What is Oral Wellness?
The Oral Wellness Movement
Oral health is a key part of overall well-being and physical health. More and more, this connection is being recognized and implemented today’s dental practices. This vital movement is called wellness dentistry.
Great oral health helps you to:
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Eat and chew healthy nourishing foods
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Defend your body against infection and illness
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Get a good night’s sleep
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Enjoy a feeling of well-being
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Have the confidence to smile
But how important is it for you to maintain your oral health for your mouth and your whole body? Take ownership of your oral health, practice good habits such as brushing and flossing twice a day, and commit to your twice-a-year regular dental exams and professional dental cleanings.
Many studies have shown that people will suffer from degenerative gum disease at some point in their life, simply due to plaque and tartar accumulation along the gum line – which is easily preventable. Leaving the bacteria undisturbed for prolonged periods of time can result in gum redness, inflammation, and bleeding, where they eventually enter your bloodstream and reach major organs such as your heart. Heart disease, certain cancers, stroke, diabetes, respiratory disease, as well as pregnancy complications have been shown to have resulted from chronic gum disease.
I believe that the best method to maintaining oral health is to PREVENT problems before they occur.
Feel amazing about your oral wellness. Not just twice a year, but every time you take a bite, tell a joke, laugh, or share a kiss.
What is a Functional Dentist?
More and more people have been integrating preventative, functional medicine into their wellness routines. Functional medicine is the practice of digging deeper than the presented symptoms to determine the root of the problem. Likewise, in functional dentistry, a dentist doesn’t just treat tooth decay, bad breath, or gum disease – they understand that these are simply symptoms of larger problems and aim to find the root causes of why something is going wrong in your mouth.
“What happens in the mouth happens in the body - so while it’s great to maintain a healthy weight, take nutritional supplements, and adopt other lifestyle habits that support overall body health, it may not be necessarily enough.”
Conventional dentistry focuses more on brushing, flossing, using mouthwash (which you shouldn’t be always), and visiting a dentist twice per year for cleanings. However, the similarities between the approaches end here. Functional dentistry looks beyond the mouth – it focuses more on examining the eating and lifestyle habits of patients to uncover WHY problems such as cavities and bleeding gums are happening.
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How much of your diet is comprised of sugar, carbs, and/or highly acidic foods?
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Do you sip on coffee for an hour or more while you work or watch TV?
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Do you breathe more through your mouth or nose?
Functional dentistry is all about YOU being proactive about your oral well-being.