YOUR Jaws .... YOUR Life In his book Your Jaws Your Life, Dr. David C. Page tells us about how vitally important correct jaw position is to our overall health. I have talked about this in previous blog posts but mostly in regard to TMD (temporomandibular disorders) or OSA (obstructive sleep apnea), however he takes this one step further and discusses the importance of the jaws to teeth, heart disease, facial form and development, high blood pressure, and snoring to name a few. Never before have we known more about the connection between the mouth and the rest of the body than at this time, and the body of knowledge keeps growing. This has been termed "medical dentistry" and I find this to be fascinating and of vital importance to health and fitness. HOW HEALTHY DO YOU WANT TO BE? This may seem at first to be an odd question. One might think that everyone would say "why of course I want to be very healthy!". I have found that everything in life has a price. This can be a financial price, or a time commitment price, or even a price of self-discipline or effort that is required to achieve the desired result. Not everyone is willing to pay the price to have what it is they want. Some examples of this could be: 1) Some people want great physical assets - large muscular arms, washboard abs, great posture, ... the question is, are they willing to do what it takes? Hours in the gym, eating a great clean, healthy diet, plenty of quality sleep, etc. 2) Some people want beautiful teeth - white, straight, functional, pain-free, beautiful, free of cavities, absence of gum disease ... are they willing to do what it takes? Daily flossing, eating sweets in moderation not excess, daily tooth brushing especially at night before bed, regular visits to the dentist for maintenance ... etc. Some are willing, some are not. On some dental history forms there is a question: "On a scale of 1 to 10 how important are you teeth to you?."" Because we have separated the importance of our teeth to our life and body that question doesn't sound that crazy. But, what if I asked "How important are your eyes to you?". I think everyone would agree that virtually 100% of people would respond by saying that is a crazy question ... of course our eyes are of upmost importance to us! No one would willingly live without eye sight. I would like to propose that our teeth, gums, and jaws, are of vital importance to our health, well-being, and quality of life and should be valued and cared for. A friend of mine who was diagnosed with high cholesterol and given a prescription for Lipitor by his physician said to me once "It's great! I can still eat ice cream, cake, and all the things I like and my cholesterol is in line." What is the price to pay? Compromised health? Complications of long term use of medication? Yes, cholesterol might measure fine, but what is the additional toll of eating the wrong foods? For me, the effort to avoid the medication would spur me to choose foods with care, increase exercise, and develop good health habits that would help me live with as much vibrant health as I could muster. THE ANSWER: No one can really answer the question above for you, but I believe that if people would take the time to really think about what they want, more people would seek excellent health, and do the "healthy" thing. If you want more information about how to create health for your mouth and body, we are only a phone call or a click away. Yours for better health, Dr. Marty Frankel, 3030 - 3080 Yonge Street, Toronto Ontario, M4N 3N1 ...416-770-8526, www.drmartyfrankel.com