Our Services

Whole Person Dentistry

(i.e., Dentistry)

Whole Person Dentistry or “i.e. Dentistry” is traditional general dentistry with a twist. At Inspired Dental Wellness we recognize that your mouth is attached to the rest of your body, and are looking for the connections not only within your body but within the community by collaborating with other health practitioners.

We take thorough medical histories because oral health is part of your overall health. Heart disease, diabetes, pre-term birth risk, and Alzheimer’s Disease have been shown to have connections with dental disease.

We screen for blood pressure because you are often seeing us more than your primary care provider, and high blood pressure usually is asymptomatic so we may be the first to raise awareness that there may be a problem.

We do oral cancer and airway screenings on all patients because
dentists are one of the most ideal practitioners to be looking for early signs and symptoms of both oral cancer and sleep disordered breathing.

How we breathe matters.

People who often breathe through their mouth instead of their nose have drier mouths which changes the oral microbiome. People who are breathing badly at night or have sleep disordered breathing are often higher risk for oral and systemic inflammation and disease (see Airway Health for more).

We are looking for the root cause because simply doing a filling to treat a cavity, placing a crown to fix a broken tooth, removing a tooth, or replacing a tooth or teeth with bridges, partials, dentures, or implant supported options (all of which are procedures that we provide) does not address what caused the decay, fracture, or tooth loss in the first place.

People often do not know that cavity-causing bacteria produces holes in the teeth because it likes to eat the same carbohydrates that we do and when it does, it produces acid as their waste product. Or that our tooth is like our fingernail… there is a space between the tooth and the gums just like there is between the finger and the nail. That space can fill with bacteria and cause inflammation or swollen gums that bleed when brushing or flossing, and there are different types of cleanings to treat that depending on if the inflammation has started to eat away at the jaw bone surrounding the tooth yet or not. We provide those cleanings and collaborate with local gum specialists and other health providers because gum health affects overall health with known links to heart health, diabetes control, and more.

The way the teeth fit together may cause an issue or grinding at night may be contributing to broken teeth and may be a result of struggling to breathe at night and the body bringing the jaw forward to be able to breathe, almost like doing CPR, and the teeth get in the way.

We may look at repositioning the teeth with clear aligner therapy such as Invisalign and other means not only for esthetics, but for function. Custom appliances to treat sleep disordered breathing along with myofunctional therapy (like physical therapy for the tongue and airway) and breath re-training can also be provided when appropriate. Custom night guards are an option when sleep disordered breathing is not contributing, but can make the disease worse when it is present.

Mental wellness is important. A healthy smile has the potential to change someone’s life by changing their confidence. Breathing and sleep sometimes affected by the shape of the jaws and position of the teeth can play a role. Even the gut microbiome (that start in the mouth) can play a role!

It’s all connected, and it’s never one thing! Are you ready to start your journey? Schedule an initial comprehensive exam today.

At Inspired Dental Wellness we hand you a toothbrush, piece of floss, or other tools and ask you to SHOW US what you are doing. That way we can coach you on things to do differently so that we can empower you, and partner with you to get you as healthy as you want to be.

We make no assumptions that you were ever taught how to effectively brush and floss, or told that there might be other tools out there better suited for what you need.

We meet people where they are and help them get where they want to be. We may also choose to teach you a Myofunctional therapy and/or breath re-training exercise as part of your care. Want to know more? … Visit Airway Dentistry.

Oral Hygiene Coaching

How we breathe affects our oral health, mental wellness, and sleep. We see more cavities and more gum disease in those that are breathing dysfunctionally, and that is why we consider it a part of dentistry! It’s called “sleep disordered breathing,” but a better way to refer to it would be “breathing disordered sleep.” It tends to be the breathing, not the sleep that is the root cause of the issue.

It is a common misconception that it is only the overweight male with a large neck, and loud snoring that is at risk for obstructive sleep apnea. Sleep disordered breathing can start in childhood, and can affect even a young fit athlete. As a society, we are growing smaller jaws, and therefore smaller airways.

Sleeping and breathing were never meant to compete, and when they have to, we hope that breathing wins every time so that you’re alive, but if it’s at the expense of quality sleep, it’s like an explosion of inflammation that affects every system of the body negatively. It can even affect our mental wellness where we see more anxiety, and depression in those that have sleep disordered and dysfunctional breathing.

Depending on the diagnosis, treatments may include the following: