How To Improve Your Dental Health - Advice From A Dental Expert
It’s easy to take dental health for granted, until something starts to go wrong. Once you start experiencing issues like cavities, toothaches, gum problems and so on, it can be hard to take your mind off the pain.
I always considered myself someone who was on top of my oral health so when I started to have problems with my teeth, I became more interested in all things dental. And by interested, I mean over-the-top obsessed. During my mission to learn as much as I could about oral health, a friend suggested I check out Askthedentist.com, a site run by Dr. Mark Burhenne. When I started to read through it, I wanted to scream “jackpot”! Finally, I found a site with information that was current, evidence-based and jam-packed with easy to understand and extremely helpful tips that came directly from dentists and oral health experts.
Dr. Mark Burhenne, DDS who runs Askthedentist.com is the author of the #1 best seller, The 8-Hour Sleep Paradox. He’s a practicing sleep medicine dentist in Sunnyvale, California. Dr. Burhenne, a TEDx speaker, and his advice regularly appears on media outlets like CNN, CBS, Yahoo! Health, the Huffington Post, Prevention, The Washington Post, and Men’s Health.
I was fortunate enough to interview Dr. Mark Burhenne and get insightful information on the importance of nutrition, the oral microbiome, his top tips for better oral health and more.
How important is diet and nutrition when it comes to oral health?
In my experience, your dietary habits are in 1st place for prevention of disease within the mouth. It's tied only by dry mouth, generally caused by open-mouthed sleeping during the night (but sometimes during the day).
When it comes to a mouth-healthy diet, it can't just be about kicking candy. What many people don't realize is that starchy, carbohydrate-rich foods (particularly items like pasta, crackers, and bread) lead to the exact same sort of plaque buildup as dessert foods. Translation: a sandwich may be generally about as bad for your teeth as a cupcake.
My recommendation is to focus on a modified Paleo-style or ketogenic style diet. I don't promote a super low-carb diet like keto for everyone, and although I'm a fan of Paleo, many sorts of dairy items (particularly cheese) actually help build tooth structure. It's more about finding a balance between focusing at least 80% of your eating on oral health-promoting foods.
Do you recommend certain vitamins and supplements for great oral health? If so, which ones?
I do! There are a few supplements that make a massive difference for oral health:
Oral probiotics are chewables filled with "commensal" oral bacteria strains that help crowd out pathogenic bacteria. They're most useful if you know you already have a dysbiosis of the mouth.
A supplement containing vitamins D3 and K2 (not just K1) is vital for remineralization (rebuilding) tooth structure. Somewhere around three quarters of the US population is deficient in vitamin K2, and up to 90% of people have a vitamin D deficiency. Without these important vitamins (along with vitamin A, which is less likely to be deficient), your body can't route calcium to your teeth (or bones) efficiently.
Magnesium is also beneficial for creating a "balance" when it comes to calcium in the body.
If you're taking the above supplements (other than oral probiotics) and need to remineralize your teeth to prevent or heal cavities, you may also consider taking calcium. But I absolutely do not recommend a calcium supplement to anyone without D3 and K2 as well.
If people want to take control of their oral health, what are your top tips on how to do that?
The first step is finding a dentist who takes a "root-cause approach" to your dental care, which I refer to as "functional dentistry." It's also referred to as integrative, holistic, or biologic dentistry. Your dental provider will help develop a plan to address any concerns you have or reverse/treat any current dental disease with the least invasive and least toxic method possible. Dental appointments are also important for sleep and oral cancer screenings and teeth cleanings, which are a useful preventative method for decay.
The next thing I recommend is considering how much your sleep is impacting your dental health. I suggest most people start mouth taping every night to prevent mouth breathing while sleeping. If your dentist notices any signs of bruxism (grinding), it's also a good idea to get a sleep study to look for sleep apnea.
Then, diet and oral hygiene habits come next. Brushing and flossing every day, scraping your tongue, oil pulling, and daily use of oral probiotics are a great place to start.
What's a misconception about oral health that you'd love to clear up?
Regular antibacterial mouthwash is not good for your oral health. It disrupts the oral microbiome and wrecks your mouth's ability to fight oral disease, particularly if used every day. Many over-the-counter mouthwash brands also contain harmful chemicals that can damage the sensitive tissue within the mouth.
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Many people aren't aware of the oral microbiome. How do people get a healthier oral microbiome? Are there tests to learn more about your microbiome?
A healthier oral microbiome is achieved by addressing mouth breathing, developing proper oral hygiene, and following a mouth-healthy diet. In short, all of the things good for oral health are good because they help support the oral microbiome. I believe dentists should consider themselves practitioners of the oral microbiome!
How important is finding healthy oral products and leaving behind traditional favorites that aren't good for you?
Comparatively, it's more important to introduce new, better habits than it is to remove unhealthy products from your routine (unless you're talking about mouthwash!). It's also not necessary to replace bad products — for instance, the act of toothbrushing is far more important than using any toothpaste at all. And any floss at all is better than not flossing.
Do you see functional dentistry growing quickly? Why do you recommend people seek out a functional dentist?
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
In recent years, there has been a major boom in the number of dentists practicing functional dentistry (under many forms and terms). This has happened because patients are fed up with their dentists. I get messages every single day from people asking for a recommendation or sharing a horror story from bad dental work.
Functional dentistry uses a root-cause, evidence-based approach to treatment. They focus on less toxic materials for restorations and treatments and are more willing to work closely with their patients on prevention and treatment of oral disease as well as a whole-body approach to dental care. Unless you are already confident in your ability to maintain perfect oral health on your own, functional dentistry, in my opinion, is the only legitimate option.
It's difficult to find a functional dentist in many places, partly due to the various names this practice goes by but also because there's no current central database or source of education for it. That's why I've developed a Functional Dentistry Course and Functional Provider Database (launching this spring) to give the millions of yearly Ask the Dentist readers a chance to find the right provider.
Want to learn more about anything dental-related? Check out Ask The Dentist for general advice and recommendations for procedures and products! Interested in invisible aligners? Compare different providers here or find out if nighttime aligners really work.
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