Bridging Oral and Overall Health Through Everyday Habits
Presented by: Jessica Lederhausen, DDS
Original Publication Date: June 4, 2025 (2025 Live Webinar Series)
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Course Description:
In this webinar, we begin with a brief review of oral dysbiosis—the imbalance of bacteria in the mouth—and its links to systemic health conditions like cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer's, and diabetes. While this is a familiar topic for many, my focus is not solely on the problems but rather on practical solutions to shift from a reactive to a preventative approach.
At the heart of my message are habits around the four pillars —eating, sleeping, breathing, and moving—which play a fundamental role in maintaining both oral and overall well-being. By making small, intentional changes in these areas, we can support a healthy oral microbiome, reduce disease risk, and improve patient outcomes.
To ensure lasting change, I will introduce the Tiny Habits Method, a science-backed framework for building sustainable daily habits. This approach empowers both practitioners and patients to implement small, effective behavior shifts—leading to meaningful improvements in health.
By the end of this session, you’ll have practical strategies to integrate lifestyle conversations into patient interactions, helping them take ownership of their health beyond the dental chair. Together, we can bridge the gap between oral and systemic health through everyday habits that last.
Learning Objectives:
- Explore how making specific adjustments to breathing, sleeping, eating, and moving can support the oral microbiome, and thus benefit overall health (what to do)
- Learn how to use the Tiny Habits Method to teach patients to make small, sustainable changes in daily routines for lasting health improvements ( How to implement)
- Embrace using questions around lifestyle as a tool to connect the dots between their habits and their oral health (How to communicate)
Practical Applications:
- Tiny habits Method card to use
- Suggested questions for their patients
- Several practical suggestions for each of the 4 pillars
About the Speaker:
Dr. Jessica Lederhausen trained as a dentist at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, and holds an MPH in Epidemiology from UIC. She is also a certified Life Coach and Tiny Habits Coach. Jessica serves on the Board of the School of Public Health at UIC. she is the author of ORAL: The Swedish Secret to Full Body Health Starting in Your Mouth, where she explores the connection between oral and overall health, emphasizing how small daily habits can create lasting oral and overall wellness.
Jessica is a public health advocate, entrepreneur, and most recently, the founder of TEDxChicago and The Lagom Method. She believes that lasting health is built on everyday habits around—eating, breathing, sleeping, and moving. Her work is grounded in the power of connectivity and love, recognizing that true well-being comes not just from personal habits but also from the relationships and communities that support us.
Her philosophy is deeply influenced by her experience as a golf professional, where she learned that the key to success lies in focusing on what you can control—your own behavior. She applies this mindset to health, encouraging patients to take charge of their daily lifestyle choices to support their oral and overall health
Outside of her professional work, Jessica enjoys spending time with her 4 grown children, their spouses and her many grandchildren, playing golf, staying active, reading, gardening, learning new things, crocheting and cooking
Conflict of Interest:
N/A