The mouth-body connection: what does holistic healthcare look like in dentistry?

From patient understanding of private dental care to the mouth-body connection, some of dentistry’s biggest players got together to deliberate the profession’s key trends and challenges.

Coming together as part of its inaugural Dental Health Is… Live conference, Bupa Dental Care welcomed an exciting panel of dentistry’s leaders to explore the topics and challenges that shape the profession’s future.

Taking place on 17 January, each expert offered a unique insight into the evolving landscape of patient care.

Chaired by Dentistry.co.uk editor Gaby Bissett, the thought leaders included:

• Mark Allan, general manager for Bupa Dental Care
• Dr Neil Sikka, director of dentistry at Bupa Dental Care
• Louise Harvey, commercial director for Bupa Dental Care
• Dirk Rolf Gieselmann, founder and CEO at Dentognostics
• Colin Campbell, dentist and specialist in oral surgery for Straumann
• Liz Heath, consultant and healthcare market expert for Laing Buisson
• Miguel Stanley, founder and CEO of White Clinic.

In part two of the feature, we look at the role played by technology and the understanding of the mouth-body connection in the future of patient care. From data and innovation to the relationship between oral, physical and mental health, the panel discussed how it can all be considered and applied to create better patient outcomes.

Technology and data

For Dirk Rolf Gieselmann of Dentognostics, technology ‘has always disrupted dentistry’.

‘I’ve been in dentistry for 35 years and there have been different phases,’ he said.

‘I have seen the introduction of implants, which appeared because there was a demand in the market – the post-war generation needed implants. I was the CEO of Invisalign in the year they invented it and brought it to Europe. This was a reaction to the changing orthodontic market.

‘If you have a new technology, you need to start thinking, how do you implement that? How can it change treatment for the better?’

Science first

Dr Neil Sikka, Bupa Dental Care’s director of dentistry, believes clinician hesitance is understandable when new technology breaks through.

‘From a clinician point of view, you want the science first,’ he said.

‘Scanners are a good example – when they first came out, you might have asked if a single crown would give you the same marginal integrity on the production from your whole type of impression. I would argue it didn’t initially – but as things moved forward, science proved that the quality of the fit was far superior.

‘Even with science, many clinicians can be hesitant. This comes down to a fear of change, especially if, like me, you’ve been practising for more than 30 years.’

Mark Allan, general manager of Bupa Dental Care, agreed and nodded towards Bupa’s introduction of scanners and technology investment into dental practices as an example.

‘On the one hand, you’ve got clinicians asking for a second scanner – they are transforming their patient experience. However, in some cases, it stays in the corridor because everyone’s scared to use it.’

For Louise Harvey, Bupa Dental Care’s commercial director, looking at the bigger picture is critical. She said: ‘I think what’s critical when you start this journey is data and how you think about data as an organisation.

‘The data has to be good enough and you’ve got to work out how it all fits together in an ecosystem.

‘This is particularly true in an organisation such as Bupa Dental Care, where we have thousands of clinicians. We need to start small and slow, as there isn’t going to be a one-size-fits-all approach.’

What does dentistry look like?

Colin Campbell proposed that dental professionals need to work out their focus when providing treatment: ‘I’m a 100% healthcare professional – first and foremost, I look after patients without prejudice as much as I can.

‘I’m not saying we can’t improve people’s smiles but we are not beauty therapists. When we start offering Botox for cosmetic reasons, it takes us out of the sphere of being healthcare professionals.

‘Working out your focus is really critical in technology. We can’t do everything.’

Miguel Stanley argued that dental professionals can adopt both roles – but priorities are key. ‘First, it’s biology, then function, and only then do we get to aesthetics. Check there’s no inflammation. Then ask how’s the function? The balance? And lastly, why not produce a beautiful set of teeth for that patient’s mental health?’ he said.

He added: ‘For me, one of the greatest challenges is the existential threat that bad quality dentistry poses to every goodwill dentist in small communities.’

Patient mindset

The general consensus in the room was that patient mindsets are changing – particularly among younger demographics. From running and exercise influencers to digital health scans and personalised vitamin supplements, for many health and wellbeing is now front and centre.

This boom of a health-conscious Britain is reflected in consumer habits. Data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) shows that gym membership spending rose by 11% over the 2024 Christmas period, with a 4% increase in January. Looking at demographics, 18-34 year olds saw the largest increase in growth – 8% year-on-year. Another study found that nearly half of young people and one in every three middle-aged Britons no longer drink alcohol.

Dirk believes that this awareness makes for an exciting time to be in dentistry. He said: ‘What’s also changed is the patients and their habits. Lots of people have a bio tracker – wellness and wellbeing trends are everywhere. Everyone wants to be the best version of themselves.’

However, marketing innovation correctly is key to success.

‘Forget the word hygiene for a moment – let’s call it prevention therapy,’ Dirk said.

‘Prevention therapy is so much more than hygiene, and you need to put a different price tag on it to do it commercially. You can have the most beautiful innovation on the planet, but it will disappear if it isn’t commercially relevant.’

In short, if done right, there’s a world of opportunity. ‘I think it’s the best time to be in dentistry,’ Dirk added.

Mouth-body connection

With this growing health-conscious nation, it is almost inevitable that conversations around holistic care will be central in dentistry.

Dentognostics seeks to empower patients by giving them knowledge about what is happening in their mouth by analysing their saliva. Dirk, the company’s CEO, believes collaboration between dental and other health sectors is crucial.

‘If you have tech that connects dentistry and medicine, that is how the two professions can really connect and understand each other,’ he said.

‘For example, if you have diabetes and your HB1AC level is out of bounds, there are issues getting your glycaemic control – you won’t get it done if you have severe inflammation of your oral cavity. If the two professions can connect with one simple biomarker, a diabetes expert can understand that in order to get the patient’s levels under control, the help of a dentist is necessary.

‘If we do not have a simple way to let people talk, we will never get it done.’

Mitigated at point of care

Miguel Stanley proposed a future business model for dentistry where a centralised diagnostics centre decides what clinician does what treatment – essentially, having the tech and AI do the pitch alongside the dentist. ‘The dentist of the future doesn’t make the decision,’ he said.

‘Dentistry needs benchmarks for diagnostics in patients. Show me two dentists who follow the exact same protocol, and I’ll be very impressed. We have to benchmark diagnostics and then define who within the ecosystem takes care of what: biology first, function second, and aesthetics last. That’s the way I see the future of this profession.’

Miguel believes the mouth-body connection needs to be central to dentistry: ‘I would argue that a tooth extraction is the most prevalent surgery on earth, and is by default an orthopaedic surgery. How many orthopaedic surgeons do surgery only with an X-ray? We might have patients who are smokers, with low vitamin D. These things can be easily mitigated at the point of care.’

The use of AI

From note-taking to diagnostics, artificial intelligence has become crucial for many practising dentists.

In particular, Colin Campbell highlighted the benefits of cameras during appointments: ‘AI note-taking is just a stepping stone to the next level – which, for me, is the camera. The note-taker will ultimately be the camera.

‘For most of my career, I was against having a camera in the surgery because I thought it would change how I interacted with patients. But it won’t. What it will do is hold poor dentistry accountable at all times.

‘If someone doesn’t want a camera in their practice, you have to ask – why not? With a camera in place, it simply switches to the next patient, records the session, and moves on. If a patient ever says, “You didn’t tell me that,” I can just say, “Actually, I did,” and show them the footage.

‘I’m all for that.’

Mark Allan, general manager for Bupa Dental Care, believes that a continued shift in the thinking of both patients and clinicians is needed for the future of the profession.

‘To get to the world we’re talking about, it will take a shift in mindset,’ he said.

‘It’s important to consider AI not just as a tool for increasing appointment numbers but also as a way of potentially carrying out slower dentistry and considering what broader services we could offer.’

To find out more about Bupa Dental Care, visit www.jobs.bupadentalcare.co.uk.

You can read part one – A changing dental landscape: what is the future of funding? – here.

This article is sponsored by Bupa Dental Care.