The May 2000 U.S. Surgeon General’s Report on Health states, “You cannot be healthy without oral health. Oral health and general health should not be interpreted as separate entities.”
Dental practitioners are in a unique position to recognize and address the early warning signs of a body out of balance.
The so-called lifestyle illnesses are increasingly linked in scientific research to an out-of-balance immune response.
Researchers are discovering the critical role that the body’s immune response plays in today’s top killers: heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and many other diseases such as Alzheimer’s, colitis, Chrone’s disease, and multiple sclerosis.
Lewis Lanier, PhD, of the UCSF Department of Microbiology and Immunology states in his presentation Inflammation as Cause and Consequence of Disease that the goal of preventing these diseases is to maintain a balanced immune state, and to manage inflammation in the body.
Cells in each system in our body are processing nutrients, generating energy, eliminating waste effectively, and communicating with nearby cells so all systems are functioning properly, and in coordination with related systems, in our own perfect state of wellness.
According to Dr. Lanier, healthy cells are able to ward-off attackers such as viruses, bacteria, or chemical irritants. Or, if damaged, the cells die-off, and new healthy cells take their place without much harm to surrounding cells.
