More than half the world population suffers from reversible chronic diseases, dental caries being one of them. For this reason and others, more people have been integrating preventative, functional medicine into their wellness routines. We chose to buy white bread; we eat less sugar in our tea and coffees only for this very reason.
Functional dentistry builds on this idea, applying a holistic approach to oral and dental care.
What happens in the mouth happens in the body. Science supports this claim. So while it’s good to maintain a healthy weight, take nutritional supplements, and adopt other lifestyle habits that support total body health, it may not be enough.
Functional dentistry applies the same holistic approach to the mouth that functional medicine does to the body. And far from a “fad” or a new trend, functional dentistry relies on many of the same strategies that our ancestors used to keep their mouths healthy — before toothbrushes had even been invented.
What is Functional Dentistry?
Functional dentistry is an approach to dental care that:
- Emphasizes prevention for oral disease such as oral microbiome management, treatment of sleep-disordered breathing, and dietary recommendations.
- Aims to use non-toxic, or the least toxic available, materials when treating dental issues
- Focuses on the root causes of oral disease and works with each patient to develop an individualized plan of care
- Promotes an all-body approach to dental health, recognizing that the health of the mouth reflects overall health
Dental health impacts every other system in the body, which is why we can’t achieve great health without it. You need a dentist who thinks this way, otherwise you could be on a path toward chronic illness, like nearly half of the world population.
Systemic diseases, like diabetes and heart disease, will show themselves first in the mouth—sometimes decades before they fully manifest systemically. If you’re seeing a functional dentist, you’ll get alerted to that earlier, and fixing it will be easier and more preventative.
The goal of functional dentistry is to look beyond the mouth: How does the patient eat? Drink? Sleep? Etc.
This approach is completely different from traditional dentistry, which focuses on brushing, flossing, using mouthwash, and visiting a dentist twice per year for cleanings. To be clear, these things are important (well, except for mouthwash, which can destroy beneficial bacteria and create an imbalanced microbiome).
But the real key to a healthy mouth centers around one word: DIET.