Services
Foundational Roots uses biological dentistry to walk beside their patients in pursuing their overall health.
Early intervention and everyday healthy dental care
Prevention Strategies and Treatments
Adopting a biological approach to preventative dental therapy involves creating tailored, individualized strategies and treatment plans for patients. Each person has their own unique set of influences that affect the makeup of their oral health. At Foundational Roots, we seek to understand your oral health composition, to tailor our treatment plans and optimize your outcomes.
Some examples of areas we will consider as part of our recommendations for prevention strategies and treatments:
- Functional Medicine Principles
- Nutritional Guidance
- Lifestyle Adjustments
- Oral Hygiene Instruction
- Functional Assessment
Biofilm Therapy
Biofilm therapy emphasizes natural methods to combat microbial biofilms – complex communities of bacteria that attach to surfaces within one’s mouth and often contribute to oral health issues. Biofilm therapy integrates antimicrobial agents, enzymes, and physical techniques to disrupt biofilm formation, prevent recurrence, and treat associated dental problems. By addressing the root cause of oral infections and promoting balance within the mouth’s ecosystem, biofilm therapy aligns with biological dental principles of whole-body health and natural healing.
Preventative Dental Therapy
Preventative dental therapy at Foundational Roots goes beyond dental cleaning and exams to help restore balance within your oral health. The goal being to use natural methods to then maintain your newly achieved oral health throughout your lifetime.
Balancing the Oral Microbiome
Maintaining a healthy balance of oral microbiomes is achieved through nurturing beneficial bacteria while reducing harmful ones. This approach includes embracing natural methods like balanced nutrition, maintaining proper pH levels, and avoiding substances such as sugar and alcohol that disrupt oral health. Our team may suggest using probiotics to replenish good bacteria, herbal antimicrobials to combat pathogens, and oil pulling to detoxify the mouth.
Routine dental visits are crucial for monitoring oral wellness and addressing any imbalances. Additionally, stress management techniques and adequate sleep contribute to overall health, which in turn positively influences oral microbiomes. We adopt methods which prioritize the body’s innate ability to heal and restore equilibrium, aiming to enhance oral health while recognizing its connection to overall well-being.
Product Recommendations
Our team at Foundational Roots can recommend products that help stimulate your body’s natural healing and recovery processes rather than treatments that can harm or remove an unnecessary amount of your oral tissues. For example, when treating issues related to your oral microbiome, it is imperative that we target harmful microbes without killing beneficial ones. By utilizing the appropriate strategies and products, our team will assist in your journey to achieve excellent oral health and overall well-being.
Routine dental visits are crucial for monitoring oral wellness and addressing any imbalances. Additionally, stress management techniques and adequate sleep contribute to overall health, which in turn positively influences oral microbiomes. We adopt methods which prioritize the body’s innate ability to heal and restore equilibrium, aiming to enhance oral health while recognizing its connection to overall well-being.
Oral Health, Functional Exams and Oral Cancer Screening
Oral health and functional exams go beyond traditional dental check-ups. The goal of these exams is to create personalized treatment plans that address both the immediate dental concerns and the broader health and wellness needs of the patient. This type of exam involves a comprehensive assessment of not just the teeth and gums but also the overall health of the mouth, jaw, and surrounding structures. These exams focus on identifying any underlying issues that may impact oral health, such as inflammation, infections, or imbalances in the oral microbiome. Additionally, such examinations assess the functionality of the mouth, including chewing, swallowing, and speech. Our team may also examine factors like diet, lifestyle habits, and stress levels because of their influence on oral health.
Oral Health Coaching Dedicated to Your Unique Needs and Goals
In biological dentistry, there is no one-size-fits-all approach. Every patient presents unique strengths and areas for improvement given their own genetic makeup, nutritional habits, lifestyle choices, and other factors that affect oral and total health. Therefore, at Foundational Roots, we offer oral health coaching. We look beyond traditional dental treatments to address underlying causes of oral health problems. We incorporate aspects of nutrition, stress management, sleep quality, and other lifestyle factors into our treatment plans.
Oral health coaching allows for the personalization of patients’ unique needs and goals. This approach recognizes that oral health is intricately connected to overall well-being and considers factors such as diet, lifestyle, and emotional health. Our team works collaboratively with patients to develop individualized plans that prioritize preventive care, nutritional guidance, and lifestyle adjustments to support optimal oral health.
Nutritional and Lifestyle Counseling
Our goal is to maximize oral health through promoting overall health and wellness. By providing education, encouragement, and continual assistance, patients attain the tools needed to manage their oral health effectively. Oral health coaching stresses the significance of routine dental visits, maintaining proper oral hygiene habits, and embracing biological treatments when appropriate. This collaborative approach between patients and our team cultivates a supportive partnership, leading to sustained oral health improvements and a better overall quality of life.
Restorative Dentistry
Minimally invasive and biocompatible metal-free dentistry
We take a minimally invasive, scientific, and evidence based approach to restoring your teeth using metal-free dentistry. Each patient and each tooth within that patient is different with different needs. We will assess restorative needs accordingly. Resin filling materials we use are BPA-free. Many of our patients have Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, and there is testing available that can be done to identify exactly which restorative materials are tolerated for those individuals. Depending on the circumstance, porcelain is another option used to restore a tooth to full functionality.
Ozone Therapy:
Ozone (O3) therapy in biological dentistry is a minimally invasive approach to the management and treatment of disease and infection in oral health. Your mouth is host to a complex oral microbiome, which is typically in harmony and results in a healthy environment for your mouth. However, when an imbalance occurs, the oral cavity becomes prone to infection and disease.
Traditional dentistry approaches may turn to prescription drugs to treat infection and disease; however, pharmaceuticals may only be adept at addressing one problem and often cause damage to healthy microorganisms in the mouth. Ozone therapy offers an alternative to traditional approaches for such issues.
Ozone therapy harnesses the body’s healing mechanisms and avoids the use of harsh chemicals or antibiotics. Ozone is powerful and can kill germs, help tissues heal, and ease swelling. It is used in biological dentistry to clean infections, regenerate tissue, and reduce inflammation.
Other Services
Saliva Testing
Our saliva-testing services help to identify the underlying causes of infections and diseases in your mouth. Oral health is rooted in your oral microbiome – the collection of microorganisms that live in your mouth. This community of tiny organisms helps to maintain your oral health and your total well-being. Some of the microbes help to digest food and fight against harmful bacteria while others can cause problems.
At Foundational Roots, we take measurements of bacteria, fungi, and viruses in your saliva, to help understand your unique oral microbiome and determine and chart imbalances before they become problematic. The lack of equilibrium of your oral microbiome can cause:
- Chronic bad breath
- Inflamed gums
- Oral thrush
- Burning mouth syndrome
- Gum recession
- Unusual tastes
Systemic Considerations
Evaluating systemic considerations in biological dentistry allows for the comprehensive care of patients that is not isolated to only dental health, but also overall well-being. At Foundational Roots, we evaluate how dental health affects total health and well-being and vice versa. Therefore, as a cornerstone of our practice, we will:
- Promote whole-body health
- Identify preventative measures
- Understand your oral microbiome
- Utilize biocompatible materials
- Adopt minimally invasive treatments
Collaboration with Medical Providers
The nature of biological dentistry involves understanding much more than just the composition of one’s oral health. There is an interconnected nature between oral health and total well-being. Our team will work with other medical providers, in order to get to the root cause of a health issue you may be experiencing. When necessary, we will do the following:
- Provide you with referrals and consultations
- Recommend interdisciplinary treatment plans
- Share resources and information for educational purposes
- Promote health care in collaboration with other practitioners
Nutritional and Lifestyle Counseling
In order to care for our oral health and total well-being, we need to pay attention to our nutritional intake and lifestyle habits, as there is a close relationship among what we eat, how we live, and how we feel. Through making small changes over time, we can help you achieve long-term, sustainable health outcomes. To this end, at Foundational Roots, we offer nutritional and lifestyle counseling that evaluates factors such as:
- Overall well-being
- Prevention of dental issues
- Opportunities for healing and regeneration
- Management and reduction of stress
- Easing of inflammation
Coaching on Prevention Strategies and Treatments
Our team offers research-based guidance and coaching on prevention strategies and treatments. Each person has their own individual oral and overall health makeup and, therefore, requires tailored solutions to address issues they may be experiencing. At Foundational Roots, we offer the following:
- Functional medicine principles
- Nutritional guidance
- Lifestyle adjustments
- Oral hygiene instruction
- Functional assessment
- Biocompatible dentistry
- Systemic integration
- biological interventions
Family Dentistry
Kids love our hands-on appointments. We want to put them in the driver’s seat and let them make choices but show them the proper techniques to use. We even have special training for moms, dads, and other grown-ups on how to care for their child’s teeth at home using special kits.
We have a Hands-on-Health Lab in our office, kids get to do age-appropriate experiments and activities to help them learn about health and teeth. For our very littles (infant/toddler) appointments, we let them set the pace and spend a lot of time working with Mom, Dad, and their grown-ups to show them how to care for their children’s teeth and oral health.
Find your balance, health & happiness the natural way.
About Dr. Bowers
Dr. Piiamari Bowers is a Functional Oral Medicine Dentist in Dexter, Michigan. After over 20 years in dentistry, she opened Foundational Roots where she takes a whole-body, biological, and functional approach with her patients. Her dentistry, and her practice, is motivated by a compassion for healing and are grounded in science.
Mission & Vision
Foundational Roots is a biological dental office based near Ann Arbor.
We envision a world where holistic wellness and dental health are seamlessly integrated. Our mission is to empower individuals to embrace a natural approach to life, where overall well-being is our priority. We strive to lead the way in functional dentistry, prioritizing your health goals with innovative, natural, and compassionate care. Together, we create a healthier future, one step at a time.
F.A.Q
What is biological dentistry?
Biological dentistry is dentistry with a natural approach. Dr. Bowers and her team will educate patients about early prevention and techniques to use a more natural approach while taking care of their oral health.
Many dental practices perform what is sometimes called “drill, fill, and bill” services. Such an approach addresses isolated issues such as cavities, for example, without resolving the underlying imbalances that are affecting your health. At Foundational Roots, we seek to understand the connections between oral health and the rest of the body, recognizing that issues in the mouth can affect other areas of health, and vice versa. In addition, we use biocompatible materials for dental restorations when needed which allows us to minimize the use of chemicals and toxins in treatments, and emphasize prevention and conservative treatment approaches.
As part of our biological family dentistry practices, we promote educational opportunities with our patients such as lifestyle habits, the importance of balanced nutrition, and maintaining a healthy oral microbiome for overall wellness. The goal is to provide comprehensive dental care that supports the body's natural healing processes and promotes both long-term overall health and oral health.
How do you handle my silver fillings? How do you take them out and what do you replace them with?
Our team always uses protective clothing when removing mercury fillings but we go further by providing special tools like rubber dams and vacuums that capture harmful particles and vapors in the air. For extra protection against dangerous vapors, patients receive clean oxygen too.
To reduce mercury release during filing removal, cool water is utilized as well as cutting it into chunks before drilling. The whole area is then rinsed with chlorella or charcoal slurry to remove any residue, this is all for your health and safety.
Are kids welcome at Foundational Roots?
Yes! We love meeting kids of all ages! We believe that early intervention of biological dentistry has lifelong benefits. While the APDA recommends your child visit the dentist by age one, or when they get their first tooth we are happy to see kids at any time.
You can schedule a consultation or appointment here!
What do you think about root canals?
We do not do them. If you have one we watch it closely and Dr. Bowers will recommend various restoration options best suited to the patient's personal needs.
Do you have a cone beam CT machine?
We have someone we recommend you to and we read the scans in our office.
Do you have ozone? How do you use it?
Yes, it fights infection. Learn all about ozone therapy here!
Do you use fluoride or do you have other ways to help keep my teeth healthy or even help heal my teeth?
No, we use hydroxyapatite to remineralize teeth. We believe we can heal cavities and help your teeth longer.
Do you use do X-rays in your office?
We try to limit X-rays when we can to help protect you and limit the amount of radiation.
Do you accept insurance?
We are pleased that you have insurance benefits to help with the cost of your dental care. We would like to help you obtain the maximum use of these benefits.
One of the values we take pride in at Foundational Roots is the role of transparency in building trust with our patients; therefore, we must note that we are unable to accept health or dental insurance. While many traditional dental practices rely on insurance companies to help cover portions of patients’ expenses, we are unable to do so at this time.
Our top priority for our patients is the highest level of care possible, and, unfortunately, insurance companies will not pay for several of our general practice biological services. We do hope that one day the insurance industry will see the critical importance of helping people through biological dental care. We will continue to voice our opposition to insurance companies’ position on this issue.
The Foundational Roots team understands that some patients may be concerned about affording biological dental care without insurance. We will give patients appropriately filled out claim forms to send to their insurance company for reimbursement. Our services are HSA-eligible, and we're here to assist you in exploring various financing options.
Payment for treatment rendered is due at the time of service. We encourage you to consider the long-term benefits of investing in your oral health. Please reach out to us, so that we can discuss payment options tailored to your needs. We accept MasterCard, VISA, and CareCredit.
Our Practice
Make an Appointment
Foundational Roots is a biological dental office based near Ann Arbor. They strive to meet your goals of living a more natural approach to life with the inclusion of your dental health.
Location
7300 Dexter-Ann Arbor Rd
Suite #300
Dexter, Michigan 48130
Located inside of Dexter Dental
Open Hours
Tuesdays & Thursdays: 9am - 5pm
Expanded hours coming soon!