affects the delicate beneficial bacteria of the intestines upon which a lot of our health depends. Interestingly, since having the fillings removed I no longer crave sugar.

Harder things than filling cavities have been accompished using Chi Kung, for example curing cancer. It is possible. So good luck to your wife!

Paul.

[Charles David]

Dear Michael,

Thanks for your poetic account and vivid imagery!

Dear Paul,

Very nice saying!

Thanks for your encouragement.

In, fact my wife does like to eat sugar. I'll let you know if her cravings diminish after having her mercury removed.

[dra9on]

Charles !!!

It's interesting that you've raised this.. and Paul rightly puts it ... it's not very effective to 'forge a spear when the battle has already begun'..

About 3 days after our course mid last year, 1 of the 1st things that 'happened' to me was that part of my inner molar came off ... by itself.

I believed it was the chi that helped cleared it away.??

Not long after, my wisdom tooth erupted.. it was painful and I did lotsa chi-gong to clear it.. it did subside after awhile.

However, just a month ago ..it erupted again .. and it was ever more painful than b4... so I reluctantly visited the dentist.

The dentist told me that it was my molar that's causing the pain as a result of the erupting wisdom tooth pushing against it.

In hindsight... could I have 'provided' the wisdom tooth with too much energy that it was pushing and thereby destroying the adjacent molar,causing decay


So the molar had to be extracted .. but hey .. you should see how calm I was during the extraction ... completely relaxed

[Grimlock]

Well, I am having my wisdom teeth removed on Friday. I have an option to have just novocaine or that along with a halcyon(?) pill beforehand. Since this is my first "real" dental work (other than a cleaning), I should probably do the pill, too, but right now, I'm still undecided.

Afterwards, I will no doubt be on some sort of pain killers for a while. As far as my chi kung/kung fu practice goes, I will just have to see how I feel, but I am wondering if anyone has any tips/advice? I assume that pain killers or not, if I feel good enough to practice, I should practice, and if I don't, I shouldn't.