Title : Beyond the teeth. Exploring the mouth-brain-body connection

Background: The oral cavity is a highly innervated and functionally integrated system, continuously interacting with the brain and the body through sensory, motor, autonomic, and immune pathways. Yet, dental care has traditionally focused on the teeth and their surrounding structures, often giving limited consideration to the broader neurological and emotional dimensions of the patient's experience. Emerging research in neuroscience suggests that oral function, pain perception, emotional processing, and neural adaptation are interconnected. Understanding these relationships may offer new perspectives on dental treatment and patient care.

Methods: This presentation provides an integrative narrative review of current scientific literature exploring the mouth-brain-body connection. Evidence from neuroimaging studies, clinical research, and reviews addressing orofacial pain, orthodontic tooth movement, masticatory function, neural plasticity, and oral-systemic interactions will be examined. Particular attention will be given to the involvement of central nervous system networks in oral sensory processing, pain modulation, and emotional experience. Established findings will be distinguished from emerging hypotheses and areas requiring further investigation.

Results: The reviewed literature highlights that oral stimuli are processed through distributed neural networks involving sensory, cognitive, and emotional regions of the brain. Research on orthodontic tooth movement and orofacial pain demonstrates changes in brain activity and functional connectivity, suggesting that the experience of dental intervention extends beyond local periodontal responses. The interaction between sensory input, attention, emotional state, and central pain processing may contribute to the variability of patients’ experiences during dental treatment. Furthermore, oral function and systemic health appear to be connected through multiple neural, inflammatory, and behavioral pathways, although the direction and clinical significance of these relationships remain incompletely understood.

Conclusions: A neuro-integrative perspective encourages dentistry to move beyond an exclusively toothcentered approach toward a broader understanding of the person receiving treatment. Integrating current neuroscience into clinical practice may support more individualized approaches to pain management, communication, treatment planning, and patient experience. Rather than interpreting teeth as direct indicators of specific emotional or neurological conditions, this perspective invites clinicians to explore how oral function, bodily adaptation, and emotional experience interact within the individual. Further interdisciplinary research is needed to translate these insights into validated clinical applications. 

Leire Irazu is a dentist with over 20 years of experience exploring a perspective of dentistry that goes beyond the teeth. Her professional journey has been guided by a deep interest in the connections between oral health, the brain, the body, and human emotional experience. She holds a Master’s degree in Therapeutic Neuroscience from UCAM and has completed Health Coaching training at UCM. She is also currently studying RTT® therapies. Through her work and ongoing learning, Leire aims to contribute to a more conscious, integrative, and person-centered approach to dentistry—one that recognizes each patient as a whole human being, because our patients deserve nothing less.