Camesia O. Matthews, "The Dental Fitness Advantage: How a Healthy Mouth Enhances Total Body Health and Elevates Performance" (Playbook Scholars, 2025)
New Books Network
Intro
Host Kailey Teese Harlow and ads open the episode and introduce the guest and topic.
Ready to move beyond routine dental checkups and unlock your body’s full potential? In The Dental Fitness Advantage: How a Healthy Mouth Enhances Total Body Health and Elevates Performance (Playbook Scholars, 2025), Dr. Camesia O. Matthews, a general and sports dentist, introduces the concept of dental fitness, a breakthrough approach that links oral health to whole-body wellness, athletic performance, and even confidence. With clear science and relatable analogies, Dr. Matthews uncovers surprising connections between the mouth and the body: from how oral bacteria influence heart disease and Alzheimer’s to why your “bite” affects sleep quality and body balance, and how wearing a custom-fitted sports mouthguard could even boost athletic performance. The book is built on five practical pillars: Prevention, Posture, Protection, Presentation, and Psychology. It also includes a unique assessment tool, the Dental Fitness Score, which helps you track your progress.
- Each pillar offers simple, actionable steps to help you:
- Prevent issues before they start
- Improve sleep, balance, and even muscle strength
- Guard against avoidable dental injuries
- Boost confidence with a healthy smile
The Dental Fitness Advantage is an empowering guide for athletes, professionals, and anyone seeking to feel, look, and perform at their best, starting with the mouth.
About the author:
Dr. Camesia O. Matthews is a Massachusetts-based general and certified sports dentist, author, and community advocate. She is passionate about connecting oral health to total-body wellness and helping people live healthier, stronger lives.
A graduate of Howard University College of Dentistry, where she was inducted into the Omicron Kappa Upsilon National Dental Honor Society, Dr. Matthews has led and participated in numerous outreach events, including international mission trips. In July 2020, she received the National Dental Association’s Special Recognition Award for her research on reducing the spread of COVID-19 in dental clinics.
Her expertise has been featured on Boston’s WCVB news channel and in Top Doctor magazine, which praised her patient-centered approach to dentistry.
Outside of her work, Dr. Matthews enjoys reading, playing piano, exercising, traveling, and cheering for her favorite basketball teams.
If you're interested in finding out your dental fitness score, please visit: here
More about the host:
Kailey Tse-Harlow is a Chinese-Irish writer born and raised in Boston’s Chinatown. She earned her BA in Film and Television Production from Emerson College and her MFA in Creative Writing from Lesley University. Her nonfiction writing has appeared in MIT News, and she is currently at work on her debut novel with support from Tin House. Based in Cambridge, MA, Kailey lives with her partner and two cats. Alongside her writing, she works as a publicist and book marketing manager at Pellien PR, where she helps authors book podcast interviews and plan nationwide book tours.
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