The Functional Pledge
Today, we all have an exceptional opportunity. In an era of transition and uncertainty in healthcare, we can start to establish a new paradigm. In order to provide causative care to chronic diseases, we have to look at problems from a different perspective. As therapists practicing in the craniofacial region of the human body, we realized that we have to collaborate in order to provide causative treatment. However, we also recognized the challenges associated with stepping out from the mainstream. We need to form alliances. We need to collaborate worldwide. We need to develop standardization. We need to speak a common language.
IFUNA strives to develop these best practices in craniofacial functional teamwork. The very first step in this process is the development of a common language. By signing the Functional Pledge, you accept this new terminology that will help all patients and practitioners understand the essence of craniofacial functional team-treatment and its objectives. Please sign the pledge today and become a worldwide part of this new functional paradigm.
The Pledge
By signing the Functional Pledge, I will commit myself to the following mission and to using the new terminology in the future.
Sign the Pledge
I accept that we need to disseminate the information to the public that malocclusion, sleep disorders, and orofacial myofunctional disorders are multifactorial problems and are local manifestations of a general health imbalance.
I accept that the human body is one inseparable organism, so in order to address the root cause of the local symptom, I have to find the way to improve the general health of the patient.
I accept that in order to improve the general health of the patient, I have to involve different treatment methods and medical specialties that are better able to address the multifactorial origin of the problem.
I accept that when I place an appliance into the mouth and combine this activity with bodywork, orofacial myofunctional exercises, breathing re-education, and other therapeutic forms, this combination can improve sleep quality, blood pressure, and behavioral issues. This is going to be a form of medicine.
I accept that in order to help the public understand this interdisciplinary functional medical approach, I will use the term craniofacial functional medicine. We use functional because we ultimately help the patient function better; we use functional because this is a form of medicine that is striving to address the roots of chronic diseases. This is called “functional medicine.”
I accept the fact that dentistry and orthodontics are no longer uniform. There are so many different approaches that look at the same case in a very different way, so in order to help both the public and professionals understand the differences, we need to introduce treatment categories according to the treatment objectives. The type of dentistry and orthodontics that participates in craniofacial functional medical teamwork is going to be called “health centered functional dentistry” and “health centered functional orthodontics.”