What are you doing with your one and only life? Research has demonstrated that a strong sense of purpose protects your mortality and cognition. Having a passion, an overall arching set of values and drivers may even be more important as we age.
Last fall I had the opportunity to be involved with the inaugural Association for Responsible Citizens (ARC) meeting in London, England. This was an international meeting of 1500 individuals with the purpose of collective and individual soul-searching to improve themselves and society. It was an attempt to turn the tide on a society that appears to be in a state of decay, lost values, division, and lack of respect for truth. Many speakers gave moving presentations in many areas, but the medical/dental sciences area was barely mentioned, if not overlooked. I believe that doctors, dentists, and allied health professionals have a powerful role in bringing about change in the state and welfare of the population, and we must make our voices heard with our ideas, values, and desires to bring increased longevity and kindness to all.
The two biggest days of your life are the day you are born and the day you appreciate your purpose in life: Personally and professionally.
We each have different visions of purpose. I believe that every dentist could help their patients and affect society by living their own version of a better story.
I’ve learned that with achieving personal and societal freedoms comes personal obligations of truth, responsibilities, and effort. To achieve truth, one must educate and discover it oneself, something that can involve tremendous cost and personal sacrifice.
One way this could be facilitated is by articulating specific baby step instructions or information rather than expecting patients to know what you haven’t explained in detail. For example, rather than telling patients to “brush more and don’t forget to floss,” take the time to explain how to improve with specifics and, especially, the why. Improving their microbiomes and biofilms, explaining that neurodegenerative, cardiovascular, cancer and other nasty diseases can be modulated by doing such simple acts meticulously and regularly.
Shift the Perception of Dentistry from Pain to Health.
As I see it, there are at least three risk factors for degenerative diseases that dentistry can impact: airway and sleep, periodontal pathogens, and oral toxicities. We can help encourage a better diet, pro and pre- biotics, address sleep disorders and improper breathing, stress relief, test and treat toxicities, and encourage our patients to get the benefits of exercise.
There is value in a dentist explaining to patients that we have at least a three-gas system. To appreciate the value of each of oxygen, carbon dioxide and Nitric oxide. We were taught that CO2 was a waste product of respiration. How wrong a concept is that and how lucky are we to appreciate that CO2 is so very essential to our health and longevity? Nitric oxide, a newer discovery, is largely produced on the back of our tongues by mouth bacteria and with a compromised microbiome comes an imbalance in production. Dentists can make such a difference in making this information known and instructing how to maintain or improve a good balance of these gases from a dental perspective. Leave your patients thinking about it.
A dentist can help preserve commensal bacterial microbiomes while reducing the pathogenic five “keystone” bacteria (Aa, Pg, Td, Tf, Fn). A dentist can inform their patients that most mouthwashes can raise blood pressure in seconds by increasing vasoconstriction via the reduced nitric oxide effects and its broad spectrum of kill, including commensals. Suggesting replacement to mouthwash such as HOCL, which is selective in protecting commensal bacteria while decimating the bad guys, is my personal solution to provide a better hygiene story for our patients without affecting Nitric oxide (see article on HOCL).
The host immune response seen from those “keystone” oral bacteria, such as P. gingivalis, might be from changes in oral, nasal microbiomes from lost protection from the decimated good commensal bacteria. Reducing the host commensal bacteria has enormous devastating effects on the ability to maintain immune status, leading to serious pathogenic conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, obesity, CV disease, and neurocognitive issues, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’. The practice of good oral hygiene has been known to reduce diabetes, CVD, cancer risk, COPD, liver cirrhosis, pneumonia, and other chronic diseases.
“If you’re looking for meaning, take on responsibility”. – Jordan Peterson
At the ARC conference, Jordan Peterson pointed out that you cannot just tell a 3-year-old to clean their room or to set a table. Instead, you must patiently instruct the child in every little step to get the job done and explain why it is a good thing to achieve. One must break down the chaos into specific steps for the child to understand how to do something that is new and why it’s important to do it well. That is the only way one can expect a job to get done. Taking the time and effort to give these instructions is necessary. Expecting more from a patient without making this effort will result in less than desired results.
“Walk slowly, bow often… you have come into this world to do this, to go easy, to be filled with light, and to shine.” – Mary Oliver
Yes, this takes a lot of time and a lot of effort. People will love and appreciate you for the sacrifice it takes to help educate and improve their human condition. They will no doubt benefit from detailing your presentation of a better story, and you will enjoy the love returned for your efforts.
Hopefully, I’ve put out some food for thought. Good luck with your own better stories; so many opportunities abound.
You can find the talks from the ARC conference at https://arcforum.com
About the Editor:
Dr. Janice Goodman received her MSc in Oral Medicine/Orofacial pain from USC in 2015 after practicing general dentistry for 36 years in downtown Toronto, Canada. She is an editorial Board member of Oral Health Dental Journal and the AAPMD. Diplomate of the American Academy of Cranialfacial pain as well as American Board of Cranialfacial Dental Sleep Medicine. Her focus is functional dentistry based. She can be reached at jangoodman@rogers.com
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