Latest / The Rochelle Christiane Podcast / 153. The Truth Inside Your Mouth with Dr. Sonia Chopra DDS

Transcript

153. The Truth Inside Your Mouth with Dr. Sonia Chopra DDS · The Rochelle Christiane Podcast

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the Emotional Mastery Podcast.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: I am your host, rochelle.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: This podcast started as a space to really just share my journey, to share the experiences and the things that I was going through as I learned to self-regulate, as I learned to manage my emotions, and it has transformed into so much more.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: This space is really just everything that I trial and error.
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: It's amazing guests coming to you talking about their journey, their experiences with emotions, and really just take what resonates and leave what doesn't.
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: This journey can feel really isolating at times.
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: It is beautiful, it is painful, it is joyful, it is love, it is all of the things and we are all of the things all at once, and so just have grace with yourself, have compassion with yourself through this, and I am so grateful that you are listening to this episode wherever you are listening.
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: Thank you for allowing me into your day.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: Welcome back to another week on the podcast.
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: This week I'm talking to Dr Sonia Chopra all about root canals, endodontists and everything about the teeth, and it is definitely a different sort of episode, but with this podcast, everything is.
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: We are holistic beings and so this is a really important aspect to our physical health and our physical health is an important aspect to our overall health and well being, right With spirituality, mind, mental health, all the things.
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: So this, this episode, this conversation, was really really fascinating because I think so many of us really do have a fear of the dentist.
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: We have a fear of root canal, we have a fear of teeth extraction and I'm not actually sure where that comes from.
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: Like I know I avoid the dentist.
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: I will be the very first to admit it, I truly do.
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: I've been, you know, a handful of times since I was like 18 and four, to go, you know, for my parents and braces and all the things, and I've been blessed to not have many teeth issues, but I know that's not the same for everybody.
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: And so this was a really interesting conversation to have to really sort of get down to, you know, why we fear that way and how to understand insurance, because dental insurance is a thing and it is complicated and confusing and I know there's so many messages about oh well, they're just trying to do this because your insurance covers it and it's just a lot.
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: And so really having this conversation was really eye opening and just helpful in understanding dentistry.
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: So Dr Sonia Chopra is a tooth saver.
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: She calls herself a tooth saver and I love that.
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: She's a board certified endodontist.
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: Head X speaker, forbes contributor author, endodontic instructor and founder of Ballantine endodontics in Charlotte, north Carolina I hope I pronounced that correctly.
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: On top of running her thriving practice, dr Chopra provides groundbreaking digital education and community support to general dentists and endodontists who want to up level their technical skills, patient experience and practice efficiency through her thoughtfully designed courses and in person programs such as her award winning eSchool.
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: She has revolutionizing endodontic continuing education through the simple, tangible lessons rooted in her diverse experience.
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: So she talks about her, her life experience and what brought her to endodontics, and I think her story is really powerful and really gives her the compassion and empathy needed in this sort of work and really really trusting your body.
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: She talks about how every client would be so or every patient right, it would be so easy to just like get them and book them and do the work, but she really urges them to have a consultation, to sit and make sure that the the she and the patient are both choosing each other, and I think that is so beautiful and so powerful, because how often do we just get given a doctor and blindly follow what they have to say.
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: I always say, like, trust your body right.
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: Trust what your body is telling you.
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: If something doesn't feel right, get a second opinion.
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: And I know, with insurance and money and all the things like that can be a lot and sometimes we avoid that, but it truly, truly is like so helpful.
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: So I really really appreciate that with her and she teaches dentists how to be, how to practice in the same way that she does.
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: She teaches more about root canals, root canal therapy, so that they can save more teeth instead of just like extracting teeth, and I love that.
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: So this episode really really is a good one.
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: It's really really interesting and, again, if you have any sort of dental fears, like I do, it's just really good to know.
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: And she gives you know some of her practices for prevention, which I think is so key.
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: And whether it's dentistry or physical health, prevention is key and I think we so often skip that part and just rely on the medications and the antibiotics and all of the other aftercare stuff, where it's like if we prevent that from happening just holistically or better off.
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: So yeah, I hope that you enjoyed this episode as much as I enjoyed having this conversation.
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: This week has been a big one.
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: We had Venus going retrograde last Friday or Saturday.
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: Totally forgot it's already passed, but Venus will be in retrograde, I believe, until September 5th, if I'm not mistaken.
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's been a lot.
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: I had a little bit of a dip over.
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: I don't even know what day it is.
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: It's Wednesday.
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: I'm recording this.
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: My days are like so off.
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: My kids are again out of town and, yeah, my days have just been like so wacky, so okay, I had a really a pretty.
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: I think it was Monday, sunday, into Monday.
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: Yes, I had a low and you know, just like, having these tools and having these practices as part of our daily routine really helps us in the times when we are feeling emotionally low, because it's so easy Like, if we don't have these practices in place, it's so easy to get caught up in that loop, in that cycle of just, you know, the numbing and the avoiding.
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: And you know, even with these practices, I still find myself falling into that right of the numbing and the avoiding and the watching TV and not doing the work right.
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: But it's like, even if you can spend five minutes, like on Sunday, I felt really low, like to the point where I was just like crying, like I don't even know why, and instead of like just avoiding watching TV or whatever, I chose to sit with it.
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: I was like, okay, I'm just going to set a timer for five minutes and I'm just going to sit with this feeling.
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: And so I brought myself into my physical body, into the feeling I let the stories go because this is what happens, right.
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: And I noticed this on Monday.
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: I was still feeling low on Monday and then my mind was telling me all the bullshit stories of like, oh well, you're not worthy, you're never going to do this, you're never going to have a partner, you never this, you're that.
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: All of those stories that the ego attaches, based on like past experiences or things that we are told, or stories that we picked up in life, and it's all bullshit, right.
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: And so remembering and having those mantras and having those practices of like okay, coming back to myself, how do I tap into my higher self?
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: How do I feel my higher self?
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: What would my higher self do right now?
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: And oftentimes that one question how would my higher self be in this moment?
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: Just in itself, like has me sit up a little bit straighter, right.
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: And then, and when I'm telling myself those stories of like, oh well, I'm never going to find a partner, like, no, you are.
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: Just because that you know you have certain expectations doesn't mean you're going to be alone forever.
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: Right, there is somebody.
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: And also keeping yourself open to possibilities, I think is really important.
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: So, just like having those practices, because, again, if you don't have the practice of coming to yourself of it and it takes time, right, it takes time to really create those habits and but once you have them, and still then during those times, yeah you may still do the thing, but before you do the thing, you maybe have like five minutes of coming to yourself, of whether it's breathwork, meditation, eft, tapping, any of these sort of tools that really help you regulate your nervous system.
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: And, of course, healy is the biggest tool.
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: I absolutely love it.
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: It's not the tool, right, like I think meditation in itself like if anybody has a tool, meditation should be it just the practice of coming to silence, the practice of coming to stillness, and coming to yourself will always give you the answers.
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: But as far as, like, nervous system regulation, I think Healy is incredible because it literally sends microcurrents through your system.
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: It sends like microcurrents, it sends frequency into you that will help you regulate your nervous system and it is so beautiful and so, having that as a practice and having that as a tool to be able to, I've noticed the two, the two or three times I've hit a low since having Healy.
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: It has I've cycled through it so much faster and I think because I'm continually supporting my nervous system with the device and, of course, the.
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: I've said it so many times but the team behind the device is like absolutely magical.
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: But I am not going to take too, too long in this intro because this episode is good, but next week I'm probably going to go into a little bit diver diver a little bit deeper of a dive into the Venus sequence and how Venus in retrograde has been pulling all this up and just like kind of a bigger episode conversation around that.
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: So that will be next week and the Holistic Human Design Academy starts again at the end of August.
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: It is really really incredible.
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: The feedback I've been getting is phenomenal.
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: I'm actually going to read one of my testimonials right now from one of the students within the program because it just it's so beautiful when it's mirrored back to me like the way that I've been feeling.
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: So this is from one of the students.
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: She said even if you have a base level knowledge of all, the knowledge of all the topics in the modules, this academy ties it all together for you.
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: It saves you from a lot of self teaching and piecemealing, which is what I had been doing for years without knowing how to make sense of everything.
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: I have been part of group programs before, but this by far has been the best one because of the amount of quality, because the amount and quality of content, guest speakers, resources and community engagement.
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: Rochelle is also fully in her purpose as a teacher of this content and you will grow and expand just by being in this container with her.
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: This course paid for itself in the first week.
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: This will be a course I will revisit for years, and the thing with Holistic Human Design Academy is the amount of material that is within this course is huge.
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: And not just that, but it also it is a lot to move through.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: Just the, the gene keys in itself right, the genius, the Venus and the prosperity sequence are pieces that you can spend months and even years on right, because it is about contemplation and it is a slow process.
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: And so we start with human design.
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: We start with astrology.
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: We start with the body, right, we start with these pieces of your holistic being, because it is deeper than just human design knowledge, right, I want to give you the human side, knowledge that you can understand energetically.
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: I want to give you the astrology knowledge that you can sort of see yourself and make it make sense and feel validated and have self awareness and all those things.
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: And also I want you to get in touch with your body and to understand what your body feels like, what it feels like when you have a yes and a no.
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: So even in situations like this with with Dr Sonia Chopra, right, when you're going into the dentist, you can physically, you know in your body what a yes and a no is, so you can empower yourself.
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: And then we move into energetics how to protect your energy, how to understand what's yours and what somebody else is right.
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: We go to attachment attachment theory, how you can understand how you relate in a motion ships, because the Venus sequence is all about relationships, right, and so that's a huge key factor in this we talk about.
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: I feel like I know I'm missing, missing so many things, but like it's just such huge topics and you have lifetime access to this course and it is, honestly, truly amazing.
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: So everything you need is down in the show notes.
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: It's on my website at rochellechristiancom, our OCHELE CHRISTIANE Instagram and TikTok are rochellechristian spelled the same way YouTube is.
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: At Emotional Mastery Podcast.
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: I try and get as many episodes up as I can on YouTube and I will definitely, you know, over the next few months, beginning um, more and more episodes on there, because I have years of episodes that I did not load before on YouTube.
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: But enjoy the episode.
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: Um.
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: Follow Dr Sonia Chopra on Instagram.
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: Her link is down in the show notes.
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: It is Sonia Chopra DDS on Instagram and all of the things, and I hope that you truly love and gain a lot of information out of this episode, just so that you know how to navigate the dead test.
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the Emotional Mastery Podcast.
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: Today I have Dr Sonia Chopra and Dodontis TEDx speaker author, and this is a little bit different of an episode, um, but I'm really really fascinated with the teeth.
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: Um, it's connected with our body, with our, you know, our mental health, our digestion, so I'm really hoping to like kind of dive into all of that, um, but I'll give you the floor and just let you introduce yourself, tell your story, anything you know, any sort of defining moments along the way that got you to where you're at now, and we can take it from there.
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: Yeah, thank you so much.
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: It's really an honor to be here and bring a different topic to the forefront.
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: It's not the sexiest topic to some people, but I find it very sexy.
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: Um, but yeah, I'm.
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: I'm Dr Sonia Chopra.
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: I am a board certified endodontist in Charlotte, north Carolina.
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: Um, I like to tell people that I was born to be a dentist because I was born about eight teeth.
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: So that's where my journey began.
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: And you know, really, um, I didn't have that understanding of how valuable my teeth were at such a young age.
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: And uh, you know, my hygiene wasn't the best.
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: I ate a lot of candy and a lot of bad things for my teeth and, uh, I, that kind of catapulted me into an era of getting some tooth aches and some tooth infections.
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: Um, my mom was really concerned about, um, getting my teeth restored because I was missing some permanent teeth, and so, before I went to college, she was like, I need to make sure that you have a full compliment of teeth.
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: So that started, you know, I started having weekly appointments.
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: Like, after I graduated high school, I started having weekly appointments for at the dentist to make sure I was ready to go to college.
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: And, um, soon after I started those appointments, I started to get some signs from my body that something wasn't right, and I couldn't really pinpoint it and I was very confused.
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: All I know is that I was getting signals of pain or some discomfort, and it was very vague and very general at first, and I would bring it up to my parents and then they would take me to the dentist and the dentist would say I don't see anything.
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: And then, as time went on, this was kind of like a nine month period, as time went on, that that sensation got worse, it became more painful and nothing could be seen on imaging.
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: Nothing could be seen when he looked in my mouth, and so it was very confusing, and so he kept on referring me to patient, to doctor after doctor.
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: Eventually I saw like seven to eight different types of physicians, including a neurologist, because it was such a diagnostic dilemma.
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: And then one day my body just swelled up and I had this massive abscess and finally the infection, kind of you know, showed its full face.
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: I was referred to an oral surgeon at that time to remove my tooth and was never given the option of of having a root canal at the time I was 17 at this time and the oral surgeon looked at my mom, who is also a physician, who didn't really understand what was going on from a dental perspective because she didn't ever have any of that education.
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: So she was just trying to get her baby out of pain and the oral surgeon took out my tooth, even though I could sense his hesitation at the time and I felt good in the moment because I was numb.
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: But then, when my anesthesia were off, I realized that I still had the same pain because the diagnosis was off.
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: They picked the wrong tooth, they took out a different tooth that was the culprit and I still had this massive infection and massive pain.
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: And then, finally, I was referred to an endodontist who really made me understand what my body was trying to tell me and walked me through all the steps of what had happened to my tooth and why I was feeling that way.
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: And through that whole process I really I started to not trust what my body was telling me.
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: And this man changed me and he was an endodontist and I was like wow, I couldn't believe his demeanor and I couldn't believe how he was able to explain everything to me and finally it all made sense and I looked up to him ever since.
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: So my family is very medical heavy.
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: So my mom's a physician, my brother's a physician, so medicine was always in my path.
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: But I knew that I was probably put on this planet for a different reason and I went down the dental path and while I was in college I knew that's where I was gonna go.
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: I got into dental school.
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: Then, while I was in dental school I realized that endo-endodontics is really the specialty for me because I had really lived it, and so I became an endodontist.
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: I started my own practice in Charlotte, north Carolina, and ever since I've just been trying to figure out how can I prevent my same tooth story from happening to other people.
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah, thank you.
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: It definitely sounds like you were destined to do what you're doing from your experiences, and I think a lot of times it is like we do go through our own pain and our own journey and that just kind of brings us to the path that we're supposed to be on, and you talk a lot about how your body was sending you these signals and it seems like a common theme where we feel things in our body and our body's telling us something, yet it's misdiagnosed or we just don't find the answers.
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: Then we kind of like abandon what we believe is ourselves and we just go through a life of whether it's medication or misdiagnosis.
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: So how did you trust that through that process, to continue to search for other than obviously feeling pain?
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: But was there any other sort of factor that had you keep looking?
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I was young and I couldn't even be my own advocate because I was under 18.
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: So it would be just explaining to my parents that, hey, I just don't feel good and I didn't really know how to explain it.
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: I was very frustrated and that's why just that confirmation that I was okay from that doctor, from that endodontist, was so important to me and had such an impact on my life to the point where that's where I wanted to go with my career, so important.
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: And I think having an awareness of, as a patient, like what is normal and what's not, I think is really important.
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: So for me, patient advocacy has become a big thing and it's become really important and part of the way that I practice, because you can get so many signs and signals from your mouth and kind of chalk it up like, oh, that was transient and that didn't stick around too long.
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: I'm just gonna ignore it.
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: But there's a lot of signs that our body tells us from the oral cavity that there is an issue.
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: Sometimes you can have some cold sensitivity or heat sensitivity that lingers.
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: Maybe you can have some biting sensitivity as well, or maybe a little swelling in the area.
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: Those are all things that probably shouldn't be ignored.
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: But most people don't really know that.
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: But your body is telling you these signs.
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: Sometimes you can have a problem and you don't even get the sign, but it's picked up on some imaging when you go to the dentist.
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: So there's a lot of ways that everyone can learn how to be a good advocate, and just not forget about the oral health too, because that's the gateway to our body.
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's what I was gonna ask if we can sort of like set that foundation of how important dental care is, because I've heard it's so linked to your heart and like so many different aspects of your body, so just like people know like how important it is.
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: And also because I think there is such a fear of going to the dentist like myself included, right Like I know when I walk in I'm like nervous, I'm shaking and I do too like I avoid it because I'm like there is that fear and it's like where does that come from?
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: How do we receive that message from being children?
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: Like I have no problem going to the doctor, but yet when it comes to the dentist, I'm like oh no, no, I don't wanna go.
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: I mean, and especially the root canal.
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: Being a root canal specialist, I like to change my name because I call myself a tooth saver or a tooth healer.
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: Because I tell people what I do, they're like, oh my gosh, you know, and.
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: But it's really, you know.
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: The movies just make it to be so bad, and maybe people have had a negative experience from the past.
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: But things have really shifted and so bringing that awareness to the public is really important to me too, because it doesn't have to be horrific, like when you have really good anesthesia and you get that tooth nice and sleepy.
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: Then you're gonna have an amazing appointment, and nowadays, with newer technology, I call it the modern day root canal.
• 21:16
  Speaker 2: It's actually a really pleasant experience.
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: Many of my patients fall asleep during the time that they're in the chair.
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: So things have shifted.
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: There's been a lot of growth in our industry, which has been amazing, and this doesn't have to be that fearful anymore.
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: So there's a lot of stories that we have to let go of and a lot of limiting beliefs about the dentist that you have to let go of and really learn to trust your provider all over again.
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: It's an easy one to wanna run away from and just ignore, but the more you ignore, the worse things get, and you don't wanna have to clean up stuff that is far too gone because I try to tell people like a lot of people can avoid seeing me I shouldn't be as busy as I am if people just really focused a lot more on prevention.
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: And what are things that we can do to prevent Like other than just like routine dental visits?
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: So that's critical, actually, cause if you can catch things early, if you do have a cavity and it is not that deep, then you can probably avoid me and get a simple filling, which is a lot more economical as well than getting a root canal which then also will need a crown afterwards.
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: So that's probably number one.
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: But again, number two is like listen to the signs that your body is telling you.
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: When you start to have cold sensitivity, that kind of lingers, that's a sign.
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: If you start to have heat sensitivity, that's not a great sign, cause that probably means you're past the point of no return.
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: Or if you have some biting tenderness and it's okay, I think, to be vocal and bring those sensations up to your dentist and to your provider and then maybe take a look to see if there's things that you can catch early.
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and as far as like just like the rest of our body, like functioning as a whole, like how important is dental health to that?
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: Well, we were born with teeth for a reason, and it wasn't to take them out.
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: And it's easy to say there's 32 of them.
• 23:26
  Speaker 2: If something happens to one of them, especially if it's in the back of the mouth, then you can just take it out.
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: I don't understand why people say that because, again, being born without eighth, I'm a little sensitive to the topic.
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: But we have 10 fingers.
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: If one gets infected, you're not going to chop it off.
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: So that's how I try to make that analogy to our teeth.
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: But our teeth allow us to get hydration and nutrition.
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: They bring us confidence.
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: We have our smile for them.
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: They're also very responsible for our airway.
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: So the way we sleep and the way we breathe, the way we eat, the way we drink, it's all related to our teeth.
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: And then the hygiene of them is so important because that's what helps us maintain our heart.
• 24:14
  Speaker 2: There's a lot of studies that show the correlation between periodontal disease and infections of the gum tissues and the heart.
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: So not just having our teeth, but really making sure that we're taking care of those shiny little temples in our mouths.
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: And when you said that with the tooth that you had removed, the difference between just like having a tooth removed versus like a root canal.
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: The root canal is actually going in and just like extracting everything in there, as opposed to just like.
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: So when they take out your tooth, they're just taking out the surface.
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: So when they remove the tooth they're taking out the crown that you see when you smile, that's the white part that you see, and then also the root that's embedded in the gum and the bone so that entire tooth comes out.
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: When you do a root canal you're actually preserving that and you're disinfecting the inside.
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: So most people need a root canal because bacteria got inside the tooth and now the area is infected, so your oral microbiome is kind of out of whack and now we go in, we heal it and we bring it back into a more natural homeostasis kind of environment.
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: So we disinfect it and we seal it, so we get the bugs out and then we seal them out and like that's where most of the shifts and the elevations have happened in our industry over the past decade, which has been miraculous.
• 25:36
  Speaker 2: So there's a lot of bad stuff that you can Google out there and saying root canals are toxic and they're not beneficial.
• 25:46
  Speaker 2: But a root canal done right and a root canal done with precision because it is a very technique, sensitive procedure you can actually not just save your tooth, but a lot of times the bone around that root will start to disappear and resorb and that's how you can see that on imaging You'll see like a big black shadow around the roots, and so you know that there's some bacterial component going on.
• 26:12
  Speaker 2: But when you eradicate that bacteria or at least you know, no one's going to say anything's 100% right.
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: You put your dishes in the dishwasher and you eat off of them and they're not 100% clean, but we're still going to eat off of them.
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: But in the tooth you want to decrease the bacterial load to the point where your immune system can take care of the rest, and what happens is when you seal out those bugs now, the bone will actually regenerate.
• 26:37
  Speaker 2: So you'll see that black shadow around the root which is missing bone.
• 26:40
  Speaker 2: Do the root canal and in a few months you have the superpower that you can just recreate all that bone and you reestablish all that back into health and function.
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: Okay, so that's the neatest thing about my job.
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so a root canal.
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: You don't have to pull the tooth for it.
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: No, it's saving the tooth, it's saving what mama gave you Okay, so you just assumed you had to just take everything out.
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: That's what a root canal was.
• 27:05
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so if you could, imagine a tooth and then it's got the roots.
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: That kind of extend from the base.
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: You can imagine.
• 27:12
  Speaker 2: Each root is like a Twinkie.
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: Okay, I'm basically going in and I'm taking out the cream of the Twinkie, because that cream is dirty, and then I'm going to replace it with a different filling material that's not contaminated and then I'm going to seal it up at the top.
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: Okay, and just because you use that analogy, would you say sugar is the worst thing for our teeth?
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: It's really not great.
• 27:37
  Speaker 2: But there's other things.
• 27:39
  Speaker 2: It's not just the sugar, but sometimes it's the frequency of the sugar.
• 27:43
  Speaker 2: So I say, if you are going to have something sweet, do it at the tail end of a meal instead of in between your meals, Because every time you introduce a carbohydrate or something sugary into your mouth, the pH in your mouth is going to drop, and so the amount of times that you drop that pH is also important.
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: So if you are going to have something sweet, have your dessert at the end of a meal when you've already dropped, because maybe you had some other carbohydrate and that pH has already dropped.
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: Then you can just tack it on at the end of that meal, as opposed to reintroducing something sugary that's going to drop the pH in between the meals.
• 28:21
  Speaker 2: So instead of that five times, you have three times of that drop.
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: The other important thing in your mouth is your saliva, because your saliva is that buffer.
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: So if you're on a medication that dries out your mouth and you don't have that saliva to buffer, that pH is going to keep dropping instead of staying at that more neutral 7.0 number that we want to prevent the decalcification of our enamel.
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: And I had a friend who was, I think, a dentist in the military, but she had told me that it's actually best but nobody tells you that but to brush your teeth once a day, and I don't know if that was accurate or something she had heard, but I guess her reasoning was that if you're brushing it twice a day you're constantly cleaning out everything, so then it's easier for stuff to get in.
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: I'm just curious if that was an actual factor.
• 29:16
  Speaker 2: I'm still going to go with twice a day.
• 29:19
  Speaker 2: Because the morning is probably the easiest for everybody to brush, because they don't really enjoy what they smell like in the morning, but nighttime is really, really important, and that is when our mouths get drier and that's when the bacteria can really come out and play.
• 29:37
  Speaker 2: So I think cleansing your mouth before you go to bed and actually flossing is nothing replaces flossing, in my opinion, not even a water pick, because there's that little point where the teeth touch that your brush can't go to, and so that little click that you hear during the floss, that's the important piece.
• 30:00
  Speaker 2: That contact area is where bacteria loves to hang out, and you got to break up those colonies.
• 30:05
  Speaker 2: In fact, as soon as you're done brushing your teeth, the bacteria likes to come back and with one hour it's recolonized your teeth.
• 30:13
  Speaker 2: So I would stick to the twice a day, yeah.
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: I do, I was just curious.
• 30:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah, no, but that's a great question that so many people probably want to know the answer to yeah.
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and I am almost ashamed to admit it, but it only started really putting flossing in my actual routine in the last few years.
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: I don't know why I avoided that for so long, but it's just yeah, and I've been like gosh.
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: I've been to the dentist.
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: Like I said, I have avoided it quite often, so I've been like a handful of times, I think since I was like 18.
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: But I don't know, for some I've only had like one cavity like in all that time, not gone wood.
• 30:52
  Speaker 2: So you're lucky, you have the good bacteria in your mouth then, because people are different, some people have karyogenic bacteria that's going to cause decay.
• 31:02
  Speaker 2: Other people have more bacteria that cause periodontal disease and they don't get any decay.
• 31:07
  Speaker 2: So it really depends on your flora that you were born with.
• 31:12
  Speaker 2: Everyone's going to be different, and so some people will be more susceptible to things and others will be more susceptible to other things, so it's really important to understand you right.
• 31:22
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: Well, and, like you said, like trusting your body and the messages that's sending you and the feelings that you're getting within that, because, as you were describing, like a few of the you know signs that your body sends you, or like what you can feel.
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: I've like in my head it was triggering.
• 31:37
  Speaker 2: I was like, oh, I felt that recently, so yeah, and I'm not trying to make you like super paranoid, like oh, every sensation you need to go see the dentist Because you know if you keep up with those every six month checkups that's going to be enough.
• 31:49
  Speaker 2: But usually when you're in root canal world where my patients come in to see me, my patients have pain to hot, cold and biting.
• 31:57
  Speaker 2: Those are the three main symptoms that I see for my patients.
• 32:02
  Speaker 2: So there's other things like sinus TMJ, just clenching and grinding that can also mimic tooth pain.
• 32:09
  Speaker 2: So sometimes it's not a root canal and I love it when I'm able to tell somebody that it's not a root canal.
• 32:16
  Speaker 2: But I go through some very specific tests and it's also that my interpretation of the tests that allow me to be able to make that diagnosis.
• 32:25
  Speaker 2: And for me, like diagnosis is key because of my own tooth story and so I'm very careful before I tell somebody that they have a diagnosis of needing a root canal.
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: And you talk about like TMJ and like clenching your jaw and stuff like how does that like impact your teeth?
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: I mean, you know, over time I would imagine it like grinding for sure, but how do we know when that's?
• 32:48
  Speaker 2: So a lot of times you know I can if somebody smiles at me or if I'm looking in their mouth, I can tell that they are grinding because the cusps of their teeth have gotten flat.
• 32:57
  Speaker 2: You can start to see somewhere and tear on the teeth.
• 33:01
  Speaker 2: And it's important that you don't let it go too far, because some people will need a night guard or something like that, because that clenching and grinding will induce cracks in the teeth.
• 33:12
  Speaker 2: And then that crack it's itty bitty, it's like a hairline crack becomes a doorway for bacteria to get in and then cause the nerve to die and then have those symptoms that now necessitate the patient to come to see me.
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: And how do you relieve, like anxiety patients with anxiety around it, I would imagine, like you get a bit of it.
• 33:36
  Speaker 2: Very anxious patients, but I'd like to say they're kind of like my forte, because I believe in educating my patient.
• 33:44
  Speaker 2: I want them to really understand everything.
• 33:47
  Speaker 2: I'm not the type of person that says, oh, you need a root canal, you have to come into my office and I'm going to start on you in two seconds.
• 33:53
  Speaker 2: I think that's like the wrong way to approach it, because people actually need the information to process.
• 34:01
  Speaker 2: That then decreases the anxiety.
• 34:05
  Speaker 2: It's better than Valium, even though I will give Valium if I need to.
• 34:09
  Speaker 2: If people are really that nervous, I'll always give Valium.
• 34:12
  Speaker 2: It does a really good job.
• 34:14
  Speaker 2: We also have a TV.
• 34:15
  Speaker 2: That's a great distraction.
• 34:17
  Speaker 2: While you're getting your root canal, you can catch up on your Netflix shows.
• 34:20
  Speaker 2: That's great.
• 34:21
  Speaker 2: I really feel so strongly about just giving that extra layer of education to the patient so that they can truly understand what's happening to their body, because I remember how much I appreciated it when I was given that information and it really does decrease that anxiety.
• 34:42
  Speaker 2: And being able to anticipate the procedure before, during and after for a patient, I think, is also really, really important.
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: So then, just know what to expect.
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and do you think that it's specifically your experience with that and understanding it that gives you that compassion with that?
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: Because I think sometimes you go to the dentist and it's just like it's so.
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: You're like almost descent, I would imagine, desensitized to it, because it's just like so routine for you.
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: Do you think that's what keeps you I?
• 35:13
  Speaker 2: definitely.
• 35:14
  Speaker 2: I definitely feel like it's given me a leg up.
• 35:16
  Speaker 2: I love being able to say that I have I've had that patient perspective and I do think it makes my patients feel a lot more comfortable.
• 35:25
  Speaker 2: They love reading about my story as crazy as it is, you know and they they feel connected to me when they read my bio.
• 35:33
  Speaker 2: They they feel not so embarrassed about their mouth because they're like, ok, she's been through it too.
• 35:40
  Speaker 2: Then they they feel more confident that I'm going to give them the right diagnosis as well.
• 35:46
  Speaker 2: So it's, being vulnerable and transparent about my own story has really helped me connect with my patients, which I think has been a beautiful thing.
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: Mm.
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: Hmm, yeah, you talk about being confident with your mouth and your teeth and everything, and I think my daughter has she's going to need some work on her teeth and just genetics, right, it's just sometimes that's how it is.
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: So how do you know, like, what route to go down when it comes to something like that?
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: You know, other than your own discomfort, you know and looking at your teeth, but I don't know if that's the question makes sense.
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: But like are you saying for you or your daughter, no, like for her for anyone in general that just has insecurities Around, like the way that their mouth looks.
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: It's like do what you know like should they get surgical procedures done.
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: Or you know like what is the sort of.
• 36:35
  Speaker 2: I mean, I it's really finding somebody you love and trust.
• 36:38
  Speaker 2: I mean, it's the same thing for, like my hairdresser to do, but I really need to find a provider that I love and trust.
• 36:45
  Speaker 2: That's why, again, I don't love it when people come and they expect me to do treatment on them right away.
• 36:51
  Speaker 2: I think it's really important for you to interview your provider.
• 36:55
  Speaker 2: You know it's it that first meeting is a time for me to make sure that that patient is right for me and that I'm right for that patient.
• 37:04
  Speaker 2: It's very, very important and I a lot of people don't really love having to do a consultation because their dentist referred them and then they've already made the diagnosis.
• 37:16
  Speaker 2: But I really want to orient the patient and I want to meet the patient and I want that patient to interview me to make sure I'm the right fit for them.
• 37:24
  Speaker 2: I think that's really, really important and being open and honest about what your concerns are and what your desired outcomes are, and then hopefully you find a match.
• 37:36
  Speaker 2: And it's OK if you don't, and it's OK to interview multiple providers before you settle on one.
• 37:41
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that's so important because a lot of times, we just don't Right.
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: And yeah, and I know I've been to you know the dentist before with my kids and it's like they'll see, like, what kind of insurance they have.
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: And then then it's like, oh, we need to do this, this, this just like fill every feels like it's just to get everything out of it that they can.
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: And then it builds like a distrust because it's like are you actually doing what is needed or is it just that you see what can be paid in that situation?
• 38:11
  Speaker 2: Sometimes it's like that, but I do feel like a lot of times the insurance dictates and that that's not healthy for anybody, and so I always recommend people really understanding their insurance because they think that they have to go to somebody who is on their insurance website.
• 38:26
  Speaker 2: But in dental that's not the case.
• 38:28
  Speaker 2: When you have a PPO plan, you can actually pick your own provider, which is beautiful, and then again do that interviewing process and really find somebody who who meshes with you and can and has the experience and can show you that they have that experience to provide you with the outcome that you're looking for.
• 38:42
  Speaker 2: I would not recommend anyone picking their provider because of their insurance.
• 38:45
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's people in a lot of trouble when somebody you like and connect with yeah, yeah, that makes sense and I think that's a good thing.
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: I really appreciate that you will like actually have conversations with the clients before just being like, all right, we're in, we're going to do this.
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's easy and that's actually what people want.
• 39:08
  Speaker 2: They want that Wham dam.
• 39:08
  Speaker 2: Thank you, ma'am, but I'm like no, no, no, that's also slow down.
• 39:10
  Speaker 2: Like I could probably get you in for treatment within 24 to 48 hours.
• 39:15
  Speaker 2: It's not like you have to wait months.
• 39:17
  Speaker 2: But I really love it when they know that you're going to be able to get in.
• 39:20
  Speaker 2: I really love it when they know everything about their treatment and they feel empowered about the whole process.
• 39:28
  Speaker 2: I think that's so important.
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: And so you talk about antibiotics too, like when do we know that we need that as opposed to something else, or we can use something else other than antibiotics?
• 39:44
  Speaker 2: I don't love antibiotics because they come with risk.
• 39:46
  Speaker 2: It's very easy to give it out like candy, but for me I really want to make sure that I have the right diagnosis.
• 39:54
  Speaker 2: Again, for me it always comes back to that and I think antibiotics can really mask what you're trying to find sometimes.
• 40:02
  Speaker 2: You know, if you have discomfort, sometimes it's better to let that discomfort fully surface as opposed to oh, I'm terrified that the pain is going to get worse and then take these antibiotics and then you don't really know where that pain source is coming from and you can't make the diagnosis to treat quickly.
• 40:20
  Speaker 2: So I tell people to be very weary about antibiotics.
• 40:24
  Speaker 2: A lot of times they don't help either.
• 40:27
  Speaker 2: So if you have a nerve in your tooth that's alive, the antibiotics not really going to do much Now, once the nerve has died, then it will be effective and then you know you can make the diagnosis and then give the medication.
• 40:41
  Speaker 2: But try to make the diagnosis first so that you know whether or not antibiotics is overkill or not, because it doesn't come without risk.
• 40:49
  Speaker 2: You could really mess up your gut.
• 40:52
  Speaker 2: You could have an overgrowth of a bad bacteria called C diff and then you're going to need more antibiotics to reverse that and that's just not fun.
• 41:03
  Speaker 2: So I like to be very cautious with antibiotics.
• 41:07
  Speaker 2: I think less is more sometimes and I prefer to actually give people the treatment that they need because the root canal is removing bacteria.
• 41:17
  Speaker 2: So it's the best antibiotic than the drugs.
• 41:21
  Speaker 2: And you have to do that anyway Because by the time you need a root canal, your only two options are root canal or extraction.
• 41:28
  Speaker 2: So let the root canal be the antibiotic.
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: And then how like?
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: So I mean I love that you mentioned, you know, the gut health, because that, to me, is why I'm always hesitant with antibiotics, and if I do have to take them, I try and make sure I have a probiotic and I'm like setting myself up, you know, because I think it is.
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: My daughter had chronic ear infections, but it was always the antibiotics and it got to a point where she became immune to it.
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: And then I got frustrated because I was like nobody is looking at what the actual issue is here.
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: They just continue to give her antibiotics, and so I appreciate that it's not just like here, take these and then we'll like revisit it, and because it does mask the issue, but how like linked to to your gut health then, is your teeth?
• 42:10
  Speaker 2: I mean it's, it's connected.
• 42:11
  Speaker 2: That's the next stop, right.
• 42:13
  Speaker 2: So, again, keeping that hygiene is really important.
• 42:17
  Speaker 2: But you can have a localized infection, right that is completely separate from your gut and that can be out of whack and it's really not going to.
• 42:25
  Speaker 2: You know you have enough high blood pressure, you know you have enough hydrochloric acid down there that it's really it's not going to make its way, it's not going to spread.
• 42:32
  Speaker 2: So just taking care of that localized infection and that acute phase is really important.
• 42:38
  Speaker 2: Again, I think the main way that you can disrupt the G is taking the antibiotic, but again, saving that antibiotic for the really bad infections where you're swollen and you have this big facial swelling and your body needs some assistance, and not giving it for the teeny tiny things.
• 42:55
  Speaker 2: But anytime I do give an antibiotic.
• 42:58
  Speaker 2: I'm glad you said it.
• 42:58
  Speaker 2: I always give it with a probiotic.
• 43:00
  Speaker 2: I never like people to take it without it and I always tell them to keep an eye on their stool too.
• 43:06
  Speaker 2: If you start to see that it becomes really frequent and really runny and you're to this feeling better, go ahead and discontinue that antibiotic because it probably did its job and if you take any more, it's probably going to continue to do that GI disturbance, which we don't want.
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: So when you say like a localized infection or anything like that, the solution for you or the diagnosis is then to go in with that root canal.
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: Is what's going to remove everything, correct?
• 43:35
  Speaker 2: And it is pretty independent.
• 43:36
  Speaker 2: Mm, hmm.
• 43:39
  Speaker 1: How do you, do you have any specific products that you recommend for dental care?
• 43:45
  Speaker 2: I'm just going to stick with the floss because I think it's just an underestimated, like it's the most economical little piece of string you'll ever find.
• 43:56
  Speaker 2: But yeah, you don't have to be crazy.
• 43:59
  Speaker 2: I love my Sonic hair toothbrush.
• 44:01
  Speaker 2: The Sonic action really helps kill the bacteria as well.
• 44:07
  Speaker 2: Finding is really simple and then finding that toothpaste that you really love.
• 44:13
  Speaker 2: I know that can be a little bit of a controversial issue.
• 44:17
  Speaker 2: I am in the camp that you probably do need a little fluoride, especially while the teeth are developing.
• 44:25
  Speaker 2: Otherwise, when we're children we have not the best hand dexterity and hygiene, and so I think as you get through a certain age a little bit of fluoride probably works.
• 44:37
  Speaker 2: But then kind of get rid of that.
• 44:41
  Speaker 2: And I'm only saying that from experience, because I was very anti-fluoride from my first child and then she had eight cavities and then I switched and she didn't get cavities.
• 44:54
  Speaker 1: So yeah, that's interesting.
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: I rotate my kids between like I buy no fluoride for myself and so then I try and get that for them, but then if I run out, I always have a backup of something that I just like a regular, and so they'll kind of like rotate tubes in that way.
• 45:11
  Speaker 2: So it's good to know, it's interesting, I know a lot, yeah, in the beginning of our life and towards the end of our lives.
• 45:17
  Speaker 2: So we don't want to forget about our elderly population as well.
• 45:21
  Speaker 2: When their manual dexterity gets limited as well, you may have and they're also probably on medications that drag the mouth out you're going to have to change your oral hygiene as we get older.
• 45:33
  Speaker 2: You may have to add the fluoride back, otherwise you start to get root decay and stuff like that.
• 45:39
  Speaker 2: And if it's harder for them, because due to arthritis, to really clean their mouth, you're going to have to make changes.
• 45:47
  Speaker 1: And what specifically does fluoride do for our teeth?
• 45:51
  Speaker 2: It.
• 45:51
  Speaker 2: Just it will remineralize the enamel.
• 45:54
  Speaker 2: So if you have like a small cavity, you can actually reverse some of these things.
• 46:00
  Speaker 2: If they're small, they're too far gone.
• 46:01
  Speaker 2: That's a different story, but really it's a prevention of decay.
• 46:09
  Speaker 1: Okay, Interesting, yeah, and then how can we you know because I think a lot of people hear like root canal and dentist, and it's just like dollar signs, right.
• 46:17
  Speaker 1: So it's like I'm glad you brought that up how can we like deal with that or know sort of like with the insurance, right, Like how do we know, you know what we need to pay for or if there's any tips you have around that?
• 46:31
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 46:32
  Speaker 2: So again, going in finding things when they're early and focusing on the prevention and making it a top priority is going to be the cheapest way.
• 46:40
  Speaker 2: The more you skip the appointments and you're like, oh, I'll get to that, then things have the opportunity to accumulate and they get more expensive.
• 46:50
  Speaker 2: So paying for a cleaning and paying for a filling is a lot more economical than paying for a root canal which then also needs a crown.
• 46:59
  Speaker 2: That's pretty expensive.
• 47:01
  Speaker 2: But also, make sure you have a rainy day fund, because you never know when you're going to have trauma to a tooth or crack your tooth, because that can happen out of nowhere.
• 47:14
  Speaker 2: And dental insurance is like a coupon, it's not like medical insurance.
• 47:18
  Speaker 2: So again, changing that mindset around what it's actually going to cover, because dentistry has gotten a little bit more expensive, that's for certain.
• 47:29
  Speaker 2: But the insurance premiums have not improved, which is sad.
• 47:35
  Speaker 2: They're actually going down.
• 47:37
  Speaker 2: The coverage is going down with time and it makes us dentists look bad.
• 47:41
  Speaker 2: But all the supplies dental school is now close to $70,000 a year.
• 47:49
  Speaker 2: That's just a lot.
• 47:50
  Speaker 2: So we're not saying you're paying for our tuition, but the cost of supplies and overhead and running with the dental practice is a lot.
• 48:03
  Speaker 2: But really keeping a little cushion that can help support the dental insurance, because it'll pay for one tooth, one major tooth service a year, and then if you just treat one tooth a year, that's another opportunity for things to accumulate in your mouth, and you just don't want to do that.
• 48:20
  Speaker 2: So the strongest thing you can do anyone can do is focus on prevention.
• 48:24
  Speaker 2: That way, you never have to meet me, which is great.
• 48:26
  Speaker 2: But if you do, I say do your research, know that there are even specialists that can do work.
• 48:37
  Speaker 2: Unfortunately, 50% of my practice is redoing root canals, and so having an awareness that there are specialists that do root canals or specialists that do implants, and just having that awareness that maybe that's where you want to invest your money and making good decisions for yourself.
• 48:56
  Speaker 2: There's a lot to learn, and that's why I want to have a voice about it, because I think people deserve to have this knowledge.
• 49:03
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and it is really confusing, especially with dental insurance.
• 49:06
  Speaker 1: I never really fully understood it and what you just said makes a lot of sense, that it's more of a coupon than an actual.
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: Why is that?
• 49:13
  Speaker 1: Why is it that we have full medical coverage but, yeah, when it comes to dental coverage, it's so minimal?
• 49:18
  Speaker 1: I wish I knew the answer to that.
• 49:20
  Speaker 1: I really do.
• 49:23
  Speaker 2: If you ask most dentists, they probably don't have the most positive things to say about dental insurance companies.
• 49:29
  Speaker 2: It's really limiting what they'll do.
• 49:33
  Speaker 2: There's a lot of procedures that they don't even cover as well, and now there's waiting periods so you have to pay for your premium and then you can't even use it on a major service.
• 49:44
  Speaker 2: So there's a lot of things that people need to know about dental insurance that just aren't in their best interest, and sometimes it's a lot cheaper to just pay it out of pocket.
• 49:57
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it just seems really frustrating for something that is so crucial to your overall health.
• 50:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and not having dental insurance actually prevents people from doing that preventative step which could really help them.
• 50:12
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 50:12
  Speaker 1: And then a question so you have your e-school, yeah, so what is it that you teach dentists through the school?
• 50:23
  Speaker 2: So I teach dentists how to elevate their root canal game.
• 50:28
  Speaker 2: So a little nugget about dental school it's four years, but there's so much to learn in dentistry.
• 50:36
  Speaker 2: There's so many different specialties in dentistry, just like in medicine.
• 50:42
  Speaker 2: You don't go to a dermatologist for your heart problems.
• 50:47
  Speaker 2: Same thing in dentistry.
• 50:50
  Speaker 2: But people kind of expect your dentist to be like a one-stop shop and you want your dentist to be a jack of all trades.
• 50:56
  Speaker 2: But sometimes that's not in the best interest of anybody.
• 51:00
  Speaker 2: But in dental school we have so much to learn only four years to do it and really we get minimal experience on root canal therapy.
• 51:13
  Speaker 2: Nowadays people have to do maybe two to three root canals to graduate from dental school and then you're allowed to do it, and I think most dentists would say they just don't get enough exposure to the procedure and they need more experience with it.
• 51:31
  Speaker 2: So I created an online endodontic education platform to help dentists feel like they had some place to go, because they really didn't feel like they had any resources.
• 51:42
  Speaker 2: So I teach that on the side of working in my busy practice.
• 51:47
  Speaker 2: I really love it and I love the impact that it's having on these dentists and how much they're learning and how many teeth that they realize they can actually save instead of dooming for extraction.
• 51:59
  Speaker 2: So it's been a really neat journey that I've been going through for the past few years.
• 52:04
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I love that I had two to three before they graduate.
• 52:08
  Speaker 1: That seems like I mean even like looking at coaching, if I had two to three clients and expected to be able to?
• 52:14
  Speaker 2: If somebody had only delivered two babies and then delivered yours, how?
• 52:18
  Speaker 2: Would that make you feel that's tough, and it's not the dentist's fault and it's not even the dental school's fault.
• 52:29
  Speaker 2: Everyone's doing the best that they can, but more experience is definitely needed.
• 52:34
  Speaker 2: More education around the topic is really needed, and that's just going to help the patients right.
• 52:40
  Speaker 2: That's the ultimate goal is to make sure the patients are taken care of.
• 52:47
  Speaker 1: Is there anything else that you want people to know about any of this?
• 52:51
  Speaker 1: It really is fascinating and, like I said, it's something that I think so many of us just don't know about.
• 52:57
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean really, the root canal game has really changed.
• 53:02
  Speaker 2: It's nothing to be feared when you are numbed well, you can have the most amazing appointment.
• 53:10
  Speaker 2: People get up.
• 53:11
  Speaker 2: They're like, oh my gosh, that was way better than I thought it was going to be.
• 53:14
  Speaker 2: That's the message that I want to spread, and there's newer ways to go about the whole procedure.
• 53:20
  Speaker 2: Just reading some of those fearful websites and stuff, it really doesn't have to be that way.
• 53:29
  Speaker 2: When you can witness your own superpowers of regenerating your own bone from a big infection, it is probably one of the neatest things ever.
• 53:40
  Speaker 2: It's like I remember watching the octopus teacher movie that documentary and the octopus got his tentacle bitten off by the shark and then re-grew the tentacle.
• 53:53
  Speaker 2: We have the same superpower and I think that's just such a beautiful thing.
• 53:57
  Speaker 2: I believe that we just need to keep raising awareness that we need to save these little pearly whites in our little mouth.
• 54:07
  Speaker 2: I love that.
• 54:08
  Speaker 1: I have one question that is not related.
• 54:10
  Speaker 1: It sort of is.
• 54:11
  Speaker 1: But are you familiar with your astrology chart at all?
• 54:15
  Speaker 2: A little bit.
• 54:16
  Speaker 2: Actually, I just did it last summer.
• 54:21
  Speaker 2: I probably know my enneagram more than anything because I'm an enneagram eight.
• 54:28
  Speaker 2: What's the one at the human design where 80% of people are?
• 54:34
  Speaker 1: Generators.
• 54:35
  Speaker 1: I'm a generator.
• 54:37
  Speaker 2: I don't know, all my special things like you're 6'3".
• 54:40
  Speaker 1: I don't know that.
• 54:41
  Speaker 1: I was curious.
• 54:42
  Speaker 1: Do you have any Aries energy?
• 54:49
  Speaker 2: I'm 100% a Sagittarius, so I don't know.
• 54:53
  Speaker 1: Everything sun, moon and rising, I don't know all those specifics which I'm dying to know.
• 54:58
  Speaker 2: I don't know all the specifics.
• 55:00
  Speaker 2: That's interesting because Aries rules the teeth.
• 55:02
  Speaker 1: I was wondering if you had it in your moon.
• 55:04
  Speaker 1: You're rising, you're 6' house, which is health.
• 55:08
  Speaker 2: I have this.
• 55:09
  Speaker 2: My friend is actually doing a reading of me on the 3rd of March.
• 55:13
  Speaker 2: If I get this information, I'm going to email you.
• 55:16
  Speaker 2: Definitely, let me know.
• 55:19
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much.
• 55:20
  Speaker 1: Thank you for sharing everything with everyone.
• 55:22
  Speaker 1: If you want to let them know where they can find you anything else, I'll have it linked in the show notes as well.
• 55:29
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so I have a website at SonyaTroporDDS that's Sonya with an I sonyatroperddscom.
• 55:34
  Speaker 2: You can also find me at Instagram at SonyaTroporDDS All the same thing.
• 55:42
  Speaker 1: Well, thank you so much.
• 55:44
  Speaker 2: Thank you.