🦷 Mondays with Mark: What’s new in the world of functional dentistry?

Happy new year! Here’s what I’m thinking about and what’s new in the world of functional dentistry:

1. The Co-Opting of the Nutrition Profession in the U.S. (New research paper)
This research paper, published in October of last year, provides an excellent deep-dive analysis into how U.S. nutrition policy has been “bought” by the interests of corporations. One of the most influential professional health associations in the US, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, has been criticized for their close ties to food and beverage corporations, and this new research shows how this relationship has evolved and how it influences global health policy. This research paper is a damning indictment, and a great read. The bottom line? Avoid foods that come from corporations—I’m looking at you, General Mills!

2. Yet another thing to worry about in toothpaste. (Read the study here)
As you know, I am a passionate supporter of clean, non-toxic toothpaste. Propylene Glycol (PG) is a common ingredient used in toothpaste. In this study, scientists tested PG on mice and found that even small amounts of PG could cause damage to the brain. Check your toothpaste ingredients and make sure propylene glycol isn’t one of them.

3. Practitioners—what should our next CE course be? I’d like to hear from you.
We ran a fabulous CE training on oral microbiome testing in the dental practice. I plan to offer another CE course in March—what topics are you interested in? Hit reply and let me know!

4. Study Suggests Oral Microbiome May Play Role in Long COVID (Read study here)
This research suggests the oral microbiome may play a role in long COVID, offering potential treatments and insights into the microbiome-inflammation connection, which could apply to other inflammatory conditions. To investigate, tongue swab samples were collected from people with COVID-19 symptoms and sequenced for bacteria like Prevotella and Veillonella, which can cause inflammation. Those with long COVID had similar oral microbiomes to those with chronic fatigue syndrome, suggesting it may contribute to long COVID. I encourage you to read the study or forward to someone who’s struggling with long COVID or another autoimmune condition.

5. Clearing up one of life’s great mysteries… (Read the thread here)
I got this question via Twitter: When I go to the dentist, they poke my gums with a sharp stick and then chastise me if I bleed. What is that about?

The answer: I can tell you that what we are specifically doing is assessing the health of your gums. Bleeding upon provocation is one of the signs of inflammation that we look for. We aren’t actually poking or stabbing the gum, but rather sliding a ruler (measured in millimeters) along the bottom of the pocket in your gums. This helps us determine how deep the pocket is and how advanced the gum disease is. However, if the gum is healthy, no bleeding should occur. It’s important to remember that this is the case for only 20-40% of the population, so don’t feel too bad! In fact, the mouth is one of the most readily available areas to measure inflammation in the body without diagnostic testing. I recommend working with a dentist who will take that one step further to discuss with you how inflammation in the mouth impacts the health of the rest of the body—you can try our Functional Dentist directory at askthedentist.com/directory