YOU are my WHY
I can't help it, I just want to help people, its how God made me.
I'm not for everyone. No one is. I'm for the health enthusiasts who also dabble in the 'naughty' category from time to time. 80/20 kind of people. I love to treat my body well, feel strong and be an active participant in my life and health. But sometimes I want wine, chocolate, or beer and cheese curds, because I'm a good Wisconsin girl. If you want to know more about your health but maybe aren't ready to give up guilty pleasures 100% of the time (for most situations), I'm your girl. Here we go.
I've been a licensed Dental Hygienist for almost 20 years. I'm grateful for the in-depth schooling I received, which actually shocked me at how deep we went. Why do I need to know the 12 cranial nerves when hygienists simply clean teeth, right? After years of deep diving into human anatomy and physiology, microbiology, chemistry, nutrition, physiology and so much more, I realized this is much more than simply cleaning teeth. Back in 2008 when I graduated we knew how our oral health impacted heart disease and diabetes. That's it. There was zero discussion on the gut or oral microbiomes which now we know much more about but are still learning. We can now clinically prove how our oral health directly impacts over 50 different conditions/diseases of the body and brain. Given that our bloodstream is the super highway of the human body, I'd say its kind of a given that what grows in our mouth effects EVERYTHING.
It wasn't until 2020 when I started studying to be certified in Biological Dentistry though the IAOMT, International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology, (a group of MEDICAL AND DENTAL PROVIDERS WORKING TOGETHER AND APPROACHING THE BODY AS ONE UNIT) that I truly began to understand how its all connected. Out of the many different units within the program, I not only learned the science and impact behind specific ingredients but various aspects of health and the human body.
For the first time, I studied fluoride, root canals, tongue-tie/sleep apnea, biological compatibility of the restorations in our mouths, the importance of 3D scans and so much more, without the bias of 'research' done by the companies whose profit margins grow when we buy their products but also how all of this not only effects our oral health but also systemic. Quality of a study is everything. To look at the whole body as one interconnected system this way and hear others ask a lot of the same questions I was asking, felt like Welcome Home.
My mental health took a serious hit once reality set in that my government and many of their agencies were NOT in fact, trying to help me be healthier but the opposite; they're focused on profit margins. We spend our hard earned money on products full of promises from their marketing teams just to learn some of the active and inactive ingredients we're sold actually cause disruption to our mouth and body! WHAT?! Not a single hygienist I worked with, new what ingredients were responsible for which action in the Rx toothpastes our office sold; sensitivity, dry mouth or traditional products. I was often asked about the ingredients by my colleagues because I had done the research because I was curious. This does not make them bad hygienists, they just weren't taught. Its much harder to give truly personalized recommendations when we don't even know what makes each product able to do different things. Or the risks associated.
Allow me to take almost 20 years of clinical experience, research and passion to help you learn how to better navigate your life and all the little (and big) choices made, to better understand how they impact you and your family's overall health.
LET'S MAKE GETTING OLD NOT SUCK!