What Every Dentist (and Dental Paitent) Should Know About Sex

A free eBook written by a Boston area cosmetic dentist, Dr. Helaine Smith, offers some practical suggestions on oral care and sexual health, and is a great example of how every health care practitioner can include sexual health considerations into their practice.

The 20 page booklet called Healthy Mouth, Healthy Sex covers a wide range of topics related to oral and sexual health, including:

• Oral Health and STIs
• Bad Breath, Dry Mouth, and Making Out
• Oral Health, Sex, and Pregnancy
• TMJ and Oral Sex
• Oral and Sexual Health Across the Lifespan (From Braces to Dentures)

While not without its problems, Healthy Mouth, Healthy Sex is exactly the kind of integrated health thinking we need to see more of and a great example of a professional talking about sex without making it dry or inappropriate. Here’s what Dr. Smith has to say about the dental establishment in the section “Improve Your Sex Life with Dental Implants”:

Patients often complain about their dentures because they slip and move around – yet the dental establishment has never really considered the effect of ill-fitting dentures on wearers’ social activities – including their sex lives.

Right on dentist! How refreshing it is to hear from a health care professional who is thinking of my overall health and not just the 9 square inches she’s focusing on in her office? Health Mouth, Healthy Sex reinforces the idea that sexual health is an integral part of overall health and that if health professionals, including dentists, want to support the overall health, and treatment compliance, of their patients they need to keep sexuality in the picture.

A few corrections to the text should be noted. There is a misleading comment about people with braces needing to use a fresh condom for every sexual activity (really, everyone should use a fresh condom for every sexual activity). Smith also makes the common mistake of confusing people who have sex with multiple partners with people who have unprotected sex with multiple partners (promiscuity is only a problem if you don’t practice safer sex). I could have done without such a heavy sales pitch throughout (every page includes a strong call-to-action “See Your Dentist!”) but the effort to include sexuality seems earnest, not gimmicky, and frankly you have to expect some degree of self-promotion from a dentist with a publicist. The author also deserves bonus point for her own broad minded understanding of sex (she talks about sex for every age, and even includes a brief discussion of sexual assault).

I highly recommend checking this book out, and even more than that, I think you should send a copy to your dentist. I’m going to do that today and I hope it comes up at my next appointment. It won’t be the first time I’ve talked about sex with my mouth full of instruments, but the addition of the dental drill seems like it could be thrilling.

Read more – The Successful Smiles Blog: Healthy Mouth, Healthy Sex

Related – About.com’s Guide to Dentistry

_{Cover image courtesy of Dr. Helaine Smith}