Latest / Motherhood Alliance Podcast / Fluoride, Mercury Fillings & Natural Dental Care w/ Dr. Marli Leist | 413 Dental Wellness
Transcript
- Britney Suttner: Hi, this is Brittany from MotherhoodAlliance.com, and today I'm joined by Dr. Marley Leist, a doctor of dental surgery who offers general dentistry with a holistic approach. Her passion for dentistry started as a teenager when she volunteered at a free dental clinic for kids, eventually leading her to earn her dental hygiene degree from the University of Minnesota and her doctorate from Indiana University. After becoming a mom, she realized she wanted her professional approach to better align with how she viewed health in her own life. That led her to pursue holistic dentistry, where she focuses on a least invasive, least toxic, and more biocompatible approach, while looking beyond symptoms and asking bigger questions about the connections between oral and overall health. Her clinic, which is located in Green Bay, Wisconsin, is a dye-free, mercury-free, and fluoride-free clinic. Dr. Marley is also a graduate of Airway Health Solutions and has developed a particular passion for airway development and helping kids grow into healthy adults. Outside of industry, she is a wife and mom of two young boys and enjoys working out, reading, listening to podcasts, and spending time with her family. We're excited to have her on with us today. Hello everyone, welcome back. I'm so excited to introduce y'all to Dr. Marley. Welcome, Dr. Marley. Marli Leist: Hello. Britney Suttner: Well, we listeners who have been with us for a while, they know that we always start with a fun fact for a new guest. You said that you are a dedicated Hansen fan, and so Marli Leist: I Britney Suttner: I'm guessing this started when you were young, it's continued through your whole life. So tell us about Hansen and why you love them so much. Marli Leist: my my gosh, yeah. I was definitely an umbapper when I was a kid. just loved them and have been a faithful fan through their entire journey. They've actually come out with quite a few albums. I think they have six or seven. but yeah, I've gone to tons of concerts. Actually, as an adult, I've gone to more than I did as a kid. When I just got out of dental school, I had gone to Milwaukee to an to be playing at Summerfest. So I went by myself because I thought, you know what, I just I gotta see Hansen. And went by myself and ended up meeting this great group of friends who also have been following Hansen their whole lives. And that's the reason I went to Milwaukee. They I met them Britney Suttner: And you're s are you Marli Leist: and said, This is it, I'm going. Britney Suttner: I feel like I am missing out on something because I was always a Backstreet Boys girl when I was young. And so I never Marli Leist: yeah, yeah. Britney Suttner: really got into Hanson. So now I feel like I'm missing out on a whole new realm of music, especially since they've continued. So okay, well that's my homework after this. Marli Leist: Yeah. Yep. And there you you are. and they're they have a brewery, so if if you drink beer, they have Hansen Hansen Brewing Company and their number one seller is Mhops, which I think is just fantastic. But I'm a nerd. Britney Suttner: That's so funny. No, we all are. We all are in our special ways. That's why I love that question, right? Well, before we dive into our topic today, I'd love to hear just a little bit of your story and how you got into dentistry in general, but then now you are more of a holistic biological dentist. So how did you find that niche as well as you got into your dental practice? Marli Leist: Yeah, so I wanted to be a dentist since I was a kid actually. I had to volunteer as part of a graduation requirement and I ended up volunteering at a free dental clinic that my dental hygienists growing up, you know, was starting. So I started volunteering there and I was just at the reception area checking patients in and out and one of the days that I was there the assistant didn't show up or she couldn't show up. So the doctor just kind of was like, Marley, I need your help, come over here and he just took me under his wing and started to show me the field and that's how I got into dentistry as far as a career. I was a dental hygienist before I became a dentist. And then yeah, I just I just really liked it. So I feel like I've but done a lot of different things within the dental team. you know, I've been the receptionist, the assistant, the hygienist, and now the dentist. And As far as going from traditional world to more of the holistic world, I think it's always been in me to question narratives and just try for different different more safer or natural alternatives. and it just it got to a point, especially after COVID, where I felt like things weren't aligning. You know, I I had way more questions with not ju with the medical world, but then my world. How could my world just not be affected by by these narratives and just things that we've been questioning? and so I just peeked behind the curtain and it just once I started to to read about my own profession and learn more about the history of the products that we're using and some of the risks that they don't talk about in dental school. I I couldn't look away. I couldn't look away. And then it was just I had kids and after having my first son, it was just something in me just said, I can't do this. I wouldn't do that to my baby. So how can I like recommend these things to other people? so I just had to talk to my husband and say, I I have an idea. It's Britney Suttner: Ha ha. Marli Leist: gonna be weird because you're a dentist too and and we see alike on a lot of things, but we also have very different opinions on other things as well. but if I do this, like do I have your support? And he took a night to think about it. He said, I see where you're going. I just give me a night. And he woke up the next morning and he said, I fully support this. Like, go for it. If this is how you want to practice and and you think you can do it, go for it. And that was honestly like the best words I could have heard from him. and I don't want to leave out the other like major supporters that I had, obviously God kind of guiding me on this path. But I had wonderful, wonderful support groups from Dr. Sadie and Dr. Molly at Lux Life, who were like, Arlie, do this, do this. And and yeah, it was just hearing that from other women too, who are in their own business and starting things and you know, kind of could see that hesitation and relate to that's that scary jump of faith. it was just really nice to have a huge support group to go into this. Britney Suttner: For sure. I'm so happy for you and and I'm guessing it's going pretty well because a lot of people are looking for this now. But I'd love to kind Marli Leist: Yeah. Britney Suttner: of I'd love to kind of start with how would you define a biological or a holistic dentist? What's the difference? Marli Leist: so I I think they're relatively the same, biological and holistic. I think holistic becomes more of like the the common term. biological and holistic dentistry, we're just looking for a safer alternative. We're thinking about your whole body instead of just your mouth. you know, even I think we're indoctrinated to think that this is separate from this, even just when it comes down to an insurance company. You've got medical insurance and then you have dental insurance, as if they're two totally separate things. And Britney Suttner: That's so true. Marli Leist: s every this is the gateway to our body. So everything that we're putting in here affects the rest of us. And in dental school we learn about every system in one semester. And then we focus on the mouth. And everything is the mouth. And it's just not that way. And when you start really looking into other science of it all, i everything we do, everything we're eating, everything we're using in our mouth, everything we're putting in our mouth affects our body and our health and those other systems that we learned about. so that's kind of what where biological dentistry comes from is it's just it's thinking about what we're putting in our mouth and how that affects other systems. Britney Suttner: I'm so excited for this episode because we're gonna be talking a lot about mercury and about fluoride. And I think that these are very confusing topics for the public because traditional dentistry has always said fluoride is great. You need to do fluoride to maintain your teeth. Now there's new science, or maybe it's not new, I don't know. But holistic dentistry is saying actually there's other options and we should be questioning what it's doing for the rest of our overall health. So I'm excited for this episode in general. So just jumping right in, let's start with the mercury conversation. Where is mercury found in dentistry and why? Marli Leist: So mercury is found in the well silver fillings. I think silver fillings, it's it's a very common term that we use, but there's actually minimal, minimal silver in there. 50% of it is mercury. So if we want to be exact, we would call it a a mercury filling versus just like a silver filling. But that's where you find find the mercury in dentistry is in those dark metal mercury fillings. Britney Suttner: Are those still used in traditional dentistry today? Marli Leist: yes, they are still used in in traditional dentistry. It's starting to taper back, but there is still a requirement in dental schools that you have to place so many mercury fillings in a patient's mouth. A human, like an actual human, you have to place them. medicate. Britney Suttner: Hold hold hold on. There's a requirement that they need to do a certain amount? Why? Marli Leist: Yes. Yeah. So that's kind of because it's still used. And if you have to go into a practice, a state practice, for example, like federally federally qualified health facilities still cover amalgams. It's actually they will only cover amalgam fillings in back teeth. They will not cover a tooth colored filling. So Britney Suttner: So i okay, is this a political ish is this a political thing or is this like a they truly believe that these are the best ones that stay the longest? Like why why is that there? Marli Leist: I think in my in my opinion, it's a it's definitely a political thing. We have better materials. We have better materials now that mercury fillings should not be used. We we can do it. Britney Suttner: What what is the science what is the science saying about the the negative things that can happen because there's mercury in your mouth? Marli Leist: So the ADA will say that mercury is safe when it's in your mouth. However, when it's out of your mouth, a dentist will get fined a huge amount if we were to put it in the trash or in the water, like dump it down the drain. So we are regulated and we have to have special containers that are hooked up to our water lines where all of this mercury amalgam goes and it has to be contained in a certain way and we have to have a licensed waste facility come in and take this container of mercury amalgam waste to go to a land, a specific toxic landfill. Britney Suttner: I can't even handle this conversation right now. This is insane. Marli Leist: It it it it makes no sense. It is. It makes absolutely no sense. So the ADA says that it's safe in your mouth, but the second it's out of your mouth, now it's toxic and you can't you you you can't be near it. Britney Suttner: Have there been any studies that are linking it to any sort of long term diseases so far? Marli Leist: yes, yeah, a lot of them. but again, they'll say that it's it's safe and it's unproven and it's not cause and effect. You know, they have all their funny ways of of phrasing phrasing this because it's been used for so long, in my opinion. but yes, there's been a lot of people, a lot of studies that show let me back up a little bit. So when you have a mercury amalgam filling in your mouth. It's the pieces aren't coming off in your mouth. Sometimes they can if the if the filling breaks, but what's going on is every time you're chewing, every time you're eating some or drinking something hot or eating something hot, vapors are evaporating into your mouth from those fillings. And it's the mercury vapors that are going in. And there's there is evidence of that. 100% the ADA admits that yes, every time you get a mercury filling in there, when you have hot liquids, when you're chewing, when you're grinding your teeth, these vapors will will emit from the filling and you inhale them or swallow. those vapors, the mercury gathers in your brain, in your kidneys, in plus it'll cross the blood brain barrier, so it gets into the placenta, it crosses into a a a mother's milk. It it has no place for in our bodies. It is not safe in our bodies. And I will stand by that one. Britney Suttner: Okay, there are millions of people with these in their mouths. Marli Leist: Mm-hmm. Britney Suttner: So for those who are hearing information like this or are just trying to live a more holistic lifestyle, can you have them removed safely and how does that work? Marli Leist: Yep, so it's called SMART Safe Mercury Amalgam Removal Technique. it's a certain way to do it. It was created by the IAOMT, which is the International Association of oral and medical toxicology. So you have to have a special vacuum. You have use a rubber dam, you get oxygen so that as those vapors are coming out, the patient is breathing in oxygen. Some you can take a charcoal supplement so that if you were to swallow any piece any vapors or breathe in any vapors, that charcoal supplement will help detoxify and kind of gather those metals and you can excrete them. And then you have to wear a full drape so cover your hair, cover your body your clothes and it's it honestly when i first was learning about it it you you look like you're in a like in a hazmat suit and the patient looks like they're you know in this wild garb but i it's toxic and if i were to take that if if i were to cut out this amalgam filling and take that and put it into a lake, like a ten acre lake, the fish would not be like safe they would not be a healthy fish. You would not want to eat the fish coming from that lake. The lake would be toxic. So you have to take precautions to make sure you're doing it safely, but it it feels strange. At first it feels really strange to have to garb up and you know wear a hairnet and a disposable gown and a a Charcoal filtered mask and it's it feels like a lot, but it's Britney Suttner: Okay. Marli Leist: the right thing to do. Britney Suttner: So how many dentists are offering this? Or how many dentists are in your on your court with agreeing that this is wrong and that these should be removed? Marli Leist: I think there's a good percentage of us. I I'm not alone. I'm not a standing duck like alone. Sometimes it feels that way. but there's a the IAOMT, which is the association that I'm a part of, where we grow every year, time and time again. There are more people learning about us. I can think of and I'm I'm by no means like a directory of dentists in my brain. but in Wisconsin I can think of Five, five dentists that are smart removal certified. Britney Suttner: I feel like this could just be a full-time dentistry job by itself. I will honestly say I have for those watching on YouTube, I can't like hide my emotions and my thoughts in my face. So like I feel Marli Leist: Yeah. Britney Suttner: like I'm picking up my jaw off the floor from this conversation. This is mind blowing. Marli Leist: Yeah. Yeah. Britney Suttner: Okay, but when somebody has it removed, then I'm guessing you would be filling it in again, filling in the prior cavity with the new type of sealant. And so what is used today and how is that not toxic? Marli Leist: So it's a resin polymer that we use today. so it is plastic. The ones that we use don't have BPA, you know. So you you can use that either a resin plastic without the BPA or you can do like a ceramic. You can use a ceramic that binds to the tooth and is is safer than than just putting in a amalgam filling. but it it it in small cases, in small fillings, you would just use the the plastic filling. Britney Suttner: Okay, so the premise here is brush your teeth, people, and not get cavities in the first place because Marli Leist: It goes slow beyond that. Yeah, but yes, brushing teeth is important. Britney Suttner: my gosh. Okay, is there anything else about Mercu Mercury that you feel like the public should be informed on before we move on to Full Ride? Because this is already mind blowing and I feel like this is just gonna continue in the same direction for the next topic. But I wanna just open it up to you and if there's anything else that you feel like the public should be aware of when it comes to fillings. Marli Leist: Yes, I think with with mercury fillings, I don't ever want to put my values and the things that I value and find important and significance in onto others. So when I see patients who have mercury fillings, I I let them know, you know, they're not there this is the evidence that we see, but it's up to you whether or not you want to take them out. There's a system in our body, it's called the glyphatic system, and it it helps detoxify. So it helps pull out and take out all those toxins that we're exposed to on a regular basis, on a daily basis, and helps get rid of them. And some people don't have a functioning glyphatic system. Some people can't take on the same amount of toxins that other people can. So some people see really strong effects from mercury fillings. They have brain fog, irritability, numbness, just gum inflammation, symptoms that are just really strange. And some people see all of that, and other people who have this functioning glyphatic system, th they don't see that. So it's not a it it can't be a one-size fits all for everyone. But I think as dentists, we can we don't have to keep putting them in people's bodies. And if they are removed, it should be done safely. Britney Suttner: All right, let's move to fluoride. This is another one, right? Okay, Marli Leist: Yeah. Britney Suttner: so what is let's start with high level. What is fluoride and why is it used in dentistry? Marli Leist: So fluoride is a it's a naturally found mineral. it's in our earth's crust, so it's, you know, we we are exposed to it. and it's used in dentistry to strengthen enamel and to kind of change the the mineral composition of enamel to make it really hard so that bacteria can't break the enamel down as fast. Britney Suttner: And the enamel is the outside of our tooth, right? It's basically like the skin of our tooth if you're thinking about skin of the body, where it's protecting the outside. Okay. Marli Leist: Yep, yep. I always compare it to if you think of an MM, you have a hard outside, which is enamel, and a softer inside, which is the dentin. Britney Suttner: Okay. Fluoride's been used for a very, very long time. What is the science what is some of the science saying now though that's making people question it? Marli Leist: So it the science now, and again, there's always controversy with what they consider science and what they, you know, what they say is biased or a low quality study. but there is evidence that fluoride can cause neuro neurodevelopmental issues in kids, lower IQ, that it is affecting your thyroid, that it can affect your kidney, that it can cause bone cancer. I'm sorry, it doesn't cause bone cancer. It's associated with bone cancer. it's one of the twelve chemicals that is known to cause neurotoxicities in humans. Britney Suttner: Okay, but then fluoride is in a lot of different things. We've heard that it's in water, and I think most people would agree it's not good to be in water. I don't maybe not. Maybe traditional dentists are a fan of that. I'm not sure. But it's in toothpaste, it's in mouthwash. at the dentist, often a traditional dentist, typically they'll offer like a fluoride coating at the end of a cleaning. So is is a are small amounts okay? Is is it really like the evidence is showing that it's fine to not have fluoride at all? If somebody's gonna do a little bit of fluoride, like if they're kind of middle ground where they're like, I I'm I'm I'm I'm investigating this, right? And I'm not really ready to give it all up, what's the best method of fluoride? Is it in the toothpaste or doing just the like vitamin seal at the end of a cleaning? Tell us about where you'll see it within dentistry and then kind of like the The best and worst type rankings. Marli Leist: So because it's in our water and it's in our earth's crust, it's in our public water, not just in our a private well, but it's also in public water. It's it makes its way into everything. So it's in your beverages, your juice, because they're using water to make that juice. You know, it's in your if you drink soda, it's in there because it's in your It's it's it's in the water, it's in our food because they it's number one, it's in soil, so it goes into our food. And then if they're watering their their land, it's there. it's in medicines, it's in our dental products. So yes, it's in small quantities in our public drinking water, but when you add up all of our other sources of fluoride, it just becomes too much, in my opinion. So where it's in dental products, literally it's so hard to find dental products that don't have fluoride in it because the companies in dentistry, if they want to be supported by the ADA, it looks good for them. And this is my opinion, it looks good for them if they have fluoride in there because fluoride's preventing cavities, it's making a hard enamel. So it it will be in resins, it will be in your toothpaste, it will be in a sealant, it will be in your cements, your dental cements. It's everything. It's even on floss. which in some cases, some people who are very susceptible, some people have severe erosion that, you know, from acid. Some people have severe GERD that's getting into their mouth and the acid is destroying their teeth. And maybe they have very f high functioning glyphatic systems. Maybe fluoride's okay for them, but in my opinion we're just overexposed to it. So if we can limit it, because we know we know it's can cause neurological disorders and in in humans, let's limit it. Like it it's just to me it's not something that we should just be okay with putting in our bodies. When you look at a tube of toothpaste and you turn it over and it says if ingested contact poison control Like we're putting this in our kids' mouths and expecting like a two-year-old to spit it all out. Tastes good. They're swallowing it. And then it is you have to contact poison control. Like to me, nothing just adds up. And it just there's better, safer ways. So why not use those? Why are we like sticking, you know, standing on this hill of Florida's safe for everyone? And It's not. It's not safe for everyone and it shouldn't be a one size fits all. People have different different genetics, different health histories, different different environments, and that should be taken into consideration before we just blanket recommend fluoride for everyone. Britney Suttner: Right. I feel like my brain oftentimes when it comes to health and wellness, it goes to what did God give us naturally and what can we get from nature naturally and how did God create us? And so do in general, for a healthy human, obviously like you said, there's gonna be instances where people have different challenges going on with their teeth where they might need extra support. But for somebody who lives a healthy lifestyle, do their teeth actually need extra support and strengthening, or did God make our teeth to be sufficient the way that they are? Marli Leist: That made our teeth nice and strong. However, we have a lot of added insults from the world that come onto our teeth, and that bacteria is doing what God created it to do as well. It's ingesting and it's it's breaking teeth down, it's building teeth up, right? We've got good bacteria and we've got bad bacteria, and God created us with a balance. And The things in our environment make that balance where maybe now you've got more bad bacteria than good bacteria, and these guys can't compete anymore. And now the bad bacteria is wreaking aboke on your teeth. So, yes, our teeth are inherently strong. enamel is an enamel can withstand fire. Like our our bones can't withstand fire, but enamel can. So it yes, God created us with strong enamel, but it's the environmental factors now that are we we have to figure out how to how to fight that stuff off and keep our teeth strong. Britney Suttner: Okay, so you alluded to it earlier. If we're not gonna be doing fluoride, what can we do to help strengthen our teeth? Marli Leist: It's a wonderful question. So if you're not going to use fluoride, big things that I recommend are number one, we have to make sure that we're brushing and flossing every day. and brushing for the right amount of time. you want to get an electric toothbrush because electric toothbrushes, it sounds so nerdy, but it they're just more efficient at brushing your teeth than a wrist. you know, a wrist can only go so fast back and forth. The toothbrush is going back and forth, but it's also vibrating at speeds that our wrist will never be able to mimic. So you have to brush your teeth twice a day with an electric toothbrush. flossing is huge. Water flossers are actually shown. I love a good water flosser because they sh they're shown to remove more plaque from between our teeth and under the gums than just regular flossing. So a water flosser is key. The mineral that we can use is called hydroxyapatite. And there's a lot of talk around hydroxyapatite right now as far as if it's nano or if it's regular, regular hydroxyapatite, which one's better, which one's safer. So we can talk about that too. But hydroxyapatite is very, very effective in keeping our teeth strong and healthy. But then you also need to make sure that you're getting a good diet of really good. bone building minerals. So you want your vitamin D, vitamin K, phosphate, calcium, magnesium, all of these really strong vitamins and minerals to help build up your bones, but also your teeth. Britney Suttner: Well, I'm glad you brought up the different toothpaste pieces because I do feel like this is a confusing area for parents that are trying to live a more healthy lifestyle. Marli Leist: Mm-hmm. Britney Suttner: You hear about hydroxyapetite, and one person's saying it's great, and then another podcast is saying, actually not so much you should use xylitol, and then this brand is great, but this one had traces of lead. And it's like, my gosh, we just don't even know what to do as a parent. So Can you just dive in a little bit more to the hydroxyapetite conversation? You alluded to there are different types of it. Are certain ones better than the other? What should somebody be looking for in a toothpaste? Marli Leist: Yeah. So it's a great question. so with hydroxyapatite, you have hydroxyapatite and nanohydroxyapatite. When you look at the studies of which one's more effective or which one is it just as strong and gives you the same strength that enamel or that fluoride would give you, nanohydroxyapatite is stronger and it it has the same effects as fluoride. So Nanohydroxyapatite is going to make your enamel really strong. Hydroxyapatite works as well, but it's not as strengthening to the enamel as nanohydroxyapatite. A couple of years ago there was a lot of buzz about nanohydroxyapatite because it was found in kidneys and in the brain. Now we have nanohydroxy appetite from many other things. It's not just coming from your toothpaste. So it could come from something else that they were finding there. But what the European Scientific Committee did a huge study in 2025 evaluating this. which I think is great. I you know, we needed somebody to evaluate it. And I find that Europe Is more willing to investigate these kind of topics than than the United States. But so anyway, so Europe did a big study on hydroxyapatite, and they found that hydroxyapatite is effective and safe when it's it has to meet certain criteria. So one of the criteria that it has to make is has to be very tiny. So the size of the particle has to be very tiny. The other thing is that when you make nanohydroxyapatite, so you have hydroxyapatite, which is big. And then nano breaks it up into smaller components. So it's this nano means small, right? So you have to go from hydroxy to nanohydroxy. And when you break it up, you can either get a rod-shaped particle or a needle-shaped particle. And I know I'm getting really nerdy right now, but it's important. Britney Suttner: Do it. We like it. Marli Leist: So the needle-shaped minerals or the needle-shaped molecules can penetrate into the blood-brain barrier and then travel throughout our body. Rod-shaped ones, obviously if you just think of a rod, it's rounded, it's not, it doesn't have any like blunt size to penetrate into those vessels. So rod-shaped is safe. If that nanohydroxyapatite mint molecule is a needle-shaped kind, that has potential to cross the blood-brain barrier and get into your organs and travel throughout your system. So if you're looking at hydroxyapatite or a nanohydroxyapatite, you want to make sure you have that rod-shaped kind. And unfortunately, that's not something that you find just by flipping your toothpaste over and saying, you know, this is this is a rod-shaped. It won't say that. You have to contact the companies and like look into their their research to find that. Britney Suttner: Are you aware of any companies off the top of your head? Like what type of toothpaste companies would you recommend? Marli Leist: So Fig F Y G G for your good guys is the acronym. they are they have only rod-shaped. Risewell is also one that has only ry only rod-shaped. And Dr. Jens, but you have to be specific with Dr. Jens because not her eggshell. Her other, her other toothpaste are rod-shaped, but the eggshell one, because it's derived specifically from eggshells, they can't take out the the needles. The needles. They don't have needles in their in their toothpaste. Let me just play them on that. Britney Suttner: We get it. This is this is so helpful. It's honestly so helpful as a parent who just doesn't have time for all the research and to, you know, to to read all these PubMed studies. And so actually speaking of that, if you have any studies that you can share with me, I'll be happy to put those in the show notes for for listeners. sticking on this brand recommendation, do you you you mentioned the electric toothbrush. Do you have like a favorite? Is there anything you should be looking for in a toothbrush? Because there's also fifty thousand options of electric toothbrush. So do you have like a favorite brand or type or you know the way that it rotates? Anything that you should be looking for? Marli Leist: honestly, whatever works in your hands, I think, is is great. I I used to be a I used to love Sonic hair, because the old oral bees, they have a circular head and when I the old oral bees used to be really clunky and it just felt like you were just banging into all your teeth. but the new oral bees, that's the one I use. It's called the Oral Bee I O Genius. It it's really smooth and it I sound like such a nerd, Britney. I know. Britney Suttner: You should get endorsed by all these companies 'cause you do a good job describing them. Marli Leist: But yeah, I use the IO the Oral B I O genius because it to me it just it glides really nicely. The circular head gets it in between the crevices. but if we're gonna talk products, the Via Jet, it's an ozone water flosser. And we gotta talk about ozone because ozone is the coolest thing in the world. Britney Suttner: Okay, let's do it. Marli Leist: But ozone is a really powerful antimicrobial, so it kills all sorts of pathogens. But there's a water flosser called the Viaget that has an ozone generator in the handle so that as you're water flossing and going around cleaning in between your teeth, you're spraying ozone water into your teeth and killing all bacteria and viruses, parasites, fungi, anything, any pathogen that's in your mouth. So I definitely recommend that. Britney Suttner: Are there any other ozone type products speci I 'cause I've heard of them for kind of like air filters, like in your house, but anything else Marli Leist: Uh-huh. Britney Suttner: specifically dental ozone related, or is that the only product that you're aware of? Marli Leist: no, there's you can use ozone oil. that is fantastic as well. Ozone oil is you can use it externally, you can use it internally. like if you have a paper cut, you can put ozone oil on your paper cut and your tissues heal. You can put it on a canker sore. If you've got a gum inflammation in the spot, you can put the ozone oil on there and kills bacteria. And then the cool thing about ozone is it's not only killing bacteria and the pathogens that are in there. It's also telling your body to send healing mediators to to that site or the healing guys to that site so that you heal quicker. Yeah. Yeah. Ozone's awesome. Britney Suttner: I will take studies on that too, if you have any handy. This is all just it's just all so fascinating and also overwhelming, honestly, because I feel like for me specifically in wellness, you just are constantly hearing about these new things. And I'm just always a little bit skeptical, where I'm like, okay, how much research has been done on that? How many PubMed research articles do I have time to read? Not very many. So if you have any handy, that would be great. Okay, so just Marli Leist: Yeah, absolutely. Britney Suttner: to finish out this episode, let's just talk about overall dental and mouth hygiene. What are the primary causes of cavities in general? And then, you know, taking that, how can what what are some action steps families can do to help minimize cavities? Marli Leist: So the primary cause of cavities is mouth breathing. And I I will I will stand by that one. I see kids on a daily basis, I saw adults on a daily basis who brush their teeth every day. They come in and they have great oral hygiene, they're eating well, but they come in like this. their mouth breathing and that what why mouth breathing causes decay is because it is drying out your mouth. So when you dry when you're breathing in You don't it's drying your mouth, so you don't have any more saliva on your teeth. And the saliva is what kind of brushes that bacteria off of your teeth and kind of refreshes things. When you breathe out through your mouth, now you're you're again putting air out on that mouth. But in addition to just drying your mouth and not having saliva, a dry mouth changes the way the bad bacteria changes the way the bad bacteria affects our teeth. So it becomes so much more aggressive. And you it's the perfect a dry environment is the perfect perfect environment for bad bacteria to cause cavities. So it is so important to breathe with your mouth closed and breathe through your nose. Britney Suttner: that's a perfect segue into our second episode, which we're gonna be talking specifically about optimal airway development in kids and helping them optimize that, but also making sure that they are nasal breathing. So that's a great little teaser there. Any other nuggets for preventing cavities? Marli Leist: Yes, I mean you absolutely need to brush and floss as well. I mean, brushing, flossing, having a low sugar diet, y that is hands down important as well. But if we're talking about the primary cause, there's a ton of research showing that it's mouth breathing. Britney Suttner: Ooh, I'm excited to dive into that next episode. Last question of this one is what are your non-negotiables for you or your family when it comes to dental health? And this could be things that you do in your house, like, we always brush our teeth, I don't know, at a certain time frames or when it comes to or any other tips for families, like if you were sitting in a dental chair in a traditional dental office, what would be things that you would be like yes or no to? Any other non-negotiables when it comes to dental health for you or your family? Marli Leist: That's a great question. I would say non-negotiable. If you're at a dental office and your hygienist or your dentist or the assistant or the receptionist is pushing fluoride. You don't want to push your own values onto other people, especially when it's their own body. so that to me is a non-negotiable. at home my non-negotiable would be definitely you're we're brushing before bed. We are brushing and flossing before bed. You have to floss the teeth that have contacts. A lot of a lot of kids now have tight contacts between all of their teeth. If you have a contact between your teeth it needs to be flossed. So that would be my my non-negotiable Britney Suttner: Okay, awesome. One other thought on what you just said about sitting in a traditional dental office is asking about the dyes too that are in the products that they're using. Because I know you're a dye free office and Marli Leist: Hm. Yes, yes. Britney Suttner: I've had to do that at my traditional dental location where I'm like, what dye free options do you have for like the the cleaning toothpaste and stuff like that? So just one other tip for families. Okay. This was an awesome episode. I think this is the one that I've had to Pick my job off the floor the most of any episode I've ever done. So thank you for opening our eyes to some new science and some new thoughts and and just understanding what's going on in the dental world. Next up, we are heading into that airway discussion. And I'm excited to get your your take on this because as a dentist with a lot of advanced training in this arena, I think you're gonna be super helpful to a lot of families that are listening in. Marli Leist: Yeah, thank you. I'm excited too.