At Wholistic Dental Center, Dr. Wendi Wardlaw knows that a healthy body starts with a healthy mouth.

Proper dental care can play a large role in one’s overall systemic health, and someone who has been teaching that message for some time is Dr. Wendi Wardlaw, an accomplished area dentist who for more than three decades has worked tirelessly to educate her patients that “A Healthy Mouth is a Healthy You.”

“The mouth can tell you so many things about the overall health of a person,” Dr. Wardlaw affirms. “You can see the gut health, the body’s hydration, the precursors of sickness and disease, and the body’s overall chemistry.

“The mouth is located between your brain and your heart, and so an infection in your mouth only has two places to travel, up or down. I am not only looking in your mouth [for dental reasons], I am looking at the wellness of your body’s systems.”

At Wholistic Dental Center, Dr. Wardlaw’s Winter Garden practice, she has established a stellar reputation for providing patients with a high level of individualized care and compassionate service. With extensive experience that includes time spent serving in the U.S. Army Dental Corps. along with previous stints as a hygienist and manager of several dentistry offices, she can expertly address any number of general or cosmetic dental concerns, however her passion is airway and breathing. Using state-of-the-art technology to create same-day crowns, restoring damaged teeth with dental implants or laser treatments to improve airway flow to the lungs, Dr. Wardlaw is well equipped to help patients regain their overall health.

Wholistic Dental is much more than your typical dental practice, thanks to Dr. Wardlaw’s faith-led philosophy of treating the whole individual, taking an all-inclusive approach to deal with the root cause of systemic health issues. In fact, she is one of less than 2,000 dentists in the country that is a Vivos Therapeutics provider, allowing her to effectively treat obstructive sleep apnea. She is also trained in Myobrace, releasing tongue ties, and a Buteyko breathing instructor, along with other proven methods to open one’s airway and restore homeostasis in the body and improve one’s breathing methods. What’s more, she is a certified myofunctional therapist, using proven techniques to help retrain muscle strength in the face and mouth to improve speech, swallowing and stop the dangerous mouth breathing, which can often introduce illnesses into the body.

“I tell my patients all the time, breathing through your mouth is like drinking dirty water. You can do it, but at some point, you are going to get sick. And we live in a world where the air is not the cleanest,” says Dr. Wardlaw.

Nasal breathing is essential for wellness and overall health. “No, you should not be snoring. No, you should not be getting up at night to use the restroom. No, you should not be grinding your teeth at night. These can all be symptoms of an underlying problem we can help you with,” says Dr. Wardlaw. “As only 30% of patients diagnosed with sleep apnea can tolerate it, we have another FDA-approved option. Treatment is noninvasive and only needed for a limited amount of time. We are saving lives, not just fixing teeth.”

With a strong desire to treat the whole individual it should come as no surprise why Dr. Wardlaw settled on the name of her practice.

“The ‘W’ [in Wholistic Dental] was very, very intentional, because I am taking a whole body, mind and soul approach,” she says. “This is a God-led practice and so I need more than just your body to be healed; I need your mind healed and I need your soul healed.”

Using her faith as a guide, Dr. Wardlaw also lends her expertise by giving back and working with underserved populations, both in the Greater Orlando community as well as overseas where she has taken part in numerous missions over the years to help serve those in need around the world. Making that kind of impact is something that Dr. Wardlaw holds near and dear to her heart.

“I come from very humble beginnings, I was the underserved. And I see little Wendi’s all over the place, because we are all one race—the human race,” she says. “Serving and giving [back], it’s my superpower. When things get hard in my life, it is my way of fighting back. And the more I get under attack, the more I reach out to others and it balances my life and gives it a purpose and meaning.”

Having been involved in the field for so many years, Dr. Wardlaw certainly has made a difference in countless patients’ lives, and that is a rewarding aspect of the profession she will never take for granted.

“Seeing the transformation in people’s lives has been the most exciting thing I’ve ever experienced. I understand that a Healthy Mouth is a Healthy You, and so being able to see the full transformation, not just of a smile, but of a life, definitely pushes me forward. It forces me to educate and to inform as many people as possible on the different ways they can live healthier lives.”

Wardlaw firmly believes in Hosea 4:6, which says, “My people perish for lack of knowledge.” This is why she is so passionate about educating the masses.

Wholistic Dental Center
Winter Garden | (407) 877-0141 | DrWendiW.com