NOWTRENDING Holistic-dentistry

Your overall well-being can affect your dental health

- Gabriella Del Grande.

When was the last time your dentist asked how you were sleeping? Or how you’ve been eating? Or whether you’ve been more stressed than usual? Never? That’s what we thought. However, if you were to visit a holistic dentist, that is exactly what you would experience.

WHAT IS IT?

Like traditional dentistry, holistic dentistry is concerned with oral health and routine dental procedures, but it’s also about more than just examining your gums and teeth – it’s about the person attached too, explains oral health expert and holistic dentist Dr Lewis Ehrlich.

“Our focus is still on achieving optimal health in the oral cavity and we still do routine dental procedures, but we also recognise the importance of sleep, breathing, stress, digestion and nutrition on oral and general health,” he says.

Dr Ehrlich believes it’s commonsense to consider more than just the mouth when examining a patient.

“As with anything, there is nothing in this world that works in isolation. One part will always have a flow-on effect to the next,” he tells. “The mouth is one of the most common sites of chronic inflammation, which is the common denominator in almost every chronic systemic disease.”

This means a visit to an holistic dentist doesn’t begin with donning a pair of oversized protective glasses, jumping on a mechanical bed and opening wide. Rather, it begins with an in-depth consultation discussing your dental history, medical history, your sleeping, breathing, immunity, diet, and any aches and pains – all before they even look inside your mouth.

“We spend an hour with our patients for a thorough assessment,” Dr Ehrlich adds.