82. Ozone Therapy & What Your Hygienist Isn't Telling You, with Brenda Powers, RDHAP

If you've ever thought "it's just a cleaning, I can skip it," this episode is going to change the way you see that appointment forever. The hygiene visit is so much more than polishing teeth. It's one of the most powerful windows into your whole-body health, and most people have no idea what they're missing. Dr. Rachaele Carver sits down with Brenda Powers, RDHAP, a biological dental hygienist in Southern California, to pull back the curtain on what a truly comprehensive hygiene appointment can look like, and why it may be one of the most important health visits you make all year.

What You'll Learn in This Episode:

• A biological hygienist doesn't just check your gums, she's reading your posture, your skin tone, your breathing, your sleep, and your stress levels from the moment you sit down in the chair.
• Salivary diagnostics can identify the specific pathogens living in your mouth, including bacteria linked to heart disease, Alzheimer's, and type 2 diabetes, even when your mouth looks "healthy."
• Biofilm is the sticky matrix where bacteria live and multiply on your teeth, and managing it daily at home is just as important as what happens in the office.
• Ozone therapy is a safe, non-surgical tool that kills harmful bacteria, promotes tissue healing, and can help patients get off the deep cleaning hamster wheel for good.
• Collagen, vitamin C, vitamin D, B complex, magnesium, and zinc are among the key nutrients that directly support gum and bone health, and most of us aren't getting enough from food alone.

Connect With Brenda Powers: 

Instagram: @holistic_hygienist 

Website: rdhguru.com 

Email: rootdentalconsulting@gmail.com

Connect With Dr. Rachaele Carver: 

Join the 6-Week Gum Disease Course

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Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner.  Opinions from guests are their own, and this podcast does not condone or endorse opinions made by guests.  This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

Transcript

Why Gum Health Is Foundational

Dr. Rachaele Carver 0:00

Hello, everybody. Welcome back to another episode of The Root of the Matter, Oral Connection to Disease. I am your host, Dr. Rachel Carver, and I'm excited to introduce all of you to Brenda Powers, who is a biologic dental hygienist, and she is going to talk to us today about what it means to be a biologic hygienist. You've heard me talk a lot about biologic dentistry. So what does it mean on the, you know, typical cleaning side, which we go far beyond a cleaning? So I just want people to understand what you're getting at a biologic office and why there's so much value in the hygiene appointment. You know, so often people think, you know, I'm just going to cancel that. It's not a big deal. But the gum health is the foundation of our teeth. And if our gums and the bone holding our teeth are not healthy, we're going to have a lot of problems. You know, we've talked about the systemic connection, gum disease to the rest of the body. So this is where I really want people to understand why the hygiene uh visit is so, so important. Brenda, welcome and thank you for taking your time today to speak with us. And why don't you start by introducing yourself and kind of telling us your story, how you got into the biologic aspect of hygiene?

Brenda’s Path To Biologic Hygiene

SPEAKER_01 1:11

Perfect. All right, you guys. Hey there. So I am a biological dental hygienist here in Southern California. My journey started. Actually, I'm from Arizona. I went to NAU Northern Arizona University. Loved it up there. Bit more natural approach to health from the people I was surrounded with. I wasn't raised in a home that was holistically minded, but I ended up finding myself around individuals that really cared for health a bit differently, using vitamins, using supplements. So I leaned into that a lot. And then while I was in hygiene school, I really, really fell in love with the idea of the mouth and the body connection. And I stayed curious. I love the fringy things. I think Ayurvedic medicine is amazing. So I thought, okay, I'm gonna go this route. It seems to make more sense to me. So fast forward, I've helped create three biological practices out here in California. I'm an RDHAP, which means I can have my own dental hygiene practice that is coming soon. Actually, starting May 1st, I'll be working in the office of a dentist to start doing my own biological hygiene, which is super exciting. And then from there, I train offices on how to use specifically ozone therapy and how to implement non-surgical periodontal therapy into practices to really create that whole body total health dentistry as aspect, dental hygiene, uh, to patients. So kind of work from the gums, bone, and everything else system-wise uh throughout. And then we go into the dentistry to fix anything that's cracked or needs restoration, get the metal out of the mouth and so those sorts of things. If if patients can really look at their mouth into two different, there's several categories. One is the oral microbiome, it's its own little ecosystem. We'll chat about that in a little bit. And then the gum health, I always tell patients, you know, that's the foundation. If you could look at your mouth like a building, the hygienists really help keep that foundation healthy and strong. And then the dentist, they come in and each tooth is its own structure. So if the structures are balanced and in alignment and your foundation's solid, your teeth will absolutely last you a lifetime. So that's kind of where we go. And then we dig a lot into whole body health and then where that all generates from is starting in the mouth. That's kind of where we where I started and where I'm going and everything else.

Dr. Rachaele Carver 3:28

I love it. And the one of the words that really stuck out to me was the the curiosity, right? I think so much that that is me. I'm always asking, well, why? Well, why is it like this? Why? And I don't, you know, just accept, well, just because. Um, so I think that's kind of what sets a lot of us apart from conventional dentistry is that we're always trying to understand what is going on in the mouth. How is that connected to the body? And what can we do as professionals to, you know, kind of partner with the patient in order to get them to optimal health. And I think that's something really that's important to understand, right? That we all may have our health team, right? Where you have your maybe your your internist, maybe you have some specialist, maybe you have your Ayurvedic practitioner, right? Your acupuncturist, your massage therapist, you have the dentist and the hygienist. But none of us is your is you, right? So it's really important that you understand that we are here as team members. We are here to partner with you. But we can only do so much in the office. You also have to do your job at home, right? Whether that's changing the diet a little bit, changing the hygiene habits, but it is really important. We like to really educate, you know, immensely so that we give you guys all the tools that you have to create optimal health for you. Because, you know, my my dream is to never pick up a drill again, right? We will have educated everybody, our food supply will be so much better. Uh, we will have diminished all these toxins in our environment, and we're gonna live like the caveman again, who never had toothbrushes or floss, right?

SPEAKER_01 4:59

Be amazing. It would be it would be amazing, right?

Dr. Rachaele Carver 5:02

It would be good. So why don't you tell us, like in a typical, well, let's say you're seeing a new patient, right? You're about to open your practice. When a when a person comes, you know, I think in a typical practice, right, you might sit down, you might get your teeth probed, which is super uncomfortable, you know, and then you get your teeth scraped and and maybe polished and you're good to go.

SPEAKER_01 5:22

Yeah.

What We Check Beyond Pocket Depth

Dr. Rachaele Carver 5:22

What is different, you know, what are the different like diagnostics that you're doing, even just like in the initial exam, what else are you looking at besides the pocketing?

SPEAKER_01 5:32

I love that question. So as a biological hygienist, it's a whole b whole body approach, right? So I'm looking through like the lens, I'm looking at your facial structure, I'm looking at are there bags under your eyes, looking at the color of your skin. Are you gray in tone? Do you have a nice pink tint to your skin? How do you carry your body? Are you slumped over? How are you speaking? Or are head down, head up, you know, really analyzing, and it takes, it's really quick, really analyzing, you know, where where is this person at right now, mentally, physically? And then we dive into, you know, I introduced myself, what we're gonna do. Typically, the first visit is a oral cancer screening, of course, x-rays. I can analyze the bone that way and look at bone gum health ratio with the periodontal charting. The probing's really, really important. That helps us hygienist, whether you're biological or not, really learn the mouth, see where recession lies, where there's too much force on maybe one side of the mouth that's pushing the tissue away. Perhaps pocketing, which is where there's debris under the gum tissue, bacteria become pathogenic, they hang out there. So it's really the best tool a hygienist has is that little pointy probe to really measure health or not for a patient. Now, I do also do salivary diagnostics. It's very simple. I've been using oral DNA labs for over a decade. They're like one of the first ones out. So I just kind of stick with what's tried and true. And it's a it tests a mirror of things. I typically will test for pathogens that cause gum disease. I will test for Candida. Yeast will also fill in the gaps when we get rid of some of that bacteria, or yeast will encourage that bacteria to stay pathogenic in the biofilm. And then I'll also, if they're high carriers risk or history of, get a carious panel as well. So it's one saliva swish. We send it to a lab, wait a few weeks and get that report back. So typically on a typical cleaning healthy patient, I still have that conversation, you know, quote unquote healthy cleaning, right? Um, gums are tight to the tissue, no history of root planning or anything like that. Then we just talk about, you know, how's your teeth doing? How's your breathing? How's your sleep? Uh, that's one of my favorite questions to ask, actually, is I dive into sleep and nutrition. I'm a certified nutritionist as well. So we dive deep into all those things and where they're lacking in their nutrition, from supplements to collagen support and everything in between. So even if you're quote unquote healthy, you see your hygienist every six months, there's a place to go. And I also love to look at family history. If patients have a history of a family history of heart disease, Alzheimer's dementia, type 2 diabetes, these bacteria, even if your mouth is quote unquote healthy, those pathogens are still deep in the pockets and in the mouth sometimes. And we really need to know if that's another layer that patients are fighting against and they just don't know it. A lot of the mouth, regardless if there's inflammation, gingivitis, is going to be bacteria and diotic bacteria in the biofilm. So we can chat about biofilm if you want me to go into that layer next. But yeah, I assess that, I assess airway and assess really what the patient's needs are. You know, where are they at mentally? If they're not mentally ready to hear all of this, we pull back.

Dr. Rachaele Carver 8:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:51

And sometimes I start, yeah. Sometimes I start with, hey, if you're snoring and your wife's not sleeping, or if you're snoring and your husband's not sleeping and it's a thing, let's just get a free, there's a free app on your phone. Let's just chart your snoring. If that's elevated, go see your PCP, get a sleep test. So we can start as simple as one thing, right? So we just chip away at looking at layers of health and staying curious. Yeah.

Supplements Nutrition And Stress Signals

Dr. Rachaele Carver 9:17

Yeah. I think that's important. Sometimes I get myself in trouble just going on all these tangents and the patients start to get the glass-eyed look. So I think it's really important when we start that conversation is saying, you know, hey, I'm here to partner with you. What are your goals for your oral health? You know, and it might be just broad, like, well, I just want to have good health, right? You know, like, are you interested in learning about how nutrition affects? So I think that can be really helpful, right? Because I do it all the time. I just start having diarrhea of the mouth because I just want to share all my knowledge. Where, you know, a lot of people are like, whoa, okay, I'm like so overwhelmed now, right? So that's what I'm really trying to focus on is first, you know, what are your goals, right? If they're coming to a biologic office, you know they're, you know, interested. But again, there's there's varying degrees of that. So, you know, I think that's that's important. And as a patient, I think that's important that you start off that conversation with, here is what I'm hoping to get out of this visit, right? And so when everybody knows what your values are, what your goals are, it can help kind of tighten up the conversation and the appointment and really, you know, dive. And again, future appointments, right? We can dive into other things, but it's important to know like the main goals. And often like when I'm treatment planning, I don't treatment plants soup to nuts. I'm like, all right, number one, we got to get rid of disease, right? We got to take care of decay and we got to get the gum disease. We can talk about crowns and implants and and you know, you know, sleep apnea, you know, those are all important, you know, but we first got to do the basics, right? Because I've I found that it was you hand somebody like a$10,000 treatment plan and they're just like, well, I don't even know, you know, some people get so focused on those kind of things that they they miss the points. I think that's that's something I think that is a little bit different in a biologic office is that we are, you know, really focused on that person as an individual versus you know, everybody just gets the spot and polish, right? So that's that's really good. Something about it as a nutritionist, this is uh awesome. And I I really think that is a key missing factor in any medical profession, right? But um I I just I have a new hygienist and I just she's in a pr uh program right now doing functional diagnostic nutrition because I just I think it's so valuable, right, to have that conversation. So, in your opinion, what supplements do you think are are vital for healthy gums and teeth?

SPEAKER_01 11:34

That's a great question. I have I really have a firm belief that, and if you redo the research on how the mouth is made up, it's literally 80% collagen, okay, from the tooth, the dentin, the inside, the outside, the tissue, the structure. So if we're not and we l stop making collagen, we stop it after our 20s and we start losing it, right? So how can we implement something that's medical grade, that makes sense, that will really will truly absorb? There's only one on the market that I do recommend and use for patients. Um so they can swish with it, the oral mucosa, the cheeks, and everything will absorb it first and the tissue in the mouth, and then swallow it, and then you get your glow up on the outside, obviously. But aside from that, typically there's vitamin C, hello. I love a liposomal vitamin C, so it absorbs better. I love vitamin D, of course. We're all pretty much depleted in that. It takes more oftentimes than just stepping outside. I live here in Southern California. I still am low in vitamin D, and then it's sunny and 90 degrees right now. We're having a heat wave. B complex vitamins are super important. You need magnesium to drive all of these into the system and zinc, let's see, vitamin D, B, C, yeah, pretty much all of those, and E as well. So a whole slew of things that most patients, even myself, I'm not getting from my nutrition. Our food sources, as you already mentioned, Dr. Carver, are so depleted. So I let patients know hey, the apple that your grandmother ate in the 90s, that does not equate to one apple now. It's like 20 apples plus all the sugar versus the one. So, how are we going to support our nutrition, fill in those nutrition gaps, and move forward? I think food's a great conversation to have. Obviously, I absolutely know when a patient comes in and they've been eating processed foods, I can just tell the biofilm's really sticky. Uh, their gums are just red and inflamed, and then I'm like, hey, something's different from last time. What's happening? And normally the story goes, I'm stressed, my workload's overwhelming, I'm eating out more. Now, stress is a big layer of that. So we talk about that. I can't control people's stress, that's for sure. Uh, that's kind of where I'm like, well, I can help you manage the inflammation, but the stress is driving the inflammation. So, so we got to figure that out.

Biofilm Dysbiosis And Oral DNA Testing

Dr. Rachaele Carver 13:49

See, my biggest tip to everyone, I must talk about to every single patient every single day, is the breathing, right? I mean, we all can live stressful lives, and the fastest way to come down is learning how to breathe properly. Totally free. We all have the capability, but we all breathe too much and too shallow. So um that's that's the biggest one. And I say just look for those minutes of the day. Maybe you're driving in the car, maybe it's, you know, between appointments or especially before eating, right? We've got to make sure we can drop into that parasympathetic so we can absorb stuff. Yeah, super, super important because there's not one pill, right, for stress. But I like what you said. So basically what what we always say, right? So here's more confirmation about everything we talk about, the minerals, right? Between the calcium, the magnesium, um, some zinc is important, copper can be important, and then the fat-soluble vitamins, D, A, E, and K, plus the B complex. You know, if you're a kind of somebody who maybe gets the cracks in the corner of your mouth sometimes, that's often a B vitamin deficiency. Sometimes if the mouth, the tongue is really red or ulcerated, that's also a sign of B vitamin deficiency, which can be really, really common when our guts all amass, very common in autoimmune conditions, which again is a gut, you know, inflammation. Um, so, and again, like you said, we're not getting this stuff in our food anymore. We're just not, the soil is too depleted. So it's it's important we fill in the gaps. So you kind of mentioned biofilm. That, you know, what is biofilm and and how do we combat that, right? Because if we've got this biofilm, it's hard to kill some of these bad bacteria. So tell us a little bit about what it is and how we've managed that.

SPEAKER_01 15:26

So, biofilm, I mean, simply put, it's a film on your teeth, right? But it's a sticky matrix that the bacteria reside in. I'll keep it really simple because we can go science-y and it can just like be like, that's too much, girl. Calm down. So it's a film that's on your teeth. It rebuilds itself even after you get your teeth clean, it comes right back. So, what we want to do is manage the ecosystem, which is there's so many bacteria in your mouth. I think over 500 types of bacteria, I think they've found so far. We want to manage them. A lot of the bacteria are really, really good guys. So if you can imagine having like good guys in the biofilm on your teeth, you're brushing that off, that's great. But then you have a bad offender come in. And the bad bacteria start um multiplying in that biofilm and they shift the bacteria from needing oxygen to live and not needing oxygen, and they multiply and multiply and multiply it. And there's things that can encourage more biofilm and those pathogenic bacteria to grow more, stress, inflammation, certain metals in the mouth, even. So that bacteria, mold, if you have autoimmune, we're fighting this ecosystem that's always changing, right? So those bad pathogens really encourage the pathogens that have they have no name to themselves. Let's call it like that. They'll say, come be like me, come attach like this. And then they start bringing in the good guys, become the bad guys, and then they just bury themselves under the gum tissue. The tissue opens up, plaque, food debris gets there, it hardens over time into something called. Most patients call it tartar calculus. It's the hard stuff that your hygienist has to quote unquote, I hate the word scrape, but here we are, um, remove from your teeth. So the plaque is the soft, sticky stuff along with the biofilm that patients can absolutely brush off. Sometimes it's a little elbow grease, sometimes it's a lot of elbow grease. You don't need all the fancy, fancy surfactants and toothpaste per se. Uh, I love to encourage a water pick to use to rinse it off twice a day, an electric toothbrush. It's great if you have uh that in your budget. Otherwise, just spend time. It's just time and elbow grease. And then I look at um, I look at toothpaste like more so a medicament for the teeth. So, how can we support the enamel using a high-quality toothpaste? And we can get into that in a little bit. But the biofilm basically can really help either tilt things in your favor as a patient and for your mouth, for oral health, or shift things into a negative space where you're having deep cleanings, inflammation, bleeding gums, pink in the sink. And a lot of the times that bad bacteria and that dysbiotic mouth really can reside starting in the gut. So it's just one portal, right? From the mouth to the tummy. So oftentimes it just things become more acidic, especially if patients have any acid reflux or gastric issues in general. A lot of new GLP1 things are going on too that can create some dysbiosis as well. So I oftentimes will recommend if I'm seeing something shift, you know. Uh patients, I just mentioned to them I have a gut microbiome test that they can take home. We're not going to do it in the office. They send it in. That's where I draw the line. They'll send it in and they get an extensive report back when we review it with them. Also, um, that's when I bring in the salivary diagnostics to see what's going on here. So if we can really get that gut health managed appropriately and the oral health managed, working together, using some tools in my uh biological hygiene tool belt to help keep the bacteria down in the mouth, like ozone, then we can really get patients more uh optimization and total body health and total oral health decades and decades into the future.

Ozone Therapy For Non-Surgical Healing

Dr. Rachaele Carver 19:07

So what I always say is like the cool thing about our job is the mouth is very accessible, right? I mean, it's much easier to clean up the gums, you know, remove poor fillings, get the metals out than it is to, you know, go in and treat, you know, plaques in the arteries, right? I mean, everything other than the mouth is really invasive, right? So I think we are so fortunate to be able to make a quick and dramatic impact on somebody's health. So I th I think that's really amazing. And I love that you're doing stool tests. And I think more biologic offices are doing these things because we're always trying to see what is at the root of the why did that biofilm shift into a more pathogenic form. You know, what is going on? And biofilm is throughout the whole body. This is why sometimes antibiotics don't work, right? They can't penetrate that biofilm. They can't access the cell walls of the bacteria in order to kill the bacteria. So it's really uh important. And I use a lot of enzymes too, because enzymes can help dissolve that. But you mentioned ozone is one good factor. So tell us a little bit about ozone in using it as a hygienist. How do we, why is ozone effective in your hands?

SPEAKER_01 20:14

Perfect. I love that question. I get that that question a lot. I've created something called the oral systemic balance method, and it's simply creating a non-surgical approach. So, how can we help you avoid surgery, sending you to the periodonist using things like ozone? Ozone in it is, in fact, it kills bacteria. So if you were to put the pathogens on a microscope and you put ozone, their bacteria cell wall would explode. Really cool, sciencey, nerdy, fun things. I love ozone because it's pretty safe to use. Okay. Um, I can use it on pregnant women, I can use it on children, and everybody in between, the only contraindications are somebody that has like heavy, severe COPD or some lung issues, which is very rare because we don't want to be breathing that in heavily. But ozone is ozone's also an immune modulator. It's going to, it's very selective. It's going to kill the bad bacteria, promote healing around the tissue, which helps promote collagen to form and that nice firm fibrotic tissue on the inside, a different attachment, let's say, from the tissue that's loose around the gums to tighten things around the tooth structure. And it's also going to bring the total bacteria load down in the mouth. So as a biological hygienist, it's always in my water tank. So I irrigate every single patient. I don't care how old they are. Uh, if they can tolerate a little vibration and water in their mouth, they're going to get a nice dis. I call it a disinfection. I do let patients still like if we're off of, we're unique. You know, you're gonna get, you will get a nice antimicrobial irrigation. And we can really reset that microbiome for you in the mouth and give you a leg up, throw in some oral probiotics. If there's some inflammation, those are. On, those just fly off the shelves. I mean, patients are like, yes, they really notice a huge difference, and we continue that care. We also can put the ozone, it's a gas, okay? So ozone can be gas and bubbled in water. Let me take a step back. And then it can also be bubbled underneath the tissue. And that's really exciting. It can go to the base of the pocket and kill the bacteria where patients can't reach, where floss can't even reach because the pocket is so deep. That way we can really get the ozone underneath the tissue. Because some of those bacteria lock in, like spirochetes, those guys are nasty bugs. So we need to kill what's down in that pocket so the body can have its nice host immune response and promote healing for itself. So it's a really, really great tool to use. We can also reverse incipient lesions and do some really cool things with that sensitivity issues, cold sores, ear insulation, fortinnitis. So we can really go a little bit more outside the box as far as that health that patients are looking for.

Dr. Rachaele Carver 23:05

Absolutely. You know, it's important to note too that the ozone does not just kill bacteria, right? It also gets fungus, right? Yeast is a big problem. It can kill parasites, irises, you know, all these things versus, you know, when you have an antibiotic, that's only specific for maybe a couple of species, right? Whereas ozone, and there's all sorts of side effects that go along with that, right? When you have ozone, you're not having any of those side effects because ozone is actually produced by the body. So it's a natural way, that same thing, because that ozone, as soon as that hits the body, it dissociates into other molecules like hydrogen peroxide, like nitric oxide, right? So these are all natural molecules. And that's not, that's why there are no side effects, because it is doing something the body naturally does. We're just kind of reminding the body, hey, you know, we need another hit of this in this area. Like you said, it's an immune modulator, right? So it will help, you know, it helps boost that immune system to go after, right? It's like a little knock on the shoulder, hey guys, we got a problem going on. Come on over, help us out with all these molecules. And that nitric oxide allows increased blood flow, which in any disease that you have, you need to have strong, powerful blood flow in order to deliver the nutrients and the oxygen to our cells. So I think this is another reason why it's so impactful, especially in healing. So if you ever had an extraction, oftentimes the doctor is using um an anesthetic with epinephrine, which shuts off the blood supply for some time. So that could, you know, be why maybe you got a dry socket or maybe it didn't heal as well because then the blood flow was slow to come back. So using an ozone during extractions is also made in those deep pockets, right? There is no oxygen down in those deep pockets. Those bad things are multiplying, like you said, where you can't really reach. That's why I won the water pick, right? So valuable because you can kind of dip into those pockets. They're a little tricky to use. I have to use mine in the shower because I make a mess in my water pick. Um, but as the hygienist or the doctor, they can put the little tiny tips right into that pocket. And in less than a minute, you're creating sterilization there. When we get rid of the bacteria, we can regrow attachment. So that's where, you know, in conventional dentistry, it's like, oh, I got a pocket, too bad. Now you just have to have surgery. So you've mentioned a couple of times, right, that in biologic hygiene, we are looking at these non-surgical therapies, right? Because the the bone will regrow if the infection is gone, right? So there's one way to make a flap, use a scalpel, scrape everything, and try and, you know, hope for the best when you put it back together. Or you try these kind of therapies, which are non-invasive, you know, they are so powerful, yet without side effects and no pain, you know. Although I should say when we do ozone, sometimes when we inject it, if you don't go slow enough, it's it can hurt. It's a little spicy. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. That's a good word for it. I like that. I'm gonna use that from now on. You're gonna feel a little spiciness. If you go slow enough, it's not too bad, but it's very highly acidic because it is so full of energy. And, you know, as we get older, you know, when we start to get more and more amulets, it's because we have less and less energy. So that's the other boost that we get from ozone. We're literally putting electrons into the system, giving the body, the mitochondria, all those, the energy molecules to do what it needs to do. So it's one of the best things I ever learned. I've been using it over 10 years now, and it's just, you know, it's just, I don't know how I could do dentistry without, without it, as well as as we can and get the results without it.

Home Care Probiotics And Visit Frequency

SPEAKER_01 26:28

That's what I tell hygienists all the time. You'll have other offices, not that are, you know, traditional bread and butter dentistry, and their hygienists will do nothing. They'll deep clean. That's removing debris, but the bacteria, it is locked in that tissue and there and it's gonna keep going. So that's why a lot of patients are like, I get deep cleanings all the time. I just had one. I need another one. I need another one. So I really, really love having the conversation with patients. Like, let's get you out of that hamster wheel. There is a way. There is a way. Now, the caveat to that is what's going on with your spouse or your significant other, you're getting reinfected. So those are the cases that we have to think outside the box. And then we bring family into the mix, which is really a fun, sometimes uncomfortable conversation, but it is important. And we really want to get patients as a biological hygienist out of that traditional hamster wheel of like cleanings all the time, deep cleanings all the time, uncomfortable, non-happy to go into the dentist. What happens is then now patients are like, I don't want to come back. That was uncomfortable. Now we're back in that system of waiting for four to five years and now we're back to square one. So when patients really experience true oral health, no bleeding, tighter tissue, happier experience, they're in and out of the office in 45 minutes with their cleaning because their microbiome is nice and balanced again. It does take time, it doesn't happen overnight. And we work on their gut health and throw in some supplements. They are so happy. And I have patients that have been so fearful of a dentist, hygienist that initially needed to have nitrous, you know, just to keep calm and collected. And now it's like, I don't need that, you know, I want to talk to you. Let's talk about our kids or let's talk about this, you know, and have a really nice uh relationship and they pop in, pop out. Oh, that was awesome. Glad I'm doing well. And it's a little check-in. I also love ozone because we can spot treat areas, you know, not all the time. You're hygienist, we don't really want to do deep cleanings. We really don't. So if there's bleeding, a little pocket here and there where we don't feel debris, what's really, really nice is I can throw that ozone gas up in that pocket and really nix whatever is going on up there because bacteria are opportunistic. Typically, it's around an older restoration, and eventually that restoration, a dentist do need to treat and remove and get something in there that's more biocompatible. But really, the crux of it is, you know, having an honest conversation with patients. And the benefit of being a biological hygienist is patients are seeking out something different. Patients want to feel better. They know that their gums shouldn't look puffy in the mirror. They're looking at the color of their teeth, they're looking at the color of their gums, you know, you know, and and they're curious. And so we just start having a conversation. One conversation turns into many, many cascades down into other things, into health, where we can just plant little seeds and have them stay curious about their health. And it's really, really exciting.

Dr. Rachaele Carver 29:30

Yeah, it is. So we talked ozone. Are there any other modalities that you like to use when you're treating your patients?

SPEAKER_01 29:37

Yeah, so I will bring patients back and we do a whole ozone system. But aside from that, I really enjoy the fact that we can bring in good bacteria to the mouth. So oral probiotics, there are a lot of brands out there, but reintroducing and repopulating the mouth with good bacteria is a great idea. Electro toothbrushes, obviously, your so your home care, you have to partner with your hygienist. So your home care is important. Floss. Now, here's the thing: it's a microplastic. There are some out there that aren't. So patients, listen, if you don't like to floss, I just use that water pick. Okay, to use something. That's my that's really what I share with patients. I just want something rinsing out the bacteria and biofilm that's surrounding your gums and you know, around your teeth on a daily basis. Let's see, what else do I like to use? I like to use a nice balanced mouthwash. Those are kind of tricky. I don't always love that, but I do like the idea of oil pulling with coconut oil. That keeps things really budget friendly. And most patients can handle that. Not the 20 minutes part where we talk about, you know, let's let's do like five minutes, you know, and really bringing patients in for more frequent visits to really help them manage their care better. I think that's really important to get out of the wheelhouse of, you know, you learn in hygiene school every six months because insurance dictates that. No, thank you. I tell patients all the time, your mouth is going to tell me what type of cleaning we need today.

Dr. Rachaele Carver 31:02

You know, just that's a really important fact, right? Because yes, we get in this, you know, we've been schooled to think that, oh yes, every six months and I need my x-rays every year and yada yada yada. But we are all individuals, as we said before, you know, that that doesn't work for every person, right? If you, especially if you haven't been in a number of years, you know, my hygienists have stopped trying to, you know, some people they expect that on they're gonna go in their first appointment and they're gonna get the cleaning. And my hygienists over time now is like, well, that's not gonna happen today. And here's why, right? We're seeing all these areas of bacteria, of inflammation. Like you're you don't qualify for a clean. A typical cleaning or profile, as we call it in the biz, right, is only removing plaque above the gum line, right? It is there can't be any bleeding. There shouldn't really be any tartar or calculus on the teeth, right? Already, how many people have bleeding gums? Like 99% of our patients, they come in, they will bleed. How many of them have calcius or tartar? Again, a very high percentage. So very few people actually technically qualify for a Profi. Yet they get that, you know, every six months. So again, if you're somebody who's really interested in your overall health, then gum oral bacteria is indicated in almost every single chronic disease there is. So if your health is important to you, then you're gonna want to do what's best for you. So if that initially means you're gonna have uh three cleanings in the first two months, well, that's what you need. And our goal is always to get you to not need as many, right? But initially to get there, you know, we really need to look at you and we really need to reinforce the diet and the the hygiene habits. Those are so, so important because you have control over your oral health, right? And we will guide you along the way. But, you know, that that biofilm within 10 days, that's already back. And if you go six months without a cleaning, you know, it's it's so if you're not really learning how to take care of that biofilm on a daily basis, then technically you could have a cleaning like every month, right? So I think this is what's important and why those of us in the biologic world are trying to, you know, teach patients um where you are, where you're at. But you know, bleeding should never happen. You should not have bleeding gums. That is, you know, if your fingers all of a sudden started bleeding, you know, that would freak you out, right? That's not a normal thing, you know that. Well, the same thing in the gums are not supposed to bleed. That is a sign that something is going awry, right? So we definitely want to address that. And I like the water pigs. I'll tell patients put a little hydrogen peroxide in the water tank, right? Because that you don't want to do that every day, all right? Because again, the idea is not to kill everything, right? But a few times a week. And I actually, when I have a a crown patient, I do tell them I want you to rinse 50-50 every single day for the next two weeks while we're waiting for the permanent ones to come in. Because I don't want to take off that temporary, have the gums bleeding mess, you know, and then try to cement a permanent crown on there. It's not gonna work, right? So, but that's the only time I would recommend doing it, doing it daily, right? Because again, we're trying to create balance, not just killing everything. We also use a lot of lasers and light therapy. Our hygienists do that. And it depends on state, because not all states allow hygiene to use lasers or they can only use certain settings and stuff like that. But light therapy is another way to stimulate um blood flow, to stimulate the cellular energy to help the immune system battle stuff. So I like that mouthwash on the same. I'm like, eh, yes and no. Again, I typically say, hey, a little bit of hydrogen peroxide water, you know, a couple times a week because there's so many weird things in mouthwashes today. Yeah. Even the even the natural ones have, you know, sugar alcohols and and even the uh I was talking to a a new patient today about she was saying her mouth felt so weird, she didn't know what it was, just you know, she couldn't really describe it. Um, and then we started talking about these things, and I was saying, you know, we were talking about toothpaste specifically, and I said, Well, you gotta be careful because even the natural ones, you know, even essential oils, which are completely natural, can be two killing. And she said, Oh, she said, Well, I've been doing a lot of oil pulling and a lot of tea tree oil. Tea tree oil is a great uh essential oil for antibacterial, but again, if you use it too much and you kill too much, then again, you're creating an imbalance. So I was like, potentially that maybe that's why things are feeling weird because you don't have the right balance of bacteria now. Um so I was like, yeah, so hold off on that. She said, Well, what toothpaste? I said, even maybe for now, just use totally natural. Get some bentonite clay, touch of baking soda, some coconut oil, just do that, right? Because the goal for the teeth is you want to have an alkaline environment, right? This is why our teeth break down. This is why the the bad, the good bacteria turn to bad bacteria. They're in that acidic environment. So you need the baking soda to create the alkalinity. In that alkaline environment, you're gonna regrow the good gum bugs and you're going to be able to put that calcium and magnesium and phosphorus in your diet back into the teeth. So, you know, we don't have to go crazy, fancy. There's some of these things that it just costs so much when we have these simple, affordable things right in our kitchen most of the time. So, you know, you don't have to be be crazy and and buy$20, you know, toothpaste, right? So it's just, it's just understanding, you know, why gum disease happens, why cavities happen. And when you kind of understand, you can make those changes with the help of your hygienist and the dentist.

SPEAKER_01 36:31

Yeah. Then one other thing that we do that I do recommend is a hydroxyapatite to help remineralize the enamel as opposed to fluoride. So definitely fluoride-free over here on this side as a biological hygienist. So if as a biological biological hygienist, we look at, you know, we really want to get inflammation down. We really want to see what is the immune system doing? Where does that patient need help with? Are they dealing with mold, heavy metal toxicities, things that I we can't see? So oftentimes, if we're non-responsive, then we get into a holistic practitioner, have a wonderful working relationship with one I have for the last 20 years, and we send patients his way and full blood panels, and all sorts of things come back dysregulated, and we work from there. He'll use ozone in the blood, you're doing eBu, so we can treat the blood internally and treat the whole internal system with ozone. A lot of really cool things. So, first things first, if your hygienist isn't talking about your inflammation being anything more than just flossing and brushing, time to find a new one. Or ask questions, right? You love your hygienist just like you love your hairstylist. I love that. Ask them like, why aren't you testing my saliva? I kind of want to know. I have a family history. My great-great grandma, she had dementia. Um, my grandfather passed away from heart disease. My dad is on high blood pressure medication medicine. Da-da-da-da-da. Like, I'm at risk. I'm at risk. Why aren't you testing me? So ask your hygienist, you know, level up your hygienist if you're a patient listening. Ask your hygienist, why not me? Even though I'm mouse healthy. Let's just rule in or rule out anything that's layered in there that I can't see. And stay curious on your significant other if you are not being, if you're not responsive, if you're doing everything you can do and you constantly get cavities, you constantly have periodontal gum bleeding situation. Oftentimes it's who you're kissing or who you've kissed in the past. We've got to figure that out. And of course, nutrition, gut health, there's many layers, but just start with seeing your hygienists and staying curious and bump up your bump up your cleanings. Most of my patients, even my healthy quote unquote patients, I see them, I do request three times a year because I know we're optimizing health. And uh we can do it simply, especially women. Last little thing, women, perimenopause, menopause, we are we're special. We need more support. We lose collagen more than men. We lose bone, all the things. So, how can we help all ourselves? We keep the mouth nice and healthy so we're not dealing with that. Make sure your hormones are optimized, make sure inflammation's down. And um, that's kind of where we where we go as a biological hygienist and we sprinkle in the supplements in between.

Dr. Rachaele Carver 39:10

Yeah. And it's important, you know, some people go to the dentist and they they don't reveal all their medical history because they don't think it's relevant, right? Because then they're telling, well, whatever. The dentist is just looking at my teeth. They don't need to know about my hormones or my heart health, you know. But we do, you know, especially the biological, we all of that is relevant, right? It's all extremely important because the mouth, believe it or not, it's connected to the rest of your body. The same blood that flows through your teeth is flowing through your little toes. So, you know, everything affects everything else. And we do want to know, you know, I ask people, you know, all the way back to their childhood, you know, tell me, tell me about your childhood. And, you know, I even want to know mental emotional stuff, right? Because again, we talked about stress, right, playing into those kind of things. It has a major impact on our digestive system and therefore our immune system. You know, when I think about cavities, I I'm not thinking about, oh, you're not brushing and flossing and you're not using fluoride, shame on you. I'm thinking, what's happening with the immune system, right? So we a lot of patients, we do a lot of that, the stool testing, the gut testing, urine testing, because and every single time I've had a patient agree to do that, you see the amount of infection going on in the gut. And these people don't necessarily have any GI symptoms, but again, because it's these low-grade chronic infections, which just cause immune system degradation over time. And that's the other thing, too, as biology, we're trying to prevent, right? Once you have a symptom, that's been going on, that inflammatory process has been going on for a long time. So the body is so resilient and it's always trying to manage and adapt, you know. But once the steam runs out, right, then we develop a symptom. So we know if we can, we know prevention is so much more beneficial, right, than treatment. It's less costly, it's less time, you know, less stress. So, you know, even if you might feel like, whoa, this hygienist is asking a lot of me and wants to do all this and see me more often, it's for your own good, right? Because maybe we have to see you and it's gonna cost you a few hundred extra dollars a year for that extra cleaning, but we maybe prevented heart attack, stroke, uh, dementia, and who know you know how costly that is. Enormous, right? So we wanna, you know, we want to pay it forward and and create that optimal health. And and it starts right in the dental office. So again, it's what makes my job very exciting.

SPEAKER_01 41:30

Yeah, 100% same. It keeps us really relevant and forward in health care. And if we could just frame it from the rooftop, so everyone hears it. We need like an ad running on like all the Super Bowl shows and things like that to be like, see your hygienist and dentist first before you see anyone else. You know, we we prevent so much. So underutilized sometimes. Yeah. And we really need to bridge that gap. So my mission is to bridge the gap between traditional medicine and oral health. Uh, the body is the same. Like you said, the mouth is connected to the whole system, the blood flow goes everywhere. So we can just work on bridging that gap with podcasts like this, just like casual conversations and really just getting patients to think differently. Hygienists really need to hold themselves more accountable to education and holding their dentists, their employers, accountable for lacking information and not staying curious, because that is a big part of our industry problem.

Dr. Rachaele Carver 42:30

Yeah, absolutely. When I was talking to that new patient today, and she said, Well, the dentist told me I had a recession because I was brushing too hard. And I just I try not to roll my eyes and I think like, no, there's way more to it than that, right? And I was like, No, listen, and you know, I told she's all these things, she was like, Whoa, I never knew this. I was like, listen, we don't learn this in Donald School. I was like, I am just always been so curious and I'm always trying to understand the why. So it's nothing about that that aren't educated in that way. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 42:58

Um for sure.

Dr. Rachaele Carver 42:59

So I like what you're saying, that if there's any hygienist um or even assistants, you know, listening to the podcast, you know, ask for more education. You know, if this is something there's a bunch of organizations, right? Up I just came back from the IAOM team meeting in San Antonio. Amazing. It's all the like-minded, you know, professionals. Then we have the IABDM, which is in two weeks, there's AOS, you know, there's there's a bunch of organizations where you can learn more and it can be online. You know, I think one thing as an employer, like, I'm gonna have to send you and it gets so costly, but so much is online now, right? And and you know, my um hygienist who's doing this functional diagnosis, it's all online. She doesn't have to travel anywhere. So, you know, it's really exciting in this technological world we live in now. Yeah, it's amazing. And it helps you, you know, as a dentist, when your assistant and your hygienist are learning this, it brings you more dentistry. And to me, it's more satisfying because now I really feel like I'm doing comprehensive health care, right? I'm not just a tooth engineer. I'm actually. Doing health optimization, which you know that excites me anyway.

SPEAKER_01 44:05

Yeah, for sure. You know, the hygiene can be the center health hub of the dental office for sure. So I I will do Zoom calls with offices. I'll educate with we'll build out programs. Sometimes, you know, they're coming in green, they don't have an ozone machine, or they're looking into when we talk about it. I'll fly to offices and do a two-day intensive course, really get into the meat of the hygiene systems and see what's their KPIs I are, what's working, what's not working, how we can do things a little differently. And then help those hygienists really build out a thoughtful program that makes sense for their patients, their clientele, their where they're at in their state and what they can use. What I love about ozone is they can use it. Hygienists in any state can use it, which is a really huge asset, especially if hygienists can't use a laser. Lasers are great too. I'll build, I'll build out programs if offices aren't ready to hit the button on purchasing an ozone generator. They're not overly expensive, but if it's in your budget, if it's not, we figure it out. Something as simple as throwing in salivary testing just to start and oral probiotics will then get the wheels spinning. So if anyone out there needs a little assistance, just reach out to me. I'm happy to help and move this idea of total health dentistry further down and across the United States.

Dr. Rachaele Carver 45:20

Yeah, that's awesome. Speaking of, you know, as we're winding up here, why don't you tell us a little bit about how we can connect with you? If there are any, you know, people listening who want to learn about your program, because that's another way that instead of flying your whole team somewhere, you fly a provider to you. Um that's very nice. You know, speaking as employers, that's a great way. And then you're in your own space, right? And you're getting that hands-on, you know, in your environment. So it's it's super beneficial. We do that for a lot of our trainings now.

SPEAKER_01 45:49

Yeah. It makes it nice because that way the team can stay really collaborative. I'm really big on the hygiene team, along with Doc, really getting into the nuts and bolts of what they want to do, creating ownership as a clinician of how you're going to manage disease is really important. Um, that way you're finding yourself more successful and staying successful with your care. And then, you know, the ROA comes in into play and all that business side. We chat about that at the office too. So we can really gain ground in that regard and keep that hygiene system nice and healthy. So patients andor offices can find me through a few different modalities. I'm on Instagram at holistic with a W, holistic underscore hygienist on Instagram. And then rdhguru.com is my website, and you'll find some services that I do offer and ways to reach me there. Then lastly, if you want to shoot me an email, it's simply rootdentalconsulting at gmail.com. Happy to just come in and chat on a Zoom with your office. That's all complimentary and uh see where that lies in. But yeah, that's how patients and offices can get a hold of me for sure.

How To Connect And Next Steps

Dr. Rachaele Carver 47:02

Well, Brenda, thank you for enlightening us about the importance of your hygiene appointment. And again, reinforcing a lot of the topics that we've talked about on this program. But uh, as you know, you have to hear something about seven times right before it really sticks in. And you know, we're getting new new people listening all the time. So I like to keep these these topics rolling and again express the importance of the the difference and the value that you're really getting when you're going to a biologic office. So thank you again for all your time. I hope everybody got some tidbits out of this episode. If you enjoyed it, please leave us a review if you'd like. Share it with somebody if it was a good episode. You know somebody can get some value from it. Reach out to Brenda if you want some more information. And we'll see everybody on the next episode.

SPEAKER_01 47:53

Thank you so much, Dr. Carver.

Dr. Rachaele Carver 47:59

Huge thanks to you, our amazing listeners, for helping us climb into the top 5% of podcasts in the oral health space. With all the love and support, we've been getting many requests for one on one consultations. So we made it happen. Are you ready to take your oral health to the next level? Click the link in the show notes to book your personalized consultation and let's kick start your journey to a healthier, brighter smile starting today. We'll see you then.