It's really amazing how much our oral health reflects the rest of our body's health and vice versa. We're going to dive into that a little bit and also we're going to talk about the toxins that are typically in toothpaste and other oral health products.
Megan: Today we have an exciting interview with Amber White. Amber is a registered dental hygienist and holistic health practitioner. I'm really excited to learn a lot from her because while I have been living a more healthy and holistic life in general, I don't really feel confident about the choices I make for my healthy mouth. I just know that I should probably avoid certain things and we're going to talk a little bit about those. But I'm glad to have an expert here to talk about them because it's not something that I've really personally dived in deep. I kind of learned what I should avoid and I stopped using those ingredients but at the same time, I wasn't necessarily well versed in the knowledge of that. So I'm excited to talk with Amber today. Welcome Amber to Toxin-Free Talk.
Amber: Thank you so much for having me.
Megan: So Amber and I connected over Instagram because we have this very similar interest as far as living a more toxin free and unhealthy chemical free life. I have a daughter who hadn't gone to the dentist for a while because well my girls were going to a pediatric dentist and then during COVID They did not allow any adults in and so those appointments just never got scheduled and we didn't realize how long it had been. And then having a 16 year old it was like do I really need to be going to the pediatric dentist anymore? You know, they're still calling the cavity Sugar Bugs and you know, just like little kid things and it just felt like it was time to switch. So because of all those factors it had been a pretty long time before my daughter had gotten in to get her teeth cleaned and it turned out she had quite a few cavities. And so I was reaching out to Amber to say you know what else could be going on? Because she has yellowing teeth and I'm pretty sure it's because she's a mouth breather and she has other things going on in her life. Plus, you know she is menstruating so I know that there's some hormonal aspects to your teeth and what could be going on when you go visit the dentist. Amber was very kind and gave me lots of information and we kind of just started talking about it and I was like, you know, I know my listeners would want to hear about this too, so we're going to have a really casual conversation. And Amber, can you tell me like, what's the number one thing that you would want the listeners to learn about our oral health?
Amber: I honestly think the biggest thing to take away is that our oral health affects the rest of our body, and vice versa. So your mouth really is the gateway to your body, but also the mirror. It's a reflection of everything that's happening inside. And I think for so many years, and especially with the way the insurance model is rolled out, our mouth is treated as a completely separate entity, but everything that's happening within the systems of our body affects what's happening in the oral cavity.
Megan: Yeah, I know that during my public health career, I think it was probably like 15 years ago when I started learning about heart disease, connection with oral and gingivitis and gum health. And it's so true, but so many people don't talk about it. So I think it's really awesome that you're using your Instagram platform to kind of share. So being a holistic health practitioner what are the things that you do differently than maybe conventional oral health advocates might be saying or doing?
Amber: I think and for everyone that practices in the dentistry field, we all went to school under the traditional model to really learn clinical experience, anatomy, physiology, chemistry, all of the things. The way I look at things is through a more biological approach. So how everything that's happening inside the mouth affects the rest of the body. There's a lot of things that we're using, you know, different products that we buy over the counter with toothpaste and mouthwash, and different oral care products that really contain a lot of toxins. As you've probably switched out all of the products in your home over time and realize there's so many endocrine disruptors and things that are really wiping out the oral microbiome. So there's a lot to that and the products that I would recommend are different. Some of the practices I would recommend and definitely look at what's going on in the rest of the body and how to support that.
Megan: I know that triclosan has been in toothpaste and floss before and that's just one of the many not great ingredients that you'll find in oral care products. Of course fluoride is widely debated. Maybe we should just talk about fluoride for a couple minutes?
Amber: Yeah, I'm happy to talk about fluoride. I know this can be really controversial because you are going to see the dentist or your hygienist and you've probably been told fluoride prevents cavities. We really need to put this fluoride on your teeth so you're not getting like you said the Sugar Bugs. So there's different ways that your body can receive fluoride. The treatments that they would do in the office are a topical fluoride. And yes, they have shown some significance in remineralizing the enamel and strengthening the enamel. However, we're getting fluoride from many different sources and one of the most toxic places we really can get it is in the communities with the fluoridated water supply. Really, there's no way to control the intake. So when you are receiving too much fluoride you're at risk of dental fluorosis, which is weakened enamel and actually more prone to cavities. It's also a neurotoxin that can affect brain development, it can affect your bones, it stores in different places of the body, it has an affinity for different organ systems. And it's really hard to detox. So it's not something that I recommend at this place in my journey, I think there's better options and our teeth are not deficient in fluoride. And that's something that I think is so important to recognize. You know, our teeth are made from calcium and phosphorus, which are the main ingredients in hydroxyapatite, which is a product that's in some of the newer toothpaste now that helps to remineralize and strengthen the enamel. So from my perspective, using something natural that our teeth are actually made of, to remineralize makes a lot more sense to me.
Megan: I really appreciate that. When you go through conventional dentistry, fluoride is really promoted highly, but yet to know that there are other ways to remineralize your teeth is so helpful. What was the ingredient again, that we should look for in toothpaste? And where could we find it?
Amber: We definitely want to look at hydroxyapatite, you might see it as nano hydroxyapatite or micro hydroxyapatite. And that's going to work to remineralize enamel. But there's also a lot of factors to look into if you or your child are prone to getting cavities. It's not just the toothpaste you're using. I think that's really important to look at because we're told so many times fluoride prevents cavities we need to put on the teeth. But is anyone talking to you about the root cause as to why you're getting cavities? Because fluoride is not treating the root cause either, right?
Megan: What are those root causes of cavities?
Amber: One of the biggest things is acid. So an acidic pH of your saliva actually pulls the minerals out of the teeth. So every time we're eating, drinking, snacking, our mouth is undergoing an acid attack. Now our teeth have a natural ability to replenish those minerals. So it's a natural remineralization process that our teeth actually have the ability to do. But when it's constantly being washed with this acid, that's where cavities really come from. So eliminating the frequency of snacking, rinsing with water after meals and snacks. Of course, we want to be brushing and flossing because we want to remove any of that surface, debris, plaque, all of that. We want to get in between the teeth. But also mouth breathing is a huge component to that. So mouth breathing dries out the oral cavity, a dry environment is also an acidic environment. And that can lead to cavities. So those are just like a few things to look for.
Megan: And I know that a lot of times the carby sort of snacks that stick in your teeth can often be one of the worst. And well of course, raisins or gummy snacks, those sorts of things can also be pretty terrible for cavities as well.
Amber: Yeah, definitely. I mean, our teeth naturally have grooves in them. So anything that's going to sit in those grooves for a long period of time. Anything sticky, gummy, that kind of thing, but also guess those snacks, and if you follow any of the biological dentists, especially pediatric they're gonna say avoid the goldfish crackers and avoid those type of snacks because those tend to really sit in the teeth and they can break down the enamel.
Megan: What about gut, how your gut is, how healthy your gut is, does that affect your teeth?
Amber: Yeah. 100%. So your mouth is the start of your gut. So, you know, this is where your digestion begins. So if there's any issue here, and this is a bidirectional relationship. If there's anything going on in your mouth, any kind of bacterial dysbiosis, or if your mouth breathing, your mouth is dry, you don't have as many of the enzymes to break down the food as you're chewing it, you know, that's going to affect gut health. And having a gut microbiome imbalance as well is going to affect the oral cavity. If we don't have the proper amount of stomach acid, we're having acid reflux, that's going to also break down enamel. So there's a lot to look for in there.
Megan: Okay. So in summary we need to pay attention to our gut health, not snack as often, maybe healthier snacks as well rinsing with water, trying to see if you're a mouth breather. What can you do about mouth breathing?
Amber: So this is a big question. Depending on the severity of it, I think every child, every adult should really have an airway assessment. Some mouth breathing stems from different things that are going on. Eating the standard American diet, a lot of times is a softer diet, it's not forcing your mouth to chew as much as we used to. So we have limited jaw development from that. And also from mouth breathing, we can have an enlarged tongue, our bite is different. So definitely, there's a lot to look for, I would definitely look at getting an airway assessment. There are things like mouth tape, maybe you've heard of where you can actually just tape over the mouth. As you go to sleep at night, and I think that works great for a lot of people. However, we want to make sure that you're actually able to fully breathe through your nose. So just testing that out. Because that can help stimulate the salivary response, it's going to help the way your jaw develops. So it's gonna help a lot of things. So that's something that you can do if your airway is not as compromised.
Megan: Yeah, and I know that mouth breathing can affect a lot of other things, including your brain health. There's a book, I think it's called Breathe. I have not read it, but I've heard about it, and a friend recommended it, it's on my list. But it's pretty fascinating how just simply mouth breathing can affect so much of your health and your brain. But I do know that, you know, not everyone should be using mouth tape. Just you know, I want to make that announcement here. Because a lot of people think they can just solve the problem by using mouth tape, but it isn't appropriate if you have certain health conditions. Or if you don't have a proper pathway to breathe through your nose, obviously, because then you're not getting enough oxygen. So just want to put that out there. What do you think about electric toothbrushes? Or the Waterpik?
Amber: So I love them personally, I think they're great. I think you can effectively do the job of brushing with a manual or an electric toothbrush. I personally prefer electric because it's doing a lot of the work for you. And the pressure is set for you. So you know, that is something that comes into play if people are struggling with gum recession and things like that. A lot of times it’s from brushing too hard. So an electric toothbrush is going to have a pressure sensor, it's going to kind of guide you in the process, especially for children. There's timers so you're brushing for that full two minutes, so they can be super helpful and educational. Especially as you're working with your children on starting to brush on their own. The Waterpik is amazing too. I'm personally a traditional flosser but I think the Waterpik is great for anyone who really can't get into the habit, doesn't love getting into the habit, anyone that has any type of ortho, braces, things like that. Any spacing between their teeth, it can be super helpful to get in between there.
Megan: Okay, good to know. What about wisdom teeth? I know it is a controversial topic. Do you get them out? When do you get them out?
Amber: There's a lot of information out there on this topic. And I think, in my generation in our generation, we probably were told once you turn 18 or 19 or 20, you get your wisdom teeth out, which is kind of like the standard procedure. Unfortunately, what we see a lot with people that just had their wisdom teeth out we see cavitation. So I'm not sure if you're familiar with that term. But when we remove a tooth, we want to make sure we've removed the periodontal ligament. That's a ligament that surrounds the tooth. When that's not fully removed, we see an area where the bone doesn't fully heal, because it's not stimulating the cells to go back to that site and rebuild bone. So that is a concern when it comes to removing wisdom teeth and something to look at, that can be evaluated on a cone beam X ray, which is a 3D x ray of the jaw, that will allow you to see in a well developed jaw, most likely you'll have room for your wisdom teeth. The problem is that our jaw development has changed so much throughout the years, that we're not able to fit them. So in a perfect world, we wouldn't lose any of our teeth. Now, Wisdom teeth are a little strange, where sometimes they can grow in different angles and have different concerns. So I would always get a cone beam X ray, 3D X ray to evaluate them and see how they sit on the nerve and the jaw.
Megan: That's really good information. Okay, let's talk about X rays, since a lot of people that live a more natural life are scared of the radiation associated with X rays. So what's your take on X rays?
Amber: So I actually posted about this not too long ago, and I got tons of feedback. X rays are incredibly important for diagnosis. So if you are going to your dentist and they can only see the surface area of your teeth, and they're unable to see below a lot of things can be missed, that otherwise could be treated very minimally. Now, that being said, I do believe X ray recommendations are not being recommended on proper recalls for a lot of people. So we want to factor in everything very individualized. And so when you go to your dentist, all the dentists recommend X rays once every six months or once every year. I personally think that's too much. I would look for how prone you are to cavities, when was your last cavity. If you haven't had a cavity in 5, 10, 15, 20 years, you definitely wouldn't need X rays every six months to a year. That's really based on what your insurance benefit allows. I think basing any treatment off of what your insurance benefit allows is not looking at you as an individual. Dental X rays are the lowest radiation of any type of X ray you can receive. Of course, we receive radiation just from living in this universe, traveling, eating bananas. Different things have radiation that we don't even think about. But I do think on the appropriate recall, they're extremely necessary. I do think there's a lot of things that you can do to support your body to detox that radiation, both prior and following.
Megan: So how do you prep and then afterwards, what do you do?
Amber: There are a bunch of different things you can do. Of course with anything, we want to make sure our drainage pathways are open. We want to make sure we're sweating, going to the bathroom, breathing fully through our lungs, making sure liver health, kidney health, all of those are good. You can always do things like dry brushing, or castor oil packs, things like that. But as far as supplements you can take there are a bunch of different ones.We can do homeopathic remedies that help the detox. Sea kelp is great. Garlic is great for detoxing radiation. So there's a bunch of different things that we can do to support our body in the process.
Megan: Awesome, very helpful. Okay, and then recently you had a post about canker sores and I thought it was really fascinating because there was a time years ago where I would have these recurring canker sores in my mouth constantly. This was before I really knew anything about ingredients in my products, so I probably was using just conventional toothpaste and maybe was irritating it on top of it but I also think it was related to stress. But I also have had some not so great gut health in the past too. So when I read that canker sore post, I was like ding, ding , ding ,ding. I think so many people don't think about it. So tell us a little bit more about canker sores.
Amber: They can definitely come up a lot of different times for a lot of different reasons. I think most of the time, you might hear stress, which plays a huge role, or it's a certain foods you're eating, and those can definitely be true. But some of the things that are really important to look at are B vitamin deficiencies can be really linked to that. We can also look at gluten sensitivity as it can really be a big factor, but also the ingredients in our toothpaste. So sodium lauryl sulfate and triclosan. SLS really can exacerbate canker sores to come out. A lot of toothpaste on the market are taking them out of their product. But SLS is basically the ingredient that makes your toothpaste foamy, that kind of detergent-like feeling that many of us were used to growing up with and maybe still are. So if canker sores are an issue for you, those would be the big things I would look into.
Megan: Yeah, very helpful. I remember back to like my grandfather, and he had tooth powder back in the day, which was basically baking soda. And it's so strange to think about brushing with such a simple product as baking soda. But I mean, honestly, it's just like every other product. They keep coming up with new ways and new products, and they just want to market us something new and better. But you know what is supposed to be better than the old stuff isn't necessarily better than the good old fashioned remedies that we have around.
Amber: Some things that are important are looking at your nutrition, making sure you're getting the right vitamins, and the right things in your diet. Fat soluble vitamins are really supportive of your teeth. So vitamins A, D, E, and K, also omegas. If we're doing any type of lab testing on ourselves or our families, we definitely want to look at things like vitamin D and Vitamin K, because those are really building blocks for our teeth, and really how strong the enamel is. Like you said your grandfather would brush with baking soda and how simple that was, and now all these ingredients are in them and a lot of it is a marketing ploy. Toothpaste is probably one of the least important things that we're using, because it's really how effective we're brushing and in a healthy mouth, we naturally have that remineralization process. So you know, when I talk about hydroxyapatite, adding different things to your regimen, that's to really combat all the things that we might be doing to disrupt our oral microbiome. The frequent snacking and mouth breathing all of these things. So just really looking at what we're doing on a daily basis and just implementing small daily habits because that's really going to be what supports you long term.
Megan: Yeah, super helpful information and I think you're so right about the toothpaste and yet it is what we are number one promoted to when it comes to our oral health. Using a specific toothpaste really doesn't matter. Although you do want to eliminate the toxic ingredients that are in it. Well, this has been really helpful, Amber, and where can my listeners find you and get more information?
Amber: So I'm on Instagram, @naturallyamberwhite so they can follow me there. I post pretty regularly and love sharing topics. So anything that comes up, like we were talking about that canker sore post was because a friend of mine reached out and said, you know, my husband has canker sores. I really just want my page to be supportive and just a place where you can look to reference different things because there's so much information out there. And in order to support our bodies, we really need the right information. And always feel free to send me a message if there's certain topics you want to see.
Megan: Thank you so much. It's been so great to have you and we'll be chatting soon.
Amber: Awesome. Thank you so much for having me.
