Unlock The Secret: How Your Hormones Influence Your Oral Health

Hi, everybody. I'm Dr. Sandhya Moldovan, periodontist and nutritionist. Welcome to the Holistic Dentistry Podcast, the show that gives you the tips and tools to detoxify your mouth for a healthier body. As we explore together the root cause of disease. Remember, you're not healthy until your mouth is healthy. So take care of it in the most natural way.

Hi, everyone. Welcome to today's show. I'm your host, Dr. Sandha and we're going to be uncovering today how hormones affect your oral health. We're going to be talking about autoimmunity Sjogren syndrome and how does that influence your health and what our hormones have to do with all that. And with me today is Dr. Lorraine Maita. Thank you for being here with us today.

Dr. Lorraine I'm happy to be here because we got to get the word out. Not only do you have to smile big, but you have to feel good inside as well. And the oral health affects your overall health. And it's something that I've always believed in and it's proved out time and time again.

Yes, absolutely. And you have been called a hormone harmonizer and detoxifier because you want to help people have boundless energy, stable moods, a lean body, clear mind, a healthy mouth. Of course. And you are a triple board certified physician, you're a writer, you're an author, a speaker, you do so many things surrounding anti aging and hormones and you practice functional medicine. But I would love to know how you started into functional medicine.

Well, I worked in a New York City emergency room and I got TB from one of the patients. I was on antibiotics for nine months and everything changed. I got rashes, I had yeast infections, I was losing my hair, I was gaining weight, I got food sensitivities, I had brain fog. I was just tired and, you know, everything came back normal. I was treated, the treatments worked, but I was left a mess. So, yeah, and I went to a functional medicine doctor and he taught me a lot. And then I started incorporating it into what I started to do. And, you know, I turned my life around in a matter of, you know, really a few months. And it was less than a few months, but I was a mess. And then I got into hormones. After I could save anybody's life, I worked in a New York City emergency room. I brought people back to life. I had the toughest cases. And then I went to work in a company and I was their medical director for occupational health and employee health and wellness. And that was back in the day where there were Hardly any senior women executives, and I probably could count on one hand how many there were. One came down to me and she said, you've got to help me. I'm standing there giving a presentation, and I broke out with hot flashes, sweats. I lost my words. And men were either looking down in shame like, I can't witness this, or they were elbowing each other, chuckling, like, look at this. So she said, you know what? Nobody's going to take me seriously. You have to help me. So, of course, this was my job, and I learned everything I could, and I became sort of the women's health expert in the company. And, yeah, and I knew a lot about menopause. And then I went into perimenopause, and I didn't even understand the changes that were happening in my body. Here I was all about health and wellness. I ate right, I exercised, but I couldn't sleep. I was gaining weight, I was irritable, I was tired, I was moody, and the brain fog was awful. And my best friend said to me, your personality changed. And then it dawned on me. I said, you know what? I bet you I'm in perimenopause. And I started learning from the best in New York City and took any and every course I could. Got board certified in anti aging and regenerative medicine, did advanced endocrinology, and I've never looked back because I don't want anyone to go through what I went through.

So you founded the Feel Good Again Institute, Vibrance for Life, and how to Live Younger after this experience?

Yes. You know, it's evolved. You know, it's all evolved over time. You know, I was the chief medical officer of or the medical director of three Fortune 100 companies, and each of them had 120,000 people. And I was it. I was it. And I had a team, and we rolled out wellness programs, and I taught people how to care for themselves. And, you know, people came to me one on one about hormones, and they just needed to live a healthier life.

Yeah. And I love what you say aging is inevitable, but suffering is optional. So that's really, really a good one because I completely agree with you on this. But a lot of people just don't know what to do, you know, when it comes to hormones. Right. We're talking about hrt, hormone replacement therapy. A lot of people are scared of that. And should they be scared of it?

They shouldn't be scared of it. I've been doing this for almost 30 years, and it takes medicine a good 20 years to change their mind about anything. But I have to say that in the last three years, there were many more studies on bioidentical hormones. And what we found is, and this has been known for a while, but only recently has it become widely accepted bioidentical hormones are safer. The reason they stopped that Women's Health Initiative was the increased risk of heart attack and stroke. But if you give oral estrogen, you get clots. If you give estrogen through the skin, you don't get clots. It's the clots that break off that cause the heart attack and stroke. There is increased risk of breast cancer with estrogen alone. And the studies on natural bioidentical progesterone all show they're safer. I do teach women this, and I do have a course, because I get this question all the time. And not everybody can come to me because I'm only licensed in four states, But I have a course called is HRT for you? Where you can do a self assessment because people don't realize that doing nothing can be harmful as much as doing something can. But now that we know, and I give you all the studies to prove it, that bioidentical hormones, given the right way, are safe, and the North American menopause society and 20 other organizations all said the benefits outweigh the risks. You just have to know what your risk factors are and if you have risk factors that are made worse by not taking hormones that may sway you in the right direction. And if you know that they're safe and you don't have risk factors that could make it dangerous, like active breast cancer or having had a pulmonary embolism or a history of clots or the BRCA gene, there's almost no reason not to take them.

So I have to ask you, because some people listening are not going to even know what are bioidentical hormones and how do they compare with synthetic hormones?

Bioidentical hormones are the exact same structure as those in your body. Synthetic hormones have been changed because in order to make something for pharmaceutical companies to market and patent, it can't be from nature. Pharmaceutical companies now make bioidentical hormones, but they patent the delivery system. Bioidentical hormones are exactly the same as your own body. Synthetic hormones have been changed. So they have some of the effects of the hormones, but they also have side effects that don't come with the hormones. And I use the analogy, Is a trans fat the same as an omega 3 fat? No, they're different. They've been altered. And that That's a similar situation with synthetic hormones. They're like a trans fat versus bioidentical hormones, which is more. It's natural. It's just exactly what your body knows.

What to do with. Yeah, makes sense. And, you know, since it's the holistic dentistry show, I really would love to get your opinion on hormonal health and oral health. Is it important I get women as patients that have gone through menopause and now they have dry mouth, they have dry eyes. Can bioidentical hormones help with these oral symptoms?

Absolutely, because menopause is the worst time for oral health. And just like women get dry vagina, they know they get dry vagina, their skin atrophies, they get the crepey skin, like you said, they get the dry eyes, they get the dry mouth, they get burning mouth syndrome. So the oral mucosa and the gingiva that hold your teeth in all shrivel. Like we, you know, we shrivel up. And hormones can help you because when your mouth is dry, you're more prone to infection. You're more prone. It's just like when your skin is thin, you see those elderly ladies, you touch them and everything breaks. It's the same in your mouth. And what they found is that you get low levels of saliva. But estrogen not only increases the amount of saliva, it increases the quality of saliva. And saliva is very, very important to prevent infections, to digest, to, to lubricate, to speak. And there's a lot of pro inflammatory cytokines, meaning if your estrogens are low, there's inflammation in your mouth. And these cytokines are chemical messengers like we knew it from COVID with the COVID storm. When you get all these inflammatory cytokines, it affects your overall health. And that's really important because inflammation is the root cause of almost all illness. And the interesting thing is I, you know, and, and this, I want people to be aware that marketing can be tricky because we learn from our commercials, we learn from the Internet, we learn from social media, but anything can be manipulated for their own purposes. So first I worked for a company that made a product that they marketed as helping oral health, right? And there were studies to prove it, right? A competitor company didn't like that. So they tried to, you know, make it disreputable, and they tried to counter that, and they made them pull those claims, even though there were studies. The funny thing was the twist of fate was that company that dissed it, then bought that product, turned around and remarketed it as improving oral Health. So you can't always believe what's in the news. You have to be a very savvy consumer because that taught me a lesson. Where are you getting your information from? Which is why I dedicate everything I write. I have studies to prove and I have, I used to say it, I have 40 years experience. So I have the experience and the studies to back up anything.

I. Yeah, I love that about you because I think it's so important and I agree with you. There's so much misinformation, especially in the last few years, about what's healthy for us. And there's a lot of sources out there, even on the news that are making claims that are not true. So it's so important to follow doctors especially and people and scientists that actually can validate what they're saying.

Yeah. And you know, and I'll tell a story because also during postmenopause, the oral microbiome changes. Now the microbiome, there are more microbes in our bodies than there are cells in our bodies. And they talk to your immune system, your hormone system, your nervous system. And just think of a family. If all of them are getting along, everything is nice.

Right.

If you have one family member that's acting out, it can make it hard for everybody else. So, so what happens during menopause is the microbiome in your mouth starts to change and not for the better. And then whatever's in your mouth, your mouth is a good absorptive surface. Right. We have swish and swallow. We have sublingual meaning under the tongue, supplements and medications. And you start the absorption process and the digestive process in the mouth. So anything that gets in your mouth can get into your bloodstream. And then sometimes you can swallow the, those bad bacteria. It may make some of them, can make it past the acid in your stomach, see in your gastrointestinal tract. And that's really what that claim was from this product. And I don't want to say it because these are big name companies and I don't want anybody to come after me. But when you get inflammation throughout your body, that's the root cause of all illness. Asthma, arthritis, autoimmune cancer, diabetes. Yeah, you name it.

Absolutely. And I'm glad you brought up the oral microbiome because, you know, I'm a big fan. I'm the founder of Orasana Natural Oral Products and I focus a lot on the oral microbiome. How do we nourish the oral microbiome instead of just killing it with a bunch of Chemicals, because we can't be doing that. Number one, as you said, there's more microbes in and on our body than there are human cells. So we need to work with the microbes, not against them. So how does hormones. Do hormones play a role into the oral microbiome?

Yes, it changes the oral microbiome. It increases. If you take hormones, it increases the saliva. It increases the richness and diversity. So you want a diverse microbiome. Otherwise, if you have just a few species, they're not going to do everything that they need to do. And it also decreases biofilm. So biofilm is what causes the tartar. Am I correct about that?

You are, yes.

So estrogen decreases biofilm, and it sways the microbiome away from the type that can cause rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, and it plays a big role in decreasing respiratory infections. There's an increased risk of any kind of respiratory infection, including pneumonia, when your microbiome is off.

That's very interesting that you're mentioning, because I had no idea that hormones actually play a role in the health of the microbiome. So I'm glad you're bringing that up.

Well, I am a big believer in probiotics for the microbiome. And I'll tell a story, and you're part of this story. And I developed a bone infection after surgery, and those are really, really hard to treat. I was on seven different antibiotics for nine months. It wiped out. I took a lot of probiotics because the first time when I had tb, I knew that the reason why I got so sick and learned functional medicine was because nobody talked about probiotics then. Right. So I took. Oh, I took every kind of probiotic. I ate probiotic foods. So fast forward, I develop another infection where I had to be on antibiotics long term. I took a ton of probiotics, but then I had black teeth and I was freaking out. I had black teeth and I was like, of course I read everything. And it could be a change in the microbiome. So I called you, you asked you a picture, I sent it, and you said, no, this could be reversible because in some cases it can change your teeth color, like tetracycline, and it's not reversible. But in most cases of the black teeth, you change the microbio, the teeth get better. So, yes, I had a cleaning. I bought your Osana product, and no more black teeth.

Awesome. Yeah, I was telling you. Yeah, we have to start brushing with a, you know, probiotic calcium hydroxyapatite, which Actually strengthens the enamel. Because what happened in your case also, you know, your teeth, your enamel maybe was a little bit more porous. So you are absorbing stains. But yes, with a change in the microbiome that you experience from those antibiotics, you had a change in the flora of the mouth, which caused the staining.

Yeah. So now I recommend it to all my patients. And it was a lifesaver for me. And, you know, the studies support it, so they support exactly what you do. And that's why I like you so much.

Thank you so much. I'm so glad.

The only reason, because people. Dental health is extremely important, and people don't necessarily understand the connections with overall health and how much like lactobacillus and bifida improves gingival health. So it could be useful in gingivitis and periodontitis. And I do this for gut microbiome. You crowd out the bad guys with increasing the good guys. And it can also improve your breath that, you know, that it stops the production of sulfur, that rotten egg smell, you know, you've been, some of you.

Listen, I look at people's mouths for a living, so definitely I smelled it.

It's tough. And the probiotics also increase saliva. And we talked about how important saliva is for oral health and the immune system and digestion and, you know, counters all the bad bacteria that can cause the inflammation and all the conditions that are caused by inflammation. So I am a big, big believer in probiotics.

The orasana probiotic mints, I think they're also great for especially women that are suffering from dry mouth, because that's when you get a lot more plaque on your teeth as a result of not having that saliva to help to lower the plaque. So definitely bioidentical hormone is so, so important to bring that saliva back. But also adding a chewable probiotic to just help stimulate saliva during this process of change.

Because I used to get a lot of women with burning mouth syndrome, and now I know, giving estrogen and the probiotics, boom. You know, you also have more pain when you. You don't have the right microbiome. So the two together are so much more powerful than either one alone.

Yes, absolutely. That's why, you know, it's so important. Functional medicine must work together with integrative dentistry so we can really help the patient.

Yes, you're on the opposite coast. But I do, you know, I do have people that travel out there and I send them to you. But I've worked very closely with holistic dentists. In my area. And you know, it's huge. It's huge.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Now I want to talk a little bit about immunity and like hormones, Is there an association there?

Yes. Women have the next two X chromosomes and part of that is we make more estrogen and we make more antibodies. And that was evolutionary because when you're delivering or you're pregnant with a baby, you need the antibodies to protect the baby and you need the antibodies to deliver through the milk when they're born. So it decreases the risk of infection of the mother and the child. But we have a lot of antibodies now. That surge in estrogen that you get increases the risk of autoimmune disorders. And it occurs during what I call the four P's when your hormones fluctuate. Puberty, postpartum, perimenopause and post menopause. These are the times when you're more likely to develop an autoimmune disorder because we have more antibodies and something triggers. It's usually stressful toxins, infection, or these natural hormone changes and autoimmune disorders develop. And I ask every patient with an autoimmune disorder to kind of go back to when it was first established what was happening at the time. And it's usually puberty, postpartum perimenopause, post menopause. And then they had some kind of stressor or infection on top of that and the immune system gets kicked up and. And you developed autoimmune disorders.

Amazing. I had no idea that basically we can say women have a superior immune system to men. Yeah.

But the other interesting piece is that postpartum is another big time. And the more pregnancies you have, the more chances you have of developing an autoimmune disorder. I'm not saying have less pregnancies because of autoimmune, but just to be aware of it. And if you have a good oral microbiome and gut microbiome, you take good care of yourself, you decrease toxins, you're nutritionally sound, you're managing your stress, you're detoxifying the liver. The chances of developing it decrease because that's how we manage it. The four pillars, detoxification, removing foods you're sensitive to, decreasing inflammation, reducing stress.

Yeah, that's great because I was going to ask you, how can women avoid this, especially nowadays. A lot of women, I think, want to have children as they are older and more established. But at the same time, let's say if they are older, are you more likely to experience autoimmunity if you're having a baby.

There were no studies talking about the age. It's just that the frequency and the timing. Postpartum seems to be where a lot of different autoimmune disorders show their ugly head. However, one of a common autoimmune disorder called Sjogren's disease is oftentimes found during menopause. And that's when you get dry mouth because it attacks the salivary glands and this is increase in menopause. And what bothers me is that nobody really tests for autoimmune disorders. And I test every woman because thyroid autoimmune disorders like Hashimoto's is extremely common. If you find antibodies early on and you manage it with the pillars, stress management, decreasing adverse food reaction, making sure you're nutritionally sound, getting sleep, decreasing toxins, reducing inflammation, you can nip it in the bud. I've had people who've had raging autoimmune disorders and they just completely calm down. And you know, I have a process for that and I even have a course, the anti aging Solution that addresses those things where people can learn how to do those things for themselves. Because you're not going to get it many places. So you almost have to be your own medical detective. You have to be your own advocate and to advocate for your health. But people don't always know what to do. So that's why I include assessments. I include resources, practical strategies, easy ways to implement these things into your life so that it's not a project.

Right? Yeah, I love it. So where can people find these assessments? Do you have a website that people.

Can utilize at the Feel Good Again Institute? The Feel Good Again Institute is my coaching website. And that's where I have courses. We have courses that are done with a coach. We have do it yourself courses. And twice a year we do several different types of live courses where we'll have weekly Q&As and interactions. So there's something for everybody and there's something for every budget. So I would start at that site. The Vibrance for Life site is the one on one medical care. But you have to be in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania or Florida. I can't see anybody outside those states.

Okay. Oh yeah. I didn't know you practiced in Florida as well. Yes. Snowbirds.

I have so many, you know, and especially during COVID even I spent, I spent that pandemic in Florida. So I winter of isolation up which was cold and dreary and everything was shut down. So I got to spend Florida. I was, you know, Pleased. And that's when I got, you know, registered there to be able to practice there.

Oh, very nice. So for the online program, can anybody take those online classes? Yeah, in any state. Okay.

Yeah.

So we're going to put the link to the Feel Good institute down in the show. Notes. And I know you have a couple different programs. One is on anti aging and one is on hormones. We talk a lot about or mostly about women with hormones. Is it because that program is geared towards women or tell us a little bit how, like who could choose what program?

Sure. Is HRT for you is geared towards women because there's no controversy of men on testosterone. There's never been anything that said testosterone causes cancer. So there's no point in doing that type of thing for men. Men say I want hormones. If they're low, they get hormones. And I've treated men as well. Women, however, have this scare from this ancient study, 2002 that said there's an increased risk of breast cancer. Fast forward with better statistical analysis. Really? There was no increased risk in breast cancer. So it was just the way it was analyzed. So is HRT for you is geared for women? The anti aging solution is good for anybody at any age, men or women, because this is the foundation of good health. And that's why I call it the anti aging solution. It focuses a lot on how to manage the hormone cortisol, which is the major ager. Because cortisol will affect all your other hormones in a bad way. The good hormones it's going to affect in a bad way. And it's just nutritionally sound. It starts with stress management, decreasing toxins, reducing any kind of adverse immune reactions, decreasing inflammation, optimizing nutrition and optimizing sleep. So those are your basics for fundamentals of anti aging medicine, holistic medicine, functional medicine, overall health. Anybody?

Even holistic dentistry. I mean, those things are necessary in order to keep the health of the mouth as well.

Yeah, that's why I developed that course because it's so accessible and it's easy and people love the resources, they love the assessments, they love the resources. So it can help anybody.

Now you mentioned that it's like some of them are do it yourself. So basically you go at your own pace, which can be probably very attractive to some people that don't necessarily get intimidated by seeing a physician or they don't want to. So is that that kind of course where they don't really have to talk anywhere, they can just go on.

It's on demand. Do it yourself. So twice a year I Do the anti aging solution I call the midlife makeover, where it's. Obviously we have to time it because then it's every Weekly Q&As and we answer people's questions live. I do have a community call if anybody is on my mailing list the first Tuesday of the month, which is going to be this coming Tuesday, where anybody in my community can ask a question and I answer it live. And anyone who registers can get the replay if they can attend. So it's, it's fun. I enjoy it. I really. There are so many burning questions out there and there's so much misinformation. I just feel an obligation that I have to set people straight, you know?

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And I know, you know, we're part of the mindshare community together. And in the mindshare community, I mean, that's one of our goals. To help spread natural medicine and dentistry and integrative practices that really help to facilitate our health. And really it's not focused on drugs or chemicals. Right.

And you know, I've, I did the standard of care and I was trained traditionally, I'm an internist and, and I saw the power of. Back then they called it alternative medicine, then complementary medicine, then functional medicine and integrative medicine. So I studied under so many different people so that I have a much better feel for different ways of doing things because one way for somebody doesn't work for everybody. Right. I know when I went for hormones, people made mistakes. And this is why I do a detox before I put anybody on hormones. And the people who don't do the detox are the ones who don't, you know, they might feel better at first, but then over time they don't feel as good because they haven't taken care of everything. They haven't taken care of their liver, their poor liver that has exposure to over 200 chemicals a day. You gotta give it a break, you gotta prepare it, because then you add hormones on top of that. It says, should I process the hormones or should I process the toxins? I'm done.

Right.

So, you know, and then the women who are constipated, they, they're just reabsorbing their toxins. I tell them it's like trying to flush a backed up toilet. It's just going to go right back in you. So all of those little things and.

It causes bad breath, actually, that I didn't know.

Wow.

Because it backs up all the way into the beginning of the GI tract. Really?

Wow. But that it's A big problem because people tell me, oh, no, my bowel movements are normal. So what's normal? Tell me how often. Oh, every two or three days. What do they look like? Oh, they're like pebbles. No, that's not normal. Daily being snakes and logs.

Yeah.

Dr. But you know, I talk a lot about it because it's a big problem. It's a big problem for people.

Yeah, absolutely. And just to kind of close up our show today, any last words of advice that you have for somebody listening who wants to a healthier life? They're starting to experience maybe some of the symptoms that you mentioned that come with, you know, in their age and their life. What would you like to leave us with?

I always like to leave people with. Have some fun, learn, be your own medical detective because nobody's going to do it for you. Nobody's going to do it for you. You've got to do it yourself. Chip away. It doesn't have to be hard. You make small changes can make a big difference. Any of the courses on my site can help you. And I have free stuff. The Hormone Harmonized Kickstart is fantastic information and it's free. You can get it right on my website. There's a hormone quiz. All of that stuff is on the Feel Good Again Institute. And when you really want to take charge, when you're ready, the anti aging solution is a great foundation. And then if you think you need hormones is HRT for you will give you the courage, the confidence and the knowledge to make an informed decision that you feel comfortable with.

Dr. Lorraine Maida, thank you so much. This has been really helpful. I mean, I learned a lot I have to tell you. So we will put that information in the show notes. And thank you for offering free tools as well for some people who are not maybe ready to make the next step. And as you said, I love that small changes can make a big difference.

Very big difference. Yep. Thanks for the platform because we've got to get the word out. People can look younger and healthier and smile bigger, right?

Smile bigger. Exactly. Know that everything is connected in the body. And with that, join us next Thursday for another episode on the Holistic Dentistry Show.

Thank you so much for joining me this week. Please make sure you check out the show notes for any links mentioned in the show. If you like today's show, please invite your friends to listen as well. That would mean a lot to me.

Me.

Do you have a question you'd like me to answer? Message me on Instagram @Dr. Sanda. This is Dr. Sanda. And remember, your mouth is the gateway to your health. So take care of it in the most natural and best way possible.