What is wellness dental care?

Put simply, wellness dentistry uses dentistry to promote the health of the whole body. Wellness dentistry is also known as natural dentistry, biological dentistry, or environmental dentistry—but it’s different from holistic dentistry (more on this below).

Wellness dentistry is grounded in traditional dentistry and scientifically proven concepts. Like all wellness dentists, I’ve had the same schooling and have earned the same degrees that a traditional dentist has earned (a DMD or DDS). In Ontario, anyone practicing dentistry must also be certified by the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario (RCDSO), and wellness dentists are no exception. 

As a wellness dentist, I:

• Consider the impact of foods, lifestyle and dental hygiene on the health of your teeth and gums as well as your whole body.
• Consider alternative materials for fillings and implants for patients with sensitivities or allergies. Multiple tests are available to determine biocompatibility.
• Provide an in-depth assessment of how your airway and teeth and jaw alignment may impact breathing and sleep quality, or how to improve your overall health long term. I may recommend corrective oral appliances, braces, surgery, treatment with a myofunctional therapist, or other options.
• Try to use less invasive procedures where possible.
• Embrace proven technologies and treatments that help the body heal itself.

A wellness dentist will strongly recommend that you brush after every meal and floss daily. We’ll also examine your lifestyle, oral pH, the home care products you use, genetic considerations as well.

 

Emphasizing a proactive approach

Wellness dentistry places extra emphasis on preventing cavities and gum disease through examination of dental hygiene habits and much more. We factor in the many root causes of the development of oral disease, including genetics, environment, diet, anatomy, and your individual oral microbiome (the types of bacteria, both beneficial and harmful, that live in your mouth).

If we thoroughly investigate all of these factors and take corrective steps, then we can break the cycle of oral disease, and possibly prevent the many linked systemic diseases as well.

It’s an approach that factors in the individual’s unique circumstances and provides much more education, and in my experience, leads to much healthier outcomes for my patients.

For example, they may be eating healthy foods that are highly acidic without brushing appropriately. The acids in their healthy diet may be attacking the enamel of their teeth and contributing to cavities.

It can often be quite personal, with some combinations of circumstances being more detrimental to one person than another.

 

The dental health and whole body health connection

Here are just a few examples of situations in which dental issues can make a serious impact on your overall health, and vice versa. By treating one aspect of health, we can sometimes make improvements in other aspects.

Gum disease can affect your heart

Increasing evidence has linked the bacteria that causes gum disease with heart problems. These bacteria have been found in fatty deposits lining blood vessels. 

Researchers think that the presence of these bacteria may lead to chronic inflammation and then atherosclerosis (deposits or coating on the arteries). Because the deposits narrow the diameter of the blood vessels and make them less flexible, this condition is known as hardening of the arteries. An even greater problem is that these deposits can also break off and lead to heart attack or stroke.

Mouth and upper airway issues can affect sleep

The link between sleep quality and health is well known. Lack of sleep can contribute to obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, cognitive issues, and emotional difficulties or mental health problems.

You may not think that a dentist can help you achieve a good night’s sleep. But many dental, emotional, physical and psychological problems are related to sleep or airway issues. In fact, some patients may not be aware that they have sleep breathing disorders: they don’t necessarily feel tired by they may have symptoms like teeth grinding, ADD, ADHD, or chronic fatigue. 

As part of our new patient process, we do in depth examinations of your anatomical structures to help determine if these are contributing to larger health concerns. I may recommend a sleep study, and we may potentially need to address issues like obesity, tongue tie, swollen tonsils or swollen adenoids.

Treatment options vary, but depending on the findings they can be as simple as postural therapy, and can include dietary counselling, food sensitivity testing and other options.

By treating these conditions, we are helping protect your teeth from the side effects of bad sleep, such as acid reflux and teeth grinding. The earlier these problems are addressed, the better the overall health and dental outcomes.

Diabetes and oral health 

Diabetes is interlinked with the health of your teeth and gums because it reduces immune function, which in turn can increase the severity of gum disease. Research has confirmed that diabetes patients are more likely to have gum disease, and that it is more likely to be severe.

As diabetes patients work to control their blood sugar levels, they adopt healthier habits that help the condition of their teeth and gums. The connection goes both ways: healing gum disease (or other types of oral infection) will also help stabilize blood sugar levels.

Osteoporosis and jaw bone loss  

Osteoporosis is a condition in which bones become less dense and weaken, and broken bones from falls become much more likely.

One consequence of osteoporosis may be weakening of the jaw bone tissue that supports the teeth. As the patient works to support as much healthy bone tissue as possible, their chance of keeping their own teeth is possibly improved.