There is absolutely nothing wrong with anything on this list.  Each item is super important.  In fact, if you’ve experienced an exam that ticks most of these boxes, then you’ve received a very good exam from a very thorough dentist.  But if you feel like you haven’t had this experience, don’t worry too much.  Chances are very  

good that your dentist examined all these things and made an assessment without you even realizing it.  Dentists can become very efficient at evaluating things while sometimes forgetting to talk about it. 

Here is my personal belief on how we have settled on this type of exam.  As we have developed and mastered the procedures we are able to perform as dentists, we have become more aware and sensitive to the contributing signs in the mouth that these procedures are able to address.  The findings of this type of exam will reveal issues that we can discuss and fix with “dental work.”  We have learned to comprehensively identify the things that we can deal with in our dental offices.

We have all experienced buying that new family car and suddenly seeing the car EVERYWHERE!  Dentists have also become very good at seeing the things we know.

It makes sense, doesn’t it?  There is nothing sinister about this.  It’s perfectly natural to become good at identifying what we know.  And in a circular way, to train to solve the problems we’ve become good at identifying.  It’s the same principle as the “new car” vision.  We have all experienced buying that new family car and suddenly seeing the car EVERYWHERE!  Dentists have also become very good at seeing the things we know.

(Although it is a topic for a different post, there is another factor that has shaped how dental exams are done:  insurance companies.  We won’t go into that here.)

But what about the things we can identify that we cannot handle within the scope of dentistry?  Should dentists ignore those things because they can’t be fixed by the dentist?

THE FUNCTIONAL DENTAL EXAM

In addition to the things you can expect during the conventional exam, a functional and holistic exam will typically reserve more time to allow diving deeper into the what the mouth can reveal about your overall health.

This involves diving deeper into your medical history to assess what oral conditions, if any, might be affecting your overall health and vice versa.  The mouth has been linked to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, autoimmune disorders, and more.  It is important to consider all these things because the root causes of some systemic issues originate in the mouth.  

Although dentists are not formally trained or licensed to give you medical advice, we can still help you identify when you should seek medical attention for issues you may not have recognized.  And we can absolutely discuss therapies to address the oral components of these issues to move your body toward a healthier baseline.

The dental history evaluation will also dive deeper, if necessary.  Prior experiences with reactions (either acute or chronic) to fillings, crowns, implants, dental solutions and materials, and anesthetics should be discussed to screen the need for sensitivity and/or biocompatibility testing.  

A functional exam may also include a 3-D x-ray, or CBCT (Cone Beam Computed Tomography), to screen for potential symptomatic or asymptomatic infections, conditions of existing root canals, tumors, cysts, TMJ health, teeth and root alignment, facial development, and bone loss.  

Diet and nutrition may also be addressed if there are signs of deficiencies in your bone, tissues, or saliva.     

Facial (maxilla) development is evaluated and correlated with any issues of malocclusion (bad bite).  This can have a cascading effect on the TMJ, airway, mouth/nasal breathing, breath odor, snoring, clenching/grinding, and body aches extending all the way from your head down to your feet.  

If treatment is necessary, it is possible that the functional, biological, holistic dentist will discuss treatment options that the conventional dentist may not.  Ozone therapy, laser treatments, and other biological therapies can be used, when appropriate, to provide safer and less invasive methods of promoting the body’s natural healing processes.