A Long Autobiography
My life before dentistry was that of a typical child growing up in suburban Sydney, Australia in the 1950’s and 60’s. I am very grateful to my parents who have never stopped loving me. Having come from war torn Europe as refugees, they made it possible for me to have a loving home and a great education. They have with all of their hearts made my life very comfortable. What a great start – thank you!
I am very grateful for the time and place of my birth. I have all my life (so far) avoided major conflicts and wars and had the great fortune to be exposed in my early years to some of the greatest and most revolutionary thinkers of the twentieth century. Even my potential conscription to the American war in Vietnam was cut short when Mr Whitlam became Prime Minister and pulled Australia out of the place.
The heady days of the 1970’s, when I went to university, were full of things to learn and do – Vietnam moratoriums were a way of life. So was wondering if a nuclear holocaust would wipe us all out before the end of the cold war. Physics tutors walked around the campus with bells on their sandals, below their long hair and floral jeans and most of us were wondering what life was all about. The peace movement was in full swing and the spin doctors were doing all they could to hang on to the reigns. Tree-hugging hippies were thrown into gaol for saving the little bits of forest that we still have today, (thank you), and women were burning their bras. Make love not war became a wonderful way of life. Idealism was high in the consciousness. The Beatles had introduced their Indian guru to the west and music from all around the world was beginning to reach Australia, as was the foreign healing modalities which were cursed by the establishment as much as the long-haired hippies. It was so exciting to realize that there were many ways of doing things and also many ways of being. The teachings from other religions opened new spiritual dimensions that westerners had only occasionally glimpsed. Research on LSD and Telekinesis seemed to go hand in hand with the discoveries of Kirlian photography and the fact that all living beings DO have an electric field around them. New research was developing in homeopathy, herbal treatments, and many other healing modalities. The dangers of environmental pollution were emerging after the pioneering work of Rachel Carson. The students union was a training ground for some of our currently most astute political journalists & philosophers. It was a time when people had the ability to speak out and politicians (as always) counted the numbers.
Graduating from Sydney University in 1975, I immediately started working for a dentist who had set up the first private after-hours dental service in Sydney. I became very efficient at placing amalgam, doing root therapies and loads of forceps (= brutality) extractions. I jumped in at the deep end and learnt to do everything that I was taught at university very well. In 1976 I traveled to India where I stayed for 5 months, learning about a very different way of living and my first real introduction to humility. From here England and Europe became my home for the next couple of years. It was a different learning that happened there.
Post-graduate dental courses were a way of life both in England and Australia. All of the usual mechanical courses through to sedation and anesthesia and hypnosis were attended. After a while it was more of the same and my interests began to move outside of dentistry. The first course of Shiatsu in 1981, changed my life forever. There was a passion to learn as many other healing modalities as I could, but hands-on healing in the massage world became a way of life. Swedish, Remedial, Chinese, Cranio-Sacral and many other forms.
By 1987 I had spent thirteen years of my life doing all of the dentistry that the university still teaches to this day. There was a growing disillusionment with what I was doing, especially as I had seen so many amazing healings in the “Alternate” world. In 1997 massage became my way of life and dentistry I thought, was finished forever.
(As a brief aside, I must add that I hate the word ‘alternative’ as it implies that it is still second to the ‘real’ or ‘allopathic’ medical approach. It is not inferior in any way – just different!)
Then a chance lecture about TMJ Dysfunction seemed to bring together much of my experience in the massage world. The relationships between jaw movement and the rest of the body are profound. Returning to dentistry with a friend and previous dental partner, who had been a practicing acupuncturist for many years as well, opened up new dimensions in dentistry that I had never heard of. In late 1991 I had the good fortune to study with Dr Hal Huggins in Colarado. He opened my eyes to the dangers of amalgam and root canal therapy. I have never looked back. Since then there have been many great teachers from all different walks of life. I am indeed fortunate to have met these people.
In 1994 I, with a group of 24 other dedicated dentists and doctors, were instrumental in forming the Australian Society of Oral Medicine and Toxicology, which introduced these concepts to the Australian public and dental profession. ASOMAT has held 5 international dental conferences bringing experts from around the world to speak.
In 2004 I released my first documentary about the dangers of mercury amalgam, called “Quecksilber – the Strange Story of Dental Amalgam”. The next documentary about root canal therapy is simply called “ROOTED” and was released in 2006. Two books on these subjects are about to be released.
Information must become visible. We have a right to be true to ourselves, and I believe in fact, a moral obligation. How else can we help each other?
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