My dental story

It's pretty messed up! Just a warning haha.

And this is somewhat long but I promise it's juicy. I would never expect you to sit through something that wasn't. ;)  I do pray it opens up your eyes a bit in case you ever feel something isn't right at the dentist office. You have a voice and a strong intuition and I want you to ALWAYS harness that.

The story goes like this: I've dealt with a LOT of dental issues. I always dreaded going to the dentist because I knew I would hear-- "Oop! You need another cavity filled. Thank goodness we caught that!"

Root canals... fillings (who knows how many)... I have spent a fair share of time in the dental chair. 

Even as a teenager, I remember thinking-- this doesn't make sense. I was always super on top of my dental hygiene. I always did *exactly* what they said. 

So if I followed THEIR guidelines... Why wasn't it working? (Side note- majority of dentists themselves have had work done... and they are dentists! Their system is massively flawed.)

Anyway.

I remember being in my early teens and one day and my Mom came home all flustered. She had taken my brother to the dentist who told him (with urgency might I add) that he needed FOURTEEN cavities filled.

The next day she was able to get him into another dentist who laughed at the fourteen cavities needed and said, "Mam, this guy MAYBE needs two cavities filled." 

My Mom had gotten back from THAT appointment feeling shocked and upset that our family dentist for YEARS was ready to drill fourteen of my brother's teeth and just drain our wallets. 

She never brought up MY time with him. But I knew. That man had filled SO MANY cavities of mine over the years. Just not fourteen at once. But every 6 months or so- one or two cavities being filled. For years. How many did not need to be filled? How many were done because of greed/ lack of knowledge on how teeth can heal themselves?

What's awful is once a traditional dentist does a filling, the damage is done. The structure of your teeth gets weaker. You can't reverse that.

I remember saying to my Mom, "So many of these dentists are not doing right by people!" And she said, no- maybe only THAT one wasn't. That I needed to get that out of my head. 

Looking back, my parents were so amazing. But I wished they had questioned doctors more. That they didn't just give every doctor the benefit of the doubt.

When I was 21, a dentist told me I *needed* to get two root canals done, and I needed them done immediately-- her words. I remember being so confused because I felt no pain. Saw no recent changes to the teeth she was talking about. What did she see that I didn't?

She pulls up the x-ray, knowing dang well that my 21-year-old self has no idea what I'm looking at, and says "See these two? If we don't do something about these right away they are going to be a HUGE issue for you. I'm talking about tremendous pain, infections, and so much more. Don't wait."

I had seen a good dentist (for once) the prior two years before seeing her-- who told me I was in good shape! That despite the work I had done, I was doing very well with my teeth health.

When I moved, I had seen this new dentist- the one telling me I needed two root canals done. I told her what my last dentist said and she told me "Dentists miss stuff all the time. I guarantee he didn't have the state-of-the-art technology with x-rays that I do." She went on to scare the HECK out of me that I needed root canals with these two teeth. 

Warning sign number one-- She told me I needed it done in a matter of days and I was "so lucky" that her brother was about to fly down from San Francisco and could do my root canals. 

So I agree. Because I was young and easily taken advantage of. I was also made to believe that those were just the cards I was dealt-- I would always need dental work.

I show up to my appointment, and my dentist is there with her brother. And her brother looks YOUNG. Like maybe 24. He leaves the room for a second and I say to her, "That's who is doing my root canals? He looks so young"

I am honestly sweating at this point.

She says, "Yes and you're so lucky because he just graduated which means he's had access to the newest technologies and processes for these things." (RED FLAG!)

I remember feeling a tugging at my heart- DON'T DO THIS.

But y'all, I was such a people pleaser. My frontal lobe wasn't fully developed yet lol. And I was just too scared to stand up for myself to doctors. So I went ahead with it. 

I remember the entire procedure he was agitated. Almost like he didn't know what he was doing. 

I left that day feeling like something was not right. I felt taken advantage of. Sick.

In my later 20s, I would get work done on old work (because it never lasts) and doctors would put on crowns and more fillings. They probably saw my mouth and thought-- this girl is a gold mine.

BTW-- in this time, a scandal had broken out in the hometown I grew up in with my childhood dentist. That he was getting in big trouble to doing fillings that didn't need to be filled. I have since I had at least 5 girls message me asking if we had the same dentist growing up... we had. They all have issues now too.

In my 30s, I thought-- I'll go to a biological dentist this time. Surely that will be different. 

It was different. But... when I left, she had told me I needed $20K worth of work. Twenty. Thousand. We need to remember that biological dentists are not always saints either. 

This biologic dentist also told me-- if you start using hydroxyapatite toothpaste your teeth WILL get stronger. Wrong... my teeth got so much worse.

It wasn't until I came across Dr. Ellie Phillips on my Tiktok timeline who spoke all these truths around the dental industry. Sharing her research. She had written a few books, even particiapted in studies. I had NEVER in my life heard anyone speak so boldly about this. She said a lot of things I had ALWAYS suspected.

I ended up implementing a lot of what she preaches (not everything) but a lot of it, and really dedicated myself *even moreso* to the study of teeth and oral health. 

I mean hello!!! I was so personally invested.

I ended up seeing her at my gym and I went up to her and told her I was a big fan of hers. That she was changing my life and for the first time my teeth were feeling a lot stronger and I was feeling more in control.

Long story short- she becomes a client of mine. Because we're talking and I say-- let's take your content to the moon girlfriend!!! I can help you! I looove this sheeit. ;) She ended up CRUSHING it-- still is crushing it. Changing lives. For the better!

Now in this time, I am soaking in the presence of this BRILLIANT mind when it comes to teeth. I'm even able to talk to her about my own situation. I tell her the last dentist visit I had they said I needed a bunch of work done. 

She told me--- go see a biomimetic dentist. There's one here in Austin. Dr. Ameet Trivedi. 

I had never heard of a biomimetic dentist but I couldn't wait to try something new and from my research I felt really, really good about seeing him.

Turns out- I didn't need ANY work done. Except one thing-- I did need one of my root canals (maybe another down the line) extracted. 

Both him AND Dr. Ellie had a call to talk about my case and they both agreed those two root canals should have never been done in the first place. Not only were they botched (never see a traditional dentist for a root canal- endodontists only! And even then-- are you sure on this root canal?) but they also said it was so unlikely I needed it in the first place when the parts of my teeth that never had work done were SO SO healthy. They both suspected I had fallen victim to getting a lot of work done in the past that I never needed done.

Their words--- I had been in the hands of very crooked, greedy, dangerous dentists. 

And SO MANY people share my exact story.

So today, I sit here healing from an extraction that never should have happened in the first place. I'm feeling peace... I can't stay angry. But I sure as heck want to warn my friends about the dangers of our current dental industry. There ARE amazing dentists. But I think they are fewer than we are led to believe. 

As Dr. Ellie and Dr. Trivedi always say-- the best dentistry is NO dentistry. And you have the power to heal your OWN teeth. But if you DO need dentistry-- get the best. 

And small cavities can be reversed! 

Next time, I'll be sharing my tips for teeth health. It's all things I've mainly learned from Dr. Ellie and Dr. Trivedi-- combined with my cross-referencing and my own research. Everything that has been working incredibly well for me.

Do any of y'all have stories you could share? Would love to hear. Thinking of you! <3