by Felix Liao
____Crossbite (any lower front or back tooth/teeth)
____Mismatched upper and lower dental midlines
____Jaw opening-closing zigzagging or deviated instead of straight/smooth
Lifelong Benefits of an Early Holistic Mouth Checkup
I recommend a Holistic Mouth checkup for the mother-to-be long before conception. For the newborn, tongue-tie should be evaluated right after birth if there is any breast-feeding difficulty.
Holistic Mouth checkup starts the first time a child sees a dentist trained as a Holistic Mouth doctor who will check all the signs and symptoms of impaired mouth—no later than age two—and every six months thereafter.
Holistic Mouth checkups, in collaboration with integrative health professionals and consistent with WholeHealth principles, can help facilitate the development of a Holistic Mouth to grow children into fully potentiated adults. The benefits of a Holistic Mouth can include:
Avoiding extraction of permanent teeth or jaw surgery in many cases
Growing into full potential academically, athletically, and socially
Mitigation of risks for snoring, sleep apnea, teeth grinding, chronic pain and fatigue, and more
Living a healthy, enjoyable life with far fewer health complications
Feeling and looking like a winner!
The age of seven or eight is a good time for a full evaluation, including preferably a 3D-CT scan and cephalometric analysis of the craniofacial skeleton. This allows for early correction of habitual mouth breathing, tongue-tie, and/or orthopedic misalignment or under/over-development while the bones are still soft and flexible.
Acknowledgments and Gratitude
This book is the fruit of too many people to name here. I am grateful to all the patients who have contributed to this book with their stories and images, and to all other patients who have added to my experience through the years.
I am grateful, too, to all the instructors who have taught me—from dental school to postgraduate seminars in dentistry, medicine, and integrative health, as well as those who have contributed to this book. You know who you are.
I thank all my friends and colleagues who have encouraged and supported me through the years of writing this book: Jasmine Ma, Dr. Sharon Fan, Dr. Brendan Stack, Dr. Jay Gerber, Dr. Richard Beistle, Dr. Dennis Bailey, Dr. G. Dave Singh, Dr. Louisa Williams, Dr. George Yu, Dr. Robert Walker, Dr. Je-yang Jau and his graphic artist Jia-jun Tsai in Taiwan, Demerie Faitler, Lisa Verigin, Ken Sandler, Sue Glass, Gwen Hernandez, Jessie Martin, David Gruder, Linda Kaye, my office staff, my brother Allen, Aunt Grace Lin, and publisher Robbin Simons and her superb team at Crescendo Publishing.
About the Author
Dr. Liao is a holistic dentist and mouth doctor devoted to helping patients turn back illness and turn on wellness with Holistic Mouth Solutions. He blends leading edge technology with old-fashioned TLC for children and adults at WholeHealth Dental Center in Falls Church, Virginia.
Dr. Liao’s professional mission is to help build whole body health with a holistic mouth — one that is an asset to whole body health rather than a liability. Since dental school, Dr. Liao has been interested in teeth grinding: “Why would the body mutilate the hardest tissue it has?!” Holistic Mouth Solutions result from Dr. Liao’s pursuit to find the root cause of teeth grinding and better overall health by mouth.
For patients wishing to cultivate a more holistic mouth style to support overall health, Dr. Liao teaches WholeHealth Wellness Seminars. Dr. Liao also offers Holistic Mouth Seminars to help aspiring dentists and all health professionals to become certified holistic mouth doctors. More information at HolisticMouthSolutions.com.
Dr. Liao is a U.S. citizen born and raised in Taiwan until age 16. He graduated from Brown University with an engineering degree, and Doctor of Dental Surgery from Case School of Dental Medicine. Since dental school, he has taken extensive post-graduate training in integrative medicine, oral-systemic dentistry, nutrition, cranial osteopathy, chiropractics, nutrition, and studies in Traditional Chinese Medicine.
He is a board-certified general dentist with Masterships in both the Academy of General Dentistry and the International Academy of Biological Dentistry and Medicine (IABDM). He is the current president of IABDM.
Dr. Liao has been a speaker at the International College of Integrative Medicine, Weston A. Price Foundation, the Holistic Moms’ Network, Take Back Your Health Conference, Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine, and International Academy of Biological Dentistry and Medicine, among others.
Dr. Liao’s personal interests includes classical music, organic lifestyle, science, world cuisine and culture, learning and teaching health-building skills, and research connecting cranial-facial-dental development with nutrition and lifestyle habits.
Connect with the Author
Dr. Felix Liao, DDS, MAGD, ABGD, MIABDM
Address: P.O. Box 3325, Merrifield, Virginia 22116
Phone: 703-385-6425
Websites: www.HolisticMouthSolutions.com
www.WholeHealthDentalCenter.com
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HolisticMouthSolutions
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/HolisticMouthSolutions
Twitter: www.twitter.com/DrFelixLiao
Instagram: HolisticMouthSolutions
References
Introduction
1. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “Chapter 2: The Craniofacial Complex,” in Oral Health in America: A Report of the Surgeon General (Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, National Institutes of Health, 2000)
Ch. 1 Redeveloping Impaired Mouth Benefits the Whole Body: The Case of Smithy
1. Murray W. Johns, “1997 Version of ESS,” The Epworth Sleepiness Scale, http://epworthsleepinessscale.com/1997-version-ess/.
Ch. 2 Good Mouth Bad Mouth
1. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Oral Health in America: A Report of the Surgeon General (Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, National Institutes of Health, 2000), 10–11, http://www.nidcr.nih.gov/DataStatistics/SurgeonGeneral/sgr/welcome.htm.
2. Etsuko Miyao and others, “The Role of Malocclusion in Non-obese Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome,” Internal Medicine 47, no. 18 (2008): 1573–1578, DOI: 10.2169/internalmedicine.47.0717 , PMID: 18797115.
Ch. 3: Your Mouth-Body Connections
1. Ide M, Harris M, Stevens A, Sussams R, Hopkins V, Culliford D, et al. (2016) Periodontitis and Cognitive Decline in Alzheimer’s Disease. PLoS ONE 11(3): e0151081. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0151081
2. Bradley Bale and Amy Doneen, “Guarantee for Arterial Wellness: Medical-Dental Collaboration Is Critical” (lecture, International Academy of Biological Dentistry and Medicine Annual Meeting, October, 2013).
3. Bradley Bale and Amy Doneen, “Chapter 3: Red Flags — Are You at Risk?” in Beat The Heart Attack Gene: The Revolutionary Plan to Prevent Heart Disease, Stroke, and Diabetes (Nashville, TN: Turner Publishing Company, 2014), 43–44.
4. Tanja Pessi and others, “Bacterial Signatures in Thrombus Aspirates of Patients with Myocardial Infarction,” Circulation 127 (2013): 1219–1228, DOI: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.112.001254, PMID: 23418311.
5. Mikko J. Pyysalo and others, “The Connection Between Ruptured Cerebral Aneurysms and Odontogenic Bacteria,” Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry 84, no. 11 (2013): 1214 –1218, DOI: 10.1136/jnnp-2012-304635.
6. Seymour M. Antelman and others, “Tail Pinch-Induced Eating, Gnawing, and Licking Behavior in Rats: Dependence on Nigrostriatal Dopamine System,” Brain Research 99, no. 2 (1975): 319–337, DOI: 10.1016/0006-8993(75)90032-3, PMID: 1182545.
7. Kristine Yaffe and others, “Sleep-Disordered Breathing, Hypoxia, and Risk of Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia in Older Women,” Journal of the Ame
rican Medical Association 306, no. 6 (2011): 613–619, DOI: 10.1001/jama.2011.1115, PMID: 21828324.
8. Kiran Devulapally, Raymond Pongonis Jr., and Rami Khayat, “OSA: The New Cardiovascular Disease, Part II: Overview of Cardiovascular Diseases Associated with Obstructive Sleep Apnea,” Heart Failure Reviews 14, no. 3 (2009): 155–164, DOI: 10.1007/s10741-008-9101-2, PMID: 18758946.
9. Richard H. Nagelberg, DDS, “The Oral-Systemic Connection,” Dental Economics 101, no. 6, http://www.dentaleconomics.com/articles/print/volume-101/issue-6/practice/the-oral-systemic-connection.html.
10. Dr. Joseph Mercola, “The Greatest Nutrition Researcher of the 20th Century,” Mercola.com, Oct. 6, 2007, http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2007/10/06/the-greatest-nutrition-researcher-of-the-twentieth-century.aspx.
11. Jerry Tennant, MD, “Master’s Class, Tennant BioModulator, Mind-Body Connection” (lecture, Dallas, TX, Feb. 21–22, 2014).
12. Louisa Williams, email message to author, June 22, 2015.
13. Reyes Enciso and others, “Comparison of Cone-Beam CT Parameters and Sleep Questionnaires in Sleep Apnea Patients and Control Subjects,” Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology, Oral Radiology, and Endodontology 109, no. 2 (2010): 285–293, DOI: 10.1016/j.tripleo.2009.09.033, PMID: 20123412.
Ch. 4: Saving His Life & Her Sanity
1. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “Chapter 2: The Craniofacial Complex,” in Oral Health in America: A Report of the Surgeon General (Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, National Institutes of Health, 2000)
2. Yu-Shu Huang and others, “Short Lingual Frenulum and Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Children,” International Journal of Pediatric Research 1, no. 1 (2015), http://clinmedjournals.org/articles/ijpr/ijpr-1-003.pdf.
3. Reyes Enciso and others, “Comparison of Cone-Beam CT Parameters and Sleep Questionnaires in Sleep Apnea Patients and Control Subjects,” Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology, Oral Radiology, and Endodontology 109, no. 2 (2010): 285–293, DOI: 10.1016/j.tripleo.2009.09.033, PMID: 20123412.
4. “Obstructive Sleep Apnea” (Darien, IL: American Academy of Sleep Medicine, 2008), http://www.aasmnet.org/resources/factsheets/sleepapnea.pdf.
5. Puneet S. Garcha, Loutfi S. Aboussouan, and Omar Minai, “Sleep-Disordered Breathing,” in Disease Management, an online medical reference (Lyndhurst, OH: Cleveland Clinic, 2000–2015), http://www.clevelandclinicmeded.com/medicalpubs/diseasemanagement/pulmonary/sleep-disordered-breathing/.
Ch. 5: CSI for Your Mouth
1. Thomas S. Kuhn, “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions”, p. 67, Second Edition, Enlarged, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1970 (1962)
2. Xavier Barceló and others, “Oropharyngeal Examination to Predict Sleep Apnea Severity,” Archives of Otolaryngology — Head & Neck Surgery 137, no. 10 (2011): 990–996, DOI: 10.1001/archoto.2011.176, PMID: 22006776.
3. Etsuko Myiao and others, “The Role of Malocclusion in Non-obese Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome,” Internal Medicine 47, no. 18 (2008): 1573–1578, DOI: 10.2169/internalmedicine.47.0717, PMID: 18797115.
4. William C. Lee and W. Stephan Eakle, “Possible Role of Tensile Stress in the Etiology of Cervical Erosive Lesions of Teeth,” Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry 52, no. 3 (1984): 374–380, DOI: 10.1016/0022-3913(84)90448-7, PMID: 6592336.
5. J.S. Rees, “The Effect of Variation in Occlusal Loading on the Development of Abfraction Lesions: A Finite Element Study,” Journal of Oral Rehabilitation 29, no. 2 (2002): 188–193, DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2842.2002.00836.x, http://www.fo.ufu.br/sites/fo.ufu.br/files/Anexos/Comunicados/Rees_JS_2002.pdf.
6. G. Dave Singh, “Guest Editorial on the Etiology and Significance of Palatal and Mandibular Tori,” CRANIO: The Journal of Craniomandibular & Sleep Practice 28, no. 4 (2010): 213–215, PMID: 21032973, http://www.smileprofessionals.com/uploads/Cranio-2010-Tori-Singh.pdf.
Ch. 6: Damaging Domino Effects of Impaired Mouth
7. G. Dave Singh and James A. Krumholtz, Epigenetic Orthodontics in Adults (Chatsworth, CA: Smile Foundation, 2009).
8. Shiroh Isono and others, “Anatomy of Pharynx in Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea and in Normal Subjects,” Journal of Applied Physiology 82, no. 4 (1997): 1319–1326, http://jap.physiology.org/content/82/4/1319, PMID: 9104871.
9. Sonal B. Dudhia and Bhavin B. Dudhia, “Undetected Hypothyroidism: A Rare Dental Diagnosis,” Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology 18, no. 2 (2014): 315–319, DOI: 10.4103/0973-029X.140922, PMID: 25328321.
10. Mark Starr, Hypothyroidism Type 2: The Epidemic (Columbia, MO: Mark Starr Trust, 2011), 119.
11. Roseane C. Marchiori and others, “Improvement of Blood Inflammatory Marker Levels in Patients with Hypothyroidism Under Levothyroxine Treatment,” BMC Endocrine Disorders 15, no. 32 (2015), DOI: 10.1186/s12902-015-0032-3, PMID: 26100072.
Ch. 7: A Deeper Look at Obstructive Sleep Apnea
1. William C. Dement and Merrill M. Mitler, “It’s Time to Wake Up to the Importance of Sleep Disorders,” Journal of the American Medical Association 269, no. 12 (1993): 1548–1550, DOI: 10.1001/jama.1993.03500120086032, PMID: 8445820.
2. Vishesh Kapur and others, “The Medical Cost of Undiagnosed Sleep Apnea,” SLEEP 22, no. 6 (1999): 749–755, http://www.journalsleep.org/ViewAbstract.aspx?pid=24161, PMID: 10505820.
3. “Obstructive Sleep Apnea” (Darien, IL: American Academy of Sleep Medicine, 2008), http://www.aasmnet.org/resources/factsheets/sleepapnea.pdf.
4. “Obstructive Sleep Apnea” (Darien, IL: American Academy of Sleep Medicine, 2008), http://www.aasmnet.org/resources/factsheets/sleepapnea.pdf.
5. Atul Malhotra and David P. White, “Obstructive Sleep Apnea,” Lancet 360, no. 9328 (2002): 237–245, DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(02)09464-310.1016/S0140-6736(02)09464-3.
6. Terry Young and others, “The Occurrence of Sleep-Disordered Breathing Among Middle-Aged Adults,” New England Journal of Medicine 328, no. 17 (1993): 1230–235, DOI: 10.1056/NEJM199304293281704, PMID: 8464434.
7. Terry Young and others, “Sleep-Disordered Breathing and Mortality: Eighteen-Year Follow-up of the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort,” SLEEP 31, no. 8 (2008): 1071–1078, http://www.journalsleep.org/ViewAbstract.aspx?pid=27213, PMID: 18714778.
8. Andrew Schriber, “Obstructive Sleep Apnea – Adults,” MedlinePlus, https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000811.htm.
Ch. 8: Resolving High Blood Pressure Without Medication
1. Jo-Dee L. Lattimore, David S. Celermajer, and Ian Wilcox, “Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Cardiovascular Disease,” Journal of the American College of Cardiology 41, no. 9 (2003): 1429–1437, DOI: 10.1016/S0735-1097(03)00184-0, PMID: 12742277.
2. “Understanding Blood Pressure Readings,” American Heart Association, http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/HighBloodPressure/AboutHighBloodPressure/Understanding-Blood-Pressure-Readings_UCM_301764_Article.jsp.
3. Kazuya Yoshida, “Effect on Blood Pressure of Oral Appliance Therapy for Sleep Apnea Syndrome,” International Journal of Prosthodontics 19, no.1 (2006): 61–66, http://www.quintpub.com/journals/ijp/abstract.php?iss2_id=184&article_id=2102&article=17&title=Effect - .VhgFWyjZg07, PMID: 16479762.
Ch. 9: Sleep Apnea Solution: CPAP Dependence or Oral Appliance Development?
1. “Obstructive Sleep Apnea” (Darien, IL: American Academy of Sleep Medicine, 2008), http://www.aasmnet.org/resources/factsheets/sleepapnea.pdf.
2. See Note 1.
3. Clete A. Kushida and others, “Practice Parameters for the Treatment of Snoring and Obstructive Sleep Apnea with Oral Appliances: An Update for 2005; An American Academy of Sleep Medicine Report,” SLEEP 29, no. 2 (2006): 240–243, PMID: 16494092, http://www.aasmnet.org/resources/practiceparameters/pp_update_oralapplicance.pdf.
4. Kannan Ramar and others, “Clinical Practice Guideline for the Treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Snoring with Oral Appliance Therapy: An Update for 2015,” Journa
l of Clinical Sleep Medicine 11, no. 7 (2015): 773–827, DOI: 10.5664/jcsm.4858, http://www.aasmnet.org/Resources/clinicalguidelines/Oral_appliance-OSA.pdf.
5. Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health, “Oral Appliances for Treatment of Snoring and Obstructive Sleep Apnea: A Review of Clinical Effectiveness” CADTH Technology Overviews 1, no. 1 (2010): e0107, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3411138/.
6. Andrew S.L. Chan, Robert W.W. Lee, and Peter A. Cistulli, “Dental Appliance Treatment for Obstructive Sleep Apnea,” Chest 132, no. 2 (2007): 693–699, DOI: 10.1378/chest.06-2038, PMID: 17699143.
7. Glenn T. Clark and others, “A Crossover Study Comparing the Efficacy of Continuous Positive Airway Pressure with Anterior Mandibular Positioning Devices on Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea,” Chest 109, no. 6 (1996): 1477–1483, DOI: 10.1378/chest.109.6.1477, PMID: 8769497.
8. Kathleen A. Ferguson and others, “A Randomized Crossover Study of an Oral Appliance Vs Nasal-Continuous Positive Airway Pressure in the Treatment of Mild-Moderate Obstructive Sleep Apnea,” Chest 109, no. 5 (1996): 1269–1275, DOI: 10.1378/chest.109.5.1269, PMID: 8625679.
9. Helen Gotsopoulos, John J. Kelly, and Peter A. Cistulli, “Oral Appliance Therapy Reduces Blood Pressure in Obstructive Sleep Apnea: A Randomized, Controlled Trial,” SLEEP 27, no. 5 (2004): 934–941, http://journalsleep.org/ViewAbstract.aspx?pid=26027, PMID: 15453552.
10. Kathleen A. Ferguson and others, “Oral Appliances for Snoring and Obstructive Sleep Apnea: A Review,” SLEEP 29, no. 2 (2006): 244–262, http://www.journalsleep.org/ViewAbstract.aspx?pid=26465, PMID: 16494093.
11. Bing Lam and others, “Randomised Study of Three Non-surgical Treatments in Mild to Moderate Obstructive Sleep Apnoea,” Thorax 62, no. 4 (2007): 354–359, DOI: 10.1136/thx.2006.063644, PMID: 17121868.
12. Hiroko Tsuda and others, “Craniofacial Changes After Two Years of Nasal Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Use in Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea,” Chest 138, no. 4 (2010): 870–874, DOI: 10.1378/chest.10-0678, PMID: 20616213.