Hi,


January 2026 Cohort:  Your Learning Timeline


1. You should be on Chapter 3 of AFMCP through IFM.

2. Review the first 4 lessons in IFD Module 1: Foundations of Functional Dentistry.

3. Join Monday Lunch Hour with Dr. Mary Ellen S Chalmers, Director of Learning & Curriculum. It is optional and offered via Zoom on Mondays at 11AM PST/2PM EST. It is a great opportunity to ask curriculum-related questions and connect with fellow students.
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         Transforming Dentistry
                         Through
             Functional Education

Transforming Dentistry
Through
Functional Education

Transforming Dentistry
Through
Functional Education

Transforming Dentistry
Through
Functional Education

Transforming Dentistry
Through
Functional Education

The Institute for Functional Dentistry (IFD) trains dentists to practice at the intersection of oral health and systems-based medicine.

The IFD program is a comprehensive, evidence-based curriculum designed to close a critical gap in dental education: the disconnect between what dentists see clinically every day and what they were never taught to evaluate, diagnose, or explain.
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Learning Programs


Designed for the entire dental care team, with buildable pathways.

Start together with the foundation and continue forward as your role and goals evolve.

Functional Dental
Team Certificate 

Track 1

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Empower Your Role.

Transform Patient Outcomes.

Designed for clinical support professionals who play a vital role in patient outcomes and office culture. This track empowers the entire care team to integrate oral–systemic principles, collaborate more effectively, and deliver truly optimized, whole-person care. 
  • IFD: Module 1
  • 20 + CE  hours
  • Ideal Timeline: 1 year
    (On-Demand & Self-Paced)

Functional Hygiene Certificate 

Track 2

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Redefine Prevention.
Advance Oral–Systemic Health

A dedicated pathway for dental hygienists and periodontal-focused clinicians advancing the future of preventive and regenerative care. This track applies functional, root-cause frameworks to periodontal assessment, diagnosis, and long-term patient transformation.
  • IFD: Modules 1-2
  • 40 + CE  hours
  • Ideal Timeline 1.5 yrs
    (On-Demand & Self-Paced)

Core Functional Dentistry Certificate 

Track 3

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Elevate Clinical Practice.

Shape the Future of Dentistry.

Flagship program for clinicians, educators, and researchers shaping the future of personalized oral–systemic healthcare. This track delivers comprehensive Functional Dentistry training, immersive case-based learning, and access to leading educators.
  • IFD: Modules 1-6
  • 70 + CE  hours
  • Ideal Timeline: 2.5 yrs
    (On-Demand & Self-Paced)

Modern Dentistry Is Evolving

Oral health offers early insight into systemic risk and resilience.

With Insight Comes Responsibility.

Patients are asking better questions. Physicians are looking to dentists for insight. The science linking the mouth to metabolic, immune, neurologic, inflammatory, hormonal, and longevity-related diseases is rapidly advancing.

Conventional training rarely prepares clinicians to connect these dots.

The Institute for Functional Dentistry provides the education required to
meet this responsibility with confidence and clinical rigor.

Overwhelmed by Conflicting Information

Functional dentistry has outpaced formal education. Dentists are left navigating podcasts, social media opinions, and fragmented research without a coherent framework.
We provide structured, science-driven training grounded in real clinical application.

You Know There’s More Going On, But Don’t Know Where to Start

You see recurrent decay, airway dysfunction, inflammation, failed treatments, and frustrated patients. You suspect root causes but lack a clear way to assess or act. We teach you how to think functionally, not just what to memorize.

Struggling to Apply “Functional” Concepts in Real Patients

Most courses stop at theory. Real practice demands clinical reasoning, sequencing, and decision-making.
We show how functional dentistry works in real cases, real timelines, and real practices.

No Clear Path Forward

Dentists are piecing together scattered CE with no continuity, no mastery, and no professional identity.This program provides a defined educational pathway, clinical progression, and certification in functional dentistry.

Master Functional Dentistry With a Comprehensive Learning Experience

Explore the features that make our Institute the leading destination for functional
dental education and discover the benefits each one brings to your clinical practice.

A Structured, Cohesive Curriculum

A step-by-step educational pathway that builds from foundational physiology to advanced clinical application across all dental disciplines.

Evidence-Based, Clinically Relevant 

Modules grounded in current research, systems biology and functional medicine principles, with direct relevance to daily patient care.

Deep Clinical Case Integration

Learn how functional concepts translate into diagnostics, treatment planning, patient communication, and long-term outcomes.

Faculty-Led Training by Global Leaders

Instruction from leading functional dentists, physicians, and interdisciplinary clinicians actively practicing this work.

Self-Paced, Online Learning

Designed for working clinicians. Learn on your schedule without sacrificing depth, rigor, or clinical integrity.

Certificates and Continuing Education

Earn an IFD certificate upon successful completion of required assessments and examinations, and explore eligibility to apply for Functional Medicine Certification.

Our motto is

#Mouth Matters| #Spit for Science| #Bridge the Gap


Join thousands of clinicians transforming the way they understand, diagnose, and address oral-systemic health.

Gain the knowledge, confidence, and tools needed to deliver whole-body dental care through progressive, lesson-based learning.

YOUR PATH TO BECOMING A LEADER IN FUNCTIONAL DENTISTRY STARTS HERE.
"Functional Dentistry is the true clinical expression of oral–systemic medicine, reframing oral disease as an early and visible signal of whole-body dysfunction driven by developmental errors, metabolic breakdown, and chronic inflammation. By intervening at the oral interface—where systemic disease first declares itself—it bypasses late-stage symptom management and targets disease at its biological source. Functional Dentistry simplifies modern medicine, shifts the chronic disease burden away from costly reactive care, and offers one of the most scalable and effective pathways to dismantling the chronic disease epidemic."
- Steven Lin, BDent, BMSci
“I first started taking classes at the IFM in 2020, as one of the only people in that cohort that was a dentist. It’s imperative that every dentist should be hearing this information, and now that is becoming a reality thanks to the vision and energy of the IFD Founding Team. I am very excited to contribute to this important mission of integrating functional medicine and dentistry.”
- Shervin Molayem, DDS
“A functional root cause approach to dental care is a game changer.  Our profession has become focused on patching problems without helping patients identify risk factors and root causes.   Likewise, significant discussions about lifestyle, change and health become part of our responsibility. A functional medicine/dental approach just makes so much sense”
- Susan Maples, DDS, MSBA

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Continuing Education Disclosure:
Continuing education (CE) credit for the Institute for Functional Dentistry (IFD) Certification Program is awarded on a module-by-module basis in accordance with AGD PACE guidelines.

Each CE-eligible module consists of required educational components, which may include live and/or self-instruction lectures and associated assessments. Completion of all CE-eligible components and the module evaluation is required to earn CE credit.

Case studies, integration sessions, and discussion-based learning experiences are included for educational enrichment and applied learning but are designated as non-CE activities and do not carry continuing education credit.