Parkzeit 2021-2 (EN)

Healthy teeth are beautiful and do not cause pain.
But few people are aware that taking care of your
teeth and mouth can help prevent infections like
Covid-19 or pneumonia. We discuss how a simple
test can detect inflammation in the mouth and
what influence the mouth has on our health with
dentist Dr Walter Wille-Kollmar and the head
physician at Park Igls, Dr Peter Gartner.
Chew for a long time and carefully is a basic
principle of Mayr Medicine. After all, digestion
begins in the mouth.
Dr Walter Wille-Kollmar: I couldn’t agree more.
The more you’re able to crush the food in the
mouth, the better it is absorbed and digested by
the body.
Dr Peter Gartner: In the mouth, there are six large
and hundreds of small salivary glands that produce
digestive enzymes. Each time you chew, you crush
the food twice, four times, eight times – up to a
hundred times! The food's surface area is thus
enlarged, combined with enzymes through careful
salivation and prepared for the digestion process.
The better you are able to chew and add enzymes
to food, the easier it is for the organs to filter out
valuable substances from the food.
Wille-Kollmar: To chew efficiently, you need a
good set of teeth. The important thing here is
occlusion, i.e. the process of biting together.
How do you define a ‘good set of teeth’?
Wille-Kollmar: Chewing is a complex process that
involves cutting, shearing, up and down motions
and grinding, which also puts a lot of strain on the
muscles used. There are many factors involved, but
optimal occlusion requires the interaction of all
teeth. For those with fillings or dentures, this is
particularly important. If occlusion is not occurring
properly, problems with the spine, migraines or
other diseases may be the result. Teeth are a part of
a long, orthopedically functional chain.
Lay people are probably unaware that a tooth is not
a rigid structure. It has a degree of mobility as long
as its roots are there. As a result, occlusion is better
over the long term when teeth are preserved as
opposed to dental implants.
Does this mean that neck pain could be related
to my teeth?
Gartner: I once attended a seminar about ‘the
physics of teeth’: Using different inserts in the
denture, a dentist changed the occlusion of a
seminar participant. This occlusal change corrected
a previously visible pelvic obliquity with leg length
deviation.
Wille-Kollmar: For those suffering from seemingly
unrelated physical symptoms, I would suggest also
having your teeth examined. It should be
mentioned, however, that not all dentists take a
holistic approach. If just one tooth is ground down,
then the entire chewing process changes. "Form is
function, and function determines form." This
principle is the basis of Dr. Robert L. Lee’s concept
of bio-occlusion. Lee studied dentures to better
understand why some worked well over time and
others did not.
ORAL HYGIENE
The Mouth is a Gateway
to Personal Health –
and to Some Diseases
Gartner: Guests at Park Igls benefit greatly from
the fact that we doctors here work closely with
specialists in all fields.
Wille-Kollmar: This allows me, for example, to give
patients important tips when dealing with their
general dentist.
What should I bear in mind when having a dental
prosthesis?
Wille-Kollmar: It is important to note that every
tooth procedure – whether it is a filling or a denture
– requires a customised approach. Therefore,
patients also need patience. Levelling the tooth
surface is the easiest and fastest procedure.
30 ORAL HYGIENE ORAL HYGIENE 31