In case you missed the New Southwest article -
Healthy teeth reflect a healthy body, mind
The New Southwest featured Dr. Swidler in this article reflecting on total body wellness. Posted here is an excerpt, but the article is terrific, click here to read it in its entirety.
Healthy Teeth - Healthy Body
But what if we experienced dentistry as a portal to high-level wellness for the whole body? Mind? Spirit? What if we said, “My knee is killing me and I’m exhausted all the time. I wonder if my body and jaw are misaligned?” Or we left a dental office feeling refreshed, on the path to reinvigorated head to toe health?
“What would [health] look like at its best?” is a personal challenge that has guided Dr. Steven Swidler, D.D.S. from traditional premed studies to holistic dentistry.
Holistic dentistry provides support for the whole human being, honoring the vital connection between the spiritual, physical, and emotional. In its most primitive form, it “recognizes there’s a person attached to the tooth. We’re not here to fix the tooth and traumatize the person,” says Swidler, founder of Medicine Wheel Dental, an integrative dental practice.
The need to honor his own spirit, mind, and body is what led Swidler into dentistry in the first place. “You know how you start on a path in life and you feel like it’s taking you, instead of you choosing it?” he asks. He experienced that when he was a premed student at the University of Illinois, so he stepped back and envisioned all the things he truly loved. “Biology, helping people, arts and crafts. I wanted to be my own boss.” What could possibly meet all those requirements? Dentistry. Of course.