If you are looking for a new dentist, you may be considering whether functional or conventional dental care is best for you. It depends on the type of oral care you wish to receive as both approaches will help you maintain healthy teeth and gums, but only a functional dentist will explore more about how you treat your body as a whole.

What to Expect with a Functional Dentist

Most conventional dentists simply treat dental symptoms, but functional dentists use evidence-based medicine to look for the root causes of dental problems. For example, a conventional dentist will often use toxic fillings such as mercury or nickel on your teeth, while a functional dentist will avoid toxic materials when doing fillings. A functional dentist strives to keep the original tooth structure.

Conventional dentistry may treat decay with only fillings, while functional dentistry will repair the tooth and investigate what is actually causing your tooth decay so that you can avoid future procedures. Functional dentistry tries non-invasive treatments first so that patients do not have to depend on aggressive treatments.

The goal of functional dentistry is total body health. That’s because other medical issues can affect your mouth’s health. Perhaps you suffer from teeth clenching or tooth grinding. There may be non-tooth related causes such as stress and sleep apnea (not breathing enough oxygen while sleeping). A fissured, or scalloped, tongue can also cause breathing problems during sleep.

To find out if functional dentistry is right for you, contact your functional dentist in Los Angeles to schedule your appointment today.