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Good morning.

At More Than Teeth, we believe healing begins in the mouth and goes far beyond teeth. That’s why I’m excited to introduce my wife and partner in your wellness journey: Coach Cathy.

Cathy has a master's degree in Functional Nutrition and is a certified Buteyko Breathing Instructor. She is also a Board-Certified Health and Wellness Coach. She collaborates with me to create these newsletters and assist you in improving your breathing, sleep, and healing, beginning with your diet.

In Today’s Edition:

1. Meet Coach Cathy: A new ally in your sleep + nutrition journey

2. Why “veggies first” is a secret weapon for blood sugar, sleep, and energy

3. Three easy ways to make vegetables your go-to convenience food

4. Dr. Bennett’s Clinical Corner: The Inflammation-Pain-Sleep Cycle

5. CE Opportunities/Events

5-minute read👇

Clinical Corner

🥼Use the clinical corner as your secret weapon to impress your colleagues and patients!

Key Takeaways🔑

🥗 Why "Veggies First" Matters

Cathy champions the "Eat Veggies First" principle, a simple yet powerful strategy to enhance digestion, stabilize blood sugar levels, and support restful sleep. Consuming fiber-rich vegetables at the start of a meal can slow the absorption of carbohydrates, leading to more stable post-meal glucose levels. This approach not only benefits metabolic health but also contributes to better sleep quality and overall well-being. (Article from Ohio State University)

Research supports this method: a study published in Nutrients found that eating vegetables before carbohydrates significantly reduced postprandial blood glucose and insulin levels, regardless of eating speed. This suggests that the order in which we consume foods can have a meaningful impact on our metabolic responses.

🦷 Why It Matters

The American Dental Association affirms that a balanced, whole-food diet supports both oral and overall health. Dentists are encouraged to help patients limit ultra-processed foods—especially added sugars—and adopt eating habits that strengthen teeth, reduce inflammation, and promote lifelong wellness.

Clinical Corner by Dr Bennett:

When managing chronic TMD and craniofacial pain, it’s essential to look beyond joint mechanics and muscular strain. These patients often live in a state of sympathetic overdrive—a heightened “fight or flight” response—fueled in part by dietary inflammation and fragmented sleep.

The Inflammation–Sleep–Pain Cycle

• Ultra-processed foods (Click on link), high in refined sugars, seed oils, and additives, are known to increase systemic inflammation.

• This inflammation can trigger autonomic nervous system activation, especially the sympathetic branch, leading to poor parasympathetic recovery during sleep.

• The result? Fragmented or non-restorative sleep exacerbates pain perception, delays healing, and diminishes long-term treatment outcomes.

Why This Matters Clinically

Successful outcomes in TMD and craniofacial pain patients require more than splint therapy or injections. These patients must be resting and healing during sleep, and that starts with addressing what’s activating the inflammatory pathways in the first place.

Clinical Takeaways

• Screen for dietary habits in TMD and chronic pain patients as part of intake or follow-up.

• Educate on whole-food eating patterns that stabilize blood sugar and reduce sympathetic arousal.

• Reinforce nutrition-sleep-pain connections to improve patient buy-in and self-efficacy.

• Collaborate with nutritionists and coaches to build sustainable anti-inflammatory eating plans. (Cathy’s tips for eating veggies first are a great place to start!)

• Track sleep quality alongside pain improvement to guide treatment decisions.

Bottom line: If your patient’s nervous system isn’t resting, their musculoskeletal system can’t recover. Nutrition is a front-line strategy for unlocking better sleep, reducing inflammation, and getting real results with chronic pain patients.

Something Sweet

🍭Stuff so sweet you might get a cavity..

CE Opportunities / Events

Have an event you would like to post? (free) [ click here ]

Miscellaneous

😅P.S. … Do you know what our Mission Statement is:

More Than Teeth helps families and healthcare professionals unlock whole-body healing by starting where true health begins—in the mouth.

If this mission resonates with you, why keep it to yourself?

Forward this newsletter to a friend, colleague, or family member who cares about sleep, healing, and whole-body wellness.
You never know who might need this message today.

After all... healing is contagious. 😊