The Occlusion Debate.
Have We "Felt" All Of The Elephant?
William G. Dickerson, DDS, FAACD
Why are so many people so defensive and adamant that their view of dentistry is the right one? Why do you have experts in the same field of dentistry arguing and disagreeing with each other? Why are their so many opinions by those teaching others? Who's right and who's wrong?
I just finished a book called The Exit Strategy. It has nothing to do with dentistry, but there is an explanation in there about financial matters that hit home when I read it. It was a great analogy to explain the problems we have in dentistry now. I hope it helps us all understand what is necessary to really understand our profession.
I think we all could study dentistry for the rest of our lives and not know everything there is to know about it. There is not one dentist out there that knows everything there is to know about dentistry although many think they do. But dentistry is informationally huge. Of course the average dentist doesn't know that because they "don't know what they don't know". They assume what they know in their world is all dentistry has to offer. But dentistry is like an elephant. Huge and massive with many different parts.
The story I read is of six blind men, who have never seen an elephant and were asked to describe it. They were all allowed to feel the elephant. The first one felt the tusk and said, this animal is very much like a saber, hard and sharp. The second man felt the trunk and said, this animal is like a snake, long and narrow. The third felt the ear and said, this animal is like a fan, flat and big. The fourth felt the leg and said, this animal is like a tree with a big trunk. The fifth felt the side of the body and said, this animal is like a wall, wide and tall. The sixth felt the tail and said, this animal is like a rope, thin and long.
Of course they all argued with each other, calling the other one stupid, absurd, etc. That is what's happening in dentistry. Unfortunately, we are informationally blind and don't see all the elephant, only what we have "felt" and experience. We all know our "section" of the animal. We all know the part that we have been exposed to, and are CERTAIN we are right because we felt it with our own two hands or saw it with our own two eyes. Which one of the blind man in this story is right? They are all right and they are all wrong.
Reading this story reminded me of the occlusion debate. People who have not seen the body of the elephant, but only the tail, are convinced that it is not a sharp hard creature like those that have felt the tusk. And of what they know, they are right. They have felt the tail and it sure isn't a hard sharp animal. Well, people who criticize neuromuscular dentistry are exactly the same. They have only felt the tail and are convinced that those people who say it's a hard thing are wrong. And of course, having their favorite guru say that they have felt the tusk and it's not sharp and hard at all, doesn't help. The problem is that they NEVER felt the tusk. They don't know anything about the tusk. It's obvious because what they are saying about the tusk is wrong.
What neuromuscular dentistry provides is an incredible ability to see the whole picture. As in the example, it allows the dentist to predictably restore people to the most comfortable position possible. We know this because it's proven before we restore the teeth. We can cure headaches, backaches, muscle pain, vertigo, stuffy ears, etc. All because we restored the patient to the most neurologically and muscularly comfortable position.
An example of this is Dr. Gary Pelligi. As you can see he had some serious occlusal problems. (fig 1 - 2) He was rejected for treatment by seven CR based dentists. They were unaware of "other parts of the elephant". Gary was taking 6 to 8 Advils a day for lower back pain and headache. Once restored in his neuromuscular position, his pains went away. (fig 3 + 4) He no longer takes ANY medication. There are many more even more dramatic examples than Gary. The unleashed power of dentistry is VERY exciting..
What my vision of LVI is, with the help of the vast experts we have teaching, is to try to expose the ENTIRE elephant to the profession. The problem is, we only know the sections we've "felt". Sure there may be more of the "elephant" than we know. But that's why this is such an exciting journey. The discovery of all parts of the elephant is so eye opening. Imagine the blind man who felt the ear before, now feeling the tusk. Wouldn't he be amazed at the difference? Finding parts we never knew existed is what makes dentistry so exciting. Explaining those parts to the masses that have never seen anything but the part that they know is also exciting. It's an awesome responsibility, but that is the mission of all of us here at LVI. It's not a job. It's a purpose to our life.
I invite all of you who have never been to LVI to come and find out parts of the elephant you have never seen. I am inviting those of you who have been to programs at LVI to continue your dissection of the elephant as you may think you've seen all of it, but you haven't. I want everyone to be excited about dentistry as I am.
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