Dr. Nammy Patel from San Francisco Green Dentistry discusses holistic health and dentistry, including what holistic health is versus traditional medicine and how it coincides with dentistry.
Holistic health is very different from traditional medicine because it is a normal experience for somebody to go to the doctor and say, “I have a problem. I don’t feel good about myself.” The doctor will say, “Here’s some anti anxiety pills.” And that’s traditional medicine. And if somebody went to a holistic practitioner and said, “I’m having trouble,” the holistic practitioner would look at the hormones, would look at, “Hey, what’s really been going on in your life? Do you really need to talk to a therapist and really talk over what concerns you may have?” to address the underlying concerns versus just a pill.
And what I love about holistic medicine is that we actually look at the root cause of the problem. It’s no longer a Band-Aid solution. It’s really, let’s get to the roots. Yes, we’re going to have to roll up our sleeves and really dig and find out what the issue is, but it sets you up for a long term success. It may be a longer time period, but in the end, you’re going to make sure that you solve the problem for the long term. You also are going to come out well-informed and empowered and in total control, which is so much better than taking an anti anxiety pill and having alcohol after that, then trying drugs, and going down this spiral that doesn’t really serve us.