Tuesday, July 28, 2015


Phase Three of the Huggins-Grube Protocol – Acupressure

“Putting out the fire doesn’t rebuild the house.” These insightful words are from a short pamphlet called “The Assist Report.” Huggins Applied Healing published it in order to give an overview of our Patient Protection Protocol. And, the quoted sentence above goes right to the heart of its third phase.  

Inner Roadways

You’ll recall my road analogy from last week’s post. Well, the first post-operative treatment I want to discuss is all about roads. Only, they’re on the inside, so to speak.

I’m talking about what Oriental medicine calls “meridian lines.” Meridian lines are essentially the invisible pathways connecting the various key points in the body. It is thought that these key points are where a person’s vital energy is localized.

Puncture and Pressure

For thousands of years, Oriental medical practitioners have treated patients on the basis of these “vital energy points.” When thin needles are inserted into these points, the therapy is called acupuncture. On the other hand, when hand pressure is applied to these same points, the treatment is called acupressure. The general theory behind both modalities is the same. Only the practical applications differ.

Acupressure, thus, is a kind of Oriental massage.  Here at Centers for Healing, acupressure is usually made available to patients immediately following dental revision work. Dental procedures can interrupt, or “scramble,” the normalelectrical impulses that connect the body’s vital energy points. Bottom line: acupressure is able to “reintroduce” a person’s nervous system to his or her muscular system.

The Dental Meridian Chart

There’s more. If you’ve ever visited our Scranton office, you may have noticed a large chart on the wall of the waiting area. This dental meridian chart details the relationship between each tooth in a person’s mouth and a particular bodily organ. Kind of gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “We are all connected,” huh? The truth is that each one of us – before being connected with those around us – is an elaborate series of biological, chemical, and electrical interconnections. In the trillions!

I don’t know about you, but I find all of this absolutely fascinating. However, there’s way too much to say about it a single blog post, so I’ll surely be coming back to this topic in future posts. For now, you just need to know that acupressure is one of the many post-revision therapies we use at Centers for Healing.

Meanwhile, take good care, and enjoy the summer. As always, we’d love to hear from you! In other words: stay connected!

All the best,

Dr. Blanche

Monday, July 20, 2015

Phase Three of the Huggins-Grube Protocol – The Road Back to Health



Phase Three of the Huggins-Grube Protocol – The Road Back to Health
Last week, we completed our review of the second, or principal, phase of our Patient Protection Protocol. I say “principal” because that’s where the dental rubber meets the proverbial road. That is, where the main work of revision occurs.

The Road Continues

Getting the toxic materials out of your mouth, however, is just the beginning of your journey toward recovered health and wellness. After all, if we’ve tried to get anything clear in these posts it’s that there’s an awful lot more to good health than a healthy smile, much less a pretty one.

So, yes, getting you back to a state of good health is a journey. And, the length of that journey depends on several factors, varying in degree from one person to another. Some of those critical factors are

·      how sick/healthy were you before revision
·      how much revision actually took place
·      how serious are you about getting better

The Will To Heal

I can hear some of you as you read those last words. “Whoa! Are you kidding, Dr. Blanche? Of course I want to get better!” Do you? I mean, I know some of you were hurting pretty badly when you first came to our center. However, others among you were in relatively little to no pain at all. Regardless, now is when you really show how serious you are about being healthy. How serious, and how willing to work for it.

After all, my patients each have one major thing in common. Namely, each and every one of you was toxic. Poisoned. Unwell. Sound harsh? Trust me, the sound of the words is nothing compared to the reality of the toxicity.

Thankfully, you are now on the other side of that hurdle. But, we’ve got to get you walking (maybe even crawling first) before you can start running again. That’s precisely what Phase Three of the Protocol is all about.

Tools For Healing

So, over the course of the next few weeks, I’ll be discussing some of the more important means we use to help you along the road to recovered health. Some may be a little surprising. Others may seem like such common sense that you wonder why we need to spell them out. Well, you know what they say about common sense, right?

Again, the success of many of these methods depends a lot upon the recovering patient. How badly he or she wants to get better. How much he or she is willing to do – and even sacrifice – in order to get there.

Rest assured, though: we’re here to help you every step of the way. Heck, some of us have even walked the road ourselves. Either way, if you’re serious about getting better, then we’ll gladly meet you more than half way. Sound good?

Let’s get moving then!

All the best,

Dr. Blanche

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Phase Two of the Huggins-Grube Protocol – Negative Ion Generators (“Scrubbing the Air”)

Phase Two of the Huggins-Grube Protocol – Negative Ion Generators (“Scrubbing the Air”)Negative ionization is a powerful and very effective way of removing mercury vapor from the air in a dental office.  But, first of all, what’s negative ionization all about?


So, the rubber dam is an effective tool for protecting the inside of your mouth from spraying mercury during amalgam extraction. But, what about atmospheric mercury: those tiny particles released into the air during the revision process?

Air Scrubbing

Well, we’ve got you covered there, too! Negative ionization to the rescue!

Negative ionization is a powerful and very effective way of removing mercury vapor from the air in a dental office.  But, first of all, what’s negative ionization all about?

Electrically Charged Air Molecules

It is estimated that in every cubic centimeter of air, there are anywhere from 1,500 to 4,000 ions. Some of these are positively charged, and the rest are negatively charged. There’s no third option.

Since the Earth’s surface itself is negatively charged, it naturally repels negative air ions, which are very mobile. They’re also incredibly beneficial to human beings – to all living things, in fact.

If you want an image of how negative ions make us feel, picture yourself at the beach or seated next to a waterfall. Calming, right?

The amazing thing here is that “too much of a good thing” doesn’t apply to negative ionization. You just feel – and biologically are – better and better.

Feeling Groovy

One major benefit of an increase in negative ions is the increase of available serotonin in the body. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter, naturally produced by the body, that is responsible for mood balancing. Bottom line: the higher your serotonin levels are, the better you feel. Think of it like our natural “happy” chemical.

Increased healing of lung problems is another benefit of negative ionization. It also acts as a brain stimulant, so it’s ideal for maintaining attention, during study for example. Hence the popularity of small ionizers for desktop use. 

However, our point here is not what ionization does for the student, but what it does for the dental patient.

Back in the Chair

Remember that high-speed drill I spoke of in last week’s post?

Let’s say the average amalgam filling contains anywhere from 40 to 50 percent mercury. Well, when that high-speed drill comes into contact with such a filling, the resultant concentration of mercury vapor in the air in front of your nose can increase rapidly. In fact, the level can be higher than a normal mercury-measuring device can even register. As in off the scale!

That means that your lungs, those of your dentist, and those of any attending assistants are working at full power just to filter all of this toxic gas in the air. This is an overwhelming task, and it is hardly a healthy one.

Negative Ion Generators

Enter the negative ion generators. There are basically two types of these devices.

The first simply charges mercury in the air, causing it to fall to the floor. Of course, then the floor needs a thorough scrubbing! And, we’re not talking about ordinary pathogens, bad as they are.

The second kind of deionizer targets the whole dental activity area, capturing the airborne mercury in a filter on the opposite side of the room. This is more effective, since it virtually eliminates the vaporized mercury from the room.

Truth is Stranger than Fiction

All of this may seem a little sci-fi, but that’s only because the science behind the fiction is real! What’s not fictitious is how seriously we take both our patients’ and our own health, especially when it’s a question of heavy metal toxicity.

We’ll talk more about the benefits of negative ionization in future posts. For now, thanks for reading these posts. All of them are designed to give you a clearer idea of our Patient Protection Protocol.

Stay tuned for next week’s post, as we move into the Protocol’s third, and final, phase. Until then, take good care!

All the best,

Dr. Blanche

Monday, July 6, 2015



Phase Two of the Huggins-Grube Protocol – Part Two Rubber Dam (“The Tooth Raincoat”)


Hopefully, last week’s post on our use of intravenous Vitamin C here at Centers for Healing gave you a good idea of how much we do to protect the patients sitting in our dental chairs. Now, let’s have a look at yet another tool we use for the same purpose. 

Holding Back the Water

The rubber dam has been around for decades, long before the present “amalgam war” had begun. We called them “tooth raincoats,” a description children grasped intuitively. All dams have a single major function: to hold back water, right? Well, the dental rubber dam is no different.

Keeping the Workspace Clean and Dry

In all dentistry, biological and otherwise, the rubber dam is a valuable tool, since it keeps the part of the mouth where the dental team is working clean and dry. A thin piece of rubber with holes punched into it, the rubber dam is lubricated with vaseline. This permits it to slip over the teeth, creating an effective barrier against water.

Draining the Toxic Sludge

Water is not the only thing the rubber dam holds back, however. When amalgams are removed, a toxic mercury sludge is created. Now, if mercury is bad news for your teeth, imagine what a danger it presents to the much softer tissue in your mouth!

Mercury Spray

Think about it for a moment. That drill bit in the dentist’s hand is spinning at 150,000 revolutions per minute, spraying mercury – vapor and particulates – everywhere. High suction and rinsing aren’t enough to keep that mercury from covering both the insides of your cheeks – the most absorptive external body area – and the floor of the mouth, which is second only to the cheeks for absorption capacity. To protect these sensitive areas, we add to the dam a layer of sulphur cream, precisely to provide a second layer of protection while mercury is being blasted-out.

Why go to the trouble of extracting amalgam fillings – which have been leaching mercury all along – only to aggressively dump the remaining mercury and other toxins directly into your bloodstream?

Old Dog, New Trick

So, you can see how we use the rubber dam, which has been around a long time, in a new, very effective way. This is what we’re all about here at Centers for Healing: the safe and speedy restoration of health. And we’re always looking for ways to do this even more safely and quickly! Stop by and see us if your summer travels bring you through northeast Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, have a wonderful summer.

All the best,