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Holistic Dentistry Highlights New-Age Groton Medical Practice

By Pierre Comtols; Groton Landmark
Updated: 09/12/2009 06:23:45 PM EST

GROTON -- After almost five years at their current location in Mill Run Plaza, the owners of the Groton Wellness Center are certain that they have picked just the right place for their business: an approach to whole body medicine that includes an unusual mix of dentistry, psychology and medical procedures alongside such services as massage, facials and Epsom salt baths more common to day spas.

Rapidly earning a reputation outside the town's borders, the Groton Wellness Center bas succeeded in acquiring a roster of patients who travel from long distances to avail themselves of the kind of services that are still rare in the larger medical community.

"All I can say is that Groton Wellness is a destination place for patients from as far away as Metro Boston, western Massachusetts, Maine, Connecticut and New York," said dentist Jean Nordin Evans, who owns the Wellness Center in partnership with her husband and fellow dentist, Robert Evans.

"Business has been very good," said Evans. "And many of our patients come from a distance because we do things very differently here. We are holistic dentists so we treat the whole person."

Unlike most dentists, if the Evanses detect problems with a patient's teeth, they do not simply fill the cavity or cap the tooth, they frequently recommend other treatments sometimes involving "detoxification" that rids the body of harmful elements generated by unhealthy teeth.

"That means that if there are cavities or gum problems, most likely they are caused by nutritional inadequacies," said Nordin-Evans. "So if there is a change in diet, typically that alone can make a real difference in the health of the patient."

For instance, Nordin Evans said that in the past, many fillings were made with silver that included traces of mercury that eventually leak and get into a person's blood system.

"Mercury is one of the most toxic substances on the planet and silver fillings are 50 percent mercury," said Evans. "To treat its effects, there are several things we do here at Groton Wellness that can help in the detoxification process."

Almost as large as a regional hospital, the 8,600 square feet of the newly expanded business features a modern decor designed to be welcoming to patients often nervous about anything connected to dentistry.

"Our dental offices don't look, sound or smell like a typical dentist's office and for many people, that is a welcome reprieve," said Nordin-Evans.

Indeed, within the company's walls, tidy little rooms are dedicated to patient comfort and care including space for sauna, massage, and different kinds of treatment such as the recently added colon hydrotherapy, another method of mercury detoxification.

"It's definitely a natural fit: dentistry and spa," said Evans. "What better way to care for patients than removing any troubling aspects?"

Part of making patients’ stay at the Wellness Center a more complete experience has been the recent addition of a bistro which serves prepared foods using organically grown ingredients from local farms and dairies. Although the Center has acquired permission from the town to serve food to anyone, only actual patients are allowed to stay and eat within the clinic itself.

Now being served at the bistro are salads, sandwiches, soups and smoothies. Also being sold breakfast foods prepared in the bistro’s modest sized kitchen including eggs, toast and oatmeal as well as such freshly baked foods as cookies and muffins.

Serving their own food on the premises was a natural progression for the Evans as part of their desire to offer a full range of nutritional services to their patients.

"If patients are going to be coming from distances such as Maine and New York, it would be rude if I didn't have any way to feed them," said Evans.

If she could, Evans would also provide patients with places to stay overnight and lamented the fact that Groton did not offer enough accommodations for travelers.

The Groton Wellness Center had begun as the Welness Spa in 2006 when it became one of the first owners of a unit at Mill Run. Since then, the Evans eventually partnered with Bettyann Cernese, owner of the Forward Motion Massage who had also been an early unit owner.

“I was approached in 2008 by the Evanses with the concept of being part of a larger medical center,” said Cernese. “my philosophy was the same as Jean’s in that I believe there are alternative ways to healing. As one of the first tenants at Mill Run, I offered acupuncture, massage, and hypo therapy. The blending of dental and these other kinds of services is the wave of the future. Our partnership has helped business for both of us."

According to both Nordin-Evans and Cernese, the slow down in the economy in Massachusetts and the rest of the nation does not seem to have had much of an impact on their business.

"The state of the economy is not having any effect on our business at all," said Nordin-Evans. "Our patients really want to regain or maintain their health and are willing to acquire our services to do so. That's because what we offer is very, very rare. Holistic dentistry and medicine is very rare and cutting edge."

Nordin-Evans is not prone to exaggeration as a glance at the company's offerings can tell: clinical hypnosis (50 minutes at $120); biofeedback revealing internal physiology to improve self knowledge and self regulation (90 minutes at $150); psychotherapy (50 minutes at $120); zero balancing to align the body's energy with physical structure (60 minutes at $75); manual lymph drainage encourages the elimination of metabolic waste while accelerating the flow of fresh oxygen and nutrients throughout the body (60 minutes at $95); Thai yoga massage (120 minutes at $110); therapeutic clay bath (45 minutes at $100); far infrared sauna (45 minutes at $42); IV vitamin C to decrease damage from free radicals (90 minutes at $104); classic (skin) treatment (120 minutes at $170).

In addition, the center also offers a full slate of programs and seminars including weekly classes in yoga, "love your body" workouts, meditation, Tai Chi, and ''kettlebell" group training.

Free upcoming seminars by staff physician Robert Luby include mercury toxicity and detoxification on Aug. 27 and Sept. 16 and intro to holistic dentistry by Evans herself on Sept. 9.

For a fee of $240, those interested can attend a certification program on nourishing traditions food preparation taught by Leslie Ritchie-Dunham on Aug. 29.

“Groton has been a very good choice as a location for our business,” said Nordin-Evans. “It’s a great place. The people here are very friendly and curious about all that we have to offer. In fact, many of our patients are from Groton and our open houses have been very well received with strong attendance by local residents.”

Those seeking more information about the Groton Wellness Center can call 978-449-9919 or check it out on the Internet at grotonwellness.com.

Mercury-Safe Dental Work

By Hiroko Sato, hsato@lowellsun.com
Updated: 03/02/2009 07:16:45 AM EST

GROTON -- Picture this: You are holding a tooth with an amalgam filling extricated from your mouth under ultraviolet light.

David Kennedy can tell you what you will see next. There will be black shadows of your hand, the tooth -- and a steam-like substance rising from the top of the tooth.

That's exactly what the retired dentist from California saw at the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology (IAOMT)'s 2000 Symposium in Oxford, England, when taping the demonstration put on by his colleague, Roger Eichman of Washington.

The smoke is the vapor of mercury, an EPA-regulated toxin, in the amalgam, Kennedy said. The shadows wailed ferociously when Eichman rubbed the filling with a pencil eraser. Even dipping the tooth in 110-degree water accelerated the emission.

You should know the same thing is happening in your mouth, said Robert Evans, a Groton dentist. After learning about the invisible danger of mercury fillings at a conference like this one 26 years ago, Evans stopped using metallic implants altogether. And it's been the mission of he and his dentist wife, Jean Nordin-Evans, to educate the public about mercury fillings and what you can do if you've got one.

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