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ePaper created 2015-08-28, 13:01:48 | version 1.38.0
40 I I opinion _ significance of teeth cosmeticdentistry 2_2015 _The aim of this article is to offer readers in- formation on a topic that is discussed very rarely in dental journals: how tooth position and dam- age to individual teeth reflect emotional and health status. In 2000, I read a book by French dentist Dr Michèle Caffin, Quand les dents se mettent à parler (When the teeth talk).1 Because I was most intrigued by the findings of my French colleague, I started to observe these relationships and document them. I encouraged my patients to talk about their troubles and problems that did not appear to be overtly dental. In this manner, psychosomatic medicine2, 3 has inconspicuously become part of treatment. It helps patients who are healthy biochemically, radiologically, etc., but who still exhibit dental problems. In order to avoid constantly flipping through my records, I created convenient one-page dia- grams mapping the significance of individual teeth. The colours correspond to acupuncture pathways.4 The relationship of acupuncture path- ways to different groups of teeth will be dis- cussed in Part II of this article. In Part I, I seek to convey an unconventional perspective of teeth as a mirror of emotional and health status in patients based on my more than ten years of experience. Ifwelookatthejawsfromthisunconventional perspective, then the upper jaw firmly attached to the skull represents our wishes (Fig. 1). Par- ticularly its width and regular tooth alignment in the jaw indicate that the patient is able to express Fig. 2 Fig. 3 Our wishes Our actions Right maxilla Left maxilla Right mandible Left mandible Future Past Fig. 1 What do our teeth betray about us?—Part I Author_Dr Stanislav Cícha, Czech Republic