No matter what an advertisement may tell you about the added vitamins, minerals, or electrolytes in a particular softdrink, the truth is that your body will almost always be better off with plain water. In fact, the benefits of the nutritional additives in most softdrinks are often nullified by the work your body has to do to process the extra sugar, acid, and chemical flavorings used to make that drink taste good. Sodas, juices, and energy drinks are simply not necessary to health or hydration in any way. But water is.

This month, in The Headache Series, we’re exploring the importance of hydration and how drinking enough plain, unflavored water every day can play a significant role in helping many people who suffer from chronic mild headaches. I do hope that you will take a look, and perhaps learn something new about your body. But before you do, why not get a glass of water to sip on while you read?

In fact, as it is reported by 60 Minutes, at least 75% of the disease now being associated with the over-consumption of sugar is preventable with simple dietary changes. But there is one disease that is left off that list over and over again, a disease that is equally important, and left unchecked can spiral into a perpetual condition that spreads disease throughout the body and, in extreme cases, may even lead to death. That disease is tooth decay.

The mouth is a barometer for the body. If there is enough sugar and acid in the mouth to cause decay, then there is too much sugar and acid in the body as well. A cavity is not just an indication that you should brush and floss your teeth more – it’s the body’s warning signal that something in your diet is out of balance enough to allow pathogenic cells and bacteria to thrive.

We all eat more sugar than we should, but we also often eat far more sugar than we are aware of. This month, we have created two new resources to help you make better dietary choices and reduce the amount of added sugars you are consuming. A Guide to Added Sweeteners offers information on how different forms of sugar affect your body and how to recognize each of them on nutrition labels; and Drinks That Eat Teeth will help you understand exactly how much additional sugar and acid you are consuming in just one soda, juice, or energy drink.

In my practice, I have seen many patients who require full-mouth reconstructions based solely on a habit of sipping soda all day long. But not everyone can afford this kind of dental treatment, and many people in this country loose their teeth to decay without any way to replace them. The ability to chew is one of the most important components of gaining proper nutrition. Without it, we must eat food that is softened and processed to the point that the fiber and vital nutrients necessary to optimal health are lost. Time and again, I see people struggling with this cycle in my work with the Medical Teams International Dental Van, but it doesn’t have to be this way.

Dental decay is 95% preventable through diet and simple brushing and flossing techniques, and an additional 3-4 % can be prevented with well-placed preventive resins or sealants. I urge you to take a closer look at the added sugars in your diet and to do everything you can to eliminate them. Your teeth and your body will thank you for it.

“Well, if it’s a bad one, like a migraine – maybe once a month. The other ones I have pretty much all the time, but those are just my normal headaches.”

Here’s the problem with that statement: There is no such thing as a normal headache. You may have normalized the condition because you experience it so regularly, but it is not normal for the head to ache. Pain is your body’s way of telling you that something is wrong, and headaches are no exception.

Some headaches, like migraines, can be complicated to unravel, and the ultimate source is often multifactorial. But many, many headaches are the result of simple oversights in caring for the needs of our bodies. Not drinking enough water or staring at a computer screen or video game for too long without stretching, for example, can trigger a headache that may last for hours. This isn’t because we suffer from a lack of headache medicine; it’s because our bodies were never meant to sit in one position for long periods of time or to go without water for hours on end.

Most headaches are not only easily treatable, they are easily prevented. And in order to help you identify and treat some of the most common types of headaches, this month we are launching a new resource series called The Headache Series. Each article will focus on one common cause of headache, ways to alleviate the pain without medication, and ultimately how to prevent these types of headaches from taking hold in the first place.

As we add more sections to this series in the coming months, I hope that you will continue to check in with us so that you may learn how to care for your body and keep your head as ache-free as possible.

The dentist I worked for did not treat TMJ disorders, but we certainly saw patients who suffered from the consequences of an unbalanced bite. When the time came for me to go to dental school myself, I was excited to finally learn more about TMJ disorders and the science of occlusion (the bite), in addition to the study of dental technique. I assumed that all three areas of study were a standard part of the dental curriculum. I was wrong.

At school, while I did receive some instruction on occlusion, the majority of my education in that area focused primarily on tooth position with little or no regard for the joints and muscles responsible for the action of chewing. Teeth were teeth. As long as they fit together, everything else was supposed to be fine. But it wasn’t long after I graduated that I encountered my first challenge to this idea.

Shortly after I started in practice, a young woman appeared in my office, crying in pain about her horrible headaches and jaw problems. She could chew, but the pain was greatly exacerbated by the activity. Her doctor’s solution? Stop chewing.

Stop chewing at 28 years old? For how long? The rest of her life? It was ridiculous advice, and even though I didn’t know exactly how to help this young woman at the time, her situation set me on a quest to better understand three-dimensional jaw function that still continues to this day.

There are many often conflicting lines of thought about how the teeth should be aligned, how long the cuspids should be, how sharp the cusps of the teeth should be, and where the “balls” of the lower jaw should fit into the bony concavity in front of the ear. In the more than 30 years since I graduated dental school, I’ve spent countless hours in classes, reading textbooks and journals, and observing the mouth movements and function of my patients. I was, and still am, somewhat obsessed – watching how people move their mouths in movies, in restaurants, and in everyday conversation. I still watch the way the front teeth fit together, study the wear patterns on the teeth, observe the development of crowding – all in an attempt to understand how the entire system functions both in health and in disease.

Early in my quest to understand, and to help this young woman who was now my patient, I came upon the work of Dr. Bernard Jankelson. A noted prosthodontist, Dr. Jankelson had also struggled with the success of bite reconstruction based purely on the mechanics of the teeth. His work, considered by most to be the foundation of neuromuscular dentistry, finally created a system of analyzing jaw movements and bites that also respected muscle function. And I discovered through my study with his son, Dr. Robert Jankelson (a noted prosthodontist himself, and the leading contributor to the promotion and continuation of his father’s work), that the pain my patient was experiencing as a headache was coming from the muscles that couldn’t function correctly while chewing in their current three-dimensional relationship to the teeth.

That young woman I saw so many years ago is still my patient today. And guess what? She’s still chewing. So well, in fact, that sometimes I have to warn her about chewing a little too much gum! The idea of chewing gum when she first came to see me would have been excruciating to her. Today, we’re both grateful that she didn’t just accept the ridiculous advice her doctor initially gave her to simply stop chewing altogether. I wish I could say this is the only time I have heard this advice, but unfortunately the recommendation to stop chewing is still too common. A lifetime of a liquid diet isn’t just boring, it is nutritionally insufficient. In all but the most extreme cases, chewing should never be considered an optional activity.

But the more I read about the connections between gum disease and other chronic health conditions, the harder it is to keep quiet. I don’t pretend that flossing will change the world, but it might change your health.

Shortly after I began working in a dental office in the early 1970s, I discovered that my father had advanced periodontal disease. He was seeing a dentist whose only advice was “I am going to have to make you dentures in six more months.” The dentist I worked for at the time believed in prevention to his core, and it was from him that I first learned about proper home care. When I next visited my father, I taught him everything I had learned. The results were astounding, and even his dentist couldn’t believe the improvement. My father, of course, found a new dentist who also shared a preventive philosophy. And since that time, he has only lost two more teeth. One was lost because of decay on the roots (stayed tuned for more on that), and the other had tipped severely from losing the tooth in front of it due to his periodontal disease years ago.

I continue to be surprised by the number of new patients I meet who haven’t been properly taught to care for their teeth. They may have been told to brush and floss, but these are skills that must be learned and practiced. Telling simply isn’t enough. This month we have posted a brushing and flossing resource article specifically designed to teach you these skills. Even if you have been brushing and flossing regularly for years, I urge you to review this article. I cannot tell you how many people brush and floss regularly with the best of intentions, only to discover that their efforts are ineffective because of improper technique.

Obviously, the home care techniques we recommend are designed to aid in the prevention of decay and periodontal disease. But we continue to learn that controlling oral bacteria may play a role in the prevention of so much more. Recently, I read an article in the Journal of Periodontology that details research which demonstrates that many respiratory diseases may have their beginnings in the aspiration of oral bacteria and other organisms into the lower respiratory tract. Pneumonia can originate from the mouth and inflammation in the mouth seems to exacerbate COPD.

The research messages are becoming clear: To stay healthier, you must reduce the bacterial load in the mouth as much as you can. And flossing and brushing are the best first defense in this effort to control bacterial growth. You owe it to yourself to take the time every day to thoroughly clean your mouth.

In the years to come, I can promise you that we are all dedicated to continuing to earn the trust you have so generously given to us. For thirty years, my passion for dentistry and for my patients has not wavered. I plan to be here for you and your loved ones for many years to come.

As 2011 draws to a close, I would like to offer my wishes for a joyous holiday season and a prosperous New Year to each of you. May 2012 offer all of us the opportunity to experience greater health, renewed energy, and increased longevity. My team and I will be here to do our part in offering you as much information and quality dental care as we can in pursuit of those goals.

In health and joy,