January is a great time to think about your health…and why not take an integrative approach and think about your oral health as well. Poor dental care has been linked to cardiovascular disease and complications in diabetes. Your dentist can be a part of your health care team and help you set up an oral health plan that takes your whole body’s well-being into account. This methodology is called Integrative Dentistry. We offer an Integrative Dentistry approach for our patients and are committed to learning our patient’s health history, needs, and questions as we put together a treatment plan with them. However, for some of our patients, Integrative Dentistry is still an unknown term. We talked with Dr. Brunacini to learn more about Integrative Dentistry and how this approach can impact you and your oral health.
1. What is Integrative Dentistry?
Dr. Brunacini: Integrative Dentistry is an approach that simply views the oral cavity– or the mouth, teeth, and gums–as another system within the human body. By approaching dentistry with the whole body in mind, we can better educate and communicate with the patients. Building a partnership with our patients is paramount for us in giving them the best oral health care possible.
2. Why is a holistic approach important in dentistry?
Dr. Brunacini: For so long, dentistry has always been separate from the rest of the medical field. There is more and more awareness of oral health and its connection to overall health. By taking this integrated approach with patients, they can better understand how their oral health can affect the rest of their body’s systems. In this way, a holistic approach helps patients improve the health of their smile while also improving their overall health. It’s a win-win!
3. What are some integrative oriented procedures at FDA?
Dr. Brunacini: We use water treated with ozone at FDA to sterilize our water and water lines. Also, we can use ozone gas to sterilize teeth prior to cementing crowns or placing fillings or as part of our periodontal program. This is an effective and nice alternative to using disinfectants and antibiotics with patients.
4. What does the future of Integrative Dentistry look like?
Dr. Brunacini: I see more integration with physicians to provide custom treatments for patients, such as finding the best materials to use in fillings and root canals for an individual person. This means better care for patients, which is something we are always striving for.
Thank you, Dr. Brunacini!
If you would like to learn more about our integrative approach to dentistry, give us a call at 207.781.5900. We look forward to helping you have the best health care possible for your whole self.
Image courtesy of www.seattlemag.com