The power of a smile | Steven Lin | TEDxMacquarieUniversity
Summary
TLDRThis engaging talk highlights the transformative power of a smile and the importance of dental health. The speaker shares personal anecdotes and scientific insights to emphasize how dental care impacts overall well-being. They discuss societal stigmas, the evolution of dental practices, and the link between oral health and serious conditions like heart disease. The talk concludes with a call to action for better dental education and communication to foster a culture of prevention and wellness.
Takeaways
- 😃 Smiling has numerous health benefits including reducing blood pressure, boosting the immune system, and releasing endorphins.
- 🦷 Proper dental hygiene is crucial, as neglect can lead to severe dental issues, as illustrated by the speaker's sister's experience.
- 👨⚕️ Dentists often face social stigma, with many people expressing dislike or fear, which can hinder the promotion of dental health.
- 👩👧👦 The fear of dental treatment is deeply rooted in our evolutionary pain response, which is more pronounced in sensitive areas like the mouth.
- 🤰 Painful dental experiences can be compared to childbirth, highlighting the extreme discomfort some patients associate with dental procedures.
- 🔍 The speaker emphasizes the connection between gum disease and serious health conditions like heart disease and erectile dysfunction.
- 📊 Gum disease is alarmingly common, with 91% of people with heart disease also suffering from it, indicating a need for better oral health education.
- 🏥 The importance of oral health is often overlooked in society and healthcare systems, leading to preventable diseases and complications.
- 💡 The speaker advocates for better communication about oral health, suggesting that increased awareness could lead to healthier habits and reduced stigma.
- 📱 Technology, such as mobile apps and digital platforms, can be utilized to improve oral health education and communication between professionals and patients.
- 🌟 The speaker concludes by urging the audience to consider the long-term benefits of good oral health and to take preventive measures seriously.
Q & A
What are the benefits of smiling mentioned in the script?
-Smiling is said to decrease blood pressure, boost the immune system, and release mood-lifting endorphins.
Why was the speaker's sister sitting in the dental chair with a hole in her tooth?
-The speaker's sister had a hole in her tooth likely due to poor dental hygiene practices, which the speaker had tried to correct by lecturing her on proper brushing techniques.
What is the speaker's profession and how does it relate to the audience's perception?
-The speaker is a dentist, and he mentions that people often express dislike for dentists, suggesting a negative perception of dental professionals.
Why does the speaker mention Jenny's preference for childbirth over dental treatment?
-The speaker uses Jenny's preference to illustrate the extreme fear and discomfort some people have towards dental treatment, even comparing it to the pain of childbirth.
What evolutionary reason is given for the sensitivity of the mouth?
-The mouth has a complex network of taste and pain sensation to detect dangerous substances before swallowing, which is an evolutionary survival mechanism.
How does the speaker connect dental health to broader health issues?
-The speaker links gum disease to a spectrum of diseases including stroke, diabetes, and pre-term low birth rate, emphasizing the importance of oral health on overall well-being.
What is the significance of the story about Norman in the script?
-Norman's story is used to highlight the severe consequences of neglecting oral health, which in his case was linked to heart disease and ultimately his death.
Why does the speaker argue that dental health is not prioritized in society?
-The speaker argues that dental health is not prioritized due to stigma, avoidance, lack of education, and insufficient government investment in dental services.
What role does technology play in the speaker's vision for improving oral health?
-Technology, such as digital health platforms and mobile applications, is seen as a tool to improve communication, education, and access to dental care, thereby enhancing oral health.
What is the main message the speaker wants the audience to take away regarding oral health?
-The speaker wants the audience to understand the importance of oral health, the impact of neglecting it, and the need for a cultural shift towards prevention and proactive care.
Outlines
😁 The Power of a Smile and Dental Health
The speaker introduces the topic by highlighting the benefits of smiling, such as increasing attractiveness, confidence, and reducing stress. They recount personal anecdotes about dental hygiene and the importance of proper brushing technique. The speaker then transitions into discussing dental health, sharing a story about a family member's poor dental habits and the consequences. They emphasize the need for better dental care and the challenges faced in changing public perception about dentistry. The paragraph concludes with insights into the evolution of dental practices and the impact of fear and pain on dental treatment experiences.
😬 Dental Phobia and Its Impact on Health
The speaker delves into the issue of dental avoidance, starting with a survey on flossing habits to illustrate the lack of dental care in the audience. They explain the connection between gum disease and serious health conditions like erectile dysfunction and heart disease, using the story of a patient named Norman to underscore the severity of untreated dental issues. The paragraph highlights the importance of dental health in overall well-being and criticizes the societal and healthcare system's lack of emphasis on oral health education and services. The speaker calls for better communication and awareness to prevent dental diseases that are largely preventable.
📱 Leveraging Technology for Oral Health Education
The speaker advocates for the use of technology to improve oral health education and communication. They discuss the potential of digital health, mobile applications, and social media to enhance public knowledge and engagement with dental care. The paragraph introduces the concept of a Dental Hub, an information platform aimed at educating and empowering dental professionals to communicate more effectively. The speaker envisions a future where technology streamlines healthcare processes, making oral health a priority in people's lives. They conclude by urging the audience to consider the long-term benefits of good oral hygiene and the role of community, conversation, and technology in transforming the approach to oral health from reactive to preventive.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Smile
💡Dental Health
💡Dental Hygiene
💡Endorphins
💡Dental Fear
💡Gum Disease
💡Dental Clearance
💡Oral Health Education
💡Digital Health
💡Prevention
💡Healthcare System
Highlights
Smiling can make you more attractive, increase confidence, and decrease stress levels.
Smiling has health benefits such as decreasing blood pressure and boosting the immune system.
The importance of proper dental hygiene from a young age is emphasized.
Dental disease can have serious implications, including a link to heart disease.
Fear and avoidance of dental treatment are common, affecting the perception of dentists.
Pain receptors in the mouth contribute to the fear of dental procedures.
The evolution of dental drills and the stigma associated with them.
A survey reveals that less than half of the audience flosses daily, indicating poor dental habits.
Flossing removes 35% of plaque, reducing the risk of gum disease and related health issues.
Gum disease is linked to a range of serious health problems, including erectile dysfunction.
The story of Norman illustrates the tragic consequences of neglecting oral health.
The dental community's role in oral health education and the need for better communication.
The impact of government investment on dental infrastructure and public health.
The potential of digital health and technology to improve oral health education and communication.
The importance of community conversations and culture in promoting oral health.
The opportunity to transform oral health from reactive treatment to prevention through education.
The call to action for individuals to take oral health seriously and the benefits of a smile.
Transcripts
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
what if I could tell you a technique
that would make you more attractive
increase your confidence and decreases
stress levels I know what you're
thinking it's not a glass of wine it's a
smile smiling is shown to decrease your
blood pressure boost your immune system
and release mood-lifting endorphins what
a fascinating ability we
possess as Le Bisal once said we often
underestimate the power of a touch A
Smile as a child I was always fascinated
with my
teeth brushing a night was like a
religious ceremony it was a mession but
for me I was always perplexed when other
people didn't feel the same
way and I was that annoying little
brother in the bathroom lecturing my
sister when she was by saying you're not
doing it right you you you're just
sucking on that's not do anything mom
tell her to stop
daydreaming she never listened so you
can imagine how validated I felt at our
first dental treat Dental when she was
sitting in the chair and she P pushed
back in the chair and opened her mouth
and I saw a hole so big that I thought I
could shoot a basketball into
it my poor sister learned the hard way I
told her
so that was my first experience with
dental disease but it wouldn't be my
last after graduating from dental school
I felt more equipped to tackle people's
disinterest in their
teeth little did I know it would be a
little bit more of a challenged than I
had
anticipated at dinner parties you
introduce yourself and people say so
Steven what do you do I say well I'm a
dentist and they go
oh I hate the
dentist let's go and sit with the
accountants and
lawyers now there's a sure fire sign
that you're not winning any popularity
contests but it's true that people have
issues with the dentist I remember when
I met Jenny
Jenny was a mother of three she came
into came into the um the for an
appointment and she said I've had this
terrible toothache all day I said well
don't worry Jenny we're here to help you
and she say oh I've put it off but it's
just so painful now I said well we going
go very slowly you know we do this every
day and she said I I'd rather give birth
and have dental
treatment you you what now let's think
about that for a second now you've got
two options okay all right well option
number one well okay you're going to
have needed Dental feeling all right
okay so might be a bit sore for a few
days so what's option number two well
you're going to have a small human path
through your pelvis now I'll take option
number one I mean
come they're not on the same level we're
blowing things out of perspective I mean
I can't comment personally but think of
the watermelon and the golf ball
analogies but
but it's true that people suffer more
than disinterest in their
teeth people people fear the dentists in
dental treatment why why did Jenny feel
like this well as organisms we evolve
pain receptors as a survival mechanism
the hands have a very high concentration
of pain receptors so that when we reach
out and touch something such as a hot
surface we recoil immediately the same
is true for the as same is true for for
the mouth where we have a complex
network of taste and pain Sensation that
allows to detect dangerous substances
before we swallow them now pain pathways
are interpreted and superimposed onto
different parts of the brain that deal
with memory attention and emotion so
this is why we build up painful memories
and and why we have feelings and
emotions associated with dental
treatment now see this happy little
fell that's a petal power Dental drill
oh can you you'd have to warm that thing
up your grandparents or maybe even
parents may be able to tell you stories
about these it wasn't until
1957 that that we introduced the air
Turon drill hand piece that we know as
the dental drill so we didn't exactly
nail the best way to deal with this very
sensitive part of the
body and as a result modern dentist
carries a stigma and this stigma results
in Dental
avoidance now I think we can get a
snippet of dental voance right here in
this room
today we're going to take a survey so I
want everyone to raise their hand who
flosses once a
day
okay and now this question is also known
as the dental Li detector so we're going
to be checking people on the way out
after so yeah so not so yeah but let's
have a look okay so less than half women
more than men yep look at the men up the
back they flossing like forget that mate
just be happy if I'm brushing all right
but well what if I were tell you that
flossing remov 35% that of plaque that
builds up on your teeth and gums and if'
left over the long term increases your
risk of gum disease now gum disease has
been shown to be linked through vascular
dysfunction
to male
impotency erectile dysfunction
oh she I better get some
floss and ladies and take note of the
hands it's true that when we understand
the implications of something it becomes
important to us I believe that we've
missed out in
society of of communicating the
importance of dental
health I remember I met Norman was was a
patient that stuck out in my head Norman
was a very jovial character he walked in
from an appointment loved a joke didn't
have many teeth Norman walked in he'd
pointed one tooth down the back he say
see that tooth yeah Norman he it that's
me chewing tooth so all
right and he said see this tooth there a
lone standing front tooth I said yeah he
said that one's for the ladies like
oh Norman Norman attends ended the
appointment with his wife but his wife
wasn't in such such a happy mood she
Norman was actually referred by his his
cardiologist
now he was actually in need of of
quadruple bypass heart surgery and in
order to get the operation he needed a
dental clearance so after his
examination we found that Norman had
severe gum disease and then because of
the urgency of the surgery we we needed
to take out his remaining teeth with the
plan to make a denture once he recovered
from the operation now if you think of
Norman's
gums the surface area of like mine and
yours of your gums equal the same
surface area as the whole skin of your
forearm so you can imagine in gum
disease we have a chronic inflammation
process
occurring now you can imagine this
happening on the entire skin of your
forearm it's going to put a lot of
pressure on your body in fact 91% of
people with heart disease also have gum
disease as compared to 66% of those in
the normal
population now Norman's wife returned 3
months later to the surgery and
tragically informed us that Norman had
experienced complications with his
surgery and has sadly passed
away now the frustrating part of this
story is that by the time I'd seen
Norman it was too
late the disease process had occurred in
his mouth over his
lifetime
now gum disease is linked to a broad
spectrum of diseases include that
include stroke diabetes pre-term low
birth rate life-threatening
diseases why aren't we acknowledging
this why did Norm condition get so
bad why will only a handful of people in
this audience today floss once a day and
why will nearly half of a strain kids
get tooth to by age
six I believe to answer this question we
need to see and understand how oral
health fits into our society and our
health care
System the dental Community are the
holders holders of oral health education
and knowledge but we're not very good at
communicating
it and if you think about the stigma and
avoidance associated with dental care
this makes sense and coupled with with
with a a lack of service and access in
Practical terms we see one in five
Australians avoiding going to the
dentist compared to one in 25 going to
the
doctor
now we are a community that are locked
off from education and we are also
locked off from services so what other
what other factor affects this system
well in a healthy system the government
invests into infrastructure and access
to make a flowing interactive Community
between between the dental community and
the
public this is what our system looks
like this is the system that Norman
Jenny everyone in this room my sister
and and our children will grow up
in one is strangled by cost
miscommunication and high disease we are
a public that don't understand the
importance of dental disease so we don't
communicate it to the government to
incentivize them to invest into
Services
90% of of dental disease is preventable
by simple modifiable
habits what if everyone had that
annoying brother in the bathroom nagging
them to brush all the
time what about a nice heal friendly
heal health professional that
understands how important your oral
health is and what exactly you need to
do to look after
it the key to Breaking this cycle and
break and and creating a culture of oral
health in our society is to unlock
Dental communication to spread knowledge
and information so that we feel that
dental health and our oral health is
important for our lives and
well-being we live in a society that
uses technology more for Banking online
shopping and ordering a taxi more than
we do for our
health here we have an opportunity
digital health
the use of technology to streamline our
healthare
processes how does this apply to our
oral health system well ealth the use of
online information and Technology to
boost to boost our Dental iq's M Health
mobile mobile applications that create
communication interfaces between health
professionals and their patient bases
Healthcare social media discuss building
discussion and communication around
issues before they become a
problem at Dental Hub we're building a
crowdsource information platform that
teaches and activates Dental
professionals to be better
communicators we're developing an app to
create a Comm communication streamline
from from your dental professional
directly to your mobile
app through
education we can we can Empower people
to feel why oral health is important to
their life and and integrate into their
culture and
Lifestyles if nine out of 10 of Old
Friends raised their hand to the
flossing question and you knew that by
not doing it you would increase your
risk of heart disease and maybe
impotency would you take the
risk it's Community
conversations and cultures like this
that creat swells that it incentivizes
the government to invest into
infrastructure and access and services
to those who cannot afford
it through education and communic
ation and integrating technology into
our Healthcare
processes we we can transform our
Paradigm of oral health from a reactive
one of reactive treatment to one of
prevention understanding and
education I hope that everyone here
today gets the opportunity to feel the
power of a smile in every day of their
life our mouths truly are the gateway to
to The Human
Experience I also
do you see or how Society puts oral
health to the side of our lives and
well-being and how our Health Care
system does the
same here we have an opportunity to
break new grounds in our knowledge of
lives and our well-being and health but
also to drag our Health Care system out
of the Dark Ages and into a progressive
21st
century 21st
century
so the next time you scoff at
flossing please think of
me if not me think of
yourself if not yourself think of your
partner but if not your partner think of
your children thank
you
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