The 1960s—the decade in which I was a teenager—became the most influential time of my life. These 10years are not about the happenings around me in Los Angeles or about the world. This period from nine to 19 years of age ended up shaping my entire life from the “inner” discoveries of encountering mind/body awareness. These years of self-examining insights for a healthy mind and body inspired me to become a health professional, sharing the planet’s genetic, evolutionary and environmental disease-free lifestyle.

In 1969, I was drafted into the U.S. Army and what fate had in store for me. Instead of being a combat medic and going to Vietnam, the powers of the universe guided me to being a dental technician. This laboratory work is tooth-jewelry art and I instantly fell in love with the profession, wanting to be a dentist. Not only did I finish dental school, but I also became part of the faculty at the university I attended and later specialized. With all this graduate and post-doctorate education and training, the information I acquired in the 1960s is still my foundation. I still have this base for being an authentic planetary citizen of Mother Earth.

After entering my doctorate program in 1975, it wasn’t long before I learned about mercury/silver fillings. In my undergraduate chemistry courses, the toxicity of mercury was apparent. I was shocked in my freshman year to learn, mercury was the “bread and butter” of a dentist’s business. In fact, the professor who made this “bread and butter” comment had about 100 grams of pure mercury in his bare hand and played with this heavy metal, showing students as we walked into the lab. A sad side note to this story: that instructor died of AIDS within five years.

A dental tech only works with gold alloys and acrylic kinds of material for making permanent metallic restorations and removable dentures. I understood nothing of mercury being used in my chosen career. When I finished school in 1979 and started a private practice, my plan was never to do another amalgam filling as long as I lived. I attracted holistic types by word of mouth and it’s a joy to make teeth for individuals open and enthusiastic about creating mind and body happiness. My patients invited me to speak at many organizations, like the local Health Federation chapter, vegetarian and natural hygiene societies and raw food groups around the San Francisco Bay area.

In my office and at public presentations, the question, “Why hasn’t anyone told me this before?” became imprinted in the back of my mind, especially after an “alternative” medical publisher asked me to write a book. I finally put the time into sharing with everyone what I encountered in the 1960s. The Fertile Ground satisfies the questions of who we are, collectively and individually, as fellow Earth travelers. Read the introduction and two chapters of The Fertile Ground at http://www.thefertileground.com.

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Dr. T. K. Stone is the author of the Mind/Body Health book, "The Fertile Ground." Complimentary read at: http://www.thefertileground.com.