One of the worst mistakes ever made in healthcare was the separation of “medicine” and “dentistry”.⁠ ⁠ Fortunately, patients and dentists are changing this paradigm.⁠ ⁠ The practice of functional dentistry, which honors the mouth-body connection and takes a root cause approach to dental health, is in high demand. ⁠ ⁠ Dentists who take a functional approach to patient care are at the cutting edge of modern dental care. ⁠ ⁠ To succeed in dental practice, functional dentistry will soon become not just a “niche” specialty but a necessity.⁠ ⁠ Our insurance plans, regulations, and education may be strictly separated, but dentists and medical doctors treat interconnected parts of the same person. ⁠ ⁠ The body simply has no “closed systems” that can be addressed without considering the rest of the body. ⁠ ⁠ These statistics say it all:⁠ ⁠ 1) Up to 50% of adults have periodontitis⁠ 2) 90% of the population regularly experiences gingivitis (the first stage of gum disease)⁠ 3) Cavities are the most common preventable disease in the world⁠ 4) Oral pathogens are involved in almost every chronic disease⁠ ⁠ The mouth is the only place in the body that a biofilm exists by design. The mouth is a unique system that is integral to your health, yet it has been largely ignored by the medical community for years.⁠ ⁠ If you're as passionate about this as I am, please join me by following @askthedentist on Instagram and joining my newsletter at the link in bio.