How does your garden grow?

Perhaps it’s because I finally actually planted the potted plants purchased at the nursery or that the nice weather that encourages my peering at the gardening skills of my neighbors, that gardens are on my mind. Before you look up to see if you’re still reading a dental website, let me assure you that a beautiful well-maintained garden and mouth have great analogies.

Like beauty, a well maintained garden may be difficult for us to define, but we all know it when we see it. Recognizing it means that the infinite number variables of what ‘could be’ are spot on.

A good garden is one that is aesthetic (good looking), obviously. It is also well balanced; each individual living thing is not only radiating individual health, but it is in harmony environmentally with its neighbors. There are no high maintenance African violets living next to the succulents. All the plants thrive without major individual attention. All are appropriate to the soil and climate naturally, indeed they could grow wild. The terrain drains well. Living things are well supported ecologically and exhibit a sense of hearty strength.

It is tempting to plant what we like based on very little other than we liked its appearance with little regard to its true suitability. We convince ourselves that we will remember to fertilize it, or remember to cut it back as recommended, but life happens and it has to be replaced with another. So it can be with dentistry if viewed with the tooth and not the whole body as the essential supporting organism in mind.

When evaluating a client’s concerns, I easily slide into the garden analogy. Each patient comes with their own naturally inherent “terrain”. When analyzing the health and improvements I might offer, many things are considered. However, I can organize them in the following fashion.

Is the client’s overall health really good?

Nothing I can do will overcome chronic states of disease caused by poor diet, lack of exercise or out of balance body chemistry single handedly.

Is the terrain ecologically balanced?

Pathogens, pH, body chemistry? Are the tissues affected by toxins, low blood and lymph flow?

Is the structural integrity of the existing tissues strong?

This includes the teeth, gums and supporting bone. Are the teeth in a correct position for excellent function or are they getting beat up by bruxing and grinding?

Are the existing materials suitable?

Is abrasive porcelain abrading the natural enamel of the tooth it functions against causing it to wear down prematurely?

Are the materials biocompatible with the patient’s immune system?

Existing bleeding and inflammation can easily be caused by allergies to noxious dental materials.

Is the system low maintenance system?

Here’s a good opportunity to remind ourselves that prehistoric man had darn good teeth, no toothbrushes or floss and ate a native diet grown in an environment in which he evolved and was intimately suited to living in, unlike ourselves.

Finally, what is the least amount of therapy I can offer that will achieve a self-maintaining, structural integral system, with the inherent stability to last the longest time?

Please do notice that a pleasing a smile was not mentioned. When answers to the above questions are yes, excellent esthetics result naturally! Yes, beauty is a natural benefit to excellent stable oral health, so is lower dental costs in the long term. And less time in the dental chair.