TA Ep. 165 Dr. Al Fallah – Are Hidden Oral Infections Contributing to Your Chronic Illness?

Leigh Ann: [00:00:00] Dr. Fallah, welcome to Fallah podcast, Fallah community. I’m so excited to have you on today.

Dr. Fallah: Well, thank you so much. Thank you for having me.

Leigh Ann: I was just telling you off air. I actually haven’t had a holistic dentist, biological dentist on the show yet. So this is really, really exciting for me to get to introduce the audience to this realm of things. And then we’re also going to be getting really specific into a couple areas there. But I do think it would be a really good place to start for anyone who hasn’t heard of biological dentistry, holistic dentistry, to give us a little bit of kind of the definition or the compare and contrast here.

Dr. Fallah: Well, that’s a great question and the answer is not so straightforward. Um, just so many people, um, call themselves or consider themselves holistic dentists. holistic dentistry, in my experience, has been a journey, um, a journey from where I started and [00:01:00] the journey continues. The way that I practice holistic dentistry, Um, we address things, uh, I’ll give you an, just from the very get go, uh, how we diagnose and treatment plan, for example. Uh, when we have a, a new patient, uh, we do some diagnostic testings, for example, a low dose cone beam. We use voltmeter, photos, obviously, something called T scan, and the purpose of our examination is one, to find out what our patient needs. is here for, what is it that our patient wants from us and then two, address any hidden infections, um, toxicity issues and basically bringing their oral health to optimum level, uh, in, in, in harmony with the, the whole overall health.

And that’s, that’s my goal. [00:02:00] And as long as that’s my patient’s goal. Then, uh, we’re in sync and moving forward.

Leigh Ann: And how does it kind of differ, maybe the different angles of what you’re looking at? I’m thinking too, particularly I’m much, much more in the holistic health world outside of dentistry and the conventional world kind of compared to that conventional medicine compared to that is also very much so like, Hey, you’re experiencing something conventional medicine might either first just jump straight to prescribing you something, jump straight to.

band aiding the symptoms, the more holistic, alternative, integrative world is looking at much, much deeper root causes. And is dentistry the same way? Yeah,

Dr. Fallah: maintain the vitality of every tooth that we work on. For example, let’s say that someone may have a very deep cavity that is, um, very, very close to the [00:03:00] pulp, to the nerve of the tooth. And, um, traditional approach would be, oh, you need a root canal and so let’s get your root canal done and then let’s do a crown.

And we approach it differently. We, uh, do some testing, see if the pulp is still vital, basically if the tooth is still alive. And then we use techniques, uh, such as ozone, get rid of all the microbes within that cavity. And of course, we removed all the decay part of the tooth as well, and then restore that tooth back to health, whether it’s a biocompatible filling or porcelain restoration.

But regardless, if the tooth is vital, we do everything in our power to keep it vital, uh, as opposed to just saying, Oh, you need a root canal and then move from there. Uh, we do believe that vitality of the tooth is really important for overall health of the [00:04:00] mouth and by extension, the whole body. Uh, so that’s one area that we, really differ from conventional dentistry.

Uh, the other area is that we look at, um, toxicity issues. Uh, like for example, uh, amalgam fillings are 55 percent mercury and conventional dentistry looks at it as, uh, oh, it’s just silver filling, but it’s really 55 percent mercury, 35 percent silver. So it’s mercury silver filling, regardless. we avoid, um, all those materials, but if we have to remove an old, uh, amalgam filling, we use, uh, what we call a smart protocol, safe mercury amalgam removal, uh, technique. Like, for example, we did that this morning and with that protocol, we eliminate, not just reduce, but eliminate patient’s exposure [00:05:00] and also our exposure to that mercury vapor and mercury in general, and we use a very, very sophisticated technique, but it’s very, um, tested. Uh, we make sure that there’s just no leakage of, mercury contaminated fluid into the mouth, or no inhalation of that either.

So that’s basically how we, uh, from a restorative angle, we do things different than conventional dentistry. Conventional dentistry doesn’t recognize amalgam as being a problem. so they treat it as, okay, we’re just going to drill on it. that’s as far as that is concerned. The next thing that is different is our approach with fluoride. does affect the thyroid system and the mitochondrial energy system. And so we, um, in, in dentistry, we were trained that [00:06:00] fluoride is as important as air and in, in, uh, biological and holistic dentistry, we do not obviously believe that and we do not use that in our, um, protocols. So those are some of the, uh, few areas of difference.

Leigh Ann: when you were going through dental school, Something I feel like I see so often, not just in dentistry, but in conventional medicine in general, is everything is a separate acute system. They’re not interconnected. What’s going on in the mouth is not affecting anything else, which is why it’s like, Hey, something’s up with the tooth.

Let’s just pull it. It’s not going to affect anything else versus I think the more holistic world is also very much looking at that interconnectedness of everything.

Dr. Fallah: Absolutely. Yeah. So in every dentist that practices in any state in Canada, the United States has gone to an accredited dental school. So holistic [00:07:00] dentistry is, by extension, not taught in dental schools. So it’s something that, uh, those of us who practice it have learned through other resources that fortunately is now widely available to our communities. But yes, it’s, it’s, we, we were taught certain protocols, certain techniques. And, uh, holistic dentistry, uh, adds to that and I think improves it drastically.

Leigh Ann: Yeah, I want to get into some of the specifics here, particularly with the oral infections, but I do, I would love to hear ever so quickly. You went to conventional medical school, as you said, all dentists do. When, when did this start? Broader approach or more well rounded approach start to come on your radar.

Was this something that even while you were in school, you knew you wanted to go pursue that additional education, or was there a point maybe after you had started practicing, you were seeing certain patient outcomes or what kind [00:08:00] of led you to pursue this holistic route?

Dr. Fallah: That’s a great question. Uh, 1999, I did a one year residency in cosmetic dentistry, basically making your smiles beautiful and all that. And at the end of that, uh, program, I had my mentor do twelve of my veneers. And at the time, I had, four of my teeth that he worked on had amalgams in it. And he drilled, like, Like dentists do. And after that, I was not feeling well. I basically got mercury toxic, uh, because of the way that those amalgams were removed. And, uh, I didn’t put two and two together until one of my, uh, friends in Santa Monica, um, he’s a integrative physician, and he told me to get tested. So he tested me, and I was off the chart toxic with mercury.

Leigh Ann: Oh, wow.

Dr. Fallah: when I knew that there’s a lot more to it than what I was taught. And [00:09:00] that started my whole journey into the holistic dentistry. And it’s just been a beautiful, ongoing, never ending journey.

Leigh Ann: Mm hmm. Ever learning always, always something new to learn and integrate. Mm

Dr. Fallah: life, too.

Leigh Ann: hmm, 100%. So let’s talk oral infections. I know there’s so many places we could go. In fact, I had in my questions some things on amalgam fillings towards the end if we could get to it. But the oral infections is a place I’d love to start, particularly because I work with so many cancer patients and this is something I hear so often is going on with the cancer patients are these sort of hidden, chronic, unidentified.

Oral infections that they might not have known they’ve had. So this is particularly of interest to me. Um, and I think it’s also something that I, you, you’re not here. I’m, I’m at least not hearing a lot of talk around this topic. So again, I know there’s so many different places we could go, but I [00:10:00] think this will be a really great place to start.

So hidden oral infections. Some of us might be thinking, how can you even have a hidden oral? How can you have an oral infection you don’t know about? Um,

Dr. Fallah: the way we do our diagnostics. Uh, we use a plant mecca, uh, 3D scan system, has the lowest dose of exposure of any other system in the world, and we get 3D scan of the jaw. And in, uh, in looking at the 3D scan, we actually see areas where the bone density drops next to a tooth. typically when the bone density drops, um, oftentimes it’s accompanied with. which we are able to validate it with the PCR DNA testing. we can really see an area where you would easily miss in conventional 2D x rays. With our 3D, uh, scanning system, we’re able to see that [00:11:00] very clearly, where you have this big blob of where the bone has just, doesn’t, doesn’t exist there, and that’s because bone.

Cells really, uh, cannot thrive in, in presence of an infection. And so, uh, oftentimes this could be a tooth that is not vital, meaning that it’s dead. Now this could be a root canal tooth or a tooth that just, um, lost its vitality for different reasons, trauma, infection, decay, uh, any of those would do. And now we’re dealing with a tooth that has. no blood flow inside. And a tooth, if you look at it under microscope has miles of microscopic tubules called dentinal tubules. And so if there’s no blood flow and you have miles of these tubules, It, it’s like having miles of freeway lanes with cars that are stalled in it. And, and so, so that would [00:12:00] be, uh, how we look at it.

We basically see a, a tooth that’s harboring a lot of microorganisms, not just in the bone, but in the microtubules as well. So, um, conventional dentistry, uh, with a tooth like that would say, okay, let’s do a root canal. And oftentimes these teeth have had at least one or two, uh, rounds of root canals, but they’re still, uh, have failed.

Leigh Ann: Hm,

Dr. Fallah: we’re able to verify that on the 3D scan, and we are able to see what is the composition of those microorganisms, through the PCR DNA testing. And so now that we have basically an objective proof of the infection, and oftentimes these teeth don’t hurt, but they feel different. So you tap

Leigh Ann: hm,

Dr. Fallah: it just, not always, but it feels like.

It doesn’t feel like a healthy, normal tooth, but typically also there’s no pain. Sometimes there [00:13:00] is, but not always. And so, we basically want to address that from different perspectives. One is, when you have an infection, that infection is draining into your lymphatic system, into your blood. Um, and then in the head area, they, the veins don’t have a valve, so it can also go upstream into the brain.

Leigh Ann: hm.

Dr. Fallah: so the microbes can travel and some of these microbes have affinity for different organs, different parts of the body. Uh, and we oftentimes also see parasites in the combination of microbes that we find in those dead teeth.

Leigh Ann: Oh, wow.

Dr. Fallah: so, so from, uh, Infection perspective, those hidden infections that typically, or most of the time, is not associated with any pain, can penetrate into different parts of the body.

But from also a meridian perspective, [00:14:00] it short circuits that biomeridian as well. Like for

Leigh Ann: Hm.

Dr. Fallah: this morning, we addressed, um, we took care of this very nice lady, and we took Uh, two, three, two and a half months ago, we did, um, a six hour surgery for her where she had two infected root canal teeth and a few areas in her jawbone that, um, she had previous extractions and the jawbone never healed properly.

And we were able to confirm that with the PCR DNA testing that there was some really nasty microbes brewing there. So, we remove those, um, infections, clean them up really well. In the process of the cleanup of infections, we use a lot of ozone, ozone gas, it’s highly antimicrobial, and it basically destroys the microbes.

Uh, just one quick, um, note on ozone, um, microbes don’t have what’s called [00:15:00] peroxidase on their membrane, and our cells have what’s called It’s been discovered over 67 peroxidase enzymes. So our cells actually can withstand ozone. Uh, it doesn’t kill our cells, but it kills the microbes on contact and so also destroys viruses.

So it’s a broad spectrum antimicrobial and it also destroys the parasites as well. So we use ozone very much as part of our cleanup. We also use ultrasonic device called piezo. We draw your blood, uh, we spin it, we make what’s called platelet rich fibrin. And one version of that is injectable platelet rich fibrin, which is very high in your, uh, white blood cells and immune factors.

And we mix that with a sterile, uh, ozonated bone graft. So then actually we create what’s called a sticky bone, so it [00:16:00] allows that area to just Rejuvenate and the bone to regrow and oftentimes to replace the missing teeth, we use zirconia implants. We stay away from metal, which is very biocompatible. so with that combination, we are able to the function by get, getting rid of the infection all at the same time. So that’s how we addressed her problems. Um, that was about two and a half months ago. And today. we addressed few of her old crowns that had high voltmeter reading and all of these happened to be on her breast meridian.

Leigh Ann: Ugh, yeah.

Dr. Fallah: she had breast cancer surgery, gosh, about, I think about a year ago.

And so, um, when we removed a number of these old crowns and we knew that there was trouble because the voltmeter spiked up as very high. [00:17:00] There was amalgam underneath the old metal crowns. And the metal crowns didn’t look like metal because they were covered with porcelain. So, so you look in the mouth, you think it’s porcelain, but the porcelain, it’s porcelain fused to metal.

And underneath it was amalgam. So literally the amalgam, uh, reacting with the metal of the crown was creating a, what a battery is actually. It’s, it’s two metals in contact with each other. And it, those, um, hidden amalgams don’t show up on x rays because no matter what kind of x rays you take, the metal conceals the amalgam underneath it.

So we had a really high galvanic reading

Leigh Ann: Uh huh.

Dr. Fallah: we used a voltmeter for that and that’s how we knew that, um, there was something wrong. And when we removed those old crowns this morning, uh, And we took a bunch of photos for our patient, and she’s a very sweet lady. [00:18:00] And we were able to clean everything, and now, you know, it’s all cleaned up, and she’s gonna get her new crowns next time we see her. Uh, but my point is that all, both the infected teeth on the upper left, and then the root canal, uh, which were on the infected teeth on the upper left, and also the amalgams that were under the old crowns, they were all on her breast meridian. And, and, and so It was like, um, a triple whammy as far as all those meridians being, um, irritated, so to speak, or short circuited. from a dentist’s perspective, I’m just taking care of decay infection. then whatever else that happens is, as far as I’m concerned, icing on the cake.

Leigh Ann: Okay, so many questions, so many places I want to go. Um, we’re going to talk about the meridians because that is so, so big. And like I said, we, we see a lot of cancer patients over at the center who have oral [00:19:00] stuff, particularly breast cancer patients. So we’re definitely going to get into that more. But something I want to start with is one, it does seem interesting to me that we can have these oral, Infections without necessarily having symptoms.

And I would love to understand that a little bit more. Is it that it, there are these symptoms, they’re just kind of low grade. So we might not necessarily be tuning into them. And then likewise, how do these infections take root in the first place? Is it almost always because there was some oral surgery or oral intervention that happened that wasn’t done correctly that allows these to take root?

Dr. Fallah: Great questions, but let me, let me start with the symptoms first. Uh, symptoms Uh, as far as pain is concerned, uh, think of, um, a tooth when tooth has a pulp, which has a nerve tissue in it. And when that tissue becomes [00:20:00] irritated, we call that pulpitis. And so that pulpitis, the first stage of pulpitis, tends to be very symptomatic and also very, um, that’s when people say, Oh, I got a toothache. and then what happens is that. At some point, if you just don’t do anything, uh, the pulp basically, the nerve tissue in the pulp dies. And once the nerve is dead, then after that, you may have almost no symptoms at all. Uh, it’s really not any different than a diabetic person that doesn’t feel that they have an ulcer. Because the nerve is just not functioning. So this happens with a dead tooth, whether this dead tooth has a root canal or maybe it’s just dead and it doesn’t have a root canal. So once the nerve is no longer, um, sensing the stimulation, then this symptomology is no [00:21:00] longer a means of diagnosing.

Leigh Ann: Mm hmm. Um,

Dr. Fallah: only helpful the first stage where it goes through what we call pulpitis.

But once that Pulp becomes necrotic, which is dead, then, um, pain is no longer something that we can rely on. So,

Leigh Ann: are there any, on that note, I guess my, my next question right off the bat then is for those of us listening going, okay, maybe I don’t necessarily have any oral pain. So how would I know that I might need to go in and, you know, look at oral infections? And I suppose one answer could be, Hey, this is something we all should do At some point, right?

Just to like check that box and stay on top of things, but are there other maybe more subtle symptoms? I’m even thinking of maybe like chronic lymph nodes that are swollen in the neck or something to that effect.

Dr. Fallah: I think anytime you have any lymph node issues, you want to make sure that it’s addressed and find out why you have that. Of course, [00:22:00] uh, oral infections would be one cause of, of lymph issues. there are other causes as well. Um, but I think you want to make sure that your dentist has ability to an understanding of hidden infections.

Um, if, if, if your dentist does not have that, um, inclination and basically addresses things based on two dimensional x rays and symptomology, then it’s possible to miss. presence of hidden infections. So that’s as far as, um, really, there are organizations in the holistic, uh, dentistry. One is International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology, IAOMT. And then the other one is International Academy of Biological Dentistry and Medicine, IABDM. These are my two favorite organizations that really, [00:23:00] uh, train dentists to look beyond, uh, the conventional.

Leigh Ann: Mm hmm. Mm

Dr. Fallah: find a dentist that has been certified by both, then I think you are in a good place to, um, get your evaluation done

Leigh Ann: hmm.

Dr. Fallah: for hidden infections and maybe hidden, um, galvanic reactions and things of that sort. So I think that’s really important. And then I think the other part of your question was. How do you, how this sort of thing happens, right? In terms

Leigh Ann: Yeah. How do they take root?

Dr. Fallah: so the answer is many causes for these, um, infections. For example, you get, um, wisdom teeth removed what most dentists and oral surgeons like to do is make sure you’re very And so there’s a very high chance that the, the use of high [00:24:00] dose, uh, epinephrine with anesthetics epinephrine, um, is very common in surgeries, um, oral surgeries included.

And the reason any, uh, dentist, oral surgeon, or in general, they would use anesthetics with epinephrine is because it’s what we call a vasoconstrictor. It basically reduces bleeding at the site of the

Leigh Ann: Mm.

Dr. Fallah: So, Uh, you want to see better, so less bleeding, you can see better, right? But the problem with that is that bleeding is, uh, how you heal.

Blood flow is necessary for healing. So if you choke up the blood flow too much, uh, what happens is that the healing capacity of the bone after extraction can possibly be diminished. And then what happens is that you have, uh, in the mouth with all kinds of microbes and potentially they can also seep in, into the area [00:25:00] of, um, extraction and if the blood flow is compromised, then it can cause what’s called a dry socket, or and then we look at those some, you know, years later and see no bone density there.

Leigh Ann: Mm.

Dr. Fallah: that would become an area where you had a wisdom tooth removed 5, years ago. It goes and it still looks completely hollow there. So, some people call that cavitation, I just call it an area where the bone didn’t heal after the extraction. so, those are areas that can be harboring microbes and we test that with PCR DNA testing.

So that’s one. The other would be that, um, a lot of dentists don’t like to use a lot of water when drilling on a tooth.

Leigh Ann: Mm.

Dr. Fallah: Let’s say a dentist is doing a filling or, or a crown, um, and the water is, is sort of an annoyance because we can’t see as well with a lot of water and it’s wet [00:26:00] and getting splashed and all that.

So a lot of dentists really reduce the amount of water or don’t use water. We use a lot of water. And the reason for that is just 10 degrees. Uh, a Fahrenheit increase in the temperature of the pulp actually push that pulp into, uh, pulpitis and then necrosis.

Leigh Ann: Oh, wow.

Dr. Fallah: if you have a hot drill on your finger, right, that heat, uh, will burn the skin on your finger, right?

Leigh Ann: Mm hmm.

Dr. Fallah: pulp, uh, inside the tooth. It’s no different. It’s just, you’re numb at that point. So you don’t feel it. And, and yet it can actually kill the pulp. And so a

Leigh Ann: Wow.

Dr. Fallah: um, end up having root canals. Oh, the tooth was fine and then I had worked on and now I need a root canal. Uh, two things we do to avoid that scenario.

One is lots of water, keep that temperature cool. When you keep the pulp cool, then pulp is really happy. And it doesn’t [00:27:00] become inflamed. And two, when you have deep cavities, Ozone is God’s gift. You know, it’s

Leigh Ann: Mm. Mm. Um,

Dr. Fallah: And so those are the two of, uh, and then of course our anesthetics that we use.

We use no epinephrine or very minimum amount of epinephrine to maximize the blood flow. So those are really three. And the fourth one is when you do your, your filling is done, your crown is done, you make sure that tooth is not high. Because if it’s high and it’s going to pound, so, oh, you’re going to get used to it.

Well, by the time you get used to it, the trauma of that high bite can actually kill the pulp. So those are the four things that we do consistently to really avoid a tooth dying on us. Um, and,

Leigh Ann: Mm hm,

Dr. Fallah: don’t, we think a vital tooth is really important for our health, and so we do [00:28:00] everything in our power to keep it vital.

Leigh Ann: Mm hm. Amazing. Thank you so much. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Um, and I’m kind of excited to get into now sort of the reverse of it. You gave us a great, you know, starting point of how to start to reverse these. And I also want to get into just daily. Oral hygiene. But with that said, I do want to spend a second on what is the cascade?

So we have these underlying oral infections that might be ongoing for months, maybe even years. What is the cascade of maybe negative effects that starts to have on the body? Mm,

Dr. Fallah: way I look at it

Leigh Ann: hmm.

Dr. Fallah: human body is an amazing, um, amazing thing in terms of self healing itself. So, but we’re also dealing with a lot of, um, stressors. Uh, and these stressors can be emotional, it [00:29:00] could be structural, it could be microbial, um, could be toxins. So we’re dealing with all kinds, different categories.

And, um, the, the analogy that I use a lot is that if your sink is leaking, how bad is your leak, leak and how good is your drain? And I think that’s really my motto in, in health. Um, and it’s like you can have, um, let’s say compromised areas in your mouth or different parts of the body. Um, and yet we all know people that live to be 90s and, and all that with all kinds of things that may not be, uh, workable for another person.

So I think a lot of it has to do. Uh, the genes, the environment, the emotional, uh, status, stress, sleep, I mean, you name it. Um, [00:30:00] But when it comes to a person who has, um, let’s say compromise in their health, then oral health becomes very important. Um, it’s just part of the big equation. So when the challenges are present, we want to reduce that stress on the body and and the oral health is one of them. But for your listeners, I do want to emphasize on one more thing that’s really important. Back of our tongue, there are supposed to be a lot of good bacteria that help break down and make what’s called nitric oxide. And nitric oxide is really important for blood flow. imagine if the blood is sick, Thin versus if it’s thick, if it’s thin, imagine like water flowing through small pipes versus molasses flowing in small pipes.

Uh, molasses will not be able to penetrate [00:31:00] far. And so blood flow, uh, and nitric oxide is very much like that analogy. And, um, for example, there’s been a study, um, by Dr. Um, Nathan Bryan where, um. He administered, uh, Listerine, uh, mouthwash, and you can substitute that with just about any, um, commercial mouthwash out there, for two weeks on these 18, 19, 20 year old college students in Texas. And within two weeks of that mouthwash use, these young, healthy male populations blood 20 points.

Leigh Ann: Oh my gosh,

Dr. Fallah: So, so what do people do? Use mouthwash because we want to be healthy, have a great oral hygiene, and all of that. And the take home on this is that we, we have to respect our microbiome. And it’s not about killing [00:32:00] everything.

It’s about getting rid of the bad stuff and, and, and populating and seeding the good stuff. And that, you know, we, so many people are familiar with that concept in their gut.

Leigh Ann: mm hmm, mm

Dr. Fallah: in the mouth.

Leigh Ann: hmm.

Dr. Fallah: And, and so that’s the entrance point. And so, um, that is, I think if, if your listeners take home one thing is that just respect the microbiome of your mouth just as much as the rest of your GI. Because it’s all interconnected. And if you have an infection in your mouth, that just percolates everywhere else. And also, So just be mindful that you want to keep the good stuff, too. You don’t want to just eradicate everything. about, balance, and, and that’s really important.

Leigh Ann: Yeah, we’ll probably get into some tips of how do we protect the good stuff on the day to day. [00:33:00] But I imagine just kind of closing out that thought on the cascade that can happen when we have, right, basically it’s why are these chronic infections even a concern? I imagine there’s some element of, there’s, If there’s chronic infections, there’s probably chronic inflammation.

But you also mentioned this point about the meridian system. And can you speak to that a little bit more? Because that might be a new concept for many of us.

Dr. Fallah: Well, the Meridian system, uh, is nothing new as far as, um, I mean, it’s maybe new for dentistry and all that, but it’s a 5, 000 year, uh, wisdom of oriental medicine. uh, the, some of the explanation of that is based on how the cells divide in, um, in the blastula when, after the egg and sperm combine and start dividing at some points 32 cells. And those 32 cells become [00:34:00] basically, uh, the, from those 32 cells, the rest of our cells are divided. in every organ and every part of our body is formed. uh, Dr. Jerry Tennant has a very good explanation of how all this works, in the sense that the fascia system head to toe is basically carrying the electrons and the energy.

And so, um, the teeth are part of that system. The periodontal ligaments part of The, um, connection to the fascial system and all of that. So, uh, the whole body is interconnected and you can kind of, if we go back, it comes, uh, it basically starts at the very beginning where, when we were just a few cells. And, um, we basically, uh, end up, we’re supposed to have 32 teeth and, uh, unfortunately a lot of people end up having. teeth removed for reasons [00:35:00] and not enough. And that’s a whole different concept of why that’s happening in modern day because our ancestors did have 32 teeth and they had room for 32 teeth.

Leigh Ann: Mm hmm.

Dr. Fallah: we wouldn’t be here because we would be extinct. If, if,

Leigh Ann: Yeah.

Dr. Fallah: to remove their teeth, um, cause there were no oral surgeons of years ago. And so all of that is really, um, to think about. Um, and that’s a whole different topic of developmental airway and all that that, um, perhaps is a topic for another discussion. But, um, the point is that the 32 teeth, um, have connections from a meridian perspective to the rest of the body in terms of the organs and everything else as well. And, and vice versa too. Like for example, um, um, One time my, my wife was having a gallbladder attack and her tooth that was on the gallbladder was hurting.

And [00:36:00] she swore that she had a problem with that tooth and I couldn’t find anything. And when she addressed the gallbladder, then that tooth pain subsided too. So it’s a two way street actually. And sometimes we get these phantom pain in the, in the, in the mouth or the teeth and, um, it may be coming from somewhere else.

Leigh Ann: hmm. Mm hmm. Yeah, it’s essentially these meridians. They’re, they’re channels of energy flow throughout the body and every organ system lands on a particular meridian of energy flow. And so if there’s something going on with any, at any point on that meridian line, it can affect everything else that runs on that line.

Dr. Fallah: Absolutely. Yeah. And Dr. Tennant, uh, describes the teeth as like a switchboard because if a tooth is dead, it’s sort of like it throws off that circuit board,

Leigh Ann: Mm

Dr. Fallah: because the, the circuit is not completing itself.

Leigh Ann: hmm.

Dr. Fallah: a dead tissue. [00:37:00] And as Dr. Tennant says, um, dentists are the only professions in, in healthcare that, that actually.

Allow that tissue to stay in the body.

Leigh Ann: Yeah, right? It’s wild.

Dr. Fallah: Yeah.

Leigh Ann: Yeah. What, what particular teeth are on the breast meridian? Is it that left side that you were mentioning before?

Dr. Fallah: So the breast meridian, um. You have the, uh, molars on the uppers. Uh, so that would be upper right molars on would be basically on the, on the right breast meridian. And then the upper left molars would be on the left breast meridian, but also the lower by cuspids. Uh, so that would be lower pre molars. Uh.

are on the right breast meridian and the lower, uh, left premolars are on the left breast meridian. So, but having said that, I have seen very [00:38:00] frequently that a tooth next to what is supposed to be on that breast meridian is, uh, interfering with the meridian. So think of these meridians,

Leigh Ann: Mm

Dr. Fallah: these teeth as it’s not a very, very fixed border, especially because teeth, uh, shift over time with braces

Leigh Ann: hmm. Mm

Dr. Fallah: also, um, potentially that, uh, teeth don’t develop to their full genetic potential because of mouth breathing and other factors like tongue tie and, uh, big tonsils and adenoids in a growing child. So, so yes, those like, in terms of the teeth that are breast meridians, upper molars and lower bicuspids, But you can always go one tooth back or front as well and that would have an influence on the meridian as well.

Leigh Ann: hmm. I love it. We talked briefly about some of the [00:39:00] processes, but I would like to go into this a little bit more. So someone comes in, you do the 3D testing, you do the PCR testing, and then where does it go from there once you’ve identified these infections? Treating them in and then maybe also what we would do at home.

Dr. Fallah: so I always say when it comes to these situations sometimes it takes a village. And so as far as hidden infections, we, we give patients options. Thanks. We give them options of just leaving it alone or, um, going to, uh, you know, even an endodontist. But all that is the allopathic path. And then alternatively, um, they, they can choose to remove the tooth. Um, and, when they remove the tooth, then that’s how we can help them. once the tooth is, let’s say it’s infected tooth, once the tooth [00:40:00] is removed, then, uh, how we replace the missing tooth will become a choice for the patient. Um, I always say that once the infection is removed, then As far as replacing it, you have an option of implants or bridge or partial. we don’t do titanium, we only do zirconia implant. um, there are reasons for that. Um, or we can do a bridge or we can do a partial and any of those would replace the missing, uh, tooth or teeth for functionality reason. Um, but also if, if. As I said, our main goal when we’re working on teeth that are non infected is that we keep them vital.

So I think prevention goes a long way, but if the tooth is already dead and there’s an infection there, then get all the choices presented to them, and then [00:41:00] they can go either the other way. Thank you. holistic route, then, then we become their treating doctor. If they don’t want to go the holistic route, then we send them where they want to go, and that’s their choice.

Leigh Ann: Yeah, so if a tooth is infected, is the only way, like, is the starting point to clearing that infection to remove the tooth? Is that the, like, that’s kind of a non negotiable, you have to remove it?

Dr. Fallah: So, no, uh, you can get a root canal. You can get a root canal on the tooth. we don’t do root canals in our office. But that would be an option. Now, um, I was trained by Dr. Hal Huggins and, um, many years ago and he, uh, he kept telling me that because I, I, this is 15, 16, 17 years ago and I was so excited by using ozone and root canals and all of that.

And, and he said, well, okay, so you clean the inside of the tooth and you have [00:42:00] three plus miles of tubules. And you have no flow of, uh, blood flow inside. Those tubules become stagnant. so the microbes can repopulate

Leigh Ann: Mm hmm.

Dr. Fallah: I think that again depends on patient’s health, on where they are in their health journey. a patient is very healthy and every other aspect is fine and they’re young and vibrant, then I think root canal would be justifiable in my book in terms of keeping the tooth and keeping the bone and all of that. But if, um, if we’re dealing with chronic illnesses and all of that, then, uh, we want to reduce the burden.

Leigh Ann: Okay, so let’s say the tooth gets removed, then is the, what’s the process from there? Is it just ozone that area and then send them home with some things to do at home? Mm hmm.

Dr. Fallah: So, we typically clean the infection very thoroughly with the [00:43:00] ozone and we literally just get rid of all the infection tools like piezo, curettage, and saline and all of that. Once everything is clean, uh, then we do the, uh, bone grafting to restore the bone growth back there. most of the time, with patient’s choice, we’re able to put the zirconia implant there. And the zirconia implant basically, with time, will integrate with the new bone and becomes a replacement for the previous tooth there. And then, months later, once everything is integrated, then we place the crown over the area there. So that would be one scenario, but we can also do a bridge where we connect it to the adjacent teeth as well, um, or a removable partial.

So those would be typical replacement options for a tooth that’s removed. But we [00:44:00] always want to make sure the area’s very clean we move forward.

Leigh Ann: So, I know we just have a few minutes left, I do want to ask, now kind of flipping to the other side of it, which is prevention, what, you know, I have a really broad question for you, which might entail a lot, but what, what would be someone’s ideal daily oral care routine in your book, if you were to send them home and be like, hey, if you could do this every day?

That would go a long way to preventing these chronic oral infections and just supporting your overall oral health.

Dr. Fallah: That’s a fantastic question. Obviously, oral hygiene, good brushing, good

Leigh Ann: So

Dr. Fallah: that, if you’re a mouth breather, um, you want to address that. So, because, uh, if you’re mouth breathing, you’re changing the microbiome of your mouth. in, in the wrong direction. Uh, the other thing is that you want to replenish the good, uh, bacteria.

And anything that’s good for your gut is good for your [00:45:00] mouth too. Like foods that are high in good bacteria, sauerkraut, kimchi, if you can have yogurt, if you, or, or even, uh, coconut yogurt, anything that would replenish your good micro, microbiome is going to be good for your mouth as well. So So that’s really important.

And just physically making sure that you see a good, um, hygienist, get your teeth professionally cleaned as well. We also use a laser assisted cleaning, which I think it helps with the, uh, oral hygiene and takes it to the next level, but, um, just really good maintenance and avoiding. Sticky, sugary stuff.

Processed food is not just bad for your gut, it’s bad for your mouth too. And it sits there, it ferments, and it causes decay. Um, and, um, you know, the good microbiome also helps reduce the gum disease as well as cavities as [00:46:00] well. So, good oral hygiene, uh, and restoring your microbiome, I think those are all very, very important. foods that will cause decay, I think that’s really important. Um, sticky stuff, any dried fruit, you may think blueberries are healthy, yes they are. But if you get those dried blueberries or dried berries or dried apricots or dried whatever, they can cause cavities pretty quick. So I would avoid dried stuff, uh, but if you have the actual fruit, it’s, it’s like 100 times better than the dried stuff, which will cause decay.

So, Uh, avoid anything that’s sticky and sugary. Um, other than, and then just keep everything clean. And if you are having something sweet, uh, and if you have access to your toothbrush and floss, do it. If not, switch with water, and that also helps too. Uh, and just, just common sense, you know. Just, just, just do [00:47:00] whatever it takes to keep your, uh, teeth free of plaque.

Use your tongue to sense the plaque on your teeth. teeth. Your tongue can be trained in being a good detective. And if you feel like that’s slimy thing on your teeth, it’s definitely time to floss and brush.

Leigh Ann: the last two questions that I feel like I have to ask just cause I have you on one is everyone’s, I think, going to be wondering this. So. oral products? Are there a couple particular brands that you really like? There’s so many out there in the conventional world, and then there’s also so many out there in kind of the holistic health world that might be cleaner, but are they actually effective?

And so I’d love to kind of get some recommendations there. And then I’d also love your input quickly on um, oil pulling.

Dr. Fallah: Uh, so I’ll start with the oil pulling. I love it. Uh,

Leigh Ann: Okay.

Dr. Fallah: is antimicrobial. It lubricates the gingival tissue and, um, it’s a great thing. Just, just [00:48:00] one, uh, caution. Don’t spin in your sink unless you have a contract with your plumber, because it will clog your sink.

Leigh Ann: Okay.

Dr. Fallah: products, um, now the conventional dental world are big on fluoride.

Um, I’m gonna just take two minutes to talk about that. Um, our thyroid hormone is tyrosine with T3 is tyrosine and 3 iodine. So it’s T3 and T4 is tyrosine and 4 iodine and fluoride is very competitive with iodine. So it kicks out the iodine out of the tyrosine complex. And T2 is what our mitochondria uses, uh, in terms of energy regulation.

So from an energy regulation and from a thyroid system, uh, fluoride is really, um, stressful for the system. Uh, however, fluoride does reduce the solubility of enamel to decay. So that’s why [00:49:00] dentists do recommend fluoride, but you have to really see, is that trade off worth it? Because it’s a pretty expensive trade off there. now having said that, we don’t use fluoride in our office. so like, for example, products that I like, uh, like Risewell. It’s a calcium hydroxide, um, uh, hydroxyapatite product. It does help with the remineralization of your teeth. Uh, I do like essential oils, but don’t overdo it. Remember the good bacteria in the back of your tongue.

You want to keep those healthy. And, uh, an oil pulling seems to be totally fine with the good bacteria in, in the back of your tongue. So, um, just things that are heavy in alcohol tend to also reduce. um, good bacteria in the back of your tongue as well. basically any product that doesn’t disturb the good microbiome is something that would be beneficial and [00:50:00] you want to mechanically also remove the bad stuff on your teeth so that would be flossing and brushing.

Um, one thing I do like you can get it from Amazon is those, uh, hand flossers. because it makes it very convenient that you can floss anywhere. And even if your hands aren’t clean, you, you can floss without contaminating your mouth with whatever that was on your fingers. So, but also it’s very practical too, aside from that.

So, um, and then other than that, it’s really, um, you can just try. There are so many products out there and I don’t want to say that Ryswell is better than let’s say Boca or a bunch of other things that as far, as far as I’m concerned, they are in par, uh, and more and more of new products come out

Leigh Ann: Mm hmm. Mm

Dr. Fallah: well. Um, and just look at the ingredients, just like food, you know, just see what’s in it. If, if there are [00:51:00] certain ingredients that would be potentially harmful for you. then stay away from it. Um, but calcium hydroxyapatite or essential oils typically are safe bets.

Leigh Ann: hmm. I love it. Oh my goodness. So many other questions. To your point, so many other places we could go, even talking about mouth breathing, some of the lens of that from holistic dentistry. So we’ll have to have another conversation to cover some of these other topics. But so much. I think that was such a deep dive into this specific area of oral infections.

Dr. Fallah: Well, it’s been a pleasure and you are very welcome and thank you for having me.