Lab 054: Say Ahhh

Every once in a while, I have these dreams where I'm talking and then all of a sudden, my teeth just start falling out of my face.

Mmm.

Okay, if you're a dream interpreter, slide into my DMS or comment under our post because I want to know what that means. I have them regularly, at least once a month, where the teeth are just coming out as if they are made of.

Plato oof, and nobody's hit you in the dream.

No, I'm just talking and they just start coming out.

Do you grind your teeth that night? I do. Do you think maybe you just grind them so hard that the teeth are like help, They're just.

Trying to save me. It's like you girl, you're grinding your teeth into a fine pace.

Yes. You know how when we had the sleep episode and doctor Jean Luis said, hey, you snore you that's your way of saying wake up. Your teeth are falling out in your dreams because they're saying take it easy on us, please take it. Yeah, you know you're not the only one t t in the pandemic. We've seen an uptick in dental problems. People are grinding their teeth because they're stressed out, and with the state of the world today, I'm sure there's even more tooth grinding. So

This is Dope Labs.

Welcome to Dope Labs, a weekly podcast that makes us hardcore science, pop culture, and a healthy dose of friendship.

This week, we're talking all about teeth.

We're seeing a lot of teeth, new teeth, adorned, teeth, be dazzled teeth. Teeth have been getting a lot of play, and so we're going to talk about it.

Specifically, we really wanted to know more about the connections between dental health and our overall health, and how advances in modern dentistry are changing the game for certain treatments like braces, veneers, and root canals. They're not as bad as they used to be. Apparently, well that's what I'm hearing, but I'm not so sure. I just still don't want one.

Let's get into the recitation, all right, So what do we know? Historically going to the dentists hasn't been thought of as a fun thing to do.

On TV and movies, it's always portraying going to the dentists as the worst thing you could possibly do. And I think another thing is that how healthy our teeth are is really tied to what we eat. I know I talked about not one of my teeth are right out of my face drinking Coca cola in our Habits episode, But I know that other aspects of your diet can really affect your dental health.

Yes, I think we also know that dental problems or dental visits have been on the rise. I think there were some articles that talked about people not doing regular dental hygiene and going to the dentist's office because it always feels like an extra thing, right, it's not something that's pressing. If you don't have, you know, a crack tooth or a toothache, you can kind of put it off. And so I think people have maybe put it off too long, and now the dentist's office is booming.

So what do we want to know?

I have a lot of questions t teeth firstus just tooth anatomy. We talk about teeth, but like, what's really happening in there?

Yeah, And I feel like there is no person that doesn't think about their teeth, their tooth health. I feel like everybody's thinking about, oh, how do I present myself when I'm smiling? I hope people like my smile and things like that. I think everybody thinks about it. And so I want to know what are some of the most common things going wrong inside of our mouth.

I have had a dental procedure. The procedure went fine, but I had all my wisdom teeth cut out. Oh my gosh, and I was a terror coming off of that general anesthesia.

When was this? I need to know what's a key of this?

Was? This was high school as a kia, Ok, you already know. And I just can remember waking up and my mom tells a story all the time that I thought the nurse had she had on white shoes, she was a nurse, and I thought she had stolen my new Casewiss that I had. And I was like, she has my shoes, she stole my shoes. That's me on anesthesia, you don't want to be around. And I'd love to know more about the link between oral health and general

They're biofilms on the teeth.

Yes, oh that's what you're scraping off. You're physically disrupting those biofilms with your toothbrush.

Oh my gosh, teeth are wearing a jacket.

L that's so crazy. I'm now I'm like, could I draw that?

And then I feel like the most common thing that folks are afraid of is a root canal. But I don't even really know what a root canal is, like what is actually happening? So I want to know what is a root canal actually, and what are you doing and how does it work?

It feels like a paradox. You know, people are both afraid of root canals and seeing the dentists for that, but we're also seeing an uptick in cosmetic dental procedures. People are getting the diamonds. You remember Monica did it first, just one of them days. She had those diamonds on her custods. People are really tricking their mouths out now. But it feels strange if you're scared of the dentists.

Yep, I saw a person get fake braces like it's actual braces, Like they got them installed, but they serve no purpose. She was like, I think I look cute with braces.

Wow. Yeah, there's a lot to unpack here. Let's jump into the dissection.

Our guest for today's lab is doctor Marcus Johnson.

I'm a dental specialists, more specifically an indodonis and I have a private practice in Midtown Manhattan, and we are trying to save teeth and eliminate pain for any patients who.

Need our services.

You know, for a lot of people, going to the dentists isn't a favorite pastime. Well, a lot of people actually dread it. But doctor Johnson says, when it comes to seeing a dentist, there is a lot to be excited about.

Dentistry has made significant strides and improvements, and modern dentistry is very much I think there's affordability within that it's accessible, the information is out there, the clinicians are trained well, there's so many different avenues to learn, even beyond just a traditional classroom. We're learning from each other on Instagram, you know, different platforms of communication.

So don't be fearful of the dentists because the dentist is your friend.

Yeah, I've seen some pretty funny tiktoks from dentists on everything from how to properly brush your teeth, like when you're supposed to brush your teeth, it's before you eat breakfast, of course, to debunking certain myths about oral health.

So first we ask doctor Johnson to help us understand the anatomy of a tooth, because, if we're being honest, teeth are kind of weird when you really think about it. Okay, let's clear this up once and for all our teeth bones.

That is a very good question, because I feel like I see a lot of really funny memes about this very thing. Even though it makes sense that we might think that teeth are bones. You know, they're white, they're hard. You would think that that's what your bones might feel like they show up on X rays exactly. They do have calcium. But teeth are not bones. Doctor Johnson helped us break it down a little further.

Teeth sometimes can be overlooked, but the old cavity is the entrance into the body, and so when we talk about teeth, we have to understand that the importance is paramount when you smile everyone sees the pearly whites.

That's the enamel, that's the outer covering.

The enamel is actually harder than bone. Doctor Johnson told us. It's one of the hardest substances within our bodies and it acts as a protective layer for the tooth.

Inside of a tooth, underneath that is another layer, which is dentin, and that's like a forgiving aspect of the tooth. Essentially, if there's cavities or any sort of trauma to a tooth, that's going to be a protective mechanism for the tooth and actually respond in a way where cells can regenerate or sometimes they may not.

And beneath the dentin is the pulp of the tooth. That's where all the nerves and blood vessels are located and those supply the tooth with nutrients.

The whole idea is to protect the pulp, and the pulp is what you think about when people say, oh, I have a nerve that's exposed.

Have to get a root canal.

So protecting the pulp, those nerves and blood vessels inside the tooth is critical. The root canal is a passageway where nerves and blood vessels are connected. To the head and neck.

And that's where sensory is applied to the cerebral cortex and the thouamus.

We're pain as processed.

So ideally you want to keep our teeth as healthy as possible so that we don't have any insult or threat which is going to cause pain, or any sort of noxious stemuli which is gonna you know, listen, discomfort.

But it's not just about protecting our teeth from discomfort. That enamel denting and even the soft tissue gums surrounding our teeth, those all help protect each tooth from bacteria.

So when you have bacteria that are within the mouth, once they have a way to get into the tooth and affect the nerve, they cause disease.

And you know, there's always bacteria in the mouth. The problem is when we don't keep up with our oral health, the bacteria begin to feed on sugars and starches from our food that stay in the mouth, and this leads to plaque and tartar build up, and that's just biofilms, biological films of bacteria, and then this makes way for tooth decay and catvities and potential infection and cavities and children, also called childhood carries, is one of the most prevalent

We have made significant strides in combating all health disease, specifically childhood carries through fluoridation community floridation of water. We know that communities where there is floridated water there's about a twenty five percent decrease in overall childhood are just carries in general for adults and children, and of course dental ceilings.

In twenty eighteen, the CDC found that about seventy three percent of communities in the United States had access to fluoridated water, and so like doctor Johnson said that access leads to a twenty five percent decrease in cavity formation in kids, so twenty five percent of the population is missing out on that benefit.

The other solution doctor Johnson talked about is dental sealants to protect young teeth from disease.

Once a permanent tooth comes in and for most kids around age six or seven, as those teeth are upt we can use composites to kind of bond onto the tooth to actually create a seal, so that like I mentioned, bacteria or sugar from food and.

Things of that nature does not actually get into the grooves of the tooth, leading to an inflammatory response that leads to the breakdown of the tooth enamel. It's a very basic procedure. It's relatively inexpensive. One of the beautiful things about the Affordable Care Act as it made it a strict requirement that for all children under eighteen that all healthcare are at least prevented to services are included within that provision of health.

So is this different from the fluor eye varnish I got as a.

Kid, So sealants are not the same thing as a fluor eye varnished. According to doctor Johnson, sealants are actually bonded to the teeth and are meant to last until they're worn away from regular function. They provide additional protection from food, bacteria and things like that from getting into the grooves or crevices of the teeth, but they're not

So those are some common issues that can happen with the tooth itself. But another area where disease is very prevalent is the gum tissue or periodontia.

At least for adults over thirty, periodonal disease or diseases of the gums are very prevalent, maybe even upwards to fifty percent of those over thirty are going to experience some sort of parodonal disease, inflammation, gum irritation, bone loss just to lack of potental care.

And as doctor Johnson says, oral health is not just about protecting our teeth. There is also a connection between oral health and general health, especially because people tend to see dentists a bit more frequently than primary care providers. Dentists are really on the front line of a larger community of health health care providers.

There's been significant research that shows the strong link between oral health and systemic health. And so sometimes a patient may come in, they'll have some sort of peridonal sores or gum sores or something like that, certain just presentations within the mouth that may say, you know what, you may be a candidate for diabetes or some other systemic element like hypertension. Why don't you go ahead and take this go follow up with your primary care provider at least gets screened.

That sounds like a good dentist to me. Yes, it's really fascinating when you think about it, because I don't think of the dentist visit the same as I think of a doctor's visit. And because dental insurance is always build, you know, separate from our overall health insurance, we're kind of trained to view dentistry and oral health as separate from our overall health. But it's really super connected. Yeah.

Doctor Johnson gave us another example with pregnant people. Healthcare providers have found a systemic link between pregnant people with untreated gum disease and low birth weight in babies. And it's not just oral health that can be an indicator of things like diabetes or hypertension. Those things can affect your oral health just as much. So it's like a chicken or egg type thing. Your health can affect your teeth, and your teeth can affect your health.

And just to put it a little bit more plainly, if someone were maybe to have hypertension uncontrolled diabetes, we understand that diabetes delays healing.

The increase in the sugar. It's going to prevent proper healing.

Well, now that we're talking about healing, let's go ahead and get to the number one invasive thing we always hear about when it comes to teeth on television, and that's root canals.

Oh no, I'm nervous.

The only thing that felt as globally hated as root canals growing up was Brussels sprouts, Like those are the two things on TV.

That everybody this is absolutely.

But doctor Johnson is saying, hey, the times will change. It's telling us we shouldn't be afraid of a root canal.

Patians think that by going to get a root canal, they're going to be in pain. Quite the opposite. When you go to see the endodonnas or go to get a root canal. Our whole focus is to eliminate me and with modern advances in local anesthetics as well as general anesthesia, just a lot of ways that we can manage.

And properly treat these cases in a seamless fashion.

There's a lot of other reasons why a patient might need a root canal. Doctor Johnson gave us four examples. The first is trauma to the teeth, so from a sports injury or a fall or an accident that might have happened that might disrupt the nerve complex.

Second, cavities can break the teeth down over time.

The third is rapid movement of teeth that disrupt the nerve complex. Now, I just need to know where are those teethe's going.

Well, you remember in middle school back when kids used to put rubber hands on their teeth and stuff like that, making fake.

Braces, homemade braces.

And you know, like you said, some people on TikTok and Instagram, they're making fake braces. So if you are not doing this stuff under the care of a dentist or orthodontist, you were not moving your teeth at a slow pace, and you could have this happen. This was what some of the dentists were complaining about. For some of those Instagram companies that were sending trays directly to people, they're not linking you up with a dentist and you start getting some rapid movement, things can go wrong.

Them teeth are sprinting.

It's supposed to be slow and steady.

It's supposed to be a leisurely walk. Them teeths printing to the finish line.

And then the final thing is crack teeth from grinding. I know, we saw a lot of stress grinding of teeth during the pandemic, so root canal is going up, up up.

I was actually one of those people, but I was lucky because I have a retainer. So it almost looks like an invisil line. I had a retainer that I was putting in and I grinded through the retainer, so it, wow, basically acted as like a shield from my actual teeth. I probably would have grinded down to my gums.

Oh wow, So you're saying you think you could have grounded through your enamel. Denton numbers stuff.

Nerves.

Two thirds of dentists have seen an increase in patients coming into their practice with practee, and so we know that is a direct result of the high anxiety from the pandemic. Patients staying at home more, snatching more frequently, sitting in front of the computer zoom, things of that nature.

The root canal is all about saving the tooth, which doctor Johnson says is more preferable than an extraction, so pulling the tooth out. Here's how the process works.

One of the analogies I like to use is like a number two pencil. So early I gave us the anatomy of the tooth. Well, if you think of a pencil as the tooth, the lead would represent the nerve. So by completing a root canal, essentially we are removing the lead from the pencil. You still have the pencil intact, and cleaning out that space and then filling it up selling it up as to keep any contaminants or bacteria from getting back into that space.

So by doing the root canal, technically we are saving your tube.

I get it. The goal is to get in there and clean out all of that bacteria from the canal space. And they do need to use a drill or sometimes they use lasers to drill a hole into the tooth to get down in there, and that can turn a lot of people off. I feel like, keep the lid in my pencil.

Yes me, I am people, I'm gonna keep all those pencils. It'll be fine. In terms of comfort during the procedure, which can take an hour to an hour and a half, the patient is typically placed under general anesthesia so that there's no pain. And now dentists will offer headphones for patients to listen to music or watch TV instead of hearing all those dental sounds. You know the zoo, Yes, those are the noises. I don't like blood pressure through the roof as soon as I hear it.

Well, let's take a break and when we come back, we'll get into some of these new developments, trends, and technologies in dent.

We're back. We've been talking to doctor Marcus Johnson all about teeth oral health and how it's connected to our overall health. But before we get back to that, let's talk about what we're covering in next week's Live.

Next week, we're talking all about cybersecurity. Scamming stories have been on the rise, from inventing Anna to the tender Swindler. You know, we've been hearing a lot about ransomware attacks and other cybersecurity threats too, So we're digging into exactly what that means and how to keep our online information safe. But in the meantime, let's get back to teeth.

I've seen on TikTok that there are some people who are really taking their oral health into their own hands. I saw a TikTok of a woman who was like, I just got three teeth pulled in that apartment right there, and she points to this high rise apartment. I was like, no, that is not where a dentist is doing business. I'm sorry, dog. I've seen people getting like all of the technology they need to put on their own braces. I've seen people making their own retainers with plastic beads, and you put

No, no, no, and no.

I've seen everything on these internets. It doesn't seem safe.

We're taking pinterest in dy too far, too far.

Not everything is meant to DIY. You shouldn't be diye wying your own like surgeries.

Yeah, if you can go to the dentist, you should. Now we realize everybody doesn't have access, right, but I think if you do have access, take the dentist approved route first. When I look back, it might have been too much. When you know, I remember tying some string around a tooth and closing the door, trying to pull a loose tooth out you tell me permanent teeth people are adjusting in apartments. No, thank you, no way.

I saw a TikTok of a woman who got verses put on by her friend. They don't function, but now her teeth are shifting, her gums are receding, and her teeth are shifting. She had perfectly straight teeth put the purses on. Now they look very different. I'll say that, m H.

I believe it. And like doctor Johnson told us earlier, oral health can indicate other health issues, and if you're having your teeth worked on by somebody who's not a dentist, they could easily disregard signs of other health implications like sores on the gum.

I don't know what's happening. It doesn't seem safe. Is it safe.

This platform with DIY has really taken off, specifically within the dental space, but I think it's important that we really promote safety first. At the end of the day, it's always best to consult with a trained dental specialist, and now with ZOOM being so prevalent, you can just call up your local or the dona's have that consultation first, and if they recommend a DIY program for you, by all means, it's most likely got to work for you.

Doctor Johnson said, if they say to go to your next door neighbor and tell them to use the pliers and pull it out, go ahead. But I doubt they will say that.

And doctor Johnson also said that he's seen to increase in patients actually needing treatments like root canals because they tried to do their own thing first. So they tried to make their own invisil line and ended up doing damage to their nerve bundles in their too. So if you're not careful, what you tried to prevent in the first place with DIY will actually create more problems for you down the road and boom, you're right back at the dentist office.

Just stop all that and just go to the dentist. So, as an ended dantist, most of what doctor Johnson specializes in is under the surface of the tooth. But we really wanted to ask him to talk about veneers. We're seeing a lot of people getting veneers as opposed to root canal. Veneers are really about improving the aesthetic of your teeth.

Yeah, I feel like ever since Cardi B was like.

Yes, I was gonna say that got a bag and fix my teeth. Hope you know this ish.

Ain't ain't cheap.

I think everybody's gone teeth crazy, Yeah, everybody. I feel like so many people have veniers these days, and they're getting them at a rapid break. Like it went from you know, in a few people there have veneers because they had, you know, some dental issue that they were trying to fix. To now, getting veneers is like getting a pair of glasses.

I was gonna say, like when people got a second hole, you know for the hearing, it was like everybody got them all of a sudden.

You know if that's probably more in line with that than glasses because glasses you actually need them to see.

So as opposed to getting a crown, and a crown is going to cover the entire tooth surface, if you think about it, a crown goes around the entire circumference of the tooth. A veneer is only going to go over the outside facing aspect of the tooth. You know, they drilled the tooth down a certain dimensions and then they'll bond that custom made laminate on your teeth to give you that more aesthetic look that you desire.

And another thing that I've seen is not only are people getting veneers, but they're going out of the country to get the veneer. Yes, our passport veneer is better. Like what's going on?

They made us want a vacation as well.

And I'll frame this from perspective of I'm a big time support of the international dental community as well as domestic. I know talented clinicians, you know, Europe, Mexico, Asia, you name it. I think that if you go to a reputable source, someone that you feel comfortable with, then that's

That's a really good point, and doctor Johnson mentioned that getting veneers has the same type of risk as any other dental procedure, so the tooth could be over prepared. So you imagine shaving that tooth down, just shaving it too far, and now you just got a little nub. It's exposed. The nerves and things are very close to that surface, and that could cause you a lot of pain or discomfort, or you might need a root canal after getting the veneers applied. So of course they can

When I went to the dentist recently, I was absolutely blown away by some of the new technology that they were using to treat patients. I was getting fitted for some invisil line, and it used to be a big deal to get those types of things done because you'd have to put this really nasty mold into your mouth. It would have to sit there for a little while.

Yes, it would feel like you were choking.

You feel like you're choking. It's very dramatic. But this time it had been I'm telling my age, it had been like since the last time I went to an orthodonist, not the dentist, like fifteen twenty years and they had a device that looked like a toothbrush and they just stick it in your mouth and it scans each tooth. They just rub it over each tooth and it creates a three D mock up on the screen of your mouth. No more molds.

What Yeah, no more slimy stuff.

No more slimy stuff. You get a digital mold. You get to go home. You don't have to be going.

Black getting that stuff.

I'm trying to get that stuff from in between your Yeah, no more of that. I was like, this is dope.

That's an intra old scanner, and that's very big within just the general dentist. If you go to your dentist now, you're probably going to see that. And that technology eliminates now the necessity for taking that nasty gouie mold that kind of makes you gag and choke. And so you can recreate someone's smile and then guess what chair side meaning right next to you, they can mil a crown or mil some sort of aspect of your smile right there at the same time, so that, like I said,

Five o'clock new smile. I'm good.

That's how dentistry is changing lives in this new millennium. So it's pretty good stuff.

And from a material science perspective, doctor Johnson was also talking about new materials being used to create an even more protective coat or seal for your tooth.

You know, when I first started out, we always had a bio materials class.

When we were kind of talking about the composites and just the particle size, and the smaller the particle size, the better the seal, the better the bond you can actually get. So now we see extreme nanoparticles existing within these polymers, within these composites that really allow for that protective seal because again, like I highlighted, the goal is to prevent anything from getting inside the tooth, going back to the ceilings, and that's why it's important that we see those young patients.

Teeth and the same with new and different substances that are being used to bond different parts of the tooth. You need materials that will effectively stick to different parts of the tooth, like with veneers or crowns. So doctor Johnson was saying, there have been a lot of new materials coming out for those purposes as well.

One of my favorite materials that doctor Johnson didn't talk about is goals. I love grills and seeing people with grills. And another new thing that's been coming out is like putting little jewels on your teeth. That's pretty cool too.

I mean, listen, any additional care that's paid to the mouth, even if it's just cosmetic, I think will also cause you to think about those things that you need for general upkeep as well. And so that's all good because one of the things we didn't discuss but that we know is that root canal that we talked about allows those nerves and vessels of the teeth to connect to those in your head and neck, which goes straight to

And don't forget there's so much more for you to dig into on our website. There will be a cheat sheet there for today's lab and additional links and resources in the show notes. Plus, you can sign up for our newsletter, so check it out at Dope labspodcast dot com.

Special thanks to today's guest expert, doctor Marcus Johnson. You can find him on Instagram and Facebook at City Endodontics. You can find us on Twitter and Instagram at Dope Labs Podcast, and on Twitter and Instagram at d R Underscore t.

S h O.

And you can find Zakia on Twitter and Instagram at z said So. Dope Labs is a Spotify original production from Mega Own Media Group.

Our producers are Jenny rattlet Mass and Lydia Smith of WaveRunner Studios.

Editing in sound design by Rob Smerciak.

Mixing by Hannes Brown.

Original music composed and produced by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugier. From Spotify. Creative producers Candice Manriquez Wren and Corin Gilliard. Special thanks to Shirley Ramos Yasmin of Fifi, Camu Elolia, Till krat Key and Brian Marquis. Executive producers from Mega Own Media Group are us T T Show, Dia and Zakiah Wattley.