Speaker 1: Every once in a while, I have these dreams where
Speaker 1: I'm talking and then all of a sudden, my teeth
Speaker 1: just start falling out of my face.
Speaker 2: Mmm.
Speaker 1: Okay, if you're a dream interpreter, slide into my DMS
Speaker 1: or comment under our post because I want to know
Speaker 1: what that means. I have them regularly, at least once
Speaker 1: a month, where the teeth are just coming out as
Speaker 1: if they are made of.
Speaker 3: Plato oof, and nobody's hit you in the dream.
Speaker 1: No, I'm just talking and they just start coming out.
Speaker 3: Do you grind your teeth that night? I do. Do
Speaker 3: you think maybe you just grind them so hard that
Speaker 3: the teeth are like help, They're just.
Speaker 1: Trying to save me. It's like you girl, you're grinding
Speaker 1: your teeth into a fine pace.
Speaker 3: Yes. You know how when we had the sleep episode
Speaker 3: and doctor Jean Luis said, hey, you snore you that's
Speaker 3: your way of saying wake up. Your teeth are falling
Speaker 3: out in your dreams because they're saying take it easy
Speaker 3: on us, please take it. Yeah, you know you're not
Speaker 3: the only one t t in the pandemic. We've seen
Speaker 3: an uptick in dental problems. People are grinding their teeth
Speaker 3: because they're stressed out, and with the state of the
Speaker 3: world today, I'm sure there's even more tooth grinding. So
Speaker 3: if you're having those dreams, your teeth wanting out. And
Speaker 3: that takes us right into today's episode, All about Teeth.
Speaker 3: I'm t T and I'm Zachiah and from Spotify.
Speaker 2: This is Dope Labs.
Speaker 3: Welcome to Dope Labs, a weekly podcast that makes us
Speaker 3: hardcore science, pop culture, and a healthy dose of friendship.
Speaker 1: This week, we're talking all about teeth.
Speaker 3: We're seeing a lot of teeth, new teeth, adorned, teeth,
Speaker 3: be dazzled teeth. Teeth have been getting a lot of play,
Speaker 3: and so we're going to talk about it.
Speaker 1: Specifically, we really wanted to know more about the connections
Speaker 1: between dental health and our overall health, and how advances
Speaker 1: in modern dentistry are changing the game for certain treatments
Speaker 1: like braces, veneers, and root canals. They're not as bad
Speaker 1: as they used to be. Apparently, well that's what I'm hearing,
Speaker 1: but I'm not so sure. I just still don't want one.
Speaker 3: Let's get into the recitation, all right, So what do
Speaker 3: we know? Historically going to the dentists hasn't been thought
Speaker 3: of as a fun thing to do.
Speaker 1: On TV and movies, it's always portraying going to the
Speaker 1: dentists as the worst thing you could possibly do. And
Speaker 1: I think another thing is that how healthy our teeth
Speaker 1: are is really tied to what we eat. I know
Speaker 1: I talked about not one of my teeth are right
Speaker 1: out of my face drinking Coca cola in our Habits episode,
Speaker 1: But I know that other aspects of your diet can
Speaker 1: really affect your dental health.
Speaker 3: Yes, I think we also know that dental problems or
Speaker 3: dental visits have been on the rise. I think there
Speaker 3: were some articles that talked about people not doing regular
Speaker 3: dental hygiene and going to the dentist's office because it
Speaker 3: always feels like an extra thing, right, it's not something
Speaker 3: that's pressing. If you don't have, you know, a crack
Speaker 3: tooth or a toothache, you can kind of put it off.
Speaker 3: And so I think people have maybe put it off
Speaker 3: too long, and now the dentist's office is booming.
Speaker 1: So what do we want to know?
Speaker 3: I have a lot of questions t teeth firstus just
Speaker 3: tooth anatomy. We talk about teeth, but like, what's really
Speaker 3: happening in there?
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I feel like there is no person that
Speaker 1: doesn't think about their teeth, their tooth health. I feel
Speaker 1: like everybody's thinking about, oh, how do I present myself
Speaker 1: when I'm smiling? I hope people like my smile and
Speaker 1: things like that. I think everybody thinks about it. And
Speaker 1: so I want to know what are some of the
Speaker 1: most common things going wrong inside of our mouth.
Speaker 3: I have had a dental procedure. The procedure went fine,
Speaker 3: but I had all my wisdom teeth cut out. Oh
Speaker 3: my gosh, and I was a terror coming off of
Speaker 3: that general anesthesia.
Speaker 1: When was this? I need to know what's a key
Speaker 1: of this?
Speaker 3: Was? This was high school as a kia, Ok, you
Speaker 3: already know. And I just can remember waking up and
Speaker 3: my mom tells a story all the time that I
Speaker 3: thought the nurse had she had on white shoes, she
Speaker 3: was a nurse, and I thought she had stolen my
Speaker 3: new Casewiss that I had. And I was like, she
Speaker 3: has my shoes, she stole my shoes. That's me on anesthesia,
Speaker 3: you don't want to be around. And I'd love to
Speaker 3: know more about the link between oral health and general
Speaker 3: physical health. You know, I've got some interest from a
Speaker 3: microbiological perspective, but I think there's probably more to it
Speaker 3: than I even realized.
Speaker 1: They're biofilms on the teeth.
Speaker 3: Yes, oh that's what you're scraping off. You're physically disrupting
Speaker 3: those biofilms with your toothbrush.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, teeth are wearing a jacket.
Speaker 3: L that's so crazy. I'm now I'm like, could I
Speaker 3: draw that?
Speaker 1: And then I feel like the most common thing that
Speaker 1: folks are afraid of is a root canal. But I
Speaker 1: don't even really know what a root canal is, like
Speaker 1: what is actually happening? So I want to know what
Speaker 1: is a root canal actually, and what are you doing
Speaker 1: and how does it work?
Speaker 3: It feels like a paradox. You know, people are both
Speaker 3: afraid of root canals and seeing the dentists for that,
Speaker 3: but we're also seeing an uptick in cosmetic dental procedures.
Speaker 3: People are getting the diamonds. You remember Monica did it first,
Speaker 3: just one of them days. She had those diamonds on
Speaker 3: her custods. People are really tricking their mouths out now.
Speaker 3: But it feels strange if you're scared of the dentists.
Speaker 1: Yep, I saw a person get fake braces like it's
Speaker 1: actual braces, Like they got them installed, but they serve
Speaker 1: no purpose. She was like, I think I look cute
Speaker 1: with braces.
Speaker 3: Wow. Yeah, there's a lot to unpack here. Let's jump
Speaker 3: into the dissection.
Speaker 1: Our guest for today's lab is doctor Marcus Johnson.
Speaker 4: I'm a dental specialists, more specifically an indodonis and I
Speaker 4: have a private practice in Midtown Manhattan, and we are
Speaker 4: trying to save teeth and eliminate pain for any patients who.
Speaker 5: Need our services.
Speaker 3: You know, for a lot of people, going to the
Speaker 3: dentists isn't a favorite pastime. Well, a lot of people
Speaker 3: actually dread it. But doctor Johnson says, when it comes
Speaker 3: to seeing a dentist, there is a lot to be
Speaker 3: excited about.
Speaker 4: Dentistry has made significant strides and improvements, and modern dentistry
Speaker 4: is very much I think there's affordability within that it's accessible,
Speaker 4: the information is out there, the clinicians are trained well,
Speaker 4: there's so many different avenues to learn, even beyond just
Speaker 4: a traditional classroom. We're learning from each other on Instagram,
Speaker 4: you know, different platforms of communication.
Speaker 5: So don't be fearful of the dentists because the dentist
Speaker 5: is your friend.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I've seen some pretty funny tiktoks from dentists on
Speaker 1: everything from how to properly brush your teeth, like when
Speaker 1: you're supposed to brush your teeth, it's before you eat breakfast,
Speaker 1: of course, to debunking certain myths about oral health.
Speaker 3: So first we ask doctor Johnson to help us understand
Speaker 3: the anatomy of a tooth, because, if we're being honest,
Speaker 3: teeth are kind of weird when you really think about it. Okay,
Speaker 3: let's clear this up once and for all our teeth bones.
Speaker 1: That is a very good question, because I feel like
Speaker 1: I see a lot of really funny memes about this
Speaker 1: very thing. Even though it makes sense that we might
Speaker 1: think that teeth are bones. You know, they're white, they're hard.
Speaker 1: You would think that that's what your bones might feel
Speaker 1: like they show up on X rays exactly. They do
Speaker 1: have calcium. But teeth are not bones. Doctor Johnson helped
Speaker 1: us break it down a little further.
Speaker 4: Teeth sometimes can be overlooked, but the old cavity is
Speaker 4: the entrance into the body, and so when we talk
Speaker 4: about teeth, we have to understand that the importance is
Speaker 4: paramount when you smile everyone sees the pearly whites.
Speaker 5: That's the enamel, that's the outer covering.
Speaker 1: The enamel is actually harder than bone. Doctor Johnson told us.
Speaker 1: It's one of the hardest substances within our bodies and
Speaker 1: it acts as a protective layer for the tooth.
Speaker 4: Inside of a tooth, underneath that is another layer, which
Speaker 4: is dentin, and that's like a forgiving aspect of the tooth. Essentially,
Speaker 4: if there's cavities or any sort of trauma to a tooth,
Speaker 4: that's going to be a protective mechanism for the tooth
Speaker 4: and actually respond in a way where cells can regenerate
Speaker 4: or sometimes they may not.
Speaker 3: And beneath the dentin is the pulp of the tooth.
Speaker 3: That's where all the nerves and blood vessels are located
Speaker 3: and those supply the tooth with nutrients.
Speaker 4: The whole idea is to protect the pulp, and the
Speaker 4: pulp is what you think about when people say, oh,
Speaker 4: I have a nerve that's exposed.
Speaker 5: Have to get a root canal.
Speaker 1: So protecting the pulp, those nerves and blood vessels inside
Speaker 1: the tooth is critical. The root canal is a passageway
Speaker 1: where nerves and blood vessels are connected. To the head
Speaker 1: and neck.
Speaker 4: And that's where sensory is applied to the cerebral cortex
Speaker 4: and the thouamus.
Speaker 5: We're pain as processed.
Speaker 4: So ideally you want to keep our teeth as healthy
Speaker 4: as possible so that we don't have any insult or
Speaker 4: threat which is going to cause pain, or any sort
Speaker 4: of noxious stemuli which is gonna you know, listen, discomfort.
Speaker 3: But it's not just about protecting our teeth from discomfort.
Speaker 3: That enamel denting and even the soft tissue gums surrounding
Speaker 3: our teeth, those all help protect each tooth from bacteria.
Speaker 4: So when you have bacteria that are within the mouth,
Speaker 4: once they have a way to get into the tooth
Speaker 4: and affect the nerve, they cause disease.
Speaker 3: And you know, there's always bacteria in the mouth. The
Speaker 3: problem is when we don't keep up with our oral health,
Speaker 3: the bacteria begin to feed on sugars and starches from
Speaker 3: our food that stay in the mouth, and this leads
Speaker 3: to plaque and tartar build up, and that's just biofilms,
Speaker 3: biological films of bacteria, and then this makes way for
Speaker 3: tooth decay and catvities and potential infection and cavities and children,
Speaker 3: also called childhood carries, is one of the most prevalent
Speaker 3: dental diseases in the United States, and.
Speaker 4: We have made significant strides in combating all health disease,
Speaker 4: specifically childhood carries through fluoridation community floridation of water. We
Speaker 4: know that communities where there is floridated water there's about
Speaker 4: a twenty five percent decrease in overall childhood are just
Speaker 4: carries in general for adults and children, and of course
Speaker 4: dental ceilings.
Speaker 3: In twenty eighteen, the CDC found that about seventy three
Speaker 3: percent of communities in the United States had access to
Speaker 3: fluoridated water, and so like doctor Johnson said that access
Speaker 3: leads to a twenty five percent decrease in cavity formation
Speaker 3: in kids, so twenty five percent of the population is
Speaker 3: missing out on that benefit.
Speaker 1: The other solution doctor Johnson talked about is dental sealants
Speaker 1: to protect young teeth from disease.
Speaker 5: Once a permanent tooth comes in and for most kids
Speaker 5: around age six or seven, as those teeth are upt
Speaker 5: we can use composites to kind of bond onto the
Speaker 5: tooth to actually create a seal, so that like I mentioned,
Speaker 5: bacteria or sugar from food and.
Speaker 4: Things of that nature does not actually get into the
Speaker 4: grooves of the tooth, leading to an inflammatory response that
Speaker 4: leads to the breakdown of the tooth enamel. It's a
Speaker 4: very basic procedure. It's relatively inexpensive. One of the beautiful
Speaker 4: things about the Affordable Care Act as it made it
Speaker 4: a strict requirement that for all children under eighteen that
Speaker 4: all healthcare are at least prevented to services are included
Speaker 4: within that provision of health.
Speaker 3: So is this different from the fluor eye varnish I
Speaker 3: got as a.
Speaker 1: Kid, So sealants are not the same thing as a
Speaker 1: fluor eye varnished. According to doctor Johnson, sealants are actually
Speaker 1: bonded to the teeth and are meant to last until
Speaker 1: they're worn away from regular function. They provide additional protection
Speaker 1: from food, bacteria and things like that from getting into
Speaker 1: the grooves or crevices of the teeth, but they're not
Speaker 1: a substitute for brushing. And Fluoride, on the other hand,
Speaker 1: strengthens enamel to resist breakdowns that lead to cavities, but
Speaker 1: that's temporary and the effects are not long lasting like
Speaker 1: it is with a ceiling.
Speaker 3: So those are some common issues that can happen with
Speaker 3: the tooth itself. But another area where disease is very
Speaker 3: prevalent is the gum tissue or periodontia.
Speaker 5: At least for adults over thirty, periodonal disease or diseases
Speaker 5: of the gums are very prevalent, maybe even upwards to
Speaker 5: fifty percent of those over thirty are going to experience
Speaker 5: some sort of parodonal disease, inflammation, gum irritation, bone loss
Speaker 5: just to lack of potental care.
Speaker 1: And as doctor Johnson says, oral health is not just
Speaker 1: about protecting our teeth. There is also a connection between
Speaker 1: oral health and general health, especially because people tend to
Speaker 1: see dentists a bit more frequently than primary care providers.
Speaker 1: Dentists are really on the front line of a larger
Speaker 1: community of health health care providers.
Speaker 4: There's been significant research that shows the strong link between
Speaker 4: oral health and systemic health. And so sometimes a patient
Speaker 4: may come in, they'll have some sort of peridonal sores
Speaker 4: or gum sores or something like that, certain just presentations
Speaker 4: within the mouth that may say, you know what, you
Speaker 4: may be a candidate for diabetes or some other systemic
Speaker 4: element like hypertension. Why don't you go ahead and take
Speaker 4: this go follow up with your primary care provider at
Speaker 4: least gets screened.
Speaker 3: That sounds like a good dentist to me. Yes, it's
Speaker 3: really fascinating when you think about it, because I don't
Speaker 3: think of the dentist visit the same as I think
Speaker 3: of a doctor's visit. And because dental insurance is always build,
Speaker 3: you know, separate from our overall health insurance, we're kind
Speaker 3: of trained to view dentistry and oral health as separate
Speaker 3: from our overall health. But it's really super connected. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Doctor Johnson gave us another example with pregnant people. Healthcare
Speaker 1: providers have found a systemic link between pregnant people with
Speaker 1: untreated gum disease and low birth weight in babies. And
Speaker 1: it's not just oral health that can be an indicator
Speaker 1: of things like diabetes or hypertension. Those things can affect
Speaker 1: your oral health just as much. So it's like a
Speaker 1: chicken or egg type thing. Your health can affect your teeth,
Speaker 1: and your teeth can affect your health.
Speaker 4: And just to put it a little bit more plainly,
Speaker 4: if someone were maybe to have hypertension uncontrolled diabetes, we
Speaker 4: understand that diabetes delays healing.
Speaker 5: The increase in the sugar. It's going to prevent proper healing.
Speaker 3: Well, now that we're talking about healing, let's go ahead
Speaker 3: and get to the number one invasive thing we always
Speaker 3: hear about when it comes to teeth on television, and
Speaker 3: that's root canals.
Speaker 1: Oh no, I'm nervous.
Speaker 3: The only thing that felt as globally hated as root
Speaker 3: canals growing up was Brussels sprouts, Like those are the
Speaker 3: two things on TV.
Speaker 1: That everybody this is absolutely.
Speaker 3: But doctor Johnson is saying, hey, the times will change.
Speaker 3: It's telling us we shouldn't be afraid of a root canal.
Speaker 4: Patians think that by going to get a root canal,
Speaker 4: they're going to be in pain. Quite the opposite. When
Speaker 4: you go to see the endodonnas or go to get
Speaker 4: a root canal. Our whole focus is to eliminate me
Speaker 4: and with modern advances in local anesthetics as well as
Speaker 4: general anesthesia, just a lot of ways that we can manage.
Speaker 5: And properly treat these cases in a seamless fashion.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of other reasons why a patient might
Speaker 1: need a root canal. Doctor Johnson gave us four examples.
Speaker 1: The first is trauma to the teeth, so from a
Speaker 1: sports injury or a fall or an accident that might
Speaker 1: have happened that might disrupt the nerve complex.
Speaker 3: Second, cavities can break the teeth down over time.
Speaker 1: The third is rapid movement of teeth that disrupt the
Speaker 1: nerve complex. Now, I just need to know where are
Speaker 1: those teethe's going.
Speaker 3: Well, you remember in middle school back when kids used
Speaker 3: to put rubber hands on their teeth and stuff like that,
Speaker 3: making fake.
Speaker 1: Braces, homemade braces.
Speaker 3: And you know, like you said, some people on TikTok
Speaker 3: and Instagram, they're making fake braces. So if you are
Speaker 3: not doing this stuff under the care of a dentist
Speaker 3: or orthodontist, you were not moving your teeth at a
Speaker 3: slow pace, and you could have this happen. This was
Speaker 3: what some of the dentists were complaining about. For some
Speaker 3: of those Instagram companies that were sending trays directly to people,
Speaker 3: they're not linking you up with a dentist and you
Speaker 3: start getting some rapid movement, things can go wrong.
Speaker 1: Them teeth are sprinting.
Speaker 3: It's supposed to be slow and steady.
Speaker 1: It's supposed to be a leisurely walk. Them teeths printing
Speaker 1: to the finish line.
Speaker 3: And then the final thing is crack teeth from grinding.
Speaker 3: I know, we saw a lot of stress grinding of
Speaker 3: teeth during the pandemic, so root canal is going up,
Speaker 3: up up.
Speaker 1: I was actually one of those people, but I was
Speaker 1: lucky because I have a retainer. So it almost looks
Speaker 1: like an invisil line. I had a retainer that I
Speaker 1: was putting in and I grinded through the retainer, so it, wow,
Speaker 1: basically acted as like a shield from my actual teeth.
Speaker 1: I probably would have grinded down to my gums.
Speaker 3: Oh wow, So you're saying you think you could have
Speaker 3: grounded through your enamel. Denton numbers stuff.
Speaker 1: Nerves.
Speaker 4: Two thirds of dentists have seen an increase in patients
Speaker 4: coming into their practice with practee, and so we know
Speaker 4: that is a direct result of the high anxiety from
Speaker 4: the pandemic. Patients staying at home more, snatching more frequently,
Speaker 4: sitting in front of the computer zoom, things of that nature.
Speaker 1: The root canal is all about saving the tooth, which
Speaker 1: doctor Johnson says is more preferable than an extraction, so
Speaker 1: pulling the tooth out. Here's how the process works.
Speaker 4: One of the analogies I like to use is like
Speaker 4: a number two pencil. So early I gave us the
Speaker 4: anatomy of the tooth. Well, if you think of a
Speaker 4: pencil as the tooth, the lead would represent the nerve.
Speaker 4: So by completing a root canal, essentially we are removing
Speaker 4: the lead from the pencil. You still have the pencil intact,
Speaker 4: and cleaning out that space and then filling it up
Speaker 4: selling it up as to keep any contaminants or bacteria
Speaker 4: from getting back into that space.
Speaker 5: So by doing the root canal, technically we are saving
Speaker 5: your tube.
Speaker 3: I get it. The goal is to get in there
Speaker 3: and clean out all of that bacteria from the canal space.
Speaker 3: And they do need to use a drill or sometimes
Speaker 3: they use lasers to drill a hole into the tooth
Speaker 3: to get down in there, and that can turn a
Speaker 3: lot of people off. I feel like, keep the lid
Speaker 3: in my pencil.
Speaker 1: Yes me, I am people, I'm gonna keep all those pencils.
Speaker 1: It'll be fine. In terms of comfort during the procedure,
Speaker 1: which can take an hour to an hour and a half,
Speaker 1: the patient is typically placed under general anesthesia so that
Speaker 1: there's no pain. And now dentists will offer headphones for
Speaker 1: patients to listen to music or watch TV instead of
Speaker 1: hearing all those dental sounds. You know the zoo, Yes,
Speaker 1: those are the noises. I don't like blood pressure through
Speaker 1: the roof as soon as I hear it.
Speaker 3: Well, let's take a break and when we come back,
Speaker 3: we'll get into some of these new developments, trends, and
Speaker 3: technologies in dent.
Speaker 1: We're back. We've been talking to doctor Marcus Johnson all
Speaker 1: about teeth oral health and how it's connected to our
Speaker 1: overall health. But before we get back to that, let's
Speaker 1: talk about what we're covering in next week's Live.
Speaker 3: Next week, we're talking all about cybersecurity. Scamming stories have
Speaker 3: been on the rise, from inventing Anna to the tender Swindler.
Speaker 3: You know, we've been hearing a lot about ransomware attacks
Speaker 3: and other cybersecurity threats too, So we're digging into exactly
Speaker 3: what that means and how to keep our online information safe.
Speaker 3: But in the meantime, let's get back to teeth.
Speaker 1: I've seen on TikTok that there are some people who
Speaker 1: are really taking their oral health into their own hands.
Speaker 1: I saw a TikTok of a woman who was like,
Speaker 1: I just got three teeth pulled in that apartment right there,
Speaker 1: and she points to this high rise apartment. I was like, no,
Speaker 1: that is not where a dentist is doing business. I'm sorry, dog.
Speaker 1: I've seen people getting like all of the technology they
Speaker 1: need to put on their own braces. I've seen people
Speaker 1: making their own retainers with plastic beads, and you put
Speaker 1: the plastic beads in hot water. Once all the plastic
Speaker 1: beads like melt, you put in your mouth and you
Speaker 1: shape it around your teeth. It's how you make like
Speaker 1: a mouthguard for when you're playing sports. But they use
Speaker 1: it as a retainer.
Speaker 3: No, no, no, and no.
Speaker 1: I've seen everything on these internets. It doesn't seem safe.
Speaker 3: We're taking pinterest in dy too far, too far.
Speaker 1: Not everything is meant to DIY. You shouldn't be diye
Speaker 1: wying your own like surgeries.
Speaker 3: Yeah, if you can go to the dentist, you should.
Speaker 3: Now we realize everybody doesn't have access, right, but I
Speaker 3: think if you do have access, take the dentist approved
Speaker 3: route first. When I look back, it might have been
Speaker 3: too much. When you know, I remember tying some string
Speaker 3: around a tooth and closing the door, trying to pull
Speaker 3: a loose tooth out you tell me permanent teeth people
Speaker 3: are adjusting in apartments. No, thank you, no way.
Speaker 1: I saw a TikTok of a woman who got verses
Speaker 1: put on by her friend. They don't function, but now
Speaker 1: her teeth are shifting, her gums are receding, and her
Speaker 1: teeth are shifting. She had perfectly straight teeth put the
Speaker 1: purses on. Now they look very different. I'll say that,
Speaker 1: m H.
Speaker 3: I believe it. And like doctor Johnson told us earlier,
Speaker 3: oral health can indicate other health issues, and if you're
Speaker 3: having your teeth worked on by somebody who's not a dentist,
Speaker 3: they could easily disregard signs of other health implications like
Speaker 3: sores on the gum.
Speaker 1: I don't know what's happening. It doesn't seem safe. Is
Speaker 1: it safe.
Speaker 4: This platform with DIY has really taken off, specifically within
Speaker 4: the dental space, but I think it's important that we
Speaker 4: really promote safety first. At the end of the day,
Speaker 4: it's always best to consult with a trained dental specialist,
Speaker 4: and now with ZOOM being so prevalent, you can just
Speaker 4: call up your local or the dona's have that consultation first,
Speaker 4: and if they recommend a DIY program for you, by
Speaker 4: all means, it's most likely got to work for you.
Speaker 1: Doctor Johnson said, if they say to go to your
Speaker 1: next door neighbor and tell them to use the pliers
Speaker 1: and pull it out, go ahead. But I doubt they
Speaker 1: will say that.
Speaker 3: And doctor Johnson also said that he's seen to increase
Speaker 3: in patients actually needing treatments like root canals because they
Speaker 3: tried to do their own thing first. So they tried
Speaker 3: to make their own invisil line and ended up doing
Speaker 3: damage to their nerve bundles in their too. So if
Speaker 3: you're not careful, what you tried to prevent in the
Speaker 3: first place with DIY will actually create more problems for
Speaker 3: you down the road and boom, you're right back at
Speaker 3: the dentist office.
Speaker 1: Just stop all that and just go to the dentist. So,
Speaker 1: as an ended dantist, most of what doctor Johnson specializes
Speaker 1: in is under the surface of the tooth. But we
Speaker 1: really wanted to ask him to talk about veneers. We're
Speaker 1: seeing a lot of people getting veneers as opposed to
Speaker 1: root canal. Veneers are really about improving the aesthetic of
Speaker 1: your teeth.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I feel like ever since Cardi B was like.
Speaker 1: Yes, I was gonna say that got a bag and
Speaker 1: fix my teeth. Hope you know this ish.
Speaker 2: Ain't ain't cheap.
Speaker 1: I think everybody's gone teeth crazy, Yeah, everybody. I feel
Speaker 1: like so many people have veniers these days, and they're
Speaker 1: getting them at a rapid break. Like it went from
Speaker 1: you know, in a few people there have veneers because
Speaker 1: they had, you know, some dental issue that they were
Speaker 1: trying to fix. To now, getting veneers is like getting
Speaker 1: a pair of glasses.
Speaker 3: I was gonna say, like when people got a second hole,
Speaker 3: you know for the hearing, it was like everybody got
Speaker 3: them all of a sudden.
Speaker 1: You know if that's probably more in line with that
Speaker 1: than glasses because glasses you actually need them to see.
Speaker 4: So as opposed to getting a crown, and a crown
Speaker 4: is going to cover the entire tooth surface, if you
Speaker 4: think about it, a crown goes around the entire circumference
Speaker 4: of the tooth. A veneer is only going to go
Speaker 4: over the outside facing aspect of the tooth. You know,
Speaker 4: they drilled the tooth down a certain dimensions and then
Speaker 4: they'll bond that custom made laminate on your teeth to
Speaker 4: give you that more aesthetic look that you desire.
Speaker 3: And another thing that I've seen is not only are
Speaker 3: people getting veneers, but they're going out of the country
Speaker 3: to get the veneer. Yes, our passport veneer is better.
Speaker 3: Like what's going on?
Speaker 5: They made us want a vacation as well.
Speaker 4: And I'll frame this from perspective of I'm a big
Speaker 4: time support of the international dental community as well as domestic.
Speaker 4: I know talented clinicians, you know, Europe, Mexico, Asia, you
Speaker 4: name it. I think that if you go to a
Speaker 4: reputable source, someone that you feel comfortable with, then that's
Speaker 4: perfectly fine. Just do your research and if the price
Speaker 4: matches your budget by all means, But understand that if
Speaker 4: something does develop, you know, six months down the line,
Speaker 4: your venier falls off, six months down the line you
Speaker 4: develop a root canal, are you going to be able
Speaker 4: to go back to that individual in a timely fashion
Speaker 4: to have that emergency situation addressed.
Speaker 3: That's a really good point, and doctor Johnson mentioned that
Speaker 3: getting veneers has the same type of risk as any
Speaker 3: other dental procedure, so the tooth could be over prepared.
Speaker 3: So you imagine shaving that tooth down, just shaving it
Speaker 3: too far, and now you just got a little nub.
Speaker 3: It's exposed. The nerves and things are very close to
Speaker 3: that surface, and that could cause you a lot of
Speaker 3: pain or discomfort, or you might need a root canal
Speaker 3: after getting the veneers applied. So of course they can
Speaker 3: break and crack just like any other tooth. So making
Speaker 3: sure you talk to a dentist and figure out a
Speaker 3: plan for follow up care is crucial, all right, So
Speaker 3: let's pivot to developments in dentistry.
Speaker 1: When I went to the dentist recently, I was absolutely
Speaker 1: blown away by some of the new technology that they
Speaker 1: were using to treat patients. I was getting fitted for
Speaker 1: some invisil line, and it used to be a big
Speaker 1: deal to get those types of things done because you'd
Speaker 1: have to put this really nasty mold into your mouth.
Speaker 1: It would have to sit there for a little while.
Speaker 3: Yes, it would feel like you were choking.
Speaker 1: You feel like you're choking. It's very dramatic. But this
Speaker 1: time it had been I'm telling my age, it had
Speaker 1: been like since the last time I went to an orthodonist,
Speaker 1: not the dentist, like fifteen twenty years and they had
Speaker 1: a device that looked like a toothbrush and they just
Speaker 1: stick it in your mouth and it scans each tooth.
Speaker 1: They just rub it over each tooth and it creates
Speaker 1: a three D mock up on the screen of your mouth.
Speaker 1: No more molds.
Speaker 3: What Yeah, no more slimy stuff.
Speaker 1: No more slimy stuff. You get a digital mold. You
Speaker 1: get to go home. You don't have to be going.
Speaker 3: Black getting that stuff.
Speaker 1: I'm trying to get that stuff from in between your Yeah,
Speaker 1: no more of that. I was like, this is dope.
Speaker 4: That's an intra old scanner, and that's very big within
Speaker 4: just the general dentist. If you go to your dentist now,
Speaker 4: you're probably going to see that. And that technology eliminates
Speaker 4: now the necessity for taking that nasty gouie mold that
Speaker 4: kind of makes you gag and choke. And so you
Speaker 4: can recreate someone's smile and then guess what chair side
Speaker 4: meaning right next to you, they can mil a crown
Speaker 4: or mil some sort of aspect of your smile right
Speaker 4: there at the same time, so that, like I said,
Speaker 4: the efficiency is streamlined. Hey man, I just broke my
Speaker 4: crown at lunch. I come in fix me a new one,
Speaker 4: and I'm already back out hanging out at happy hour.
Speaker 5: Five o'clock new smile. I'm good.
Speaker 4: That's how dentistry is changing lives in this new millennium.
Speaker 4: So it's pretty good stuff.
Speaker 1: And from a material science perspective, doctor Johnson was also
Speaker 1: talking about new materials being used to create an even
Speaker 1: more protective coat or seal for your tooth.
Speaker 5: You know, when I first started out, we always had
Speaker 5: a bio materials class.
Speaker 4: When we were kind of talking about the composites and
Speaker 4: just the particle size, and the smaller the particle size,
Speaker 4: the better the seal, the better the bond you can
Speaker 4: actually get. So now we see extreme nanoparticles existing within
Speaker 4: these polymers, within these composites that really allow for that
Speaker 4: protective seal because again, like I highlighted, the goal is
Speaker 4: to prevent anything from getting inside the tooth, going back
Speaker 4: to the ceilings, and that's why it's important that we
Speaker 4: see those young patients.
Speaker 3: Teeth and the same with new and different substances that
Speaker 3: are being used to bond different parts of the tooth.
Speaker 3: You need materials that will effectively stick to different parts
Speaker 3: of the tooth, like with veneers or crowns. So doctor
Speaker 3: Johnson was saying, there have been a lot of new
Speaker 3: materials coming out for those purposes as well.
Speaker 1: One of my favorite materials that doctor Johnson didn't talk
Speaker 1: about is goals. I love grills and seeing people with grills.
Speaker 1: And another new thing that's been coming out is like
Speaker 1: putting little jewels on your teeth. That's pretty cool too.
Speaker 3: I mean, listen, any additional care that's paid to the mouth,
Speaker 3: even if it's just cosmetic, I think will also cause
Speaker 3: you to think about those things that you need for
Speaker 3: general upkeep as well. And so that's all good because
Speaker 3: one of the things we didn't discuss but that we
Speaker 3: know is that root canal that we talked about allows
Speaker 3: those nerves and vessels of the teeth to connect to
Speaker 3: those in your head and neck, which goes straight to
Speaker 3: your heart. And sometimes if you're not taking care of
Speaker 3: your teeth and you have those bacteria in the mouth,
Speaker 3: they can lead to infection and that can lead to
Speaker 3: bacteria in the heart. So what I basically just describe
Speaker 3: is how a tooth infection or an abscess can lead
Speaker 3: to sepsis, which is bacteria in your bloodstream. The teeth
Speaker 3: are very important, y'all right, And so mouth health, like
Speaker 3: doctor Johnson said, is overall health. So anything that's going
Speaker 3: to put the microscope on the mouth on for it.
Speaker 3: So you know, every week we share one thing that
Speaker 3: we're really excited about. Well, this week is one person,
Speaker 3: a new member of our team, Brianna Garrett. Everybody please
Speaker 3: give her a warm Dope Labs Welcome. Welcome to the team, Brianna.
Speaker 3: That's it for Lab fifty four. Did it make you
Speaker 3: want to run out and call your dentist to schedule
Speaker 3: an appointment? If you're overdue, please get to it. Call
Speaker 3: us at two zero two five six seven seven zero
Speaker 3: two eight and tell us what you thought about this episode,
Speaker 3: or you can give us an idea for a lab
Speaker 3: we should do this semester. I can tell you we
Speaker 3: both love hearing from y'all. That's two zero two five
Speaker 3: six seven seven zero two eight.
Speaker 1: And don't forget there's so much more for you to
Speaker 1: dig into on our website. There will be a cheat
Speaker 1: sheet there for today's lab and additional links and resources
Speaker 1: in the show notes. Plus, you can sign up for
Speaker 1: our newsletter, so check it out at Dope labspodcast dot com.
Speaker 3: Special thanks to today's guest expert, doctor Marcus Johnson. You
Speaker 3: can find him on Instagram and Facebook at City Endodontics.
Speaker 3: You can find us on Twitter and Instagram at Dope
Speaker 3: Labs Podcast, and on Twitter and Instagram at d R
Speaker 3: Underscore t.
Speaker 2: S h O.
Speaker 1: And you can find Zakia on Twitter and Instagram at
Speaker 1: z said So. Dope Labs is a Spotify original production
Speaker 1: from Mega Own Media Group.
Speaker 3: Our producers are Jenny rattlet Mass and Lydia Smith of
Speaker 3: WaveRunner Studios.
Speaker 2: Editing in sound design by Rob Smerciak.
Speaker 3: Mixing by Hannes Brown.
Speaker 1: Original music composed and produced by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugier.
Speaker 1: From Spotify. Creative producers Candice Manriquez Wren and Corin Gilliard.
Speaker 1: Special thanks to Shirley Ramos Yasmin of Fifi, Camu Elolia,
Speaker 1: Till krat Key and Brian Marquis. Executive producers from Mega
Speaker 1: Own Media Group are us T T Show, Dia and
Speaker 1: Zakiah Wattley.