What is homeopathy?

Homeopathy is a natural system of medicine developed almost 300 years ago by German physician Samuel Hahnemann.

It relies on the principle of “let likes be cure by likes”, and uses natural substances of animal, vegetable or mineral origin to create medicines known as remedies.

For example...

If a person has hay fever, they experience burning and running eyes and nose.

The juice of the common onion is known to cause burning and running eyes and nose, so a homeopathic remedy made from the juice of the onion...

…is frequently used to cure hay fever.

Homeopathic remedies are discovered through a scientific process known as a ‘proving’. In a proving, a group of symptom-free individuals are each given repeated doses of a new remedy...

The symptom that is common to all of the participants () will become what that remedy will be primarily used to treat.

Homeopathy is widely practiced in Europe, India, Australia, and New Zealand, and is growing again in popularity in the United States.

It was once so popular here that the world famous Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia was named after the founding father of homeopathy.

Homeopathy fell out of favor in the early 1900’s when the science behind the manufacturing process could not be explained.

Homeopathic remedies are manufactured through a process of repeated shaking and dilution, known as ‘succussion’.

Just as raw onion juice (‘mother tincture’)cannot be used to treat hay fever, most homeopathic remedies must be diluted many, many times in order to make a remedy.

Beyond a succession process that produces a remedy of 12C potency or higher, molecules of the original substance are no longer present. This gives headaches to modern day chemists who proclaim that if no molecules of the active substance remain, then the remedy must be useless.

But homeopathic remedies are more like information than they are like pharmaceuticals--information that our body can read and react to. And we all know that information doesn’t have to weigh anything….

If two computer disks are placed on a sensitive scale, and one is empty, while the other is full of data, will the full one weigh more???

Centuries of successful use, as well as recently performed scientific experiments published in well known medical journals attest to the unmistakable benefits of homeopathic remedies.

Some homeopathic remedies are especially useful in dentistry. The following information is for educational purposes only and is not intended as a recommendation for specific treatment. It is always best to consult with your own dentist or homeopath before taking any of the remedies listed here:

General Homeopathic Guidelines

Potencies (‘strengths’) of remedies most useful in dentistry are 30C, with 6C being useful on the lower end and 200C being useful on the higher end.

Remedies should be taken only when the symptom picture matches that of the remedy, often one dose (3 to 5 pellets under the tongue) are all that is needed. Remedies may be repeated as often as every half hour if the symptom picture remains.

Homeopathic remedies are antidoted by mint, camphor, eucalyptus, and coffee (even decaf). These substances must be avoided during use of remedies.

If you would like to learn about the most commonly used homeopathic remedies in dentistry, click here.