I came across a very insightful podcast from Simon Sinek recently which spoke about the difference between health vs fitness. His guest, Dr. Tracy Dennis-Tiwary, spoke about the difference between these terms in the mental context and naturally my dentist brain jumped straight to drawing parallels around dental health vs dental fitness.
Caring for our teeth, gums and jaws needs to be seen as a marathon not a sprint. We have one set of adult teeth which are supposed to last us over 80 years so achieving optimal dental health, whilst an aspirational goal, will always require ongoing effort and care in an ever-changing environment.
Aiming for dental fitness rather than dental health may be a kinder and more empowering perspective since fitness implies an on-going practise rather than more static states of either healthy or not healthy.
Dr. Liang Liang