Question:
Laundry bluing, bee venom and an alternative to mercury: These threeexamples opened my mind. That is what I ask of you, the reader, as youpick up this book. Open your mind, and make your own thoughtful,informed decisions about what you may learn here.

Answer: “I took so much medicine I was sick a long time after I got well”.-Carl Sandburg, The People, Yes

I was fortunate to be raised in a household where folk medicine wascommon practice. Therefore, when I was growing up, alternativemedicine was always an option. We lived on an isolated farm inMichigan back then, but my grandmother Maggie had grown up in ruralMississippi, attuned to folkways. My youngest uncle suffered fromepilepsy in those days before there was any reliable treatment forcontrolling seizures. I remember how Maggie would hover over him whenhe had a seizure, dribbling a thimbleful of laundry bluing into hismouth.

That was the remedy she had learned in Mississippi. (To this day,probably out of dread, I have never identified the specific ingredientin the laundry bluing manufactured in the thirties that was supposedto help my uncle recover from his seizures. But the important thingwas that Maggie believed the treatment worked, and because shebelieved it, my uncle did, too.)

Years later, because of an accident I had on a movie set, thecartilage in my knees had virtually given out. At one point I couldbarely walk. I was advised to go to New Mexico to try a therapy with aGerman doctor who was practicing holistic medicine. He gave meinjections of bee venom in my knees and other pressure points, and mycondition improved, at least to the extent that I could functionagain. I had been told that I would eventually need to have kneereplacement surgery, but the idea was to forestall replacement as longas I could. My experience with bee venom was my first attempt to electalternative means of healing.

Before I met Dr. Robert Kulacz, I needed root canal surgery. After anumber of tests, it was determined I should be very careful about thekind of metal that went into my teeth. I set out to learn all I couldabout the risks of mercury fillings. At the time, more and more peoplewere acknowledging the potential problems with mercury fillings, butmost dentists were reluctant to consider alternate materials. They didnot want to let go of traditional methods or established treatments. Iwanted to find a dentist who was open to new procedures, and my searcheventually led me to Bob Kulacz.

When I approached him, he was aware of the controversy about mercuryfillings but he had not yet tried alternative treatments. Not only didDr. Kulacz agree to give me fillings without mercury, his fascinationwith the whole subject led him into extensive research. As this bookdemonstrates, he opens his mind to new possibilities in his field,investigating and testing as he tries to find the best ways of caringfor his patients.

The book Dr. Kulacz and Dr. Levy have written explores the connectionbetween dentistry and medicine. Connection is the key word here. Everyhuman being is an entity of body, mind and spirit. In the universe ofthe human body, as the old song goes, "The head bone's connected tothe neck bone," and so on. It is those dentists and physicians thatlook for connections who are most likely to serve their patients well.Not surprisingly, holistic medicine actively involves the patient aswell as the doctor. The patient's obligation is to be as open mindedand as aggressive as possible in the stewardship of his own health.

Laundry bluing, bee venom and an alternative to mercury: These threeexamples opened my mind. That is what I ask of you, the reader, as youpick up this book. Open your mind, and make your own thoughtful,informed decisions about what you may learn here.