As discussed in the previous post, a healthy mouth supported by good dentistry and proper diet are key to disease prevention. The precept “Let your food be your medicine and let your medicine be your food” is usually attributed to either Hippocrates, a fifth century B.C. Greek physician, or to Galen, a 2nd century B.C. Roman physician. So, although the idea is far from new, it took ‘pioneers’ in the ‘health food’ movement to influence consumers with the idea that food should, in fact, offer healthy nutrition. Dr. Bieler, creator of the well known Bieler broth recipe, Jethro Kloss, author of Back to Eden, and Bernard Jensen, the well-known nutritionist began to steer people back to that way of thinking. Other influential writers who have been thought leaders in this area include Paavo Airola, Adele Davis and Jeraldine Saunders.
In dentistry, the most influential person regarding the impact of diet and nutrition on dental health and disease was Dr. Weston Price, who founded the National Dental Association and was its President from 1914 to 1928. The NDA became the research department of the American Dental Association, which is the modern day educational and regulatory body of the dental profession. In 1939, Dr. Price published Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, which assessed the impact of diet on the various cultures he found on his travels. In his encounters with Aborigines, Native Americans and Polynesians, he found that wherever processed foods replaced the traditional diet, there was a corresponding increase in dental problems and in disease.
These observations lead to his conclusion that the staples of the modern Western diet like sugar, flour and processed vegetable fats, were an underlying cause of many dental and health issues due to a deficiency of minerals, lack of fiber and other nutritive factors.
Carey O’Rielly DDS has been a practicing dentist for 35 years. He went to USC Dental School and Duke University for his undergraduate degree. He grew up in Laguna Beach and now lives in La Costa with his wife Victoria, who runs his office.
He began his career by owning and operating a network of six offices in the San Francisco Bay Area. Presently he owns a private holistic practice in North County San Diego’s Encinitas.
Dr. O started looking for solutions to his health challenges that resulted from the stress and environmental toxicity that built up over a ten year period running his dental network. He has dedicated himself to learning about oral systemic problems and how dentistry can affect your health. He has applied what he has learned over the last twenty years to ensure he, his staff and his patients are protected from the chemicals and toxic materials found in most dental offices. He has produced an environmentally friendly office that is also peaceful and calm.
He is an expert on dental materials having looked at hundreds of biocompatibility lab tests over the years. He has identified the most bio-friendly materials to use in his practice and which dental materials can be used to replace metal fillings and crowns, including BPA free and fluoride free ‘white’ fillings. He also uses metal-free Zirconia or ceramic implants and PRF (platelet-rich fibrin) grafting materials which come from the patient’s own blood.
Dr. O’Rielly teaches C.E. courses on the systemic effects of gum disease. He is an expert in using phase contrast microscopy for analyzing dental infections, where he shows patients what kind of microbes, i.e. bacteria, amoeba, and yeasts like candida are populating the mouth and affecting the body as a whole.
He has an educational blog and is writing a book on dental health called ‘Hidden Dental Infections: Healing Root Canals and Infected Teeth with the Erbium Laser’ where he discusses dental nutrition, toxic dental materials and the effects of old root canals on inflammation and overall health.
