Dental hygienists are trained to identify disease patterns, measure outcomes, and follow established protocols. Yet many of the most meaningful clinical insights in my career did not come from textbooks or traditional training—they came from observation, curiosity, and noticing patterns that weren’t explained in the curriculum.
My journey to integrative dental hygienist
My evolution into what I now call an integrative dental hygienist began unexpectedly in 2017, when my father was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Supporting him allowed me to witness the oral-systemic overlap in real time—changes in salivation, swallowing fatigue, mouth breathing, and disrupted sleep all directly affected his oral health.
Studies confirm that Parkinson’s patients frequently present with xerostomia, decreased oral clearance, and higher rates of inflammation and dental disease.¹⁻³ These were not abstract concepts; they were happening in my family.
At the same time, my best friend Amanda, a chiropractor and one of the most holistically-minded clinicians I knew, was recovering from breast cancer. Cancer treatment had left her with chronic dry mouth, mucositis, oral pH imbalance, and episodes of forced mouth breathing.
The literature describes these effects extensively: radiation and chemotherapy commonly result in salivary gland dysfunction, xerostomia, mucositis, and increased caries risk.⁴ Watching Amanda navigate these changed the way I understood oral tissues, inflammation, and the fragility of mucosa under systemic stress.
As a chiropractor, Amanda also understood the mechanics of posture, airway, and jaw alignment. She would evaluate gait, cervical stability, and functional breathing when treating TMJ symptoms, an approach supported in chiropractic and manual therapy literature.⁵ Long before airway dentistry was mainstream, she recognized that clenching and grinding were compensations, not simply stress habits. Her perspective planted early seeds of functional thinking in my mind.
In truth, those seeds had been planted earlier. My very first dentist in 2006 was a functional kinesiologist who assessed posture and gait before discussing bruxism. As a new hygienist, I didn’t understand why alignment mattered. Looking back, he was the first clinician who showed me dentistry was connected to the body, not separate from it.
The clinical shift was later
My true clinical shift happened in 2018, when I moved to Germany and joined an advanced perio and implant practice using EMS AirFlow Guided Biofilm Therapy (GBT). The oral health outcomes I witnessed were unlike anything I had seen: healthier periodontal tissues, less restorative burden, and significantly reduced biofilm accumulation. GBT has since been supported by research demonstrating effective biofilm removal, patient comfort, and comparable or superior outcomes to conventional instrumentation.⁶⁻⁸
Living in a culture deeply rooted in prevention, biocompatibility, and whole-body wellness reshaped my understanding of oral health. I became increasingly aware of how processed foods, airway obstruction, sleep quality, medications, and systemic inflammation influence the oral environment. Everything I had observed with my father and Amanda suddenly aligned with what I was seeing clinically abroad.
When I returned to the United States and continued training in airway dentistry and myofunctional therapy, the pieces finally locked together. Mouth breathing, tongue posture, scalloping, chronic congestion, acidic patterns, clenching, snoring, and fatigue were no longer isolated findings—they were interconnected physiologic signals.
Joining a biologically aligned, airway-centered practice in Las Vegas reinforced what I had been learning independently: dentistry has always been part of systemic health, we simply haven’t been taught to see it that way.
An integrative hygienist does not need to leave traditional dentistry, change careers, or adopt every holistic philosophy. Integration simply means expanding what we notice and understanding how the body influences the mouth, and how the mouth influences the body.
How hygienists can begin integrating
• By recognizing mouth breathing as a clinical risk factor, not a benign habit
• By identifying scalloped tongues, low oral tone, and narrow arches as functional signs
• By connecting nutrition and systemic inflammation to oral pH and biofilm behavior
• By understanding how salivary flow disruptions (neurologic, oncologic, or medication-based) affect disease risk
• By considering posture, airway, and breathing patterns when addressing bruxism or TMD symptoms
• By using patient-friendly language to explain why these patterns matter
These observations are not “alternative.” They are foundational physiology.
My journey—from Parkinson’s to cancer survivorship, from kinesiologic dentistry to GBT, from airway dentistry to myofunctional therapy—has shown me that the most meaningful growth in our profession comes from staying curious. Curiosity expands our clinical awareness; clinical awareness transforms patient care.
If there is one message I hope hygienists take from my experience it is this: integration begins with simply noticing. We already stand at the intersection of oral and systemic health. We need only widen our lens.
The mouth is the beginning of the body, and hygienists have always been its first line of insight.
References
1. Qiu X, et al. Oral health implications in Parkinson’s disease. Front Oral Health. 2025.
2. Špiljak B, et al. Sialorrhea and xerostomia in Parkinson’s disease: Oral-health impacts. Clin Oral Investig. 2022;26:123-130.
3. Pardo A, et al. Oral health conditions and hygiene procedures in patients with Parkinson’s disease: a systematic review. Explor Med. 2024;5:1260.
4. Harris JA, McMahon A, McGowan M, et al. An overview of clinical oncology and impact on oral health. Front Oral Health. 2022;3:874332.
5. Chu EC, Ho AM, Chi CL. Temporomandibular disorder treated with chiropractic: A case report. Chiropr Man Therap. 2023;31:45.
6. Shrivastava D, et al. Novel approach to dental biofilm management through Guided Biofilm Therapy. Cureus. 2021;13(9):e17745.
7. Rajesh KS, et al. Guided Biofilm Therapy in periodontal and peri-implant maintenance. J Dent Res Rev. 2023;10:42-48.
8. Cyris M, et al. Guided Biofilm Therapy versus conventional protocol: clinical outcomes. BMC Oral Health. 2024;24:564.
