Grand Rapids Magazine GRANDSTAND section December 10, 1993 By Jill Bransdorfer Marthinsen "You're more than a set of teeth running around," said Kevin Flood, DDS, describing his client approach to holistic dental practice. "To me, traditional medicine is holistic medicine," said Flood. It's a return to an ages-old, integrated and interdisciplinary view of human health. The traditional medical diagnosis can fall short in it's tendency to focus on symptoms - and not root causes - of health and illness, he believes. Flood's dental practice offers traditional dentistry supported by a number of alternative approaches, among them osteopathy, physical therapy, nutritional counseling, homeopathy and Rolfing. The practice differs from its more traditional counterpart in a number of ways; it's interdisciplinary, it requires client participation and it routinely networks clients with other health care providers. It's also part of a growing trend.

Nationally, alternative health care is gaining public momentum -- and the traditional medical community's growing recognition. A loosely used term covering a variety of disciplines, alternative health care approaches are related more though philosophy than practice. Good health is believed ot be expressed and experienced on levels beyond the strictly physical; poor health is understood to be more than the sum of it's ailing organs and diseased parts. Many clients new to Floods dental practice already have made the health care rounds. "We often see people who have been treated, but not helped," said Flood. Frustrated on arrival, they may be surprised by the thorough interview a their first appointment. Opening an evolving client dialogue is central to the practice.

Though seemingly elemental, a traditional medical approach sometimes fails to encourage meaningful communication. "It's about establishing relationships - ours to them, them to us, them to their health or to their disease," Flood said. Following an appointment with Flood, clients are offered a clinical opinion of their condition. Even when the diagnosis includes the need for a specific dental procedure, say a root canal, clients are free to choose the course of their treatment. Should the client opt not to pursue a given procedure, they're informed of their decision's consequences, and are offered alternate ways to address the condition. Treatment options could include work with Teresa Pearce, the practice's on-site certified Rolfer. A hands-on, interdisciplinary approach, Rolfing was developed by Ida Rolf, Ph.D., and maintains that proper body alignment results in better health. Rolfing involves stretching and manipulation of the body's fibrous connective tissue. "(It's) as system, not a technique," Pearce said. A complement to Flood's practice, Rolfing encourages a client's active treatment participation and the accompanying client dialogue to support that aim. "How someone moves though life is more important than someone standing with perfect posture," said Pearce. "We believe no one thing will bring a person to good health. We provide an integrated, education approach." Pearce also tried in movement education, yoga, message therapy and cranial-sacral work. Client treatment also might include referrals to a network of other physicians, osteopaths, physical therapists, psychologists or social workers.

In working with the more traditional medical community, "We really provide adjunct, not alternative, therapy," Pearce said. "We're helping people discover their role in their good health, more than just fixing a problem," noted Flood. Referrals are made to health care providers haring the practice's integrated health philosophy. As a network and health care resource, "We try to go out in the community and make personal contacts with health care providers we feel can facilitate the client's healing process," Flood said. "Not only do we know what they do," he added, "we know what they're about." Treatment options vary, but the philosophy that clients must accept and embrace responsibility for their own health is the unifying constant. "We require it," said Pearce.