In today's healthcare, a great shift is happening as we can no longer ignore the many great benefits of a "whole-person" view to total health and wellness. As the old paradigm of the "passive patient" is giving way to the "proactive patient", a better-informed public is demanding prevention-focused, holistic, and integrative healthcare services. This paradigm shift is already creating a revolution in medicine and dentistry, in our opinion, for the better.
For far too long doctors have relied upon pharmacological means of symptoms suppression, rather than seeking correction for the underlying causes. A patient is more than just another set of diagnoses, rather, a whole person with a unique manifestation of symptoms which results from a confluence of many factors. Emerging evidence has more than validated the enormous benefits of lifestyle change, nutritional support, detoxification, emotional and spiritual wellbeing.
At ICONIC, we believe this approach is the only way to achieve a better standard of life.
In recent years, the recognition of numerous oral-systemic connections has created a call-to-action for a better integration of medicine and dentistry—scientists, clinicians, educators, and policy makers have come together in the United States and internationally to facilitate this collaboration.
While we may think of a dentist's scope of practice is limited to teeth and the mouth, science has shown that a colony of oral pathogens will not think twice before hitching a ride to the heart.
One study found that most of the infectious species of oral bacteria that can cause cavities and gum disease can and do colonize the heart valves of patients with heart disease.1 A review article discussed the compelling evidence of microbes from the mouth making their way to the brain and induce the formation of "senile plaques" as one possible contributing factor to the development of Alzheimer's Disease.2 Periodontal disease—a chronic infectious and inflammatory disease of the gum and supporting bone of teeth, has been suggested as the sixth complication of diabetes.3
As dentists of the 21st century, we must stay informed and educate our patients, and be capable of managing their oral-systemic health.
This is why we at ICONIC have adopted a total-health, holistic viewpoint and an integrative approach to dental medicine with an aim to improve the lives of our patients. By thinking the whole-body and analyzing the validity of scientific evidence, our doctors are actively seeking out and adopting treatment modalities that are biologically compatible, safe, and effective. Here is the best part: this integrative approach never gets old—we are able to incorporate emerging therapies and technologies very quickly. Case in point, in 2019, we have added ozone therapy to our long list of services and became one of the few in Orange County to offer this phenomenal treatment to patients.
Because we recognize that treatment outcome is best with a patient-doctor partnership that's based on trust, we believe that hen patients and doctors become partners with the patients themselves having an active and critical role to play in their own health, we see ourselves as helping patients who want to heal themselves. So yes, it is all about you—the patient.
1 Molecular Analysis of Oral Bacteria in Heart Valve of Patients With Cardiovascular Disease by Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
2 Periodontitis, Microbiomes and their Role in Alzheimer's Disease
3 Periodontal Disease: The sixth complication of diabetes mellitus
