https://www.listennotes.com/e/df2530e07c93439f941f988b32df9122

Because anytime you drill on a silver filling, they're 50% mercury, and it vaporizes the mercury and wears the dentist's head right above the patient's head. So this literally was poisoning me.

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Thank you. I'm really excited to talk with you.

So let's. I want to take it a little bit further back into your story. Like, how did you even get into wellness and dental? Where did that even come from with you?

Well, my father is a dentist, so I just grew up in dentistry and thought that that's just what I would always do. But at about 10 years in, it changed very much from my father's track to a different track. And it wasn't intentional. I thought I would just keep practicing like he did and keep doing what he does. And that's not. That was not my path for sure. I started getting really sick at about 10 years in, and I, you know, started doing what we all do where we start going to doctors, we start changing our diet. You know, I threw away all of our food. You know, we just did all the things that you do. And it helped a little, but not a lot. And I was having such gut issues that I couldn't even drink water sometimes without pain. I had memory problems. I literally couldn't finish sentences. I couldn't remember my patients names from room to room. And the big one is I had such painful numbness in my hands. I couldn't hold instruments anymore. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. So I actually put my practice for sale, and I didn't know what I was gonna do. Four young kids, you know, mid-30s. This was literally our entire income, our entire livelihood for our family. And just nobody could give me any answers. Nobody could help. So I was finally just searching for anything and everything that I could do instead and came across a dentist who said, you know, have you ever looked into mercury as a problem? And this is the first time I'd ever heard this, first time anybody had ever even introduced that idea. And I said, well, I don't have any fillings. I mean, I knew that silver fillings have mercury in them, but I don't have any. So I said, well, I don't have any fillings. And he Said, it's not the fillings you have, it's the ones you've been drilling out for the last decade without any protection. Again.

So you drilling on other patients was doing this?

Correct. Because anytime you drill on a silver filling, they're 50% mercury, and it vaporizes the mercury. And where's the dentist's head? Right above the patient's head. So this literally was poisoning me. And so I thought, well, I might as well get tested. And that's what it was. Mercury toxicity, off the charts. And all of a sudden, the symptoms made sense because mercury is a toxin.

I wouldn't have guessed that just being around it would do it. I mean, it makes sense if it's in your body, but not just being around it. That's wild.

It's even worse because I was getting everybody's mercury. You know, if you're getting your own, you know, you're getting small little doses. But I was getting everybody's mercury all day long. So, yeah, it literally was poisoning me. And so I had to figure out how was I going to do things in a different way to be able to, you know, the doctor said, okay, we finally figured this out. How are you going to. You can't get it out if you can keep putting it in. So I had to figure out, were there ways to remove it safely, what we quote, unquote, say safely now, so that nobody's getting exposed. The patient or the dentist, either one, found that there were ways to do this. So I started doing it, and patients started noticing, you know, when your dentist walks in in a hazmat suit for the filling, for your filling, they're like, what's going on around here? So I'd start, you know, I'd explain it and say, you know, this is for my. For my protection. But obviously this is useful for you, too. You're not going to get nearly the mercury you were at one point. Do you know if you were doing this without this? And so they would start to send people my way, say, hey, I think actually, I think my mom would be interested in this, or my doctor might be interested. And so doctors started coming and saying, what do you know about fluoride? You know, like, I know what you dentists say, but, like, what do you really know about it? And then I have to go and learn. And what do you know about root canals? Well, I do. I'm really. Maybe you ought to look a little bit further into that. So I had to look a little further into that. And so really, this path was very unintentional And I now call myself a health based dentist because everything I do looks at the health of the body overall and the health of the mouth and says how do they relate one to another? What can I learn about the health of the mouth or health of the body from looking in the mouth? And how does what's here influence all of you? And that has sent me on a computer so good.

Okay, so you gave me a lot of stuff there that I'm gonna, I wanna dig a little deeper on because now I'm gonna start back with the mercury because I think some people are very aware of what mercury does. But there's. People did still have mercury fillings in. I mean we, heck, we grew up in the 70s and this was like a normal thing. We put them in. I just, I just in the last year had my mercury fillings removed. Um, so can you touch on that? Like why did we use mercury? What have we learned and why do we need to take this seriously? And should everyone go run out and remove them?

All good questions. So fillings were originally done in the 1800s in by barbers actually. Barbers where you know, they'd lean you back, they'd give you a shave and they'd feel your tooth or pull your tooth. And they figured out that they can mix silver shavings with liquid mercury and it would make this paste kind of stuff they would shove in your tooth. Well, it worked great. But doctors were also doing. There was no such thing as a dentist at the time. So it was barbers and doctors doing dentistry. The doctor said, we think this is a bad idea because the same, at the same time there were hat makers that were using mercury. They would rub mercury on fur and it would turn it into felt, which would make the felt hats which were so popular with the men at the time. Well, these hat makers were literally going mad. This is where the term mad hatter comes from, is the mercury exposure in hat makers. And it was, they were so they were so bad neurologically damaged, these 20 something year old young men would shake so bad they couldn't even feed themselves. So the doctor said, we think this is a bad idea. We think mercury is actually kind of toxic. And the barbers said, well we're making money, it's working great. We're going to keep doing it. And that's where mercury fillings came from. And they are still in use today. They are still, they're not allowed in the United States. They can still be placed and are placed every single day in dental offices around the country, they are 50% mercury.

Okay, help it. Help us understand what's going on here. Like, okay, and for the person that doesn't know what is bad about the mercury, and then do you think this is going to change? And what if we have them?

So what's bad about it is mercury is the most neurotoxic element on the planet. So what that does is it just zaps your nerves. So when you think about me, I was, you know, my brain, I just couldn't think anymore. Well, it was literally frying my brain, my hands, just all the nerves. I couldn't sleep. It was just so painful. It's just the nerves. So there's a lot of problems that tie in with mercury. So if people say, well, should I get them out? I'll say, well, let's talk about your symptoms. Do you have any brain fog issues? Do you have any, you know, nerve issues anywhere? Do you have any gut issues? Mercury really affects the gut pretty strongly. And now people talk about mercury in fish, they talk about mercury in vaccines, but nobody's talking about mercury in fillings. And they're 50%. And now research shows. So when I was in school, I was told, if you tell anybody that it can affect their health, you will lose your license. So that's what I was told 28 years ago. Now I can tell you, because research supports it, that mercury is released from your fillings 24, 7. So 24, 7, you are getting mercury into your system. Low levels, of course. The more fillings you have, the more mercury you're getting. But it absolutely can impact your health. No questions. So two questions you asked. Why is it still happening? And should you get them out? Let's talk about should you get them out first?

Okay.

You know, there's a lot of dental reasons to get rid of fillings. Honestly, the mercury itself, the metal filling itself, when it gets hot, it expands, expands. When it gets cold, it contracts. And this is inside of your tooth. So they crack teeth because as they expand, they cause all these cracks in the tooth. So oftentimes the mercury fillings lead to cracked teeth and other cavities. So we as dentists look at them and say, you really ought to get those out of there. You know, just from a dental reason to preserve your tooth and make sure your tooth's gonna be healthy long term. But then I also add on and to keep your brain working, your nervous system working, your gut health working, it's really going to be a benefit to remove them. However, here is the biggest caveat the biggest you have to make sure of thing is you've got to do them safely because it's actually more dangerous to just get them removed at any old dental office where you're swallowing the chunks of it and you're breathing in the fumes and all of that, you're going to get a whole massive increase of mercury in your body when you do it that way.

Which is wild because that's how when most people are having something replaced or the way before I even knew me, mercury is bad for us. I think years ago when I would have a filling replaced, they just would drill it out. They're like, we're going to replace your silver fillings with white. They were just drilling it right out. Who knows what I was swallowing? Who knows any of that? And then recently when I got them out, I watched my dentist, who's a biological dentist, come in with the Hazmat suit and the filter and I was like, what is happening? And the rubber dam. All of it.

Yep. And that's what you need, what you just described. So people always say, well, where in the world do I find somebody like that? So there is a site. Well, first of all, my website, livingwellwithdrmichelle.com I have a directory on there with dentists who are trained to do this. You can go to my website, but there's also another website called IAOMT, so hopefully you can put these in, show notes, IAOMT.org that is really the place that I went to learn. And they have an even larger database of dentists that have been trained to do this. So don't do it unless you're going to do it safely.

And the dentists that are listening that don't like that you're saying this right now, you're risking your own house by drilling them out without this 100%.

And here's one of the scary statistics that really always. I never quite could figure it out. Dentists are very, have a very high rate of suicide. I've had numerous, numerous.

Oh my gosh, the depression from that.

It's brain, it's literally mercury frying your brain. And you know, I used to always say, well, why does there high rate of suicide in dentistry? Oh, it's just so stressful. I'm sorry, but I can think of a few more stressful jobs than being.

A dentist, like a heart surgeon or emergency room there.

And I don't think we're really that high on the list. So why. Yeah, so you know, mercury, it fries your brain and it just Makes me so sad. So then to the next question. Why is it still happening? Why do we still place them? It's all about the legal, the world that we live in. Because if fda, American Dental association, whomever came out and said mercury fillings are toxic and they make all of you sick, every dentist who's ever placed or removed a mercury filling would be under a class action lawsuit.

Wow, that's wild. That's okay. So takeaway on that one. If you still have mercury fillings, y' all, you gotta take this seriously because especially in midlife, I, I, I will say that so many women are trying to figure out what's going on with their health. Right. They're being a health detective. And it doesn't, it's not always just our hormones. So, so when we hear it's just your hormones, we have to look at what else is going on. And this is a big key part of the detective work. I'll share. And you don't know this about me, Dr. Michelle, but when I went through my whole gut journey, which I shared publicly a couple years ago, I removed not only a ruptured breast implant, took those out, but I went down this whole chain of, I'm getting rid of everything toxic, so I removed, that's why I removed my fillings then. So I can't say it was one thing, but it was. But changing all that, removing that, cleaning it up, has made me so much healthier. And that's when weight, mood, everything started to improve. And that's not just hormone replacement. That's, that's like, that's a whole cleaning up your system.

Yep. I often talk to patients that it's like a bucket. And, you know, you get enough in the bucket, whether it be breast implants, mercury fillings, food issues and then hormone issues, go on top of it because we reach a certain age and the bucket tips over. Now you, your health is just compromised. So it's not necessarily one thing that's going to tip the bucket back up Right again. It's, you got to get enough of those things out of the bucket so that it can tip back up again. So it is the time to then get everything out of the system to allow the body to live well. And that's what my new book is all about. Actually have a new book coming out. And it's all about how do we live well, because our bodies actually have the ability to stay well through any season of life, through any time of life, they have the ability to stay well. I believe we're divinely designed in order to stay well. And what our job is, is to give our bodies what they need to do their job. So what do they need? They need a clean environment. They need to, you know, clean up the mess. And that's really what our job is. And then our bodies are gonna roar.

I love that. And before anyone listening is like, well, everything's toxic. So many things. There's a difference between. I think we get to pick and choose our toxins. Like, for example, I will color my hair forever. I'm. I just. This is what I chose. I think about it, but I think we pick and choose our things. It's not a judgment thing. We pick and choose. And I think about, like, hair color. So is it healthy? Probably not. Do I do it? How often? Once a month. I sit there. The mercury in your mouth, you're. Every single day, like you said, it's leaking. So it's thinking of things like that, like, where can I give? Where can I take. And removing mercury fillings, y' all, is not a big, huge, crazy expense. Like, you're thinking there's other things that we're going to talk about that could be. But that one is not. I was actually shocked at how inexpensive that was. I thought it was going to be a fortune. It was not.

It's regular dentistry, you know, it's taking out fillings and replacing them. It's nothing. It's not.

If you have the right dentist and they put the filter and all the stuff, it's even better.

Yep. Because it asks less of your body to deal with.

Yes. And I know my dentist, when we did it, not only did she use a rubber dam and the filter and had all the stuff on, she also had me take binders right after. Like, she was really thorough on. Even though we're protecting. There could be a little that gets in.

So there always will be some that gets in. So that's exactly what we do as well. Perfect.

That's amazing. Okay, let's go on to the next topic. I'm going to pick. We have a lot of them. Fluoride. Let's talk about that. What is real? What's not real? Is fluoride helping us, hurting us. Should it be in our drinking water? Help us understand all this?

Yes. So, again, let's talk about the history of it. 1920s, 1930s, they found that, well, first of all, lots of people were getting cavities, and they found that there was certain societies that didn't get a lot of cavities. And they looked at the water they were drinking well water. They had higher levels of fluoride they.

Grew up on, which is wild well water.

Yep. So higher levels of fluoride in some wells, dependent on the source of the well, obviously the source of the water. So they discovered that those people had less cavities. They also had sometimes splotchy brown and white teeth. But they had less cavities. They weren't cavities. So they thought, well, this fluoride stuff, it strengthens teeth. This would be amazing. It'd be a great public health initiative to eradicate tooth decay, make everybody's teeth stronger. I'm always a believer of positive intent. You know, there's a good reason behind this. Somebody was really wanting to do good for mankind here. The problem is, first of all, did it work? Has anyone gotten a cavity since 1930?

Mm, yeah, of course they have. A lot of them.

Yes. Yes, a lot of them. In fact, tooth decay is even on the rise. It's even getting worse. So if fluoride is at its abstract absolute highest of all time, why is it on the rise? Okay, so that must mean that there's something other than fluoride that is, you know, a lack of fluoride that causes cavities. And that's true. Cavities are not a lack of fluoride. They're not a deficiency of fluoride. Cavities are a deficiency of minerals. So we'll get to that. But fluoride, the problem is it doesn't stay put, especially if you're drinking it in your water. Anything that you ingest, even if it's, you know, you're brushing it on your teeth, you're still swallowing some of that. Anything you ingest will affect every single cell in your body. This is what we call side effects. People are like, oh, that medicine has side effects. Every medicine has side effects because it has the intended effect, which means I want this to work on this cell. I want this to strengthen my teeth. Okay, great. It does. Fluoride absolutely does do that. However, it also acts on every other cell. So what are some other cells that. It has an effect on thyroid. In the 1970s, they used to give fluoride to patients who had hyperthyroidism. So it's known that it reduces thyroid function. So now we're giving it in the water to everybody. It's everybody's toothpaste. Have you ever heard of anybody who has low thyroid function right now? Like every other woman? Every woman, you know?

Yeah. Like every woman.

Exactly how much of this is related to fluoride? A lot, because fluoride interferes with the way that iodine activates thyroid hormone. So the more fluoride you have, the less active your thyroid hormone is. So the problem with this is you can get tested, you can get blood tested, and they'll come back and say, you don't have a thyroid problem. Your thyroid numbers are fine because your hormone has been activated by fluoride, not by iodine. So it's even been called type 2 hypothyroidism. It's not detectable on a blood test. So you got the symptoms, you feel cruddy, no energy, all of the things, but they come back and say, no, you're just fine. Your blood test came back just fine because of the fluoride in your system. Wow, that's one cell it works on. Another cell it works on is bones. Because teeth are made of the same thing that bones are. It's called hydroxyapatite. It's a mineral complex, and it's the same thing, teeth and bones. So what fluoride does is it kicks the calcium out and replaces it with fluoride. So it creates something called fluorapatite in teeth and bones. It's harder and more brittle. Fine for teeth, bad for bones. So it decreases bone density, increases bone brittleness. Not positive. Especially as we're getting into middle age. The third thing that's huge problem right now is just new research is showing that it also affects brains. And we've talked about how it calcifies pineal glands for a while, but this new research shows that it literally decreases IQ levels. And they've got this equal. This was a brand new study in January showing that you increase fluoride this much, you decrease IQ this much, it's one for one. So. So I again say it didn't work. We still get cavities, and it creates all of these other side effects because it affects every other cell in the body. Like everything does that we take. Is it worth it? No.

Yeah, good question. No, it's not. And I would imagine. But I was gonna ask you, like, why this is still so common and people get so up in arms around it. But it probably comes back to the same question I had about the fillings. It's a money thing because we risk a lot people having to say that they were wrong. We risk lawsuits. There's all types of things that come.

Up there, and it's hard to say you're wrong. And this is a sacred cow inside of dentistry. You know, when I was trained, in fact, I Kind of shake my head now, thinking back when I first started, I was really focused on pediatrics. And so I was working a lot with the pediatricians in my area. And I literally went to every municipal water supply in my area, got individual testing, found out the fluoride levels, or found out the natural fluoride. Fluoride levels, and then gave individual supplement suggestions to all the pediatricians saying, if your patient lives in this city, this is the supplement they need to take for fluoride. So this is what I was trained to do. This is exactly how every dentist is trained, that this is the gold standard inside of dentistry. And if you do not have fluoride, you will get cavities. It's not true. Because, again, cavities are not a deficiency of fluoride. They're a deficiency of minerals. So if we want to prevent and even heal tooth decay, we need more minerals, specifically hydroxyapatite, the thing I just said that teeth are made of. So now, thank heavens, we have hydroxyapatite tooth products. You can use toothpaste and toothpowder and mouthwash that have the thing that's actually missing from your tooth. Because what happens if. When acid gets on your tooth, either because of acid in your diet or because sugar. Sugar doesn't cause cavities. Bacteria eat sugar and they excrete acid. So it's acid dissolving the minerals. Or your body needs more minerals than it's getting, either because your gut isn't absorbing them properly, or you need more minerals because of the time of life. So this is often teenage years. You're growing bones, pregnancy, you're growing humans, midlife. Your. Everything's changing. You need. You're losing bone density, so you're having to add bone density back. During those times, we see an increase in tooth decay. Why? Because the body needs minerals. And if you're not feeding it enough, the gut's not getting enough, it will go and find it, and it finds it in your teeth and your bones. So your body will mine minerals out of your teeth and your bones to take care of heart and the brain and other functions that it absolutely needs. So you've got to have minerals to prevent tooth decay, to remine, to remineralize or even heal tooth decay. It's all about minerals.

Makes total sense. So. And you. And minerals that you're consuming and eating, but also what you're using on your teeth to clean them. Is that correct?

Yep. So I say minerals in, minerals out. So minerals in is. I have what's called tooth and bone formula. But it's a calcium, magnesium phosphate, you know, mix that's specific teeth and bones. Those minerals along with vitamin D3 and K2. Because D3 grabs those minerals out of circulation. K2 puts them in the cell. So you can take all the minerals you want in the world, but if you don't have the vitamin D3 and K2, they just float around and turn into tartar on your teeth.

And it's not going to do its thing.

It's in your kidney or hardening your arteries. You've got to have those two. So those are the N minerals and vitamin D3. K2. The out. Yeah. The out is tooth powder, toothpaste, mouthwash. Everything has to have hydroxyapatite. So that's the minerals that makes total sense.

Okay. And most products, unfortunately, do not. I mean, unless you find, like, your products or natural products that do.

Yeah, yeah. And there's thankfully now more and more, More and more products coming on the market. And this is becoming more and more. You know, just talked about my state where I live in Utah, just banned fluoride. They said they have to remove it from the water.

They were the first.

This was actually interesting. Fluoride. Florida just did it this week as well. But it was interesting because I've been watching the news stories about this, and the people who run the water supplies, they're really quite upset about it because they just got their systems in place to put all the fluoride in the water, and they talk about how they have to wear a hazmat suit to put it in the water. Is that concerning at all?

That's wild.

And they just installed all this expensive equipment, and they're just kind of all ticked off that they have to turn around and unplug.

But, like, hello, you're wearing a hazmat suit.

Exactly. Is this a problem? And you know, the thing that I always push back on with water with it in the water is it's undosed. So what if you don't need fluoride? What if you're already taking fluoride? What if you're using fluoride toothpaste? What if my child doesn't need the same dose as I do? Like, we would not be okay with any other medication being put in our water supply.

Absolutely not.

We would never allow it. Why this ever happened, I have no idea. But all I'm saying is, thankfully, we've turned the corner and we're starting to make some better choices now.

Wild. Wild. Let's talk about root canals now that's another hot one. And this is an important one because there's a lot of people, including me, that had root canals when we were younger. We were told that that's the right thing to do. We've since learned that it's one of the biggest causes of disease, heart disease, especially if it's infected. But even more more important than if it's infected, there's a lot of them that do get infected. So help us understand about root canals. Like one, there's a couple different categories here. One, you think you need one, so let's talk to that person. But then also the person that has one right now and maybe they don't know if it's infected or not, or maybe they know it's not infected. Help us understand what we should be doing there. Hey there, Natalie Jill here interrupting the show for just a moment to tell you about one of my favorite show sponsors, Just Thrive. Did you know that 99.9% of probiotics are actually dead before they even reach our gut? I didn't know this before, but it's true. If a probiotic needs refrigeration to stay alive, how the heck is it going to survive in our 98.6 degree body and stomach acid? This is why I personally just love the Just Thrive probiotic. In my experience, they are different because their probiotics are designed to arrive alive in your gut, making them incredibly effective compared to other brands that I've tried. Since I started taking Just Thrive, I've noticed my digestion feels more comfortable, my energy levels are better, and maintaining my weight goals has become even easier. Who doesn't love that? Of course, individual results can vary, but this has been my personal experience. They come in an easy to take capsule. If you can swallow or if you're not a pill swallower, you can open it up and mix it into your coffee or your smoothie or you can do what I've been doing. And that's their delicious gummy option that's perfect for everyone in the family and I appreciate that it's gluten free, non GMO and completely vegan. Just Thrive stands behind their products with satisfaction guarantee. You can actually try it for 90 days in 2025. And if you don't love how you feel, they offer a full refund. And as a listener of midlife conversations, you can Visit just thrive health.com and save 20% on your first order of a 90 day bottle by using my code, Natalie Jill. That's just thrive health.com promo code Natalie Jill Thanks To Just Thrive for sponsoring our show and supporting our midlife conversations community. Visit justthrivehealth.com and save 20% on your first 90 day bottle of Just Thrive probiotics with promo code. Natalie. Jill.

Let's talk about what a root canal even is first. Let's start there. So when a cavity has gotten big enough or the tooth's broken, those are the two reasons. Usually there's either a deep cavity or the tooth is broken and it's affected the nerve. So you might have a toothache, right? It might be sensitive. You drink something cold and you go, oh my gosh, that's killing me over there. What that means is the nerve inside of the tooth is affected, it's inflamed, it's really unhappy. So typically you're told you need a root canal. I do not like that phrasing because nobody needs a root canal. You will not die without one, you know, but we'll get to that. So you need a root canal. So what do they do? They actually open up into the nerve chamber. There's a place called the nerve chamber inside of a tooth. It's where the nerve and blood vessels live. Then they extend down through the roots and then they go into the jawbone and then to the rest of the body. This is why, you know, when you tap on your tooth, you can feel it because it's connected all the way to your spinal, your spinal cord way back there. So when they do a root canal, they remove the nerve and the blood vessels inside of that little upper chamber, but also down inside of the roots. So it's the canal in the root. That's why it's called a root canal. Clean it out really well. Disinfect it with bleach. That's still the thing that's used inside of the teeth. So they disinfect it with bleach and then they fill it up with a rubber like material called gutta percha. And the idea is awesome. Like your tooth's still there, you're still chewing with it, you're still smiling with it. I mean, really, the idea is awesome. And that if that were all that happened and where all that went on in a tooth, it would work and it would be great. The problem is that's not all that goes on in a tooth. There's the main canal, but then to be able to tap your tooth and feel it, there have to be little extensions of nerves that go out all the way through all the entire tooth. They're called dentinal tubules. Every Dentist knows about them. We were taught this in dental school, first year. So these little dentinal tubules, there's literally a mile of them in every tooth. So those little tubes are too small to clean and they're too small to fill. So there's always going to be dead nerve tissue and dead blood vessel tissue in those tubes. That's the problem. So now you have dead tissue left in your body. Anytime there's dead tissue there, bugs are going to find it, bacteria are going to find it no matter what. So then your immune system has to deal with it, right? Your immune system has to work hard, literally 24, 7, to keep these bacteria from spreading. This is the enormous connection between autoimmune disease, between a lot of chronic diseases and root canals. Because not necessarily that the root canal caused the Hashimoto's or, you know, whatever it might be on the side, rheumatoid arthritis, but what it does is it distracts your immune system as well as takes away some of the energy for the immune system. So now the immune system isn't as powerful, isn't as capable of keeping you. Well, because it's distracted dealing with something.

Else, dealing with that.

Eventually bacteria, when they take over, they start to eat away the jawbone. They spread through all of the bloodstream through that jawbone. In fact, every time you chew on this tooth, it's like stepping on a blister and it just shoots that stuff all the way through the bloodstream. And you talked about how it's related to heart disease, you know, cancer, these things. Why? Well, because of those bacteria that go everywhere. In fact, there was a study that showed that clots that killed people that either through because of a stroke or a heart attack, they actually did the killing. They checked out what was in them. 78% of them had mouth only bugs in them. So that tells us that that many heart attacks were related infection in the mouth in some way. So if you, if you're talking about, okay, do I need one, I've been told I need one. The first thing that we have to say or ask is, is the tooth still alive? And how do you know if it's sensitive? So if you still have cold sensitivity, hot sensitivity, awesome. That's actually really, really good because that means it hasn't died yet. If it hasn't died yet, what you're going to ask your dentist to do is put, please remove the cavity down to the deepest layer, but don't uncover the nerve. That's when we're kind of moving down the other Road don't uncover the nerve. We use ozone right there to kill all of the bacteria in that deepest layer and then we fill right over top of it and keep the tooth alive.

Wow. Without going. So you're not touching the nerve, you're not doing the gutta percha, you're not getting into that. You're just, it's a different, it's like a different type of preservation. Preservation.

It's a filling or a crown or whatever the tooth needs. You're just not getting into the nerve at all. So you need to find again a biologic dentist, somebody that does ozone that can do this. And in our practice, go to my directory, find somebody. But in my practice we save about 85% of teeth that they. People have been told you need a root canal. They come to us, they say, we don't want a root canal. Can you save it? We can save about 85% of those.

85. And if you can't save it, what's the option if you pull it, do you have suggest like a ceramic implant or what do you do?

Yes. So then, now let's say you're you or somebody else that's listening that's had a root canal in the past. You, what do you do? How do you know the first thing we have to figure out and, or, and, or your tooth's already dead, it's already infected. You've got a swollen face, you can't chew on it. Those are the signs to say we're already past the point of keeping this tooth alive. It's already in the dead zone. Now we need what's called a cone beam CT scan. It's a specific dental CT scan. Most, well, not most dentists, most specialists have these. So orthodontists, oral surgeons, endodontists, they all have them. Dentists more and more are getting them. 20, 30% probably have them now. So cone beam CT scan, what it's going to show is, is this tooth infected? If you have an abscess, then the answer is yes. But this is for the people who've already had a root canal. Is it infected? That's the only way to know is on this kind of scan.

And if the cone beam shows it's not infected, do you advise they go and remove them anyways?

It depends on the symptoms if you are having chronic disease issues. So I'll tell you. So I, oh, it's probably been maybe 10 years ago, went to a course and one of the instructors told me that when she was barely starting out, she actually Got under the tutelage of a, before his time, health based dentistry. And he said, if you ever find anybody who has cancer that doesn't have either a root canal, fail root canal in their mouth or an area where a tooth was removed, particularly wisdom tooth that didn't heal right, then I'll pay a 500 bucks. So she kept looking for forever so she'd get her 500 bucks. She told us at this, at this conference, she said, if any of you in the audience can find this, I'll pay you a thousand bucks. She said, because you're never gonna find it. Because and for me, every single patient that I've ever seen that has cancer or has had cancer, they have a root canal or an infection in their jawbone. I've never found somebody without it.

So would you personally if you didn't, if you had a, if you had a root canal in your mouth, you personally and you had a cone beam that said no infection, you would still remove it?

I would still remove it. Because there's always human error looking at a cone beam CT scan.

Totally.

There's always a little bit of room for interpretation when we're looking at any of these scans. So I would get it out, but I have people every single day. I mean, just this week I saw a woman who has 11 root cats canals.

Yeah. Wow, 11.

You know, and so we looked through them and I said, okay, we triaged. And I said, all right, four of these are badly infected. Like literally have eaten holes in the bottom of her sinus. Like hugely eaten holes in the bottom of her sinus, filled up her whole sinus, like badly infected. I said, all right, we're gonna start with those four and we're gonna keep a really close eye. So what I recommend is you get a cone beam CT scan about every year and a half and you just watch your symptoms. If things are getting worse than if you're getting an autoimmune disease you didn't struggle with before. If your heart, if your blood pressure is increasing, like you just watch your health symptoms and if anything is increasing, you go, I remember, I remember they told me about that root canal. You know what, I'm going to have that checked again or I'm just going to go that out now.

If we want to get it out, what are the options there? Because it seems like it could get very overwhelming. Like you have to extract it, then you have to bone graft it, then you have to implant. Like, is that the only way you do or is there other options? And what do people do.

Good question. So I mean, you can do nothing. You can just leave it out. Obviously that's going to be very dependent on which tooth we're talking about.

Yeah, that wouldn't work for me.

I think that's not going to be a good choice for most people, you know, so you can just leave it out. And sometimes if it's the very back top tooth, you know, then people are just like, hey, you know what, I'm fine with that. Just leave it out, it's fine. So that's one option. Another option is to do something removable. So that's like a retainer with a tooth on it, you know?

Yeah, that's. Most people don't want that option either.

It's not great, but it's very inexpensive, expensive, you know, and it's a way to do it. And sometimes what I tell people is don't wait to get it out just because you have to wait to replace it. You know, if financially you can't do them both, get it out and do something temporary.

Do a, like wear the flipper or.

The removal like that, you know, temporarily. But don't wait on your health.

Yeah.

Just because financially you can't do every step.

Got it.

Get that out and do something temporary if you need to. A bridge is another option that people may have heard of where let's say we're just like losing this teeth right here. You can do a crown on either side if there's a tooth in front and a tooth in back. The problem with the bridge is it stresses the teeth that are holding it. And research shows that about 10 years you end up losing one of the teeth that are holding the bridge.

Yeah. And you lose more bone and also gum issues because you can't really floss between and everything.

Now another two. So it's, it's calling, it's called making a one tooth problem, a two tooth problem or three tooth problem, you know. So I don't do a lot of bridges anymore for that reason. So we moved to the dental implant. And I, I'm not, I never, I don't say I only do ceramic, but I highly recommend ceramic. There's on a very rare occasion, times when there's. The only option for an implant is a titanium one. But we do ceramic 99% of the time. So you can have no metal top to bottom. And that's recommended if people are capable or able to do it. And it sounds like a lot of steps, but the dentist is good at it. You know, we're good at Walking you through the steps. And we'll get it taken care of. And it is a few appointments, but we walk you through it. And like, this tooth right here is an implant on me.

Yeah.

Nobody knows. Like, it's smiling.

I'll tell you all. I have two root canals that I have had since I was like, early twenties by an endodontist. They were actually done pretty well because I. And I do get the comb beam and I have no infection. The only reason I have not removed mine yet, because I like them out, is every time I revisit the conversation with biological dentists and really look at everything, it is so close to my sinus. They're concerned I'll have. Actually, I'll create more issues removing it. So I do what you just said every year. I have make sure. I'm checking. I'm aware. And it's. It is possible we could have had a good root canal. Like, it's possible. It's rare, but it's possible.

It's because of your immune system, because you're doing so many things right. So your immune system has a lot of strength, so it's able to keep things at bay, if that makes sense. Because there is no root canal that's free of dead tissue. It's impossible to do.

Totally. It makes sense.

But it's your body able to take care of it.

And I have one marker on my labs that I'm hoping it's a mistake. It's a. I'm retesting it, but that even when I saw that, I'm like, my head right into root canal. It's like, okay, wait, that wasn't there before. What's going on? What's inflamed? So I'll go through the checklist, but if nothing else pans out, that would be my next. My next mark on there. So what does somebody do that really is listening? And they're like, I. Okay, I'm hearing what you're saying about the root canal. I think I need mine out. But financially, maybe this is a big undertaking because extract. But I think if I'm hearing you correct, it's the extraction is not the expensive part. It's the other steps. Is that accurate?

Right? Yep. So get the tooth out. Do something temporary. Do a retainer with a tooth on it. You know, if. If this is standing in the way of you being. Well, it's worth the cost of that extraction. And then waiting until, you know it's affordable to do something else.

And can anyone extract it or do you need to go To a biological dentist for that, or who do you go to to extract it?

Great question. We do some things differently, however, you know, I'm a realist. And so I try to meet people where they are. And that's why when I see somebody with 11 root canals, I say, let's take out the worst four. You know, there are some dentists that you can go to that'll say 11 are coming out. There's no debate.

Yeah.

You know, there's no options here. You have to. Well, I'm a realist now. People have to live in this world, you know, so sometimes people will say, is there anything that I can do at my local dentist?

Yeah.

Closer to home for me, they take my insurance, you know, all these things. And I look at them and I say, all right, here's the things that I would do there. I would do a regular old filling there. Would I remove mercury fillings there? No, because unless they do it safely, that's non negotiable. You don't. You don't do it where it's not safe. I would do regular fillings there. I would do regular crowns there. You know, I mean, if you need regular dental work, I would do cleanings there.

Yeah.

And extractions are potentially on that list as well. Because there are some things that we do differently and I believe make a better outcome. But if it's that or nothing, I would rather you get the tooth out, you know. So what we do is we remove the ligament. There's a ligament surrounding every tooth, and it doesn't just come out with a tooth, so it has to be intentionally removed. But you could always go to your dentist and say, well, you just make sure to get the ligament out when you take my tooth out. And they'll look at you like, oh, you're one of those crazy people. Don't, don't, don't want. Don't mind them. Just ask. Anyway, we also do ozone to make sure we're killing any bacteria around in the jawbone. And we place stem cells in the area. So if you can do it that way, really great. But if it's the difference between being able to get it done or not. Go get the tooth out.

Yeah, Makes total sense. Okay, let's talk about X rays for a minute. Some people are very concerned about that. And how much radiation. What do you think is actually necessary? What do you think is hurting us and how often should we be doing them if we're doing them?

So the great news is, is that radiation is much reduced than it used to be. Because pretty much every dentist you're going to now is doing digital radiographs, digital X rays. And so if it's, you know, got something with a cord on it. Hooked. Yeah, hooked. Instead of just the little film that we used to put in the mouth, the radiation is about a hundredth of what it used to be. It's okay.

That's great news.

So it's very, very good news. So you really can get more X rays now than you used to be able to get. What do you do? As far as, you know, what's the frequency? Standard of care for us is we have to take X rays every two years or so on you, otherwise we actually are under malpractice. Wow. So, in fact, we get some pushback because I get a lot of people who are very concerned about, you know, these things. And so they say, well, I know you're just going to do my work without X rays. Right. Say, no, it's malpractice. I cannot and I will not, actually, because I simply can't take care of you if I don't know what's going on. It's like me trying to practice with a blindfold on. You wouldn't want me to do your dentistry with a blindfold on. Same thing happens if I don't have X rays. So about every two years, if you're healthy, if you've never really had much tooth decay, that kind of thing, you can maybe push it a little further than that, but it's safe, it's okay. And it's much better to catch things when they're small kids, we like to do it every year for a child. Why? Because cavities in kids teeth progress so rapidly that if we wait two years, it's into the nerve. They've got an abscessed tooth. Like, it's massive problems at two years out. So a year is really about as long as we're gonna push it for a child. But I have some suggestions for you. And cone beam CT scans we do about every three years. So obviously there is more radiation with that, but it's about equal to being outside for about 20 minutes in the sunshine.

But if you have a root canal, you need to do that more frequently than three times.

Every new patient that comes to my practice gets a cone beam CT scan. Yeah, because I'm looking for root canals. I'm looking for jawbone infections where you had wisdom teeth removed. I'm looking for airway problems where, you know, to see. Okay. Why are you not sleeping? Why are you waking up at night. It's not just your hormones, it's actually because you can't breathe. And I can help you. So these are all things I look at. So a new patient doesn't come into my practice without a cone beam CT scan, but retake them about every three years. So I have a suggestion for you though. After you've had radiation, and it doesn't matter if it's the dentist or the doctor, so what you're going to take is something called delta tocotrienols. It's a vitamin E. So it's a version of vitamin E. So just look it up. Delta tocotrienol. You, you can look it up on Amazon. And what you're gonna do is take that right after the X ray in our office. We just have them right there for you. You get a cone beam CT scan. We hand you an envelope with a vitamin E tablet in it. Because what it does, is it, the problem with radiation is it creates free radicals. And free radicals, I like to think of them as like toddlers on sugar. You know, they're like rampaging through your body and causing all sorts of, of havoc. So what the vitamin E does is it, it's an antioxidant. It will actually calm down that free radical and stop it from causing more damage in your body. So you get the X ray, you take the vitamin E. It's just going to calm down anything so you don't have to worry about the side effects or the after effects from that radiation.

Makes total sense. Okay, that makes sense. Now I'm thinking of why when you're, when we have inflammation markers in general on lab works, doctors typically tell you to take vitamin E. I didn't connect that before. So what about implants now, in general? Now I know you said you typically will do a ceramic implant. Now what about people that have. I have a titanium implant. That's another thing I just thought of. I have in my mouth. I have one of them. Do you. What is the danger there? Is it something that we need to be looking at, removing? What are your thoughts around that?

It's also going to go on the symptoms. I also have a titanium implant. Mine is this minus titanium because he was put there 30 years ago. You know, we didn't even have ceramic then. So we get a lot of people and like I said, if you go to some dentists, they're gonna say every piece of metal has to come out. I'm a little more of a realist than that. Partially because they're actually very difficult to get out. They're difficult to get out if they've been integrated into the bone, which is the goal we want them.

That's exactly right. I used to sell dental implants years ago.

That's the goal. And so they're very, very difficult to get out. Sometimes they can create a lot of damage, a lot of bone loss that we have to then rebuild with a lot of bone reconstruction. If I had cancer, I would get my implant out, I'll tell you that right now.

Because you'd want every possible burden out of your body.

Possible burden out of my body. If I had another, you know, chronic disease that I could not bounce back from, I would probably get my implant out. So it depends on symptoms. And like, for example, a woman came a few weeks ago, and she has stage four cancer. And she said she's been researching every person who. Who had stage four cancer and survived. She's been studying all of their stories to decide what is the commonality in all of them. Because she wanted to do everything that they had done, right?

Yeah.

She said every single person had addressed their dental problems, had gotten all the root canals removed and all the metal out of their mouth. And she said, that's what I'm here to do because I want to survive as well. So it's just one of those things where you go on symptoms if you are healthy and you're thriving and you're doing fine. And an X ray, the cone beam CT scan says that that implant is integrated, it's doing great. Leave it alone.

Yeah, that makes sense.

But.

But don't. But don't ignore it like you. But it's like. But be aware. So it's. You might not go rush to remove it, but you're very aware. I want to just kind of caution everyone, too. I actually had a different dentist that I interviewed on here several months ago. And I'll tell you, even my own dentist, before I switched to a biological dentist, when I asked any of these questions, they wouldn't say any of the things that you're saying. So I want to caution everyone. We have to. Just like with our regular doctors, with our functional medicine, we have to be our own health detective. So just because someone tells you that something's not a problem doesn't mean it's not a problem just because they have a doctor title. So I just want to make that everybody really aware that you might hear this interview and go, okay, well, now I'm going to go ask my dentist. And my dentist said, I don't need to do a Comb. My dentist said I don't need to remove my amalgams. My dentist said, fluoride's great. Just maybe it is for you. Maybe you don't have an issue. But don't just dismiss this whole conversation if you don't feel good because your dentist told you no. So it's, it's really important that we have to be. The reason I wanted to interview Dr. Michelle today is I. I think it's just another part of the conversation. We have to be our own health detectives. We have to look at all areas. And when I hear women really struggling with their mood, with their brain fog, with their weight, with their whole everything, I want them to go down the checklist. Like, are we checking all these things? And dental gets overlooked way too much, I think.

Yep. And there's a really interesting book called the Hidden Epidemic, and it's actually written by an MD, not a dentist. It's written by an MD and in that book he states that 60 to 80% of chronic disease is related to the mouth in one way or another. And like I said, he's an MD and a jd, so he's a lawyer. He's an MD and a lawyer. So he's not going to say anything that he can't back up by research. Right. He won't put his neck out. He won't put his neck on the line like that. So he has research study after research study, and they continue coming like every day. I'll find a new study about this. The research is catching up to opinion now, unfortunately, the profession is going to always be about 10 to 20 years behind. What's really the leading edge as far as studies and research and all of the above. So when we are talking to somebody who's very. Is a good practitioner, everything else, just know that not all practitioners are staying up on the latest research. In fact, most of us, because we're really busy keeping track of our own lives. We're busy taking care of our patients and doing, you know, working in our practice. Not a lot are actually out studying research. So that's why it's good to do your own studying and to really learn for yourself.

Now, I just recently had my, actually, I had it two days ago, my checkup that I. Because I go every four months for cleaning and checkup. And my biological dentist, I'm an easy. Like, I guess I don't know if I'm a sucker. I'm just really smart. I don't know which one, but they're like you.

This is a smart one. That's the.

But I want to ask you what these things are in case other people have been asked these things, too. I just said yes to all of them. I don't even know what I was saying yes to. They asked if I wanted the laser around my teeth. I was like, sure. Then they wanted to know if I wanted ozone around my teeth. I was like, sure. And then they asked me if I wanted it before we even did the cleaning. An oral biome test. I said yes to all three. I don't even know what I said yes to. Can you help us understand what those are and are they important?

I love it. You're just so obedient. So the laser, what that does.

It's like the nail salon, by the way. When you're like, they're massaging your hand, you're like, do you want an extra 10 minutes? Do you want. I'm like, sure, whatever. Yeah.

All right. So the biome test, what they're checking there is, do you have certain bacteria living in your mouth that are going to create gum disease or sometimes also create more tooth decay based on the bugs that you have? I actually don't do the biome test very often. And the reason is I. I treat everybody the same, regardless of what comes up on the test, if that makes sense.

Okay, makes sense.

So I'm like, I kind of am going to do the same regardless of what we find. So I'm really not going to test it.

Okay, that makes sense.

That's the issue with the biome test. So I don't actually do a lot of that. Ozone is fabulous because it's going to kill whatever bugs are living in there. So that's why, again, like, no matter what I find on your test, I'm going to just use ozone.

And so not the ozone rinse or the ozone that they do, like, around each tooth. It was like a little machine they put around each tooth.

So gas that's in the gas form and in the water form, both kill the bugs around.

Amazing.

And then the other thing is the laser does the same thing. Laser also disinfects things. And so when you're using the laser, what it's doing is it's just getting deeper. It's killing more bugs. It's, you know, doing all of that. So, again, that's why I don't do the biome test, because I'm gonna do.

You're gonna do all that anyway. I'm just a sucker, you know, I'm just like. I'm like, all right, so no so. So all of those things are nice add ons. Okay, let's talk about toothpaste for a minute because. And I. And I actually, I had bought your pro. I just like the way it felt. You have a tooth powder that I like and I. That's what I use. I love using it can tell me. I don't even know why other than I like how it feels and I'm using it. But I've learned recently there's something about using powder versus paste that's important. Also, the container that we have it, put it in is important. And then I want to ask you about the lead. The lead conversation. Because I know when people test things, they're like, so and such. And such has lead net help us understand that.

Yep. So the reason I created a tooth powder largely was because I don't like a lot of the additives that they put in toothpastes to make it into a toothpaste.

Got it.

They had things like, things that make it foam up. Like sodium lauryl sulfate is one that a lot of people probably has heard of. It's called a surfactant. So it makes things foam up in your mouth. It's not there to improve your health. It's just there to make it sudsy, because that's kind of what we expect. They put things in it that are disinfectants like triclosan, which should never be ingested in your body ever. You know, there's just all of these things. They put sweeteners in there. They put artificial flavors. They. I didn't want any of that. So I couldn't find a manufacturer at the time that said, yes, I'll take all of those things out. And I didn't know how to make a paste without all of those. So I said, you know what, let's just put in what I want. And all I want is hydroxyapatite. All I want are things that are gonna keep your teeth clean. So that's why the powder. But I'll tell you, I do actually have a paste coming out in a couple, hopefully about four weeks, about a month, because I finally figured out how to make it without all the other things. So the key is the hydroxyapatite without all of the other additives that we don't want. Now, the powder, the base of it is bentonite clay, which if you're health at all, you've probably heard of bentonite clay. It's from the earth. It's literally just from the soil. That's where the lead content comes from. Because lead is found in trace amounts in all of our soil. So when you're eating strawberries, broccoli, spinach, any of these foods, you're going to also have trace am amounts in it. So some of these come. So what's happening when these people online are testing products, they're using the entire jar to test it instead of serving size. So this is 90 servings in here. So basically they're testing 90 times the amount that we would actually recommend you use any time. So if you want to, if you want to eat that entire bottle in one sitting, then you're going to get way too much lead.

Let me tell you guys, I had not met Dr. Michelle before this interview. I actually, I used her product. The reason I interviewed her is one of my good friends, Dr. Amy Horneman, suggested I interview her because of questions I was asking. And when I mentioned that I was interviewing her, a couple people told me about the controversy recently about, oh, her products have lead in it. So then I start looking at that and I was actually getting mad. It made me want to buy her products. I more because I cannot stand when people do that, when they try to tear something down that they're not even being accurate on their research about. It's like it's a fear mongering thing and I can't stand it. So I, I asked her before we started interviewing, I said, can I ask you about this? Because it, I don't like that when I see an influencer or somebody, they're, they're picking up a product, it's almost like they're doing it for views or for clicks. Like, hey, I'm going to show the danger of this person's products to do that. And like you just explained, they're basing it on 90 times the amount that you'd actually use.

Yep, yep.

And is it even possible to get Betadine clay without any lead at all?

There's not, there's not, there's no way because it's just soil, it's just literally dirt.

And isn't Betadine clay a binder in itself? So wouldn't it help bind it out anyway? So it's like ridiculous.

That's why I put it in there is because it's a binder and it helps, it also helps to get rid of bacteria, it helps to get rid of toxins in the mouth. It helps to clean things out of your mouth. And sold over a million bottles of this so far.

So you're not, you're just, you're annoyed, but you're like whatever people are doing whatever.

Exactly. We stand by what we do. We are very committed to making sure that our products are clean and simply helping you to live well.

Yeah, I love that. I love. Okay, so tell us about your book. Tell us where people can find you. Where can they buy all your products? Can they, should they go to Amazon? Where should they go?

You can go to Amazon. You can also go to livingwellwithdoctormichelle.com and everything's on there. You're gonna see all the tooth care products which are toothpaste soon, tooth powder, mouthwash, tongue scraper, toothbrushes, all the above that you need. But I also have some other fun things. So go check it out on there. But the book, the book is literally my kind of my life's work. It's the story of how I got better. You know, I told you the story about how I got sick. It's a story about how I got better and how I figured out where to start with getting better. So go check out the book. Livingwellbook.com this is a big ask. I usually don't ask things to people, but if you're listening, please go order it because what it tells booksellers and publishers is that this is the stuff you're interested in. I actually am giving all profits from the book to charity. So this is a copy. This is simply so that more authors that are sharing this kind of information get publishers to say yes. Because it's a lot of work to get a publisher to say yes. So you buying the book tells them, ah, this is the kind of book people are interested in. So go buy it and then go back to that site, livingwellbook.com put your info in and I'm going to send you the symptoms assessment to tell you where to start right now, as well as a first steps guide. So good. Thank you.

I love that. And I'm going to, I'll add to that anytime I feature a guest that has a new book. What I always say is if you like what the guest is sharing and they have a book, don't just buy one, buy two or three. Like if you're interested, your friends are going to be interested too, your family's going to be interested. So I just love to support people doing the work and doing the research. So you all, it goes a long way when you get help. Get the word out there with, with actual, with your dollars, with your buying a book. So don't just buy one, buy two or three and give them away as gifts. Thank you so much. Dr. Michelle thank you. Thanks for tuning in to midlife Conversations today. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it and tag me, Natalie, Jill and our guests on social media. The best way to support the show is by leaving a review. Send a screenshot of your review to supportataliejillfitness.com for a free digital DSR journal download. And just a friendly reminder, I'm here with a microphone, not a medical degree. Half the time I'm sharing things that I read on the Internet or learned just as you were learning it while I'm interviewing the guest. I'm not an MD or your therapist or your mom, though I do give excellent mom style pep talks. This podcast is purely for entertainment, curiosity and educational purposes. When in doubt, please ask your own doctor. For advertising inquiries, contact sales admintegory3ca and this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek advice from your physician. Some episodes of midlife conversation may be sponsored by products or services, and I may receive compensation for advertisement of your purchases through affiliate links.