Level 17, 111 Elizabeth Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Level 17, 111 Elizabeth Street, Sydney NSW 2000
About SHDC
Our philosophy is simple to say and demanding to practise: the mouth belongs to a person, and the person's whole health is our concern. Since 1983, that idea has shaped every decision at Sydney Holistic Dental Centre, from the materials we place to the questions we ask at your first visit. This page explains the thinking, the Five Pillars of Health model we use with every patient, and why informed choice sits at the centre of it all.
SHDC Clinic Image
Most dental care is organised around disease: find the decay, fix the decay, repeat. Necessary work, and we do it to a high standard. Our focus, though, is on the conditions that created the problem. Why did this tooth crack? Why does decay keep returning to a mouth that is brushed twice a day? Why does this patient grind through a splint every year? Answering the why is how dentistry stops being an endless repair cycle.
SHDC at a Glance
1983
Practising whole-person dentistry in the Sydney CBD
1987
Mercury-free — 35 years before the global phase-out agreement
32,000+
Amalgam fillings safely replaced under SMART protocol
AHPRA
All dentists university trained and currently registered
4 decades
Watching fringe ideas become published science and formal regulation
"A filling is an excellent repair and a poor strategy. If we fix the tooth and ignore the grinding, the airway or the diet that broke it, we have booked the next repair, not restored health. Our job is to work ourselves out of the repair business, one patient at a time."
DR CRAIG WILSON — PRINCIPAL DENTIST
Craig image
Every treatment plan at SHDC sits on five foundations. They come up in almost every consultation because they are involved in almost every oral health problem we see.
Pillar
The Dental Connection
Sleep
Poor or fragmented sleep is tightly linked to night-time clenching and grinding, morning headaches and worn, cracked teeth. Sleep quality is assessed at every comprehensive consultation.
Breathe
Nasal breathing filters, warms and humidifies air and supports normal jaw development. Habitual mouth breathing is associated with dry mouth, crowded teeth and disrupted sleep.
Nourish
Diet drives decay risk and gum health far more than brushing technique does. Frequency of sugars and refined carbohydrates matters as much as quantity.
Move
Posture, especially head and neck posture, influences jaw position, muscle tension and headache patterns.
Thought
Stress shows up in the mouth: clenching, grinding, ulcers, neglected routines. Managing it is part of managing oral health.
A restoration is a long-term resident of your body. That is why we stopped placing mercury amalgam in 1987, why our composite resins are BPA-free, and why we favour ceramic restorations for larger repairs. It is also why we offer both ceramic and titanium implant options and discuss the materials question openly rather than defaulting to habit. The global dental profession has been moving steadily in this direction: amalgam has been capsulated-only in Australia since January 2024 and will be phased out globally by 2034.
Patient smiling image
Some questions in dentistry have honest disagreement behind them. Should intact amalgam fillings be removed? Is a root canal the right way to save this tooth? On these questions, we hold a consistent position: our role is to present the strongest version of each side, with sources, and support your decision.
We present the mainstream position accurately. The Australian Dental Association's current policy finds no proven link between amalgam restorations and chronic disease in the general population, and we tell you that.
We present the precautionary position accurately. The WHO lists mercury among its chemicals of major public health concern, and the FDA advises specific groups to consider alternatives, and we tell you that too.
We tell you what we would do for our own families, when you ask.
The decision is yours, made with your dentist and, where relevant, your GP or health practitioner.
ADA Policy 6.18
No proven link between amalgam restorations and chronic disease in the general population.
WHO 2024
Mercury listed among ten chemicals of major public health concern.
US FDA
Specific groups advised to consider amalgam alternatives.
Minamata COP6 2025
Global phase-out of dental amalgam agreed for 2034.
Patient having first consultation with dentist image
The best dentistry is the dentistry you never need. Our hygiene program, airway assessments for children, dietary guidance and early intervention orthodontics all exist to make future treatment unnecessary. It is a strange business model for a dental practice, and we are comfortable with that; it has kept patients and their children and grandchildren coming back to us for four decades.
SHDC has practised whole-person dentistry since 1983, went mercury-free in 1987, and has spent forty years watching ideas that were once called fringe become published science and, in several cases, formal regulation. That history, and the people who built it, are told in full on Our Story.
Do you refuse conventional treatments?
No. We provide the full range of modern dentistry: fillings, crowns, root canal treatment, implants, orthodontics. The difference is in the assessment that precedes treatment, the materials we choose and the openness of the decision-making.
Will you pressure me to remove my amalgam fillings?
No. Current regulatory guidance is that intact amalgam fillings should generally not be removed without a clinical reason, and we say so on the relevant page. When a filling does need replacing, or when you choose removal after weighing the evidence, we use the SMART protocol.
Is the Five Pillars model medical advice?
It is a framework for the conversation between you and your dentist. Where your health needs sit outside our scope, we refer: we work routinely alongside sleep physicians, ENT specialists, myofunctional therapists, GPs and nutritionists.
Your comprehensive new patient consultation is the starting point. It includes a full assessment of your teeth, gums, airway, jaw joints and sleep quality — unlike any dental visit you have had before.
BOOK A CONSULTATIONCraig image
Dr Craig Wilson
Principal Dentist & Co-founder, Sydney Holistic Dental Centre. BDS (Syd), postgraduate qualifications in oral implants and TMJ & sleep disorders. Practising holistic dentistry in the Sydney CBD since 1983.
Sources
