Paul Henny DDS, PC

09/26/2023

It's starting to look like fall around here. We hope to see you soon!

08/23/2023

https://vimeo.com/856955711/6c86d438c6

Paul Henny, DDS talks about how a thorough dental exam can often uncover the root causes for breathing issues such as sleep apnea, snoring and not getting a restful…

08/16/2023

In this video I discuss new dental pre-biotic lozenges that can literally change the health of your mouth by strategically managing the bacteria in it.

Paul Henny, DDS announces the availability of a new paradigm-shifting oral health product he is using in his dental practice that starves specific harmful bacteria…

08/10/2023

https://vimeo.com/852795563/59c0e8a5b4

Dr. Henny's dental practice focuses on preventive oral care using newly developed biological diagnostic and management tools. Research has found that mouth…

07/16/2023

Risk of Autoimmune Diseases Triples After COVID-19 Infection, 6 Tips to Reduce Susceptibility to Long COVI
Ellen Wan
July, 16, 2023
Epoch Times

The long-term chronic effects of COVID-19 cannot be ignored. Studies have shown that six months after being diagnosed with COVID-19, the risk of developing an autoimmune disease is three times that of an uninfected person. Virology experts say following six health guidelines can help reduce the incidence of long COVID.

A research team analyzed data from TriNetX, a global electronic medical records database, which included more than 3.81 million participants (880,000 confirmed and more than 2.9 million undiagnosed) who underwent PCR screening from 2020 to 2021. After tracking them for 180 days, the risk of autoimmune diseases in those diagnosed was three times that of those not infected.

Compared with the undiagnosed control group, the probability of suffering from various immune system diseases in confirmed patients was as follows:
• 2.98 times for rheumatoid arthritis
• 3.21 times for ankylosing spondylitis
• 2.99 times for systemic lupus erythematosus
• 1.96 times for vasculitis and dermatopolymyositis
• 2.58 times for systemic sclerosis
• 2.62 times for Sjögren’s syndrome
• 3.14 times for mixed connective tissue disease
• 2.32 times for Behçet’s disease
• 2.90 times for polymyalgia rheumatica
• 2.91 times for psoriasis
• 1.78 times for inflammatory bowel disease
• 2.68 times for celiac disease
• 2.68 times for Type 1 diabetes
• 1.20 times for mortality rate
The research results were published in EClinicalMedicine, a sister journal of The Lancet Discovery Science.
Dr. Wei Zhengzong, the paper’s author and vice director of the Affiliated Hospital of Chung Shan Medical University in Taiwan, said that a confirmed case of COVID-19 will activate the immune response, resulting in a cytokine storm. The structure of the virus antigen may also be similar to one’s self-antigen, causing a cross-reaction that attacks self-tissue cells and organs, inducing autoimmune diseases.
Dr. Wei said that if the diagnosed person suffers long-term joint pain, skin rash, unexplained hair loss, fever, mouth ulcers, etc., after recovery, he or she is advised to seek medical attention immediately.

Pathogenesis of Long COVID
An article published in Nature Immunology in 2022 explored the pathogenesis of long COVID, including the persistent chronic inflammatory state the disease induces, autoimmune system abnormalities, and the virus’ long-term existence in the body.

Dr. D**g Yuhong, a European expert in virology and infectious diseases, explained on the NTDTV program “Health 1+1” that although the virus may no longer be detected in the respiratory tract, it does not mean it is no longer in the body. It may lurk in relatively hidden tissues like the brain and gastrointestinal tract.
A study published in Nature showed that about four months after the infection of 14 asymptomatic infected persons, half of them had the COVID-19 virus’ nucleic acid in their intestines, indicating that the virus can remain in the body for a long time.
In addition, some inflammatory factors will still be present in the patient’s body. One of these is interleukin-6, related to many diseases, including mental anxiety and depression. Moreover, COVID-19 patients’ inflammatory cells will continue to be activated, causing dysfunction of monocytes, T cells, and dendritic cells. This activation is closely related to immune system dysfunction, leading to pulmonary fibrosis and chronic inflammation of the neurological system.

6 Health Guidelines to Reduce Risk of Long COVID

Dr. D**g emphasized that long COVID is primarily a result of insufficient immunity, leading to the loss of one’s normal ability to clear the virus. An unhealthy lifestyle will further aggravate long COVID. The more severe the inflammatory state, the harder it is for the body to eliminate the virus.
She cited a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine that indicates adhering to the following six guidelines can reduce your risk of developing long COVID. If you follow at least five of these six, you will reduce the risk of developing long COVID by 49 percent:

1. Maintain a healthy body mass index (BMI): This is your weight in kilograms divided by the square of height (in meters). A healthy BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9.

2. Don’t smoke: This includes e-cigarettes.

3. Exercise regularly: Get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity weekly.

4. Drink alcohol in moderation: Consume only 5 to 15 grams (0.2 to 0.5 ounce) of alcohol daily. Dr. D**g pointed out that drinking a small amount of alcohol may stimulate blood circulation but that everyone’s ability to metabolize alcohol differs.

5. Eat a high-quality diet: Dr. D**g said a high-quality diet should be based on natural, unrefined whole foods. The less processed the food, the more nutrients available.

6. Get enough sleep: An average adult needs at least seven hours of sleep every day. However, more sleep is not always better. Studies have found that people who sleep less than seven hours have a 12 percent higher risk of death, and those who sleep more than nine hours have a 30 percent higher risk of death. More sleep does not equate to quality sleep.

Dr. D**g added that a healthy lifestyle can prevent other common chronic diseases, such as hyperlipidemia, high blood pressure, and hyperglycemia.

06/29/2023

We are excited to announce that we are now offering a pre-biotic that prevents dental decay, gingivitis, and periodontal disease. It’s a major patented breakthrough. There is nothing like it in the marketplace. These lozenges, when used daily in combination with a diet reasonably low in complex carbohydrates, eliminates the need to use flouride, and much of the other chemistry that’s in today’s toothpastes and mouthrises. It naturally rebalances the oral microbiome by managing down pathogens while supporting the “good” beneficial bacteria. In this video interview, we discuss the uniqueness of Emily’s product in detail.

Emily Stein, Technical CEO at Primal Health explains the origin and positive test results of a revolutionary dental and general health product that rebalances and…

11/29/2020

Blessed Holiday Season to you and your family!

11/22/2020

Thank-you to everyone for your love and support this year, and that you and your family are able to find peace and happiness during these challenging times.

09/25/2020

Happy Fall! - We’ll be looking forward to seeing you at your next visit. We have been busy getting the office ready for your arrival!

12/20/2019

10/31/2019

Happy Halloween!

09/18/2019

Neuroscience research tells us that demonstrating gratitude, and feeling grateful, aren’t just socially appropriate - they’re good for our health.

Gratitude not only gives us that warm peaceful feeling inside, it also boosts our immune system, naturally relieves stress, improves our sleep, relieves depression, reduces our pain perception, and energizes us to keep contributing - hence, it enhances our resilience.

If I could pick out the one main theme from the L.D. Pankey Alumni Association Meeting from last weekend, it was clearly gratitude. Gary Takacs talked about it, Mary Osborne did as well, along with Lee A. Brady, and many, many others.

It’s a wonderful thing to know that what you are doing is morally right, spiritually right, and technically right, but here are a couple more interesting truths:

Gratitude = A more healthy body.

and

Grateful people = Happy People

It turns out that something as simple as writing a thank-you note is a powerful way to stay healthy, because it’s good for our brain and body.

The hypothalamus in our brain is considered to be a “master gland,” as it has a massive level of influence over how our entire body functions, including appetite, digestion, sleep, thermoregulation, metabolism, growth, and our immune system.

A 2009 National Institutes of Health (NIH) study showed that our hypothalamus activates when we feel grateful, and floods our brain with dopamine, which then caused us to feel better as well as want to repeat the behavior. Hence, when we are truly grateful we reward ourselves with naturally good feelings.

Additionally, we feel less physical pain as our limbic system -where emotions are processed, and where the hypothalamus is located - modulates how we experience it.

In a 2003 study called “Counting Blessings vs. Burdens”, ill patients were required to keep gratitude journals. And as a result, 16% reported reduced symptoms, while 10% reported decreased levels of pain. It also showed that participants were more willing to exercise, and were therefore far more motivated to participate in their recovery.

Gratitude increases the quality of our sleep, as it decreases the time it takes to fall asleep as well as lengthens the duration of it. The hypothalamus is the location of the suprachiasmic nucleus which is responsible for processing light levels from the eyes, and then stimulating -or not- the pineal gland to release melatonin. Since gratitude activates the hypothalamus when we are grateful, it becomes easier for us to fall into deep, healthy, natural sleep as our anxiety level drops while our melatonin levels rise.

High quality sleep is essential and therefore its presence-or lack thereof- influences everything else in the body. Thus:

Gratitude = Sleep = Health

And better sleep means less anxiety and depression, as well as a more effective immune system.

In a 2007 study of the benefits of gratitude, patients with hypertension were made to count their blessings weekly and then their vital signs were monitored. The analyzed data showed a 10% decrease in systolic blood pressure.

In another study by McCraty in 1998, the relationship between gratitude and cortisol were evaluated. Subjects were encouraged to cultivate appreciation, and as a result 23% showed a decrease in blood cortisol, and 80% showed improvement in heart rate variability -a direct result of a hypothalamus responding to gratefulness.

Numerous studies on the benefits of gratitude practices have shown that keeping a gratitude journal, or writing and sending thank-you notes, can increase our long-term happiness by more than 10%. A 2005 study also showed that keeping a gratitude journal decreased depression by more than 30% for the duration of that study.

Additionally, other research has demonstrated that anxious and depressed participants of a gratitude letter writing experiment, demonstrated different neurologic patterns in their brains when f- MRI’s were used to compare their brain functioning to non-participants. The difference was brought about by changes in how their medial prefrontal cortex functioned (they were better at managing negative emotions, and more willing to be helpful, empathetic and kind), once again objectively linking gratitude with emotional stability and healthy pro-social behavior.

Finally, gratitude research has repeatedly shown that thankful people have higher energy levels, are more relaxed, are happier and healthier.

Of course, it doesn’t matter if gratitude makes us healthier due to the “power of positive thinking”, or because the dopamine in our brain is setting off chain reactions which then ignite physical benefits. The bottom line is that an “attitude of gratitude” benefits our bodies, minds and souls.

It’s understandable that we sometimes feel we have less to be thankful for in these challenging social, political, and economic times, but perhaps the real reason why we feel that way is because we aren’t saying thank-you often enough.

07/04/2019

Happy 4th of July!

04/25/2019

I just learned that one of the greatest influencers of my life passed away yesterday- his name was Bob Sweazy. Perhaps you too have had a person like this unexpectedly enter your life - and change it forever.

I met Bob when I was just a few years out of dental school. At that point he was 48, while I was 28. He had already been “retired” for eight years after becoming a millionaire by the age of 40. Boredom soon set in, so he decided to “do something else,” as it was completely impossible for Bob to just sit at home, read, and review past victories.

Bob was born on a small sharecropper’s farm in Perryville, Ky., and little did he know that he would eventually become my lifelong inspiration and my hero.

He spent one year at the University of Kentucky before leaving due to financial hardship and an employment opportunity to work at a new motel chain called Holiday Inn.
The job- Doorman.

Bob had this smile and energetic interest in virtually every person he met. He always looked for the positive and the potential in people. And as a result, in addition to a lot of long days and nights, Bob worked his way to the top of a corporation which eventually owned 28 Holiday Inns up and down the east coast.

Bob’s expanding responsibilities required him to frequently travel all over the country by private jet to do business with high powered bankers and other wealthy and influential people. Being a small town boy, with no exposure to how to function in such circles, Bob taught himself how to do it. He learned how dress and effectively connect with people of power. He taught himself how to function at a table with white linens, four forks, and four wine glasses. He learned how to walk into a room full of multimillionaires and take control of it, not by trying to impress everyone, but through his love.

When I first met Bob, he had recently opened a ultra-fine tabletop and accessories store in Lexington, Kentucky. It was called The Galleria, where he took all of his knowledge, experience, and love for people and created a store which in many ways was more attractive and service-oriented than Tiffany’s in Manhattan. By doing so, all of the ‘horse-people’ flocked there, as they had farms in greater Lexington as well as New York and Florida.

At the Galleria, the gifts were so elaborately wrapped that people would bring presents they had bought in New York City and pay Bob’s staff to wrap them. You can only image what they looked like.

Bob and I became close friends, spending many, many hours together talking about life, business, and people. And the one take-away that I can share with you: You have to look for the best in others as well as learn how to cultivate it in them.

Our friendship eventually led to our opening a store together - The Galleria Kitchen Shop. Bob believed in me even more than I believed in myself, and consequently he gave me full reign. We went to the great markets together in NYC and Atlanta to merchandise the store, and I ended up designing it, and managing it, while simultaneously running my fledgling dental practice upstairs while also teaching at the University of a Kentucky Dental School. It turned into a huge success- enough so that I almost quit dentistry.

Then this thing called the internet came along...the ultimate disruptor. And people started to look but not buy. Rather, they would learn from us why a Henkel knife was the way to go, or All Clad, or whatever, and then they would buy it at Williams Sonoma on-line.

Over time, we could see the writing on the wall. And both stores were closed at that location. Bob moved the Galleria two times to have moderate but waining success. Eventually he closed it entirely, and I went on after being inspired by my exposure to Avrom King’s writing and Bob Barkley- infused with the person-centered approaches I had learned from Bob Sweazy, to practice the way I do today.

Bob next went into selling real estate via all of his social connections, with the top firm in Lexington. He worked -because he love being with and helping others -up until last year, and turning 80.

I share this with you because I feel the need to point out that we all have the opportunity to be the Bob Sweazy in somebody else’s life.

We can all make a difference.

Life is not about money, or status, or impressing others with what we have.

It’s about giving.

It’s about believing in others.

It’s about believing in ourself.

It’s about loving.

Read more at Codiscovery.com

Paul A. Henny, DDS

04/09/2019

Part 3:

The endocannabinoid system (ECS), upon which CBD, or cannabidiol, influences was discovered in the early 1990’s. Since that time, we have learned that the ECS helps regulate neurotransmission, inflammatory cycling within cells, pain signaling to the brain, insulin sensitivity, bone metabolism, and limbic system functioning. And that is just the short list.

Consequently, CBD formulations are currently being used to manage anxiety, depression, stress, PTSD, Autism, Parkinson’s Disease, Alzheimer’s Disease, IBS, Chrohn’s Disease, fibromyalgia, insomnia, glaucoma, macular degeneration, osteoporosis, and diabetes.

In the realm of dentistry, CBD is commonly and successfully used to manage anxiety, promote post-surgical healing, pain management, muscle relaxation, and for reducing inflammatory responses.

The ECS has neuroreceptors throughout the body which function via neurochemicals our body produces on demand called endocannabinoids. These receptor sites are also influenced by phytocannabinoids, plant-based analogues found in unusually high concentration in h**p/cannabis.

ECS receptors (CB1, CB2, and CB3) are found throughout the body, and this is why CBD - a phytocannabinoid- positivity influences brain function including memory, mood, pain perception, cognition, emotions, motor function, and habits.

Outside the nervous system, ECS receptors are found in the intestinal tract, liver, heart, immune system, skin, and other organs. Consequently, the ECS regulates a wide range of physiological effects, with the goal of maintaining homeostasis and healing.

Additionally, endocannabinoids produced by the body, and phytocannabinoids such as CBD, positively influence other neuroreceptors in the body such as TRPV1 sites responsible for managing chronic pain, 5-HT3 sites which manage our vomiting response, and GABA sites responsible for sedation, muscle relaxation, anti-convulsant activity, and anti-anxiety effects on the body.

As you can easily see, the impact of the ECS, and therefore CBD, is broad and represents a relatively new area of research.

In my next segment we will explore how to choose CBD products, and how to use it to potentially help yourself, your family, and your friends.

Paul A. Henny, DDS

To read parts 1 & 2 of this series, please visit CoDiscovery.com

04/07/2019

I am very fortunate to be able to bring what we have learned in and through our Roanoke practice out to other dentists and their care teams across the country, so they can more effectively help their patients.

03/31/2019

I’ll be at the Roanoke South County Library today at 2:00, if you are interested in joining this conversation!

03/29/2019

Part 2

Today I will be continuing with my weekly segment focused on CBD, including what it is, how it works, and the therapeutic benefits of “full spectrum” h**p oil. This series will be posted in full on my companion website CoDiscovery.com for future reference.
.....

In 1988, 24 years after Dr. Raphael Mechoulam first isolated the THC molecule, Dr. Allyn Howlette and her colleagues at St. Louis University discovered what became known as the CB1 receptor, onto which THC attaches, and therefore how it disrupts normal functioning. She achieved this by attaching radioactive dye to synthetic THC molecules, and then tracked where they went in the body.

This research technique, then led to the discovery that there is a neuro-modulating system within the body which was previously unknown, and which works independently of our other neuro-modulating systems - such as the dopamine and serotonin systems- as well as in a synergistic fashion with some of them.

This new system was named the “endocannabinoid system,” and is made up of two unique receptors (and possibly a third) which are influenced by unique neurotransmitters called “endocannabinoids.”

The endocannabinoids represent five different compounds (and there may be others), with the two most significant being Anandamide, or AEA and 2-AG.

Additionally, the second receptor sites, called CB2 sites, were found to be primarily located within the body’s immune system as well as many other locations throughout the body - including the skin.

The purpose of the endocannabinoid system is to regulate the flow of signals sent between cells -hence to maintain bodily system homeostasis in the face of challenges.

Endocannabinoids are made and released at postsynaptic neuron sites in response to stressors such as injury, illness, and inflammation. In this way, the endocannabinoids try to keep the body’s responses to threats balanced and not self-destructive as seen in autoimmune disorders.

Mechoulam, Howlette, and others eventually discovered that the endocannabinoid system is the most widespread receptor system in the human body, and that it is involved in:

- GI activity
-cardiovascular function
-psychological functioning
-memory management
-pain perception
-neurotransmitter activity
-management of bone mass
-protection of neurons
-hormone regulation
-metabolism
-immune system effectiveness
-inflammatory responses
-inhibition of growth in some tumor cells

And because most practicing health care providers today were never taught that this amazing, and critically important system even existed, most know very little about it, as well as how to optimize its functioning to better promote health and healing.

In future segments, I will be sharing more information about how you can do just that.

Paul A. Henny, DDS

Read more on CoDiscovery.com