Episode 213. How Motherhood Impacts Your Teeth: A Holistic Conversation with Dr. Yu, Periodontist

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Holistic dentist Dr. Yu joins Nichole Joy to explore how pregnancy, postpartum, and motherhood impact teeth, gums, bone health, and whole-body healing.

In this episode, Nichole sits down with Dr. Robert Yu, a holistic-minded periodontist based in St. Petersburg, Florida, to explore how pregnancy, postpartum, and the seasons of motherhood can impact your teeth, gums, and overall oral health.

Dr. Yu was the surgeon behind Nichole’s year-long dental healing journey — removing old root canals, clearing infections, rebuilding bone with grafts and a sinus lift, and placing a ceramic dental implant. Together, they dive into the often-overlooked connection between motherhood, hormones, nutrient depletion, bone health, and gum disease — and what every woman should know about supporting her mouth and body through each stage of life.

This conversation bridges holistic dentistry and conventional periodontal care, offering education, empowerment, and real-life insight for women who want to approach dental health from a whole-body perspective.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

  • How pregnancy and postpartum nutrient depletion affect bone and gum health

  • The link between periodontal disease and pregnancy outcomes like preterm or low-birth-weight babies

  • Why many OB-GYNs and midwives don’t emphasize gum exams — and why they should

  • The difference between traditional titanium implants and metal-free ceramic (zirconia) implants

  • The mouth–body connection: how oral bacteria can influence heart health, inflammation, and systemic disease

  • Dr. Yu’s preferred vitamin and mineral support for jawbone healing (vitamin D, calcium, potassium, and Metagenics Bone Builder)

  • Why informed consent matters in dentistry — and how to advocate for yourself as a patient

  • The truth about bone graft materials (human, animal, and synthetic) and how to make an informed choice

  • Dr. Yu’s thoughts on light therapy, microcirculation, and energy-based healing for post-surgical recovery

  • The power of collaboration between dentists, functional medicine doctors, and holistic providers

Key Takeaways for Moms

  • Pregnancy and breastfeeding can deplete minerals and weaken bone structure, including the jawbone.

  • Healthy gums support a healthy pregnancy — untreated gum disease has been linked to preterm birth.

  • A gum exam (periodontal exam) is just as important as a dental cleaning for expecting or new moms.

  • Bone and gum health are influenced by vitamin D, calcium, and hormonal shifts.

    Holistic dentistry bridges prevention and science, empowering women to make choices that align with both intuition and evidence.

Links & Resources:

Transcript:​

Thanks for making the time because I. I've been podcasting since 2019 and I took a pause, , like a year and a half ago, and I've been, this fall I've been feeling the desire to get back on the podcast.

And a lot of what I want to talk about and where I'm taking the show is my personal journey. I share a lot of my personal journey and . My community tends to be a lot of moms, a lot of, . Holistic with the side of conventional tends to be my, my crowd, , mostly because I, my background in the birth world, so I mm-hmm.

I have a lot of, , moms in my community and so I share a lot about my own experiences and how I navigate all the different health things that I go through, what I do on my side of the fence, which I know we talked about a little bit and mm-hmm. Last week, so part one of the episode, , I shared. My journey, my personal journey.

And then I thought, you know what, it would be really nice if you came and shared the professional side, the medical side, the side. That's not my area of expertise. Yeah. Yeah. Um, because I feel like every time I, I am brave enough to talk about [00:01:00] dental stuff on my social media. People reply and private people want to talk privately.

Yeah. It's just, there's so much stigma and it's such a sensitive topic, teeth for so many people. And I'm kind of over the stigma, . So I'm gonna just jump in. This is my doctor, everybody. This is, well, one of you and I have a team. So I have you and another doctor who was doing the other parts.

, you're based in St. Pete and you have had the steady hands behind my year plus long experience with this dental healing journey that I had a lot of anxiety about. Mm-hmm. , I did not have great dental experiences as a child, so. So one of the things I shared in part one was that, , when I entered your office, your, your whole staff, I felt from the minute they took my phone call until I went into the back rooms, everybody just, my body felt very relaxed and calm with everybody.

Wonderful. That's fantastic to hear. I mean, we work very hard, uh, to, uh, have that kind of, uh, vibe and I'm very [00:02:00] happy to hear that you had that kind of experience. Nicole, it shows, it shows and you know, when you mentioned that you had something like 20 plus years in this specific part of dentistry. Yeah.

You know, it, it got my attention and mm-hmm. Um, I, I didn't have a, a poor experience with anybody in the office, you know, from front desk staff, which is rare, I think. Yeah. I've been to a lot of dentists. Mm-hmm. So I've had a lot of issues throughout the years. Mm-hmm. Uh, as an adult I should say. And so if anybody missed part one, part one is on the show, you can go back and listen, but high level summary, we removed.

Two old root canal stuff. So we got the dead teeth out. Mm-hmm. Cleared the infections from the old root canals, rebuilt the bone with grafting and a sinus lift, and then ultimately placed one ceramic implant. Yeah. Um, so having said that, I am curious about what made you, on your journey get into this specific area of dentistry where you focus on periodontics and implant surgery.[00:03:00]

Yeah. You know, when I went through four years of dental school training, , the surgical side of dentistry really caught my attention. I really, , enjoyed the surgical side. So, , that led me to either oral surgery or periodontics. And when I was looking at both, , specialties. I chose on the Periodontics just because the timeframe was shorter on the perio side, uh, three years versus six years of residency.

And so, , I chose that, , from day to day. . Dentistry, I think periodontics is, suits me better, , because the oral surgery side, the training is double the time, but they're more training for trauma. Hospital associated, oral surgery, head and neck injuries. Or, uh, head and neck cancer type of, , treatments was what oral surgery training, , was [00:04:00] mostly about.

So I, I, I went to the Periodontic side, which was more related to the dental side of, , the surgery. , And when I came down to Florida, I met, , someone in Clearwater that was a holistic, , general dentist. And, , he, . Uh, begged me to look into really, , zirconia implants and at that time, , I didn't even know that zirconia implants existed.

This is, uh, 2005. So at that time, this was 20 years ago, right? So at that time, , we , were never even taught that zirconia implants existed. , I thought this guy was kind of out of his mind because, um, you know, he was just talking nonsense to me. , I, I didn't even know that kind of thing existed.

He was so fascinating though. So on a Saturday I decided to go meet him at the office and he was doing things in his office that was not [00:05:00] conventional dentistry, and I thought that was so fascinating. Such as muscle testing. He was sending these root canal teeth to laboratories to have it examined to see what kind of.

Bacteria was found on along these teeth. I mean, we just didn't do that kind of thing. We would just extract the tooth and just kind of dispose of it. We wouldn't like study what kind of bacteria that was, uh, in there. Um, and, and um, you know, muscle testing was another thing that I thought was very fascinating.

, After spending a whole day, I, I saw that, , he had a practice that was kind of like Chinese medicine. He included, , herbal, , regimen into, , treatment. And, you know, after spending that whole day, I, I, I really found it fascinating. So that led me to, , exploring the. , Biologic side, the functional medicine side, the holistic side of dentistry and surgery.

[00:06:00] So 20 years later, , I have this practice, a very unique practice. , I am a periodontist by training. I'm a board certified periodontist. . However, I have incorporated a lot of the techniques and materials and sources that are available to us, not in the traditional, side of dentistry and periodontics, uh, such as, you know, the ceramic implants.

, But it is getting very popular these days. In the last, uh, I would say five years, it has really exploded. . I have now, uh, patients coming in, at least one or two patients that are coming in for new patient consult that are inquiring about non-metal implants. So I kind of deviated from , your question of how I got into this.

Uh, but I, I'm just continuing to talk, uh, about this. It's perfect. Yeah. Perfect. Because I was actually gonna move into what kind of, what brought you a little bit more on the [00:07:00] holistic side. It's interesting to hear the journey. . And it's interesting that 20 years ago there was a holistic dentist in Clearwater because I, even now, when I started the search, I had only just begun to hear about holistic dentistry.

And I've been in the holistic space for, I don't know, I started coming into this space in 2017 ish. Mm-hmm. When I was living in Chicago. , Because it tended to be a lot more popular there. Yeah. This more, , physiological birth centered . And it introduced me to the holistic space. So when I came back to Florida.

, It was a bit of a wake up call here, but mm-hmm. That's, that's interesting that 20 years ago there was somebody, I, I can appreciate Chinese medicine and I will say, when I was in your office and I remember asking , Hey, is it okay? , Do you have a problem with me doing my energy healing on the materials?

Yeah. And I didn't get that dear in the headlights look, which I have from other providers. Right. And they looked at me like I was crazy and I thought, I can't let them operate on me . If they think I'm crazy. Yeah. You know? , And so I, I really appreciated that. Mm-hmm. And I [00:08:00] guess I'm gonna shift into a bit of the mom lens.

Mm-hmm. And this. Particular age that my group tends to be in where, I don't wanna say the word 'cause I don't wanna, let's just say where there's a lot of hormone fluctuations in this Yes. In this age, this season. And so as a 40 something mom of three, , who I also have shifted from very conventional. I mean, I didn't know anything about holistic life until about 2017, I'd say.

Mm-hmm. , I continued to wonder over my research in different, , dentists and periodontists. How much of what was showing up in my mouth was common in other women like me. And do you tend to see, , a pattern of women my age coming in who , may have experienced, , pretty severe nutrient deficiencies throughout creating people?

Mm-hmm. And, you know, breastfeeding and that whole journey of being so depleted on nutrients and, and the teeth suffering. Mm-hmm. Yeah. It's, um, you know, [00:09:00] moms. , And, and babies, , when they say the term, the babies suck everything out of you, you know, of the moms. I mean, that literally is true. You know, as, uh, as a mom of three, you know that your body has gone through so much changes after each birth.

, And so it is super important. I mean, the, , OB GYN , community, they're very familiar with, . Vitamins, , during pregnancy, , post. Partum also. Mm-hmm. You know, uh, they, they do that. , But it is extremely important to take care of, , periodontal health. Uh, actually during my residency, my research was on, , preterm low birth weight babies and periodontal disease.

And this was twenty-four years ago, , where, you know, cardiology, periodontics had, some relationship there where patients were dying from heart attacks. , They were finding, , periodontal pathogens or bacteria in their heart valves and, [00:10:00] you know, it could not come from anywhere else but from the mouth.

So that's when, uh, all this research has, , led to. Low birth weight babies and preterm labor, uh, on moms that have severe periodontal disease. So it is very important, , as a mom, , , and unfortunately it's not, A common thing for, , OB GYN practices to push patients to have a dental exam is just a checkoff list.

It's one of, you should have a go see a dentist on, uh, 10 million things that the mom needs to do. , But they, I don't think focus on the importance of dental exams, , and, , actually a periodontal exam. Uh, and an adenal exam should be the case because. Periodontal disease, the bacteria, and within the gum itself, if you have infection there, that infection could lead to, , the baby, , of course, and leading to [00:11:00] preterm low birth weight babies.

, And now, uh, you know, 23, 24 years later. We know that there is scientific evidence, there's so much research on, on this topic, and now it has expanded to not just the preterm low birth weight babies to dementia, to Alzheimer's disease, to all sorts of other systemic problems that the dental problems has led to.

, So it is very important. I, I think a vitamin world, you know, it's, the vitamins are kind of controversial in that. Uh, so either you believe in vitamins or you don't believe in vitamins, and some of the physicians will say, uh, you know, you're wasting your money, you're peeing everything out. , But I, I am a strong believer in vitamins and supplements.

, And herbs and I believe that, , the earlier you start, the better . I have a 20-year-old son and an 18-year-old daughter right now, and they've been taking vitamins ever since. They were, you [00:12:00] know, uh, uh, single digits, I mean, when they were even very young. Um, and so I'm a strong believer in supplements.

, I think moms for sure they need more than just a, a multivitamin. , If I can say to you, I have some, uh, products that we recommend for patients. So, for example, many of our patients are put on supplements like this. This is, you know, I, I'm dealing with bone health, right?

I'm dealing with jaw bone health. So, and I'm dealing with an older population that may have osteopenia or osteoporosis. So it is very important for me to optimize their bone health. , A lot of our consultations when patients come, now, Nicole, you're one of the younger ones that I've seen. Okay. I would say mid, mid age, or younger than most of the patients that I see.

A lot of the patients that I see are 60 plus, and so many of them are osteopenic or osteoporosis. , And so I op try to [00:13:00] optimize, , their, , vitamin D levels. Um, you know, the, the Metagenics brand is excellent. I recommend that, , for a lot of patients. , And that bone, , builder is just one of them along with vitamin D three and potassium.

Um, I'm taking notes because, um, and I remember seeing that in your email. Yeah. So I'm on your email list. I remember seeing the Metagenics. Yes. And, um, I plan to talk to you guys about that when I come back for mm-hmm. Um, my mouth guard. I have to come back. Yes. At one point. Yes. From my mouth guard. , And so I wanted to ask just a few follow up notes about that.

. During pregnancy, this is something that's really important. And I can say even in my last pregnancy when I was already a doula, I was already a birth doula by that point, and still I was never told by any of the midwives. Yeah, I went to a practice that was a combination of midwives and OBGYNs and none of them ever, I mean, they just said, make sure you get a dental cleaning.

Yes. And I thought, okay, just get a dental cleaning. And I did not realize the, , just the extent of issues that there, you know, nobody's having that conversation. At least at [00:14:00] that time, nobody was having that conversation. , I have a lot of birth workers in my community. Yeah. Um, Tampa based, you know, this whole central Florida region based, but also.

, Really internationally as well. And I think just as a birth worker, if you're listening, knowing that, um. There's a gap between what the OBGYNs and some of the midwives, , are sharing and not sharing, and for these, uh, women and families that you're taking care of. And so incorporating some of this conversation, perhaps like referring to the episode, referring to your website.

, Finding somebody in their area, whatever the case is. But I think that that's really important. You said gum exam. I don't think I ever had a gum exam. I'm 42 years old. Yeah. And the first time you guys saw me, I think I was 41, and I don't think I'd ever had a gum exam in my life. Yeah. Uh, mind you, I didn't grow up going to the dentist, right?

Mm-hmm. I went to the dentist once as a kid and I needed a root canal. Um, there was pain and we just, you know, we, we didn't have dental insurance. Nobody thought it was important. , But I'm also shifting gears a little bit. Actually it's connected. So another conversation that's big in the birth world is hormonal birth control.

Mm-hmm. And, you [00:15:00] know, I know for me, when you mentioned that I was one of your younger patients mm-hmm. Dealing with the bone loss. Mm-hmm. I do feel like there's a combination of things that I really didn't have a chance to go into great detail on that first part of the episode, but I was on Depo-Provera for years.

Mm-hmm. And that's another thing that it's a, it's a hormonal birth control of the shot. And nobody told me. While I was on it that I should be supplementing additional calcium because mm-hmm. At one of my final shots visits. I wanna say it's every six months you get a shot. I can't remember. It's been a long time.

Um, the nurse said, are, are you making sure to take your calcium? And I said, what? What calcium? Yeah. Yeah. And she said, no, when you take Depo-Provera, you need to be taking calcium because it sucks the calcium outta your bones. And I'm like, fantastic. So that working against me, I have a lifetime of not knowing how to really take care of my teeth other than brushing and flossing, which is not enough.

Mm-hmm. You know, not knowing the bacteria situation and, and being a mouth breather and being a grinder and all of these issues that are contributing to major mouth issues. Um, and then [00:16:00] just severe depletion throughout my lifetime, just being so depleted I feel at a cellular level, not just during motherhood, but just overall depletion.

And so I would really encourage, , if you're a mom or if you're a a person to really, you know, what you're talking about with supplementing is so important. I'm a supplement. I'm a huge fan of supplements. I also like herbs. , One of my, yeah, one of my providers is a Chinese medicine practitioner. She's on the west coast.

And we work on a lot of things together. , So I'm a huge fan of taking herbs. I'm a huge fan of supplements and getting updated blood work regularly, , to see where things are at. , And now I'm a huge fan of checking out the gums because that's another issue that I'll, I'll bring up in a minute, that I've got some gum stuff that now I'm beginning to explore.

, But I will say one thing about supplementation is if there's providers who really feel like, oh, you're just gonna pee it out, I, I think. It's important to know, and you probably know this, like not all supplements are created equal. Mm-hmm. And then the body is not always absorbing them if you're just popping them whenever.

, I've started to time things in different ways [00:17:00] depending on what I'm eating and what I'm taking with it. So something different I do, for example, is, you know, I, I checked my blood a few months back and I was very low on iron. , Which makes sense. For a lot of other issues I've been having, but taking vitamin C with the iron to help with absorption.

So there's different things, , that are helpful. And even when you were working on my mouth throughout this whole year, I was taking, um, an herbal bone. It was a liquid. So at the time I didn't realize you guys offered that line, but that's something I'd love to look into as well. 'cause I continue, I'm gonna continue to work on the bone healing.

Yeah. , It's just one and done. . The next thing I was thinking is for people who have old root canal sites, which is what I had, I had two that were in the same area, one of which we had identified, had a pretty significant infection. Um, but generally speaking.

And I know it's hard unless it's your patient, but generally when would save it be reasonable And when is the route that I took extract possible graft and implant the safer route? [00:18:00] Yeah. So, uh, the root canal, . Debate or questions that I get, , it's very, very controversial. , You will find, , that 98% of the dental community, , will.

Be fine with getting root canals or they'll recommend getting root canals. A very small percentage of the holistic community, I would say, , will not recommend getting root canals, uh, because they feel that, , leaving, , a piece of dead, that body part, , in your body, is not the right way to go.

, That's, that's one way. , Their, , focus is more like, you know, if you have a nail bed that got damaged, you know, that nail dies and it doesn't stay, you know, intact, it usually falls off or, or you have it removed. Uh, and a new nail grows in. Now, we, unfortunately, we don't grow new teeth, , but that's kind of like [00:19:00] where their debate is.

, As far as root canal treatment is concerned. You know, I think that when someone, , has root canal treatment. , And most of the infection or all of the infection is taken out of that tooth itself from the root canal system. Yes, it could last for many years, and that dead piece of tooth could be in your jaw for many years to come.

And patients might not even have symptoms. Patients might not even have,, other, , issues medically. But in your situation as you had other, you know, you had obvious signs and had other, , problems that was associated with it. So, you know, patients that are more sensitive or ultra sensitive, they'll know right away that something's not right.

They might have headaches on that side. They might have issues in their shoulder arm. They can't move along that side. You know, this all leads to the Meridian system where. You know, things are connected, right? So, , you can look at [00:20:00] the chart where you know all of these teeth, you know, one by one.

Uh, some of these teeth are related to like the breast, for example. , There's been, , some studies that say, uh, you know, what was amazing was, um. When I talked with, , someone, , that has been diagnosed with like breast cancer, let's say, , and all of these patients that have , , breast cancer, they all had, , certain root canal treatment, , to two different teeth.

Actually four different teeth. , It's the upper right molars on the upper right side or upper left molars. So those four teeth, , if you have root canal treatments, they're saying that the, , the chances of you developing , breast cancer , is higher. You know, it's because you're blocking the energy or the meridians, along your body.

Uh, that could be the case. I don't know if I completely, , believe that, having a tooth, uh, infection will lead to cancer. I'm not saying that, , but I'm just [00:21:00] stating a study that has said that all of these breast cancer patients actually have had. Root canal problems on those four particular teeth, uh, which was quite astounding because it was a hundred percent, you know, of these patients that had, uh, root canal.

So there is a significance to that. . I remember that study too. Yeah. Uh, because it, it was referenced in the Root Cause documentary and it Yes. I don't know if you saw that. Yes, I did. There who felt like it was a load of crap, and I think a healthy, , level of skepticism is fine.

. I have a little bit of skepticism, but I'm more of, , I can believe it before I see it on, on that, you know, but I need people, I need a doctor like you who has a different level of skepticism who's doing the operating right. I'm not the one doing operating. Mm-hmm. So I can be in my, in my, um, in my zone with it.

But I remember hearing that and I, that's part of what. Because mine were in the top, right? Yeah. And so that's part of what I was paying attention to because really I'll say over the last several years as a part of getting into [00:22:00] the holistic community, but also exploring, , energy healing and becoming an , energy healing practitioner for six years now.

. One of the things I've noticed is as my body's gotten more sensitive, like you were describing people who are more sensitive to some of the older, conventional things, uh, I've taken a more, I guess what some would say a more proactive approach to some of this. Mm-hmm. Um, because. I, I have a lot of reasons, but I've taken a more proactive approach.

'cause I just don't want to, like, you know, so I had breast implants removed for mm-hmm. Four and a half years ago. Um, and I wasn't having any symptoms. There were people who say like, oh, you know, when you feel like you have the breast implant illness. And I never had any symptoms. But I, once I learned about the potential issues, I thought, you know what, and there were personal reasons too, and I just, I took 'em out.

Mm-hmm. And so the same with these, you know, and yeah. When I saw the connection to breast cancer, I thought, you know what? I, I just, it was a noticing and it, it, things kept coming into my awareness and I thought, I, I just want 'em out. And luckily, luckily, they were both on the same side. So when you were able to, when you operated, it was all in one [00:23:00] shot and.

Yeah, so root canal, teeth, uh, you know, unfortunately by the time I see the patients, many of them have already had root canal treatment and they're coming to see me because they're having symptoms still. They're having pain somewhere either there or somewhere else. , And we end up. Uh, removing the, , root canal teeth, , and replacing it with either implants or, , a bridge option.

Um, so, you know, by the time I see patients, they're very much like yourself. They had had already root canal treatment. Unfortunately it didn't work. Or they continue to have symptoms and so we're. Are able to help, , patients like yourself, , have a second chance because we are able to remove it and replace it with, , a zirconia implant.

So this will now maybe go into zirconia implants versus titanium implants. You know, uh, I was [00:24:00] trained with titanium implants. , Everybody, , is trained with titanium implants , and I've come to learn over the last, uh, uh, the first 15 years of my career, I learned that, you know, these big companies, , multimillion, multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical companies that own these implant companies, , have, I think maybe tried to make things cheaper and more profit.

So instead of using just pure titanium, it's 99% pure titanium, but there are trace metals in there. And so over the years, patients have developed allergies to some of these trace metals. , Because you're not supposed to have allergies to titanium. , However, we started seeing allergies.

Patients were allergic to, , titanium. And so we found out, , that it's these, , trace metals , [00:25:00] that is part of it. , So they try to make it harder. They try to make it cheaper. , And so, , that's what patients were reacting to. Another, , problem, , with the titanium implants have been corrosion, , where.

, You would think that, , a, a metal implant or a titanium implant will just stay within the bone, but when they have gone back, and if you look at a titanium implant of the hip or shoulder or anywhere in the body, uh, the orthopedic surgeons will know this. There are metal shavings all over that area.

So if they go back in after a shoulder, uh, implant surgery, , and they go back in, , they'll see like a metal tattoo all over the , soft tissue. Uh. It's because the metal corrodes and the shavings just come off. And where does it go? It goes all over your body. It goes into the muscles, it goes into your blood system.

, So this is one of, uh, major causes. I mean, the titanium implants [00:26:00] have been around for. I would say 50 plus years, , maybe back then, , it was made with almost more pure titanium, so they didn't see these problems. But it's more so that we're seeing issues within the last 20 years, 25 years. , Where like the big pharma, I think has gotten their hands on these, , big companies.

So, , the zirconia implant system is, I think, a, a very good option for someone that is highly allergic to certain metals for someone. You don't have to be allergic, but it is just, if you don't want any metal in your mouth, I mean, who really wants. Silver fillings these days anyway, right? Amalgams or, , everybody gets, , just regular white, , colored, , filling materials.

, So I think the trend is going that way. , Where maybe in the future all implants will be made with zirconia. , And we'll get away from the titanium route, uh, and the technology [00:27:00] of. The zirconia implant system just within the last 10 years have significantly improved. So, , I think the future horizon is very exciting for , the zirconia implant industry, uh, is gonna really boom over the next 10 to 20 years. And you'll probably be, , busy with replacements. Yes. Are people coming in to swap out? , Some, some patients are, uh, that especially that have had issues, , during the first five years with the, , titanium implants.

, We will, , replace them. Now, there are some patients that do come into my office. There's no problem at all, but they're just kind of, afraid of something and, uh, they want it removed , and replaced. And so I've taken some patients on, um, on, on replacing them, but many of them I have not.

, Just because I felt that, . To trying to restore them back, , with the zirconia implants exactly where [00:28:00] we, how they came in is going to be very difficult. So, um, you know, kind of case by case basis, I've not taken everybody on, , for what they wanted, but, um, on some of them I have replaced them with zirconia implant.

. That's interesting. Good to know. , I do have a question about, mm-hmm. , So in the birth world, we talk about informed consent. It's kind of a big thing. It's a big, um, phrase that there's a lot of providers who don't explain what's going on. They don't really present the options. They don't really give you an opportunity.

They present information like, Hey, I'm the doctor. I'm in the white coat. Here's what you're gonna do. And so you have a lot of, , women who may not understand that they have options. And so what I noticed. Is that when I was in your office, , I really appreciated that. It felt very like, informed consent of what we talk about in the birth world, but in the dentist world where it's mm-hmm.

Hey, look, you know, you can choose whatever you like. Here's the options. This is a little bit more conventional. Here's the amoxicillin. , It's not required. You don't have to do it. Choose what you [00:29:00] want to do and then, you know, we can go at. I, I shouldn't say as conventional as you like, but really, you know, here's some of the more conventional options, depending on where you are.

And here's some of the more holistic options and you, you really pick your path. It's like those old children's books where you're kind of choosing your own adventure. , And I really appreciated that approach, , especially coming from, you know, I, I take a little, a little, uh, conventional on, on the side of my holistic.

Mm-hmm. So I did take the amoxicillin and I was fine. Yes. I took something on the way to calm my nerves because I was really nervous and no matter how much. Energy healing I was doing on myself. My nerves were shot because I, you know, I, dental stuff is not, it's not a walk in the park for me. Mm-hmm. , So , would you say that generally that's the way that you choose to run the business is here's a range of choices.

Yeah, , absolutely. I think that it's very important that we provide, , informed consent. Every patient needs to know that there are options. It's not just my way or my recommendation, uh, although [00:30:00] many times I will, , give the choices. Give the options, the available options to the patients. And many times the patients will say, doc, if I was your wife, or, you know, what would you do?

You know, what would you rather have me do? And so many times they leave it up to me. But it is important that they know that there are choices, , that yes, um, you know, we don't have to only use a human bone. Okay? Because, you know, talk about bone grafts. . Nobody explains to you that when you have a tooth taken out, .

That there are different types of bone available to us. Okay. So, uh, many times they just say you're getting a bone graft and you know, you just assume that it's a human bone graft. Mm-hmm. But there are, , animal bone, like cow bone, horse bone, , that could be also used. And there are synthetic bone.

And so the human bone has been around forever. Uh, and again, [00:31:00] the holistic community will frown upon the human bone, , just due to, uh, there's been some, I, I would say bad companies that have produced, , maybe illegally or they didn't, uh, you know, the sources of the cadaver bone, , were not proper.

And so there's been some issues historically of. The, , misuse of human, , bone products. , But again, I've used it for many, , years and I stick with a very reputable company, , for human bone. And I've not had any issues with it, but I know where the holistic community they are, what they are afraid of, which is, um, you know, there's been some.

Companies in the past that have, , done some, uh, funny business, you know? Mm. So, um, mm-hmm. The holistic community do like, , synthetic bone, uh, that's available to us because then they can trust the [00:32:00] lab. They can, you know, it's not coming from an animal or a human. , And that has worked really well.

, It compliments the zirconia implants really well. It's just hydroxyapatite your body's full of, uh, hydroxyapatite. So you, it is not rejecting it or anything like that. Mm. , In, in certain cases, yeah, we do have to use a little human bone. We do have to use, , animal bone, uh, in certain areas. Uh, it just tends to work better.

, But in many cases, I, , tend to use synthetic bone for a lot of these patients because they muscle test very well with, uh, synthetic bone. For most, I think we had a combo. Yeah. Yeah. I had a combo of synthetic and, um. Human, human and human and animal bone. I mean, we use a combination of a lot of those, uh, bone graft materials, especially in the sinuses.

I like to use animal bone. So, um, yeah, it sticks around and I'll say the concept creeped me out at first. Yeah. Um, but that's [00:33:00] why I worked on the material. You know, I tuned in energetically and cleared. Anything that was related to any animal, any old human being who, you know, it was taken from and clearing the material and then asking my body to make friends with the material so that the, um, the procedures were well received, , that my body received the healing and accepted all of the materials, the synthetic, the cadaver, the implant too, which I was a little worried about, but so far, so good.

And I'm feeling like it's going really well. , The next thing I'm looking at is. Obviously my gum recession. So I've started to explore, and one thing I haven't had a chance to ask you is, do you do any kind of light therapy on gum recession? You know, light therapy is very interesting. You know, I, I don't do that currently at the office.

, But you're talking about like maybe red light, blue light, . Are you familiar with the Bemer mats? . Yeah, , I have bemer mats, uh, . Which we will have it at the office, uh, when the new office location opens in [00:34:00] 2027.

So we'll have like a little place where we have the mats after healing, and we'll have, , light therapy that patients will use on their face. So they'll lay on the mats that it will help with the healing process. Uh, it's basically increasing microcirculation. , I, I do use that personally at home.

, And I liked it so much, uh, that, uh, that I will be incorporating it for my patients in the office as well. It's just that my office space right now is very small and I just don't have room for things like that. But we are renovating a new office space, , in St. Pete. , It's about 10 minutes away from my current office.

, And we are due to open that space in 2027 sometime. So, you know, we will have . A little lounge where patients could recoup, uh, after surgery or in between, uh, cleanings or whatever it may be. I'm not sure how it's gonna play out. Oh, that would be awesome. Yeah. Light therapy, uh, is excellent.

I, I tell patients if they have, , [00:35:00] access to that or sauna and things like that at home mm-hmm. Definitely do it. It will help with the healing. Um, it, it helps, uh, I, I wouldn't say that in your situation, just because you do light therapy in your, in your mouth, that you're gonna regenerate, , the gum where you won't need to have any kind of grafting.

I wouldn't say that, but mm-hmm. For healing purposes. Or to minimize, uh, infection or fast recovery, you know, um, absolutely you tear, uh, like a muscle soreness area, you know, or you had surgery in your face and you apply red light therapy to that area, it's gonna in, uh, significantly help the healing time for sure.

Mm. Okay, that's, so I do recommend that I didn't even realize you guys were living a new office. , And just so everybody knows, I crossed the bridge to go to your office because I could not find anybody in my part of town. And, ,, based on what I've heard from my community and people who live outside of Florida who live out, people travel [00:36:00] for.

, This kind of thing. They will travel for the correct people, you know, if there's not an aligned provider in their area. I've actually been talking to some friends who live in another part of the country and they're looking at places and I said, just come stay with me for a couple days. Yeah. Go, you know, 'cause I, I go across the bridge.

, I travel about 45 minutes each way, um, to go to the office and it's fine. You know, when I have find something, they're like, why are you spending the whole morning at the dentist? And I said, listen. You know, at 42, something that I can say is that my mouth is so important and I wish I knew then what I know now, and I even now, um, I get much more frequent cleanings even and checking what's going on because I don't want further issues.

I want to, you know. Stay on top of it. I, I can't allow it. And I will tell you something that came to mind when we were talking about, uh, root canals and, um, the nutrient depletion during pregnancy. You know, other than childhood, the only other root canal I ever had was right after my first child was born.

Mm-hmm. So he was born [00:37:00] in. 2013, I had a C-section. I took prenatal vitamins. But back then, I don't know, I was probably taking some basic, I don't even know. I was not very into supplementation. Yeah. It's only a couple days old and I stopped taking the heavy pain management drugs after the C-section.

Immediately I had excruciating pain in my mouth and it was almost like my body was waiting to tell me until pregnancy was over. Like, Hey, you've been depleted. And I had to go have a, a root canal when he was a couple days old and it was Wow, awful. It was awful. Like, zero out of 10, do not recommend. Um, okay, so bringing it back.

So I say all that to say for anybody who's not local to Tampa, St. Pete, you know, this general Tampa, St. Pete, Clearwater area. , I still feel like, especially in St. Pete, so you and the other dentists who I've been working with, because there are certain parts that they do that you don't do. You guys did most of the heavy lifting, the big surgeries, and I think they did the, um.[00:38:00]

The crown. They did. The crown. The crown. Yeah. The, that goes right on top. I had some restorative, like I did some restorative work there as well, but ever I felt like more of the holistic dentist. Mm-hmm. Uh, options were across the bridge. So in St. Pete. Right? Yeah. Um, and I'm gonna link to your website as well, so that people can bombard you with Yes.

Wonderful. Wonderful. And you know, . I work with a lot of physicians together, , and, you know, some, some of the physicians, , I don't really waste time just because the traditional physicians, they, they just don't understand or they're, they just don't, , get it. , But uh, in St.

Pete, I found one that is amazing. So if you ever needed, , he is an md, , he is. Very in tune with a lot of the endocrinology side. So all the hormonal, uh, issues or, , thyroid issues. Um, you know, he's very functional medicine, holistically minded. Um, excellent, excellent physician that I, [00:39:00] I've worked many of my patients with.

, So we tend to refer to, , Dr. Chen a lot. You know, he's, uh, right across the bridge right near, uh, me as well. I was gonna say, you're welcome to name drop if you like, because that's something that I haven't found is, um. You know, a provider for myself that is, yeah. Yeah. He's, uh, he's in St.

Pete, Colin Chan, CHAN is the last name. , I actually see him, you know, personally, , and, , I got to know him through, , patients. , And I found him fascinating, , because he just knew so much more than the traditional MD. , He just knows a lot about the holistic side. He knew hormonal side, the thyroid issues, and the bone density issues that a lot of my patients had.

So, , we need to have a team. Uh mm-hmm. I think having a naturopath is excellent as well, but, , having a physician, having a dentist that understands, , this whole thing and putting it all together. And so [00:40:00] I'm the. Uh, on the other side, I mean, usually there's a two dentist team, you know, I am one of the two dentists.

, There's the restorative dentist and the, there's the surgical dentist as well. Mm-hmm. So, uh, I tend to, , play a part in that role. , But it's not just myself that I can provide things, , for our patients, but, um. I like to work in, uh, as, as a team. Mm-hmm. If necessary, I mean, if they're not having any other health issues, .

If they're fine, then yes, we can handle it just on the dental side. But if patients are having a lot of other health concerns or issues. We do need to, , work together with the, , physician just to make sure that like some of the medications or supplements that we're gonna recommend have no, , contraindications to what they're trying to achieve.

Hmm. Well, and really none of this stuff is happening in a vacuum, so I can appreciate taking a wider perspective. , You know, not just zeroing in on, , the one tooth issue, but [00:41:00] what's the bigger picture? What's happening? Um, yeah. At a root, you know what's happening at the root really like, right.

It's. It's, um, funny play on words, but what's happening underneath, you know, instead of band-aiding, so. Mm-hmm. Um, I appreciate that as well and I wanna respect your time because . I know you committed to a certain amount of time. Yeah. And I also just appreciate your time.

I will see you guys pretty soon.. To get my mouth guard and then I never wanna see you again. No, I'm kidding. Because you have a lovely, um, dental hygienist that's very careful with me. She's very gentle with me. She's so patient. And I appreciate that because I'm a big baby. When I, I can push out nine pound humans, fine, but when people are messing in my mouth, I just.

It's not my favorite thing, but she makes it your, your whole team, um, really makes it, I, I will say like the special touch, like the blanket during the surgery and this little eye mask. Yeah. Was like Chef's kiss. Yes. Well, thank you so much and you know, because there's a lot of moms, , , listening.

I think, uh, [00:42:00] one thing that everybody should get away from this, , podcast is this. , If you are thinking about getting pregnant or if you are pregnant, . Please see a periodontist. Uh, uh, if you're local to the area, come see me in St. Pete. Uh, but see a periodontist because you need a good periodontal exam.

, It's not just a dental exam. You need a gum examination just to make sure, uh, that there are no bacterial infections that you might have in your mouth that could transfer to the baby. Which could lead to all sorts of other complications. So it is very important, , for moms, , or expected mothers to have a periodontal examination.

Hmm. Yeah. Well, and then, you know, as our, as the kids get older and you start taking them to the dentist, so now I'm, I'm tuning into like, at what age do we start taking our kids to have a gum exam? Because I have, I don't know that my kids have had a proper gum exam by a periodontist. Yeah. Yeah, bring them.

I'll be more than happy to see them. I don't know. You might, [00:43:00] you might change your mind. Once they get in the office. I'll take one at a time, one at a time so it doesn't grab the office. Crazy. Um, yeah. Okay. Well thank you so much. Thank you, Nicole. Thank you. It was fun. Let's do it again. Okay, that sounds good.

I'll, I'll see you soon. Have a great weekend. Thank you, you too. Bye-bye. Bye.


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