Today we’d like to introduce you to Bernice Teplitsky.
Bernice, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
When I was little, I always wanted to help people. Either being a teacher or a doctor were my first choices. And since I was about 9, health and nutrition were always very interesting to me. When I was 16 and wanted to get a “real” job (other than babysitting), my mom suggested I go work for a doctor if I still wanted to be a doctor. I took her advice, and found a dentist in the local paper looking to hire a dental assistant during the weekends.
The interview involved me watching a few dental procedures, and I thought, “This is so cool!” The weekend position turned into many more days and hours and practically a full time summer job. I learned not only dental assisting but working at the front desk and how to run a dental office. I loved watching families come, and the doctors say, “I remember when you were 2 years old and came here for your first check-up. Now you’re bringing your two year old.” I realized that you impact a person’s life through their smile and get to witness their life milestones.
It wasn’t long before I decided that I will be a dentist. From Highland Park High School, I applied and got accepted to Marquette University’s pre-dental scholar’s program. This meant that I would go through 3 years of undergrad and 4 years of Marquette’s dental school. After dental school, I decided to get additional Residency Training at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center’s dental clinic, right here in Lakeview. After rotations in the ER, Operating rooms, with the Oral Surgeons at Cook County, with special needs patients, pediatric patients, implants, and many more procedures, I was more confident to treat patients outside of a school setting.
But midway through dental school and towards the end of residency, I started questioning the traditional dentistry that I was taught. Why do we have to remove so much tooth structure? Isn’t there a more conservative way of treating that tooth? Do we have to give antibiotics all the time after this procedure? Are there other options we can give? I started searching for more conservative, nutrition-based, an alternative type of dentistry to see if there was such a thing out there. I landed on a course in Dental Homeopathy.
I took the course and met some amazing practitioners that became my mentors. I learned about toxic materials we may be used in dentistry, conservative ways to treat gum therapy, ozone, and biocompatible materials. I joined organizations such as the Holistic Dental Association (HDA), International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology (IAOMT). The more I attended, I learned that I needed to take more courses. There isn’t a concrete name for this type of dentistry.
We’re called holistic/biological/integrative/holistic dentists, and the names are interchangeable For the past several years, I have been taking about 100 continuing education hours every year, and my list of courses and list of new toys I want to buy for the office keeps on growing.
Throughout the years, I worked at 7 different dental offices (including 2 holistic dentists), gaining insight into different ways to run businesses and treat patients. When I travel to a different city, oftentimes, I visit other holistic/biological dental offices to see what/how they work differently. This gives me perspective, and to learn from seasoned practitioners. If they use a different material, product, tool, or technique, it helps me learn other alternatives that I can bring back to my practice. It also allows me to make contacts in different cities. So if one of my patients moves, I can be comfortable (or not) telling them to go to a specific practitioner.
Today, I have an amazing practice filled with knowledgeable staff, 2 other holistic dentists, and an inquisitive patient base that travels from the surrounding states. The dentistry I practice today vaguely resembles the one I learned in school. I love that I am constantly challenged and continue learning new techniques. And while they may be new to me, some of them have been in practice for 50+ years with lots of clinical and published research behind it. My passion and drive for dentistry has been evolving, and I’m excited to see where the field will take me in the coming years.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
And running a business, being a dentist, and having a family has been challenging to balance. I may have just found that balance but it was definitely challenging. As a business owner, I get to create my own schedule and see patients on the select days every week. As a business owner, there are constant issues that require my attention that I end up handling after business hours, nights, and weekends. And as a new mom, there’s a guilt factor that comes into play when I want to travel to take another course or I need to spend extra hours at the office. But thankfully there are nap times, grandparents, my husband, and a nanny to help.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Wrigleyville Dental – what should we know?
We practice general dentistry with a holistic approach. So we do everything that a general dental office does, plus more. For example, when a patient needs pain medication, we can prescribe them the traditional Ibuprofen or a narcotic or we can give them a homeopathic remedy, based on their individual needs.
Our new patient check-up appointments start off with a plaque sample to see what kind of bacteria are lurking under the gums. We examine the specimen through a microscope live, in front of you, so we can see what kind of microbes they are and suggest the best way to get rid of them.
With the holistic dentistry that I practice, all treatment is customized. Some patients come to us with multiple allergies and sensitivities. Nowhere else in medicine do we implant various materials and think that the body will be just fine. In our office, we can run a biocompatibility report which checks the patient’s own biochemistry with 15,000 different brands and materials we have in dentistry. This way, we can use the exact material that is suitable for the patient. (I compare this to peanuts. If I give all of my patient’s peanuts, someone is bound to react. The same goes for fillings. If I give everyone the same one, wouldn’t someone NOT be ok with it?).
Many of our patients come to us through their medical doctors, and many are doctors themselves. Some come because of various strange symptoms that other medical practitioners are not able to solve. GI problems, ringing in the ears, foggy brain, chronic fatigue, and thyroid issues are a few conditions that we commonly see. Many have done extensive research about foreign materials that have been implanted in the mouth that may be causing chronic issues in the rest of their body. Materials such as mercury from silver-amalgam fillings, crowns that contain nickel (and the patient has a nickel sensitivity), retainer wires that contain nickel, root canals with incompatible materials that may affect their meridians (think: acupuncture meridian chart is connected to each tooth).
What sets us apart. We pride ourselves in science-based dentistry, using up to date research, and safety. We are one of the only offices in the city that takes precaution when removing silver-amalgam (mercury) fillings. These filings contain 50% mercury and the vapor, when removing these fillings, is very harmful for everyone. We use IAOMT protocol for safe amalgam removal (think hazmat suits and full face masks) to keep me, the staff, and our patients safe during removal. We take this very seriously. If you don’t know much about this, just google “is mercury vapor harmful?” We go above and beyond state mandate for safety protocols, installing a mercury separator so that mercury doesn’t escape into the environment (EPA named dentists the #1 contributor of mercury discharge into our environment) and that our staff and patients remain safe during mercury removals.
These are just a few of the very many procedures that sets us apart from a typical dentist.
Who else deserves credit – have you had mentors, supporters, cheerleaders, advocates, clients or teammates that have played a big role in your success or the success of the business? If so –who are they and what role did they plan / how did they help.
I have had a ton of mentors, cheerleaders, and advocates in my life. My biggest supporter is my dad. He’s been cheering me on and has been a very positive mentor. He’s my personal consultant, guide, and supporter. When school was hard, he shed light on the situation and named examples in his life that helped him through hard times. He plays devil’s advocate and tries to play out best and worst case scenarios. He sits in on meetings with me and has even traveled to our out of state training sessions with my team. I think he in-part lives vicariously through me and my practice, but it’s great knowing that someone is so supportive.
My husband is also a great support and understands how passionate I am with my practice. He’s always willing to watch our daughter and allow me to fly to various courses and quench my thirst to learn.
Of course, there are so many more mentors. There are several dentists that have been practicing holistic dentistry for 40+ years. I love picking their brains at meetings and seeing how else I can improve my practice. I love learning from others (the good and the not so good) and figuring out what works for me. So I am grateful for everyone I encounter, for giving me the opportunity to learn from them.
Contact Info:
- Address: 3256 N Ashland Ave
- Website: WrigleyvilleDental.com
- Phone: 773-975-6666
- Email: info@WrigleyvilleDental.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wrigleyvilledentalchicago/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/wrigleyville-dental-holistic-dentistry-chicago
- Other: https://local.demandforce.com/b/wrigleyvilledental
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