Marina Aust has never taken pills in her life. In her view, there are other natural alternatives that get the same result. That’s why she decided to become a homeopath in the first place and to teach others to enjoy what nature has to offer – healing without side effects.

“I’m 66 years old and I’ve never taken any kind of pills in my life, no antibiotics, no painkillers, nothing. I never wanted to for as long as I can remember”, said Marina Aust, a homeopath from Germany.

Working in a dental clinic
I met with her at a dental clinic, but she is not a dentist. Marina works together with Dr. Axel Geiger, a dentist based in Carvoeiro, who 10 years ago invited Marina to join his team in the clinic and start to receive her patients there. In return, she would help his dental patients - who ask for naturopath advice - with natural medicines.

A dentist and a homeopath working together may seem strange at first, as this is a different approach than we are used to. But it actually works really well. In his clinic, patients can opt between traditional dental treatment and also being followed by a homeopath.

Perhaps you are wondering how this works, as a homeopath does not extract teeth and also does not repair cavities or place implants. It’s simply a complement to what the dentist already does, not a replacement.

Benefits of having a homeopath in a dental clinic
Marina lists some of the advantages she has found over the years of this combined work:

“More and more people are interested in this combination; they don’t like taking antibiotics every time after dental treatments. Sometimes the painkiller doesn’t work and Dr. Axel asks me what we can do to make it work”.

It also helps with results in patients with infections. “Homeopathy works very well for infections. If you have an infection in the teeth and you choose to treat it with homeopathy it’s better than with antibiotics. Actually, nowadays, there are many people who do not like to take antibiotics all the time and that’s a good way to avoid them”, she explained.
Another curiosity is that in classic homeopathy every tooth belongs to an organ. “All the teeth belong to some organs. I have a map of all the teeth and organs. For example, if you remove the wisdom teeth, it may be a sign that you have stomach sensitivity and then you must be careful with what you eat”, she told The Portugal News.

Furthermore, after you pull a tooth out - a surgical procedure that makes no one happy - “homeopathy is great for a better recovery and if you take antibiotics instead it takes longer to heal”.

When I asked what works better in dentistry – if normal pills or alternative treatment – she said that it always depends upon the person that they are treating. However, she always recommends starting with a natural treatment and then, if it doesn’t work, going ahead with a medical prescription.

Doctors and homeopaths working together
One of the reasons Marina enjoys working with doctors is that they can contribute with medical diagnoses, something her patients prefer.

“People like to have diagnoses. People who come to me often go to the doctor first, looking for a diagnosis, and when the doctor says they have, for example, an ear infection, they come to me because they don’t want to take antibiotics, they want an alternative approach which is what we do here. But everyone likes to get the doctor’s diagnosis,” she said.

“In my opinion, it’s very important that doctors and naturopaths work more together.” However, she regrets that this is not the reality at the moment, as “many of the doctors do not agree with this”.

“I like it, but most doctors don’t want it. I would like them to work with us more, but they like to have their own thing. They learn a lot in their studies and then they don’t want to put that aside,” she said.

Also, in her opinion, often when doctors try to use natural products, they end up giving up after a while. “They try, but then they very quickly go back to antibiotics or other types of medicine”, she said.

In her experience, not knowing the right dosage often leads people to give up on natural treatments. “Sometimes people don’t take the natural product in the right dosage, so it doesn’t work quickly and people then turn to painkillers or to antibiotics” that is why having professional advice is so important and self-medication, even with natural products, is not the best alternative.

Marina is in Carvoeiro on Tuesdays and Fridays; however, she is based in Aljezur. If you want to find out more, please contact Marina through: +351 965 667 392.

Author

Paula Martins is a fully qualified journalist, who finds writing a means of self-expression. She studied Journalism and Communication at University of Coimbra and recently Law in the Algarve. Press card: 8252

Paula Martins