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Episode #99: The Mouth: Gateway to Systemic Disease? · Beyond Labels Premium

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Really, the the mouth is the perfect mirror and reflector of somebody's internal health.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm peering inside of this unique window.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: Oftentimes, without getting any type of microbiome testing, I can tell if people have microbiome imbalances.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: I can tell if people have micronutrient deficiencies based off of the uh the texture of their tongue.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: Traditional Chinese medicine has actually uh utilized these types of practices.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_03: Hi everybody, I'm Joel Salatin with my uh favorite co-host, Dr.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_03: Cena McCullough.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah, that's right.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_03: It's like a it's like a guy got one daughter.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_03: I always told Rachel, so you're my favorite daughter.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_03: Welcome to another podcast of Beyond Labels.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_03: We have a real treat today, and it's personally a joy for me to uh introduce you to my uh functional dentist.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_03: What in the world is functional dentistry?
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_03: And uh and so we're gonna explore that a little bit.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_03: Dr.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_03: Jesse Myers is a young up-and-coming dentist in our area here in uh Stanton, Virginia.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_03: Sorry for those of you who don't live here, you can't uh, you know, it's a little bit difficult maybe to get to him, but we want to explore this world of functional dentistry.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_03: And let me just tell you a little story here.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_03: The last time I was in, I went in there, and he takes a little light and he shines it in my mouth on my tongue, and he says, Wow, your microbiome is really good.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_03: Now, all of you listening to this, you know that I drink out of the stock tank uh as part of my, you know, keeping my microbiome uh completely healthy and diversified.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_03: And so uh so so yeah, this intrigued me.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_03: You know, you can you can you can look at the light on my tongue with this special device and tell me if my microbiome is healthy.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_03: That's pretty cool.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_03: So those and other things are the kind of world that this uh young, enjoyable uh dentist lives in.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_03: And so uh Dr.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_03: Jesse Myers, uh, welcome to the Beyond Labels Podcast and thank you for being with us.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: Uh thank you guys.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: I am really excited to share conversation with you all.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and uh just uh a little um kind of bringing it home for me is uh I actually uh stepped onto Joel's farm when I was in middle school.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I was going through uh kind of a challenging time in the public school system and ended up uh being homeschooled by my mom.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: She recognized that I needed a little bit more attention during that time of growth and development for me.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: And uh and then uh kind of through the homeschooling community here in Stanton, um, Joel, you had brought on the homeschooling co-op at the time to uh kind of have uh like meals and learn about regenerative farming.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: And it it just changed my my mom's worldview.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: And since that time, my mom has been chattering in my ear everything about uh like permaculture, uh regenerative farming, and it's uh really kind of fostered how I think as a doctor, and uh and really during that time frame, um my my intellect was uh really set behind.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't have very good uh reading skills at the time.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: I was like three uh grades behind my my current class when I was in public school.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: And so that period of time was really crucial for for my development and uh and for critical thinking.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_03: And and did you did you eventually catch up?
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: Uh yeah, absolutely.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: And uh it's uh at this point, I am such a nerd.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: That's scientific literature.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that's great.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_03: Uh it's a great story.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_03: So so um uh introduce us a little bit to to functional dentistry.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_03: Uh many of our listeners will have heard of functional medicine.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_03: We've you know, we've we've had functional medicine people on before.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_03: It's more eclectic, uh whatever, uh a different field, but uh, but uh introduce us here to functional dentistry and maybe even your own journey.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, uh were you trained in this?
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_03: Did you did you come out of the system?
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_03: How did how does that how does that work?
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: Well, uh let me see if I can uh start from the perspective of functional medicine.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: So functional medicine is root cause medicine, trying to uh address symptoms, but also try to get to the cause of chronic diseases or why somebody is coming in to uh see you as a doctor.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and so for me, it's uh functional dentistry is the application of functional medicine into contemporary dentistry.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um so I tell people that I practice whole body dentistry.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: So I uh the thing that I love about functional medicine is that it really is a blend of the best aspects of medicine.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: So we take the scientific rigor of Western medicine and take the best aspects of uh traditional practices like Ayurvedic medicine or uh traditional Chinese medicine and apply that scientific rigor uh to get the whole picture of medicine.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: So it uh for me, I just kind of recognize that um, you know, as the the world is continuing to go forward in the future, there's always new problems that are arising, and we have to be able to adapt to the uh those problems.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: And uh especially in medicine, uh, we're seeing that uh there is just a lack of uh a lot of transparency that um westernized medicine has practiced.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: But now that the scientific research is starting to catch up to a lot of holistic practices, uh it's really time to integrate those things that we see uh repeatedly in the research to be able to practice the best type of medicine.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so that's uh that's the the way that I like to practice.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so uh it's uh I term it functional dentistry.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_03: Sure.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_03: So so you you've made a point of telling me uh the importance or how you see the mouth, the mouth as the what the the the entry gate to the rest of us and what you can see in the mouth.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_03: Could you could you kind of tell from your perspective, what are some of the things you see in a mouth or you're looking for in a mouth?
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's a it's a really unique opportunity for me to be able to intervene on somebody's life.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um one, I see patients more than their primary care physicians a lot of times.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but uh really the the mouth is the perfect mirror and reflector of somebody's internal health.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm peering inside of this um this unique window.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I oftentimes without getting any type of microbiome testing, I can tell if people have microbiome imbalances.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um I can tell if people have micronutrient deficiencies based off of the uh the texture of their tongue.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: And uh in uh traditional Chinese medicine has actually uh utilized um these types of practices in uh they're physicians, not dentists.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_03: Um so yeah, I'm I must I must confess that um that that Cena and I have been uh we're certainly friends with people that are uh gurus in the microbiome field, uh even you know, using uh fecal samples.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_03: And I must confess that having you look in my mouth and tell me my microbiome is good or bad sure seems a lot more fun than than uh taking a fecal sample.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um well, kind of jumping off of that, something that I am really excited to be offering to my patients is um is microbiome testing with salivary samples.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: So all the recent research that's coming out is uh showing how um the microbiome of the mouth can seed inflammation in the gut and everywhere else throughout the body uh prior to um any type of other uh gastrointestinal issues will occur.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um so this this company I'm working with, uh they have the ability to sequence all of the microbiome uh from from saliva samples, and uh they have a unique story where we find uh bacteria that's in high abundance in something called gum diseases or periodontal disease, which is like red, bleeding, swollen gums.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: Uh teeth can become loose and bone will get destroyed in periodontal disease.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and so this one patient that had uh gotten this microbiome testing had a high abundance of this bacteria called fusobacterium nucleatum.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: And the research is showing that fusobacterium nucleatum is causal for gastrointestinal cancer.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: This person had no idea that they had gastrointestinal cancer, went to see their gastroenterologist after this microbiome testing and had three adenomas removed from her colon.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: So we can we can truly see a lot of things uh just from gaining access into um again, it's uh it's somebody's internal health.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_03: Wow.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_03: Uh Cena, you jump in here.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_03: Uh uh the the and I know I know you've got burning questions here.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, well, this topic resonates really deeply with me.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_02: I'm all about functional medicine, functional dentistry.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_02: Um I think that oral health is one of the most largely overlooked areas of health.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_02: So when you know, you listen to podcasts, when you go to health summits and you're trying to learn how to achieve optimal health and wellness or how to reverse the disease, usually they're not talking a lot about oral health.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_02: They may touch on it a little bit, but it's often this overlooked thing.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_02: And like you said, um, in the research, there are numerous chronic and autoimmune conditions that have now been associated with imbalances in the mouth and in the tongue, like diabetes, heart disease, osteoporosis, stroke, even adverse pregnancy outcomes.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_02: You know, all of these are all associated.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I wondered if you can go ahead and explain for someone who's new to this, how those can be associated.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and and I'm gonna throw in one example that I thought was a really cool one from the literature.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_02: They're talking about root canals and how root canals um can actually lead to issues with the heart.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_02: So they can, there's like an autoimmune disease of the heart.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_02: And in this patient, once the root canal was removed, the symptoms improved.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_02: And like in the root canals that's all have also been connected with cancers, for instance.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_02: In fact, I learned that some cancer treatment facilities won't even treat you until root canals have been removed.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_02: Like that's how significant the oral health is.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_02: So can you just you know speak on that?
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_02: Like, why is it that the oral health can lead to these diseases?
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_02: Why is it that it's so important for us to you know take the initiative and really be proactive in boosting our oral, our oral health?
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, uh and I'm glad that you guys are allowing me to speak about this because truly um whole body health uh really can't be attained without good dental health.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: And um it it really is the the the missing picture in in health and wellness is talking about this this topic.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: And uh you did a great job of kind of linking all of these systemic chronic diseases that have connections to the mouth.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and one of them uh is actually Alzheimer's disease.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: We we see that uh Alzheimer's disease is actually caused by oral bacteria that we find in high abundance and gum diseases.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: And all of these systemic connections really are mediated by microbiome dysbiosis in the mouth or an imbalance in the oral microbiome.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so uh kind of touching on um the the root canal issue, uh that that's quite a progressive cancer uh facility if they are suggesting that patients try to remove any sources of inflammation in the mouth.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_03: Um so some Cena knows all the cutting edge places.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_03: She's she's uh she's she's all about the unador un unorthodox and the and the lunatic fringe.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_03: So uh so I I'm not surprised that Cena knows where the lunatic fringe is.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_03: Sorry about interrupting.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_03: I I I've got to keep this thing light.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_03: See, I'm I'm the guy that keeps it light, okay?
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: So well, you might have to get me connected uh to some of those uh practitioners, but um but with root canals, a lot of times you'll um you won't get a fully cleaned and sterilized environment inside of the tooth.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: And uh fastidious bacteria that uh survive in anaerobic conditions or conditions that have low oxygen, uh, they induce endotoxemia uh due to this outer membrane that they have called lipopolysaccharide.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: And lipopolysaccharide, just the presence of it in the blood or lymphatic system, will elicit a hypersensitive reaction by the immune system.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: And so that that's how some of those links that you were discussing about are connected.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and so if there is an infection with uh reinfection with the root canal, that infection doesn't really have anywhere else to go.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_00: Uh sometimes it will end up draining out through the side of uh the gums, um, but oftentimes it can uh just get uh encapsulated in the abscess at the ends of the roots and um just continually reduce uh uh induce endotoxemio.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_03: So well, so so um, you know, when you what are uh tell us some of the things that you're seeing?
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_03: And I I what when you shine that you you'll have the fancy name for the light that you signed on my tongue.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_03: Uh and I asked you if you remember, I said, Well, um what do you see in normal people?
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, you know, I see all sorts of things.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_03: Could could you could you tell us a little bit of that?
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_03: Uh what what you see and what you see in people.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_00: So that that light that I use, it's uh uh fluorescent lighting.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_00: So it helps me out with oral cancer screening.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: So any healthy cells will give off fluorescence when it's uh shined with fluorescent lighting.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_00: So I use uh ultraviolet light initially, and any type of microbiome dysbiosis that is pretty heavy will see a heavy coating of the tongue, and it's a very thick uh coating or film, and it lights up orange uh with this ultraviolet light.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: And uh through microbiome testing, I've confirmed that that is candida overgrowth or at least a heavy fungal overgrowth for those people, and uh that's pretty consistent.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_00: Any type of uh gastrointestinal issues that we see um will have some fungal overgrowth with that.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_00: So I I see that all the time, and uh a lot of people don't realize this, but tooth decay is microbiome dysbiosis, along with the bleeding, swollen gums that I've referenced earlier.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um so I I can tell uh the systemic health just visually uh off of looking inside of the mouth.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um uh something I've been recognizing recently, and I'm learning more about it as I'm becoming more skilled as a clinician, is seeing uh micronutrient deficiencies in uh heme iron, uh the B vitamins, zinc, things like that.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um and it's uh particularly uh more prevalent in women.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and and this makes sense to me because women are naturally going through these uh these monthly rhythms of uh of losing all these micronutrients.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_00: And so I I can tell if somebody is on like a um vegan diet or vegetarian diet, or if they're having um these these micronutrient deficiencies just by looking at the tongue.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_02: Can you give us a quick example of like one of the micronutrient deficiencies?
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_02: What would that look like?
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_02: Like what are you looking for on the tongue to see like if somebody is deficient in like iron, for instance?
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, well, uh so a lot of times candida overgrowth or fungal overgrowth uh really thrives in these micronutrient deficient uh type of conditions, uh, but also we'll we'll see um a lot of glossitis.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_00: So that's basically inflammation of the tongue.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_00: So uh sometimes some patients will have some uh symptoms like uh burning burning tongue or burning mouth syndrome, as we call it.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_00: And uh sometimes we'll see that there's these uh really inflamed uh red papules on the tongue.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_00: So those are those are some things that that you can see.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_00: Uh there's there's also things that kind of look like psoriasis on the tongue, and those are um potentially linked to micronutrient deficiencies and B vitamins.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, there's a a whole range of glossitis uh and they've they've done studies where they've confirmed that there are uh uh antibodies against uh against cells on your tongue and linked to micronutrient deficiencies.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_02: So in the clients that you're seeing on a daily basis, are most of them healthy or are you seeing most of them having some kind of ailment like a dysbiosis or a micronutrient deficiency and an inflammation that's visible?
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_02: Which one is it?
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: It kind of just varies on the day.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_00: Uh some days I I am seeing some uh very immunocompromised patients.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um sometimes I'm seeing uh a lot of people that are uh very healthy and have healthy mouths.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it just depends.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I I I've come to conclude this over uh practicing here in Stanton for the last year and five months.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um there's a lot of people that have diagnosed like type 2 diabetes, heart diseases, um, or heart disease in the past, and they do not have as significant of an experience with those chronic diseases because they're regularly coming in for cleanings.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um so uh they might not have like true metabolic health, but uh they're way better off than people who aren't coming in regularly for cleanings.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_03: You're you're saying that the the the cleaning helps to helps to reduce the the flow of, and I'm obviously I'm I'm a layman here, so it helps to reduce the flow of the bacteria and the things that are in the mouth uh that that create these this toxicity.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and uh you had asked me a question earlier, uh so I'll uh answer both of them.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_00: If if you think about this, uh we're producing a liter of saliva every single day.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're cultivating a microbiome that's out of balance right here in the mouth, you're constantly swallowing that.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_00: And uh people with bleeding gums, they uh it's basically I call it leaky gum syndrome instead of leaky gut syndrome.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you're basically allowing microbes to get straight line access into the blood so they can wreak havoc throughout the body that way, or you're swallowing it and it's going into the uh The GI system and initiating inflammation that way.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, we have all these uh lymphatic vessels throughout the mouth and um and around these locations, and so they can get straight line access into the lymphatic system as well.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_02: So if somebody's going to a it decides they want to switch from a conventional dentist and start seeing a functional dentist, is the main difference gonna be how you're diagnosing, like your diagnostic skills, and that you're able to diagnose the whole body in a sense, like a holistic approach.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_02: So is the difference mainly diagnostic, or is it also the way that you would then proceed to treat somebody?
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_00: I I would say it's all encompassing.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, really, I'm I'm always trying to keep the whole body in perspective whenever I'm treating somebody.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I I'm always trying to assess what people's motivations are.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_00: Some people don't have um the mindset to want to do complete change.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_00: And so I have to work with people where they're at.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but it it's diagnostics, it's material choices that I'm using to be able to restore somebody to to health or restoring their smile.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um it's uh you know me walking through lifestyle and nutrition with people.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um and a lot of people uh who are healthy and are using a toothbrush and floss, um, sometimes you just have to walk with them a little bit to show them how to actually uh use the tools properly.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_02: So you mean to use the toothbrush properly?
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_00: Well, is that enough?
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_02: You mean you have to walk them through how to use the toothbrush properly?
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yeah.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_02: You want to share with us how to properly use it?
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_02: Like now you're like, maybe I'm not properly brushing.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so I I use this analogy a lot.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_00: So if you think about using a toothbrush to brush a tomato skin, if you are pushing too much pressure on that tomato skin, or if you're sawing back and forth combination of both, you're gonna puncture that tomato skin.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_00: And so if you keep that thought in mind, you want to do really small circles, just um just light pressure, uh, even using like soft bristles to uh make sure that you're not going to cause damage to uh either the enamel of the tooth or to the gums that are in that area.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_00: So a lot of uh gum recession, a lot of uh little notches that can be formed uh around the gums and on the tooth are due to improper um toothbrush etiquette.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_02: Well, so do you recommend to not brush the gums?
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_00: I I usually tell people to stay off of the gums.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um you you really don't need to be on the gums at all.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um just allowing bristles to maybe dip into the little pocket that is the the gums and the tooth, it's called the sulcus.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_00: So maybe you want to get your bristles like right in that sulcus a little bit, but um I don't think that it's necessary to get one to the gums.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um that's that's where flossing or uh water flossers, which I'm a big fan of, um, can do.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, the water pick.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, water pick.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I love the water pick.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_02: Um now what do you think?
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_02: And I'll then I'll hand it back over to Joel.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so I'm a big fan of oil pulling, you know, and I I use the coconut oil and I put some essential oils in it, depending on what my body's asking for at that time.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_02: What are your thoughts on oil pooling?
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_02: And do you ever recommend that to any of your patients?
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I have recommended it to some people.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_00: It's very select.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um there's uh there are pretty good studies that show that coconut oil is effective and it's and it's a cheap option, but a lot of people aren't doing it for as long as it should be done to be effective.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_00: You really want to be doing it for like 10 to 20 minutes.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so for me, I uh that's that's too much for me and it's a little too messy, uh, especially with uh spitting it out.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of people will spit it into the sink and it can clog your sinks.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um so I I think that the benefit, at least for me and a lot of people, I don't think that it's really that um as helpful as some people would like it to be.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but it can really help out with people that have um candida overgrowth, because there's uh a chemical called capric acid, and capric acid has antifungal properties.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_00: So I have recommended it in those cases, but um, I think that there are more effective things than uh coconut oil pulling.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_00: But that goes to say is um if it's something that you know you've seen a good provider and there aren't any uh health issues that you see, I think it can be a really good option for people.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we used it.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_02: Um my husband had gum disease and uh bad, you know, gums were bleeding and whatnot.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_02: And I created a protocol for him, and because the dentist wanted him to, even though she was a functional dentist, she wanted him to use this mouthwash with like an antifungal and antibacterial in it.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_02: And I said no.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_02: So we created a protocol for him, and we used the oil pulling, and we we alternated, you know, like whatever his body wanted.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_02: Sometimes we put the oregano essential oil in it, um, you know, to boost the the ability of it to help rebalance the microbiome.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_02: Um and but I think it worked because, like you're saying, he followed the protocol.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_02: Like I would have to put it in put it in his mouth, like kind of take his tongue and paint it on the teeth, and hold it in there while he was taking a shower.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, so he had to hold it for a long time.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_02: And then and then of course you spit it into the garbage because it's a double at room temperature, like you said, it can close the the drain.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_02: But it it revered, you know, we did that in love with diet changes, but it reversed the gum disease.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_02: But it it's like you're saying though, it's not for everybody because it is um kind of a taxing protocol.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_02: It was like twice a day a day, and he had to keep it in there for you know long enough, but it prevented him from having to take the you know the medication.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_02: So you said other things could be more effective.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_02: What thing, and I'm assuming you're meaning in rebalancing the microbiome in in the mouth.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_02: So, what things in your experience do you think would be more effective?
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, less taxing on a on a patient?
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, something that is very accessible to everybody, not even people that have like a functional mindset, is saltwater rinses.
• 29:26
  unknown: Yes.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_00: So uh, and I'm particular, I really like Redmond Real Salt.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_01: That's what I use.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, great.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um, yeah, uh salt water rinses have actually been um, they've been practiced for thousands of years.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um, there's actually uh a lot of Ayurveda practices that will use salt water rinses to either like cleanse the nostrils before they're doing spiritual practices.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um but uh at least for some of the new research that's coming out with salt water rinses, it's uh just as effective as the gold standard in dentistry, which is using this uh broad spectrum antibiotic called chlorhexidine.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um so I I think that salt water rinses are a really good option for a lot of people because it really doesn't cost that much, and you don't have to do it for 10 to 20 minutes.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um but that all that goes to say is uh coconut oil pulling has been used in Ayurveda for quite some time and and it can be can be effective.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um so that that's one thing that I know for sure, but I'm I'm always playing around with all these new therapeutics.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um so definitely diet, as you had touched on.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_00: Uh new eating a nutrient-dense diet is one of the most important things for being able to rebalance uh the microbiome and keep the microbiome uh in check to be able to have a symbiotic relationship with us.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um and uh I'm a big fan of traditional dentistry when it comes to uh toothbrushing and and flossing.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um so uh another big one that I'm a fan of is tongue scraping.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if anybody's heard of tongue scraping before.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um and I've actually just started using this myself over the last year, and it's been a game changer.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so I'm I'm recommending that to patients a lot now.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_02: And for anybody listening, you can buy a tongue scraper.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_02: You know, like I bought one on Amazon and I just scrape my tongue every time I brush my teeth.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_02: Is that what you do too?
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_02: Every time you brush your teeth, you'll scrape your tongue.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I had started out doing it once a day, and now I'm like, I gotta do it twice a day.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_00: And uh and it really helps with bad breath, which is uh bad breath is another sign of microbiome dysbiosis.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_03: So where do you uh so how how many functional dentists are there?
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, we've got people listening uh all over, and I guarantee you some of them are gonna say, Wow, I've got to go find a functional dentist.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_03: Uh is there a trade organization?
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_03: Is it how I mean how do you how do you find how do you find you?
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so uh I am a part of a functional dentistry directory, and the website is askedhedentist.com.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_00: It is a website curated by Dr.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_00: Mark Brehenna, and that is the the best location to find people who are practicing uh similar to how I do.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um you can uh I mean how many how how many of you are there?
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, are we talking about a hundred, a thousand?
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, uh are how many?
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_00: That's a good question.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_00: I actually don't know.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but and and really it's a it's a newer thing because there isn't um there isn't a recognized specialty of like functional dentistry.
• 33:14
  SPEAKER_00: It's people who are adhering to a certain philosophy of practice.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_00: Um and so uh Dr.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_00: Mark Brahenna, who's been a major influencer for me, uh he he's a functional dentist, and he's kind of created this community of of people who uh think uh think similarly to uh the philosophies we've been talking about.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so that's a great resource for people if they are looking to uh uh find this type of dentistry.
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_00: Uh you can also do Google searches for functional dentistry.
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um I know that some people are uh uh a part of the Institute of Functional Medicine.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_00: Uh you can find functional dentists on there.
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um or you can look up uh holistic dentistry on online, and uh anybody who's paying for advertising will be able to find that type of dentist.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_03: Um so that so those are some ways that people can get yeah, they're they're they're they're around, but they're not in everybody's backyard.
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 34:21
  SPEAKER_03: Is it?
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, I I I assume it's a it's a growing field.
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_00: It is, yes.
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_00: It is.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's wonderful.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_00: And really, I am actually predicting that dentistry is going to be the new frontier of medicine because of the systemic connections that we see to oral health and the uh the advent of technology and the diagnostic quality that we're and resolution that we're starting to see in the field.
• 34:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um and really this goes back to the the the pioneer uh of whole body dentistry, who is Weston Price, and his his work back in the 1930s was uh just foundational for this way of practicing.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so really medicine's kind of been set back since that point, uh especially dentistry, um, as we we didn't adopt those those findings into the field.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_00: Uh but now as the information age is upon us and and technology is advancing and science is catching up, I I really think that this is the next frontier of medicine.
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_03: Well, it certainly is um it certainly is easier to open up your mouth than open up other things.
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_01: It is, yeah.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_03: So uh I'll I'll I'll take it.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_03: I'll take it.
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_03: Um Dr.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_03: Jesse Myers, thank you so much for being with us uh and thank all of you for joining us on another uh podcast of Beyond Labels.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_03: And uh uh Dr.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_03: Jesse, we wish you the best, and we we would like to see uh you uh duplicated all over the country.
• 36:04
  SPEAKER_03: Uh and and uh it's it's fantastic what you're doing to have you on.
• 36:09
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you for uh donating your time here to us this morning today and um and encouraging folks to to just think uh more holistically and differently about their health.
• 36:19
  SPEAKER_03: That's what we're about here.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_03: Uh so thank you for joining us on the podcast, everyone.
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_03: We'll look forward to seeing you next week.