I have made health and getting fit my top priority over the last two years. As a result, I’ve lost over 60 pounds, my aches and pains are gone, my energy has returned, and I feel more like myself than I have in years. But this journey has been about far more than weight loss. It has been a journey of healing, curiosity, and redefining what it truly means to be healthy.

As a dental hygienist, I have always been focused on helping my patients achieve healthy mouths. In school, we are taught that dental health comes from improved oral hygiene—flossing, electric toothbrushes, the “right” toothpaste—and removing tartar and plaque in the office. Yet, year after year, even with excellent care, I continued to see the same patterns: bleeding gums, bone loss, and recurrent decay. Something wasn’t adding up.

While there was often improvement, true healing remained elusive. I began to suspect that I was missing a critical piece of the puzzle. That suspicion sparked curiosity—and that curiosity changed the course of my career. It made me question everything I thought I knew about healing and about health itself. Continue reading in my blog Healing, health, healthier, and becoming healthiest

More topics from my blog

The gum disease-dementia connection

The importance of the tongue in facial development

Barbara Tritz, MSB, BSDATE, BRDH, is a biological dental hygienist and orofacial myofunctional therapist whose blog, Queen of Dental Hygiene, provides patients the information they need to help them on their healing journey. “Our one-hour appointment time was just not long enough to share all the many important facts I wanted our patients to learn. Dental hygiene is about so much more than just teaching brushing and flossing," says Barbara. “We are healers, educators, and lifesavers, and we need to give our patients the tools and skills to empower them to true wellness and health.”