About this episode

Dr. Witt Wilkerson discusses the importance of a whole-health approach in dentistry, emphasizing the connection between oral health and systemic health issues.

Summary: In this episode, I sat down with one of the most respected voices in dentistry, Dr. Witt Wilkerson - Director of Dental Medicine at the Dawson Academy and a true pioneer in the intersection of occlusion, TMD, airway, and integrative dental medicine. We had an incredibly rich conversation about the paradigm shift that I believe is transforming our profession: moving away from reactive, tooth-focused treatment and toward a whole-health, root-cause approach. Dr. Wilkerson shares his 44-year journey from treating bruxism purely as a bite problem to recognizing airway and sleep-disordered breathing as primary drivers of dysfunction. We challenged the siloing of dental specialties, made the case for dentistry as oral medicine, and explored the enormous opportunity we all have, dentists and hygienists alike, to screen for and address systemic health issues, including inflammation, blood sugar dysregulation, and sleep disorders. This is a conversation you do not want to miss. Timestamps: 0:00 - Welcome 0:23 — I introduce Dr. Witt Wilkerson and what we'll cover in today's episode 4:46 — Dr. Wilkerson shares his background: joining Dr. Pete Dawson's practice in 1982 and a career…

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