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Profile in Oral Health Trisha E. O’Hehir, RDH, BS Hygienetown Editorial Director

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by Trisha E. O’Hehir, RDH, BS
Hygienetown Editorial Director

The central nervous system is highly sensitive to the vibrations of light, color, sound and touch. Colors stimulate different areas of the brain, some to calm fears, some to control panic, some to focus and some to energize. Color is also used as an alternative medicine technique to treat a variety of diseases and conditions. Color has been used for centuries for healing and to control emotions. In Egypt, colored glass panes were inserted into the ceilings of special rooms to allow the sun to pass through bringing healing light to the people inside. Color is as powerful today as it was centuries ago.

Vibral-neural integration technologies or VIT is the influence of color vibrations on the mind-body connection. Rather than painting a room or installing colored glass for windows, using specific colored lenses will stimulate the brain when control of emotions is needed, like during dental appointments. When glasses with colored lenses are worn, the color impulse travels directly to the brain stem. It’s the brain stem that controls the nervous system and emotions. The colors promote better synaptic connections within the brain, allowing for deep relaxation and controlled calmness in challenging situations, like dental treatment. The benefit of using colored glasses during treatment is that patients leave your office calm and relaxed.

I had the pleasure of meeting Rayma Ditson-Sommer, PhD, a neuro-learning specialist experienced in integrative training for learning, emotional challenges and wellness. Dr. Ditson-Sommer has coached Olympic athletes, as well as PGA and LPGA golfers playing on the tour. She has developed the OPNET Neurolearning Center, where approaches to brain plasticity and growth for children and adults with learning disorders are provided. She has developed several products using colored lenses and binaural sound to help her clients build emotional strength and mental control for challenges they encounter in sporting competition as well as daily life.

Dr. Sommer, what is chromotherapy?
Sommer: Using color for a specific challenge is considered chromotherapy. Using the vibrations of color has been around for many hundreds of years. Studies show that the use of color in certain situations can actually change the body systems. By combining the science of color and sound vibration the user can reach levels of physical and emotional change to foster well being and good mental and physical health.

How does color entering through the eyes impact the brain and emotions?
Sommer: Color enters the eyes through the lens and passes into the receptors of the retina. The color frequency then moves on though the optic nerve and into the brain and pineal gland, secreting enzymes that stimulate neurotransmitters and trigger the endocrine system. Stimulating the endocrine system directly impacts the emotions.

You mentioned frequencies, is there a specific vibrational frequency that is conducive to healing and emotional growth?
Sommer: Yes, the frequency important to the human brain is the Schumann Resonance Frequency of 7.83Hz. This was discovered by a French quantum physicist who showed that the mind and body are connected to the universe at this frequency. The heart and the brain also vibrate at this same frequency. It is interesting to note that lightening strikes the earth at 7.83Hz. and the human body picks up the vibration and establishes a mind/body connection as a grounding influence. Since there are nearly 10 million lightning strikes in the world each day, we are all connected in some way by this “earth happening.” Directing color and sound at this vibration through the body, grounds and balances the body for health and well being. These vibrations will influence the cardiovascular system and promote calmness and stress management.

Is this a complex process?
Sommer: The influence of color and sound on the body is simple and subtle, yet highly effective. This is due to the use of the body’s own wisdom, simplicity and effectiveness beyond the conscious mind. When the body is provided with precisely the right color and sound vibrations, self-healing occurs. The brain can be taught new patterns that help the person respond appropriately to events around them.

I understand you work with children and adults with learning disorders. Do you use color and sound with them?
Sommer: Yes, I do use color and sound with these individuals, but my approach in these cases combines multiple modalities from the latest technologies in the field of brain based learning and plasticity. I use biofeedback, neurofeedback, rhythmic reflex training, and sensory integration training. We have 15 brain training stations to develop neurons and connect them for brain strengthening and neuronal growth. These exercises are used for all ages to improve the functional capabilities and mental awareness resulting in the development of new abilities at any age. My goal is to help these individuals improve function and self-confidence by retraining their brains.

Is it possible to develop new brain cells?
Sommer: Yes, for hundreds of years it was believed that we died with the brain we were born with, but that’s no longer true. Research shows that new neurons can be developed and when connected with each other, new brain neurons are formed ready for action. In this way, mental coaching can provide positive approaches to the development of more useful brains with more positive thoughts. It is important to remember that our thoughts influence our brain/body vibrations and act as building blocks for our minds.

What products have you developed using color and sound technology?
Sommer: I’ve created several Vita Link Chromotherapy Systems that combine color and sound frequencies to support changes in specific mental and physical challenges through brain wave stimulation. These systems are used by olympic athletes, golfers, and children and adults with learning disabilities. There are also systems to help with jet-lag and sleep.

Tell me about your work with athletes.
Sommer: Brain training plus the light and sound unit I’ve developed have been used by athletes winning various medals, titles and championships in a wide range of sports, from trap shooting to swimming. For many years I’ve worked with Olympic swimmers. Just before the 1996 Olympics, Gary Hall was referred to my center for brain training. That year he brought home two gold and two silver medals and more from future Olympics. I’m proud to say that athletes who’ve trained at my center have earned more than 15 Olympic medals in various sports.

I understand that you also work with PGA and LPGA golfers.
Sommer: Golfers are committed to winning and when a round isn’t going well they are prone to panic, and often enter the “fight and flight” part of their brains. Using color and binaural sound that direct the brain to function in that part that is required for the task at hand, they can overcome their fears and play with focus. My color and sound system for golfers also includes a manual with specific brain exercises.

How is your Vita-Link System used in dentistry?
Sommer: The Vita-Link System can be used to control fears and alleviate phobias that make it difficult to treat certain patients. Using the violet lenses and binaural sounds both before and during the appointment has brought about relaxation and better cooperation from the patient. Using the Alpha brain wave presets the dental patient on a calm, relaxing journey.

Thank you Dr. Ditson-Sommer for your work in this field and for your innovations with color and sound that can make going to the dentist a more relaxing experience for many.
Interviewee's Bio
Rayma Ditson-Sommer, PhD, is an internationally known speaker, consultant and lecturer in the field of biofeedback, neurolearning and overall performance. She has conducted seminars throughout the world related to accelerated learning, participation enhancement, sensory integration difficulties, closed head injury, autism, dyslexia and wellness. She is the CEO of OPNET, Inc., and designer of the SportsLink Focus Trainer, and a program consultant to many other developers of light and sound equipment. She is in private practice in Phoenix, Arizona, and can be contacted at www.optimalfocus.com or opnet2@aol.com.
 
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