Dr. Ingrid Murra: Oral health as preventive medicine: gum disease, teeth aging, the truth about veneers and clear aligners, and why perfect teeth fit matters

Most people don't think about their teeth until something goes wrong. By then, according to orthodontist Dr. Ingrid Murra, it's often already expensive, irreversible, and entirely avoidable.

Ingrid Murra is a Harvard-trained orthodontist and founder Two Front, a venture backed teeth longevity platform connecting top aligner specialist orthodontists with dentists around the country to give patients perfect teeth fit before damage occurs. She’s on a mission to transform dentistry from insurance-driven reactive care into prevention-focused oral health by bringing  new era of teeth longevity to healthcare.

Dr. Ingrid joined me on the Modrn Wellness Podcast to talk about something that almost never comes up in preventive medicine conversations, and should.

Your teeth are meant to last a hundred years. Enamel is the strongest material in your body.

And yet the average American loses over 5 teeth by age 50 and spends over $50,000 in dental work over their lifetime. That's not inevitable. It's a system problem.

Acid erosion is silently aging your teeth

Enamel wears irreversibly. Every acidic drink, coffee, green juice, lemon water, sparkling water, is bathing your teeth in acid. Over time, that acid erodes the enamel you can never get back. The fix is almost embarrassingly simple: swish plain water after anything acidic. That's it. You're rinsing the acid off before it does damage.

45-60% of adults have gum disease and a lot don't know it

Gum disease is largely invisible, you won't feel it until it's advanced. And the consequences go far beyond your mouth. The harmful bacteria from gum disease seeps into your bloodstream and has been found in Alzheimer's plaques and heart plaques. If your gums bleed when you floss regularly, that is not normal. That is an early sign of gum disease and it warrants a dentist visit.

Perfect teeth fit is a health issue, not a cosmetic one

This was the concept I had never thought about before talking to Dr. Ingrid. If your bite is off — even slightly — you are putting hundreds of pounds of force on your teeth in the wrong positions every single day. That leads to chipping, cracking, wearing, and eventually major dental work. Crowded teeth also make it physically impossible to clean between them properly, no matter how diligent you are with brushing and flossing.

The truth about veneers

One in three veneers fail.

Most people don't know that. Veneers require shaving away healthy enamel — sometimes into the dentin layer — and committing to replacing them every 10 to 15 years for life. If your teeth are structurally sound and you want a more beautiful smile, a clear aligner specialist can get you there without sacrificing your natural tooth structure.

How to find the right clear aligner provider

Not all Invisalign providers are equal. The average general dentist does seven cases a year — nowhere near enough volume to deliver predictable results. Dr. Ingrid recommends going to an orthodontist who specializes in clear aligners, not just one who offers them. Her company, Two Front, connects patients with specialists who have done a minimum of 1,000 cases with two refinements or less. You can find a Two Front provider at mytwofront.com.

Listen to the full episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. And follow Dr. Ingrid at @dr.ingie and Two Front at @mytwofront.

For more evidence-based health insights subscribe to the Modrn Wellness podcast and follow @dr.marypardee on Instagram.

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