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Our expert monthly view on everything dental wellness related
Hello! Thank you for visiting (or returning to) this regular column, where we explore health, the mouth, teeth, and what it means to be human. This week, I’m guided by the words of poet W.H. Auden:
“Healing is not a science, but the intuitive art of wooing nature.”
Auden’s father, a physician in the pre-antibiotic era, knew this well. A visit to a pathology museum (I recommend the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh, open to non-medics) is a sobering reminder of a time when infection, malnutrition, and poverty often proved fatal. The sight of rickets-bowed bones, for instance, speaks to how many lives were stunted by preventable disease.
Nature has always provided the raw materials for healing—penicillin, aspirin, opium, digoxin. But it’s science that has transformed these into medicines through isolation, testing, and scaled manufacturing. This partnership between biology and scientific method is more vital than ever, particularly as antimicrobial resistance (AMR) threatens the safety of surgery and cancer care.
While early medicine focused on plants and fungi, modern science increasingly looks to the animal kingdom. Immunotherapies and mRNA vaccines are examples of how we now modify our own biological processes to fight disease. In fact, the immune system itself—shared across fish, reptiles, birds, and mammals—is nature’s original “total-action compound” against infection. Superior to single action antibiotics.
In many ways, public health policy continues to shift the balance toward prevention. Clean water and sanitation remain lifesaving. In dentistry, we know tooth decay and gum disease are caused by bacteria fed by sugary foods and poor cleaning. These conditions are nearly universal in modern society—but they don’t have to be.
Our bodies, including our mouths, come equipped with remarkable defences, but they do need some support. Brushing, reducing sugar intake, and regular hygienist visits reduce the bacterial load and help maintain oral health. It’s an act of kindness toward our own biology—just like exercising or eating well.
A good dentist should always be aiming forthe least amount of dentistry necessary over a lifetime. (Orthodontics, an exception, as a tool for improving cleanability, as well as appearance.) When treatment is necessary, it should support long-term health and reduce the need for further intervention, returning teeth to an optimised state.
In my next column, I’ll explore the incredible system of jaws, teeth, muscles, and nerves; how they can be used to your advantage in orthodontics and reconstruction, and how neglect can lead to chronic pain and disease.
If there’s a topic you’d like me to cover or a question you’d like answered, please get in touch at myles@specialistdentalpartners.co.uk or info@wellohello.co.uk
Until next time,
Myles
