Mouthy Matters: Oral Health and How Your Gums Affect Your Whole Body

The tired patient. The kid snoring. The adult with flattened incisal edges who's already on their second night guard. Dental teams see these patients every single day, and most were taught to treat what they see and move on to the next appointment.

In this episode, Tosha Kozloski, RDH, sits down with Crystal May, who has spent nearly 20 years bridging dental and medical sleep medicine. Their conversation reframes the signs already sitting in the operatory. Tosha shares that for a long time she thought pediatric grinding was normal, and didn't know it could be a sign a child wasn't breathing well.

This episode is for the hygienist and dentist who want to look a little deeper, ask one more question, and give patients a path toward answers. Patients listening in will hear exactly what to look for and what to ask at their next visit.

WHAT YOU'LL TAKE AWAY

Sleep apnea is not an old man's disease. Younger adults, women, and kids are affected too, and that stereotype keeps a lot of people from ever getting screened.

Daytime fatigue may be common, but Crystal makes the case that it is not normal. Needing caffeine or a nap to get through the day is worth a closer look.

Bruxism can be a possible airway sign. Before prescribing a night guard, it's worth asking why the patient is grinding in the first place.

Scalloped tongue is one of the easiest signs to show a patient. Hand them a mirror and they can see it for themselves.

A few simple medical history questions open the door. Ask about snoring, daytime tiredness, and whether a patient was ever prescribed a CPAP they stopped wearing.

TOSHA'S TAKE

Tosha brings the same lens to airway that she brings to bleeding gums. Don't stop at the symptom. Ask what's driving it. Bruxism, fatigue, and a scalloped tongue deserve that same curiosity. Dental teams don't have to build a sleep program to make a difference. They just have to ask, document, and help patients find the right next step. If it's in the mouth, it's in the body, and airway is a big part of that picture.

This episode is for education and awareness. It doesn't replace individual care from your dental or medical provider.

ABOUT CRYSTAL MAY

Crystal May is the Vice President at Happy Health [please verify company name], where she leads the dental sleep division. For nearly 20 years, she has worked to bridge the gap between physicians and dentists in sleep medicine, helping dental teams screen patients and connect them with care. [Please verify credentials and add any additional bio details from Crystal.]

RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE

Crystal's sleep screening quiz: happysleep.com/sleep-quiz
Happy Health / Happy Sleep Ring: happysleep.com
IG: @gethappysleep 

KEEP LISTENING

Follow Mouthy Matters on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube to catch Crystal's return visit.

Ready to change the way your patients see their own infection?
Get the Bleeding Gums Script. DM SCRIPT to @toshardh on Instagram.

Ready to bring microscopy into your practice?
Schedule a call with Tosha at tosh.care.

Listen to Mouthy Matters:
Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube

Connect with Tosha:
tosh.care | @toshardh | mouthymatters.com

Stay Awesome!
 Tosha, RDH

Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner.  Opinions from guests are their own.  This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

You have asked what fluoride actually does more times than you can count, and chances are you have never gotten an answer that went past "it prevents cavities." This episode fixes that.

Dr. Michelle Jorgensen, a biological dentist, walks through the real mechanism behind fluoride, what it does to tooth structure at the molecular level, why it never eliminated tooth decay the way it promised to, and why the systemic effects on thyroid function and bone density rarely make it into a hygiene school curriculum. This is not a fear-based takedown. It is the clear, evidence-based explanation you have been missing.

Why this episode matters now

A January 2025 study linking higher fluoride exposure to lower IQ levels in children has pushed fluoride back into public conversation, and patients are bringing questions from social media into the operatory faster than most practitioners can vet the claims. This episode gives you the mechanism-first answer so you are not caught flat footed.

What you will learn

• Why fluoride changes tooth structure into fluorapatite, and what that actually means clinically
•  Why fluoride never stopped cavities, even after 80 years of use
•  The connection between fluoride and thyroid function, and why it will not show up on a standard thyroid test
•  Why hydroxyapatite is proving as or more effective than fluoride at remineralizing teeth
•  Why cavities are a mineral deficiency, not a fluoride deficiency
•  Why pregnancy, adolescence, and menopause are the highest risk windows for decay, and what that has to do with your patient's mineral status

Key moments

• Dr. Jorgensen breaks down the history of fluoride, starting with the discovery of fluorosis in municipal water systems in the 1940s
•  The molecular explanation of how fluoride replaces calcium in hydroxyapatite to create fluorapatite
•  The systemic effects, bone density, thyroid function, and the 2025 IQ research
•  Why hydroxyapatite rebuilds tooth structure instead of just changing its chemistry, and why the brain and artery calcification claims about it do not hold up
•  The nutritional piece, including Dr. Jorgensen's supplement protocols for gum infection and tooth decay, and why mineral demand spikes during pregnancy, the teenage years, and menopause

Tosha's take

This is the kind of conversation Tosha wants every hygienist to be able to have chairside. Not picking a side, but understanding the actual mechanism well enough to give patients an informed, confident answer instead of a scripted one.

Connect with  Dr. Michelle Jorgensen:

livingwellwithdrmichelle.com

Ready to change the way your patients see their own infection?
Get the Bleeding Gums Script. DM SCRIPT to @toshardh on Instagram.

Ready to bring microscopy into your practice?
Schedule a call with Tosha at tosh.care.

Listen to Mouthy Matters:
Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube

Connect with Tosha:
tosh.care | @toshardh | mouthymatters.com

Stay Awesome!
 Tosha, RDH

Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner.  Opinions from guests are their own.  This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

You've had a patient tell you their x-ray looks fine, their bloodwork looks fine, and they still feel like crap. If you've ever sat there without a good answer for them, this episode is going to change that.

Why this episode matters

Dr. Kelly Blodgett has spent 25 years building a practice around treating the whole person, not just the tooth in front of him. In this conversation, he breaks down what a dental cavitation actually is, why it can form after an extraction that "healed just fine," and why it can sit silently in the jawbone driving inflammation far from the mouth. He also gets into failing root canals, metal sensitivity in dental implants, and how acupuncture meridian assessment gives him a way to measure something most of dentistry was never trained to look for.

This isn't fear based content. Dr. Blodgett is clear that root canals and implants have their place, and that not every patient with metal in their mouth needs it removed. What he offers instead is a framework for asking better questions and listening for the whole picture.

What you'll learn

1. What a dental cavitation, also called a covered socket residuum, actually is and how it forms after extraction
2. Why a clean looking x-ray does not rule out bone pathology
3. How chemokines released from these lesions can trigger inflammation in other parts of the body
4. What to know about metal sensitivity in dental implants and biocompatibility testing
5. How reframing patient language from needs to wants changed case acceptance in his practice

The story of the patient in a wheelchair who walked in on her own two feet the day after cavitation surgery. The moment a patient's frozen shoulder released as a reactive implant was removed. Dr. Blodgett's explanation of why the dental profession accepted infection as a systemic risk in the gums, but somehow not inside the jawbone.

Tosha's take

We were trained to look at the tooth. Dr. Blodgett was trained to look at the person the tooth belongs to. That shift in perspective is exactly what this podcast exists to build in you.

Ready to bring this level of whole-body thinking into your own hygiene protocols? Schedule a call with Tosha at tosh.care.

Guest bio

Dr. Kelly J. Blodgett is the founder of Blodgett Dental Care and author of Feel Whole Again, Your Humanistic Guide to Healthcare. He also co-hosts The Whole Health Podcast with functional nutritionist Megan Barnett.

Links

Blodgett Dental Care: https://www.blodgettdentalcare.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blodgettdentalcare/
Book: Feel Whole Again, Your Humanistic Guide to Healthcare
Coaching site for dental professionals: drkellyjblodgett.com/coaching

Ready to change the way your patients see their own infection?
Get the Bleeding Gums Script. DM SCRIPT to @toshardh on Instagram.

Ready to bring microscopy into your practice?
Schedule a call with Tosha at tosh.care.

Listen to Mouthy Matters:
Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube

Connect with Tosha:
tosh.care | @toshardh | mouthymatters.com

Stay Awesome!
 Tosha, RDH

Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner.  Opinions from guests are their own.  This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

Most dentists and hygienists were trained to treat gum disease as a mechanical problem. Scale it, polish it, send them home. But Dr. Katie Lee, DDS, has spent her career proving that's only half the story, and for patients struggling with infertility, it might be the half that's costing them the most.

In this episode, Dr. Lee shares how a biological dentistry background led her into the fertility space, including a couple in 2012 who conceived within three months of treating an oral microbiome issue that had gone completely undetected. She breaks down why half of infertility cases trace back to the male partner, why "healthy looking gums" on a clinical exam don't rule out a microbiome problem, and why mechanical debridement alone can't touch the bacteria doing the most systemic damage.

Tosha and Dr. Lee get into the clinical weeds here. This is not a surface-level conversation. You'll hear how Dr. Lee uses the MP8 test to measure systemic inflammation and collagen breakdown, how she chooses between Simply Perio and OralDNA depending on whether she's ruling out viral versus bacterial causes, and why treating a bacterial infection with a bacterial protocol does nothing if the real driver is Epstein-Barr or cytomegalovirus. She also walks through her full treatment ladder, mechanical debridement first, then targeted therapy with ozone or diode lasers, then addressing the ancillary drivers, diet, airway, gut, before finally repopulating the oral microbiome with the right probiotics and prebiotics.

What you'll learn in this episode:

Why gum disease can look clinically healthy while a microbiome issue is still active and circulating systemically

The difference between treating bacteria and treating biofilm, and why that distinction changes your entire treatment plan

How to know when you're looking at a bacterial infection versus a viral one, and why it matters for treatment selection

Why testing only one partner in a fertility case can lead to reinfection and false conclusions

How inflammation, not any single pathogen, is the real root of most systemic disease

If you've ever had a patient tell you their gums are "fine" while they're struggling with something seemingly unrelated, this episode gives you the language and the testing framework to look deeper.

Connect with Dr. Katie Lee, DDS:
Instagram: @katieleedds
Practice: collectivehealthsociety.com
Education platform: collectiveeducationsociety.com
Book: Saved by the Mouth

Ready to change the way your patients see their own infection?
Get the Bleeding Gums Script. DM SCRIPT to @toshardh on Instagram.

Ready to bring microscopy into your practice?
Schedule a call with Tosha at tosh.care.

Listen to Mouthy Matters:
Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube

Connect with Tosha:
tosh.care | @toshardh | mouthymatters.com

Stay Awesome!
 Tosha, RDH

Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner.  Opinions from guests are their own.  This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

If you've been running saliva testing and still feel like you're guessing whether a patient is actually getting better, this episode is for you.

Tosha sits down with Dr. Caroline Labritz, a biological dentist in Morgantown, West Virginia, who has spent 22 years building a root cause approach to her practice. Before she found Tosha's program, she vetted multiple training options. What made her choose this one, and why does she say she'll never practice without a microscope again? That's exactly where this conversation starts.

Why This Episode Matters

Dr. Labritz doesn't just talk theory. She walks through what actually changed once her team could see pathogen load in real time instead of relying on assumptions. She shares the analogy she uses with her own patients every day, the microscope as the blood pressure check, and oral salivary diagnostic testing as the deeper blood work behind it. One doesn't replace the other. They need each other.

What You'll Learn

You'll hear why bleeding gums are never normal even when they're common, why the doctor has to be the one who leads implementation, and how a team builds a protocol they can actually run consistently over years, not just weeks. Dr. Labritz also gets honest about the discomfort of learning new verbiage with patients, and how to explain findings without sounding pushy or salesy.

Key Moments

-The story of one father's slide that transformed his entire family's approach to their oral health
-The blood pressure and blood work analogy for microscope and salivary diagnostics
-What it actually took to build a repeatable system with her hygiene team
-Why case acceptance conversations get easier once patients can see what you see

Tosha's Take

This is the conversation Tosha wishes every practitioner could hear before they talk themselves out of implementing microscopy. Dr. Labritz proves it doesn't require a massive team or years of trial and error. It requires a doctor willing to lead and a hygienist willing to learn alongside them.

Guest Bio

Dr. Caroline Labritz is a biological dentist based in Morgantown, West Virginia, with 22 years of clinical experience focused on root cause dentistry. 

Dr. Labritz's practice website: www.sorrisodental.com

Ready to change the way your patients see their own infection?
Get the Bleeding Gums Script. DM SCRIPT to @toshardh on Instagram.

Ready to bring microscopy into your practice?
Schedule a call with Tosha at tosh.care.

Listen to Mouthy Matters:
Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube

Connect with Tosha:
tosh.care | @toshardh | mouthymatters.com

Stay Awesome!
 Tosha, RDH

Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner.  Opinions from guests are their own.  This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

She used to show patients a perio chart and watch nothing change.

That is where this conversation starts. Dr. Laura Mach, a biological dentist in Marion, Iowa, spent years explaining bleeding gums to patients who nodded, said okay, and walked out having changed nothing. She could talk until she was blue in the face. It just did not compute.

In this special edition of Mouthy Matters, Tosha sits down with Dr. Mach to talk about what happened when microscopy and the TOSH Method entered her practice. The short version is a 95% case acceptance rate on a fully systemized gingivitis therapy program. The longer version is a story about team trust, patient partnership, and finally having a repeatable way to help patients see what she had been seeing for years.

Why this episode matters

Most practitioners already believe patient education matters. The gap is not belief, it is translation. Dr. Mach's practice proves that when patients can actually see their own microbiome, the conversation changes completely. This episode is proof that implementation works, not just theory about why it should.

What you'll learn

How Dr. Mach used microscopy and the TOSH Method to move her team past hesitation and into a workflow that felt easy, not overwhelming. Why gingivitis has historically fallen into a coding and coverage gap, and how a systemized therapy program closed it. What changed in her patients' behavior once they could see their own healthy or unhealthy microbiome on a screen. Why treating gingivitis with the same seriousness as periodontal disease matters, since it is the same infection at an earlier stage.

Key moments and themes

Dr. Mach describes the moment microscopy became her number one tool for both diagnosis and communication, more valuable even than her intraoral scanner. She and Tosha talk through what it actually took to get a team on board with a brand new clinical workflow, and why leadership and openness to change mattered more than the technology itself. The conversation moves into the gingivitis therapy program itself, how it went from an unclear, undercoded service to an organized protocol with a 95% acceptance rate. And toward the end, Dr. Mach gets honest about what practices should ask themselves before starting something like this, including whether the team is ready and whether the schedule has room to grow.

Tosha's perspective

This is one of Tosha's favorite kinds of episode, not because it is about her method, but because it shows what happens when a practitioner takes that method and makes it her own. Dr. Mach's line about the thinking already being done captures exactly what systemized, repeatable care should feel like. Infection revealed in real time changes the conversation, and this episode shows what that looks like from the other side of the chair.

Work with Dr. Laura and her team:
mariondental.org

Ready to change the way your patients see their own infection?
Get the Bleeding Gums Script. DM SCRIPT to @toshardh on Instagram.

Ready to bring microscopy into your practice?
Schedule a call with Tosha at tosh.care.

Listen to Mouthy Matters:
Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube

Connect with Tosha:
tosh.care | @toshardh | mouthymatters.com

Stay Awesome!
 Tosha, RDH

Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner.  Opinions from guests are their own.  This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

Dr. Nicole Vane spent years avoiding the microscope. Every mentor she trusted had one in their practice, and every time, she found a reason to skip it. Too much setup. Too much learning curve. The ozone would take care of it anyway, right?

Then she went through The TOSH Method, and it changed everything, for her, for her team, and for the way her patients understand what is actually happening in their mouths.

In this episode, Dr. Vane shares what it was really like to be the reluctant one. Not the early adopter. Not the tech enthusiast. Just a busy, high-level biologic dentist who had already built a successful practice and genuinely did not think she needed one more thing to learn. She talks about the moment her hygienist found spirochetes on an eleven year old's slide, the term she now uses with patients called a medical grade cleaning, and why her entire team feels more connected to their work since making the shift.

This conversation also opens up into something bigger than one practice. Dr. Vane and Tosha talk honestly about the hygiene shortage happening right now, why it is tied directly to the insurance-driven treadmill model, and what it would mean if hygiene programs taught this kind of care from day one.

What you will learn in this episode:

•  Why resistance to new clinical tools is normal, and what it actually takes to move past it
•  How a simple language shift, calling it a medical grade cleaning, changes the entire patient conversation
•  What it looks like when a hygiene team stops feeling like salespeople and starts feeling like clinicians
•  Why chairside, real-time results build trust in a way that lab-based testing alone cannot
•  How the current hygiene shortage connects directly to the insurance-driven treadmill, and what could change that

Tosha's take: This episode is proof that you do not have to be the person who loves new technology to benefit from it. Dr. Vane's honesty about her own resistance is exactly why this conversation matters. If she could get past it, so can you.

Ready to see what your own slides could show you and your team? Schedule a call with Tosha at tosh.care.

Want the verbiage that changed how Dr. Vane's team talks to patients? DM SCRIPT to @toshardh on Instagram for the Bleeding Gums Script.

Meet Dr. Vane:
Dr. Nicole Vane on Instagram, @nicolevanedentist

 Moonlight Beach Dental, Encinitas, California

 Dr. Nicole Vane is a biologic dentist and founder of Moonlight Beach Dental in Encinitas, California. After practicing traditionally since 2003, she transitioned to biologic dentistry starting in 2011 and opened her own fully biologic practice in 2014.

Ready to change the way your patients see their own infection?
Get the Bleeding Gums Script. DM SCRIPT to @toshardh on Instagram.

Ready to bring microscopy into your practice?
Schedule a call with Tosha at tosh.care.

Listen to Mouthy Matters:
Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube

Connect with Tosha:
tosh.care | @toshardh | mouthymatters.com

Stay Awesome!
 Tosha, RDH

Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner.  Opinions from guests are their own.  This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

You've had the conversation a hundred times. You point out the bleeding, you explain the inflammation, and the patient nods, and nothing changes. Part of the problem is that "it's connected to your health" isn't proof. It's a suggestion. And suggestions are easy to ignore.

This episode gives you the proof.

Dr. Amy Doneen, co-founder of the BaleDoneen Method, has spent over two decades building the clinical case that periodontal pathogens don't just correlate with heart disease. They cause it. In 2017, she and Dr. Bradley Bale published research proving that the bacteria living in the gum line directly contributes to plaque development in the artery wall, using a model called the atherogenic triad. That's not a theory hygienists are borrowing from wellness culture. That's published, peer reviewed medicine handing dentistry the exact mechanism it's been missing.

This conversation goes well beyond gum tissue. Dr. Doneen walks through the difference between a red flag and a root cause, and why that distinction matters every time you're trying to get a patient, or a physician, to actually act on what you're seeing. She covers the other oral root causes hiding in plain sight, including endodontic lesions behind old root canals that show no symptoms at all, and airway issues that quietly drive chronic hypoxia and arterial inflammation. She also explains why she tracks myeloperoxidase as an inflammatory marker in her own patients, and how a single 3D cone beam scan has caught infected roots that never showed up on a standard bite wing.

What you'll learn:

Why periodontal pathogens are proven causal of arterial disease, not just associated with it, and how the atherogenic triad explains the mechanism. How to tell the difference between a red flag and a true root cause, and why that distinction changes how you talk to patients and physicians. Why endodontic lesions behind old root canals can silently drive inflammation for years with zero symptoms. How airway issues and sleep apnea contribute to the same arterial inflammation pathway as periodontal disease. Why myeloperoxidase has become one of Dr. Doneen's most trusted markers for catching hidden infection before it becomes a crisis.

Tosha's perspective:

This is the episode I wish every physician heard before they dismissed a patient's bleeding gums as "just a dental thing." If it's in the mouth, it's in the body, and now we have a cardiovascular prevention physician proving it with published science. This is the ammunition our profession has been missing.

Ready to bring this level of proof into your own practice?
Schedule a call with Tosha: tosh.care

Want to go deeper on the Bale Doneen Method?
Dr. Doneen's team offers a preceptorship course for CME and CE credit, up to 19 hours, open to dental hygienists, dentists, and other healthcare providers. The next cohort is November 14 and 15, 2026, delivered live and virtual. Details at BaleDoneen.com.

Learn more about your own heart health: BaleDoneen.com

About Dr. Amy Doneen:
Dr. Amy Doneen is co-founder of the Bale Doneen Method, a clinical framework for identifying and treating the root causes of arterial disease before a heart attack or stroke occurs. She practices in Spokane, Washington and offers a nationwide telehealth program.

Ready to change the way your patients see their own infection?
Get the Bleeding Gums Script. DM SCRIPT to @toshardh on Instagram.

Ready to bring microscopy into your practice?
Schedule a call with Tosha at tosh.care.

Listen to Mouthy Matters:
Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube

Connect with Tosha:
tosh.care | @toshardh | mouthymatters.com

Stay Awesome!
 Tosha, RDH

Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner.  Opinions from guests are their own.  This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

If you've ever said "you're clean, I'll see you in six months" to a patient who was still bleeding, this episode is for you.

Brittany Angeles, RDH, spent years in a high volume, one doctor practice in West Nashville, often as the only hygienist on the schedule. She knows the feeling of getting desensitized to bleeding. She knows what it's like to explain probing depths and x-rays to a patient who is just nodding, waiting for you to stop talking. If any of that sounds familiar, you are not alone, and this conversation is proof there is a different way to practice.

In this special edition for dental professionals, Tosha sits down with Brittany to talk about what actually changed once phase contrast microscopy became part of her exams. Not the theory. The reality. What patients said the first time they saw their own bacteria. How fast case acceptance moved once patients could see their infection instead of just hearing about it. Why SRP day went from something Brittany dreaded to something she looks forward to. And what she would tell any hygienist who is scared to start.

Why this episode matters:

This is a peer to peer conversation, not a highlight reel. Brittany is honest about the parts that are hard. The fear before starting. The patients who seem indifferent even after seeing their own slide. The four year patient who suddenly has a periodontal diagnosis and might not trust you at first. If you have ever wondered whether this approach actually holds up in a real, ordinary practice, this episode answers that.

What you'll learn:

How to talk about bleeding gums as an infection, not a hygiene failure, without making patients feel blamed. What actually happens to case acceptance once patients can see their own bacteria under a microscope. How Brittany handles the patient who seems unmoved even after seeing a slide. Why proactive intervention early is so much easier than treating an infection that has already reached the bloodstream. What Brittany tells hygienists who are afraid to bring this into their own practice.

A moment worth hearing:

Brittany shares some of her patients' first reactions to seeing their own slides, including one she calls her personal favorite: "I have no one to blame but myself." Tosha and Brittany talk about why that accountability, once patients can see it for themselves, changes everything about the conversation that follows.

Ready to change the way your patients see their own infection?
Get the Bleeding Gums Script. DM SCRIPT to @toshardh on Instagram.

Ready to bring microscopy into your practice?
Schedule a call with Tosha at tosh.care.

Listen to Mouthy Matters:
Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube

Guest:
Brittany Angeles, RDH, dental hygienist in West Nashville, Tennessee 

Connect with Tosha:
tosh.care | @toshardh | mouthymatters.com

Stay Awesome!
 Tosha, RDH

Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner.  Opinions from guests are their own.  This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

If a patient tells you they floss every day and their gums still bleed, you already know something else is going on. This episode is for the practitioner who is tired of the "brush more, floss more" conversation not actually solving anything.

Tosha sits down with Jennifer Seider, RDH, a dental hygienist with nearly 30 years of experience in bacterial testing, to talk about what bleeding gums are actually telling us. Spoiler, it is never nothing.

Jennifer breaks down the difference between the 500 to 700 types of bacteria that live in the mouth and the 11 specific pathogens that cause periodontal infections. She explains why a patient can be doing a great job at home and still bleed the moment a hygienist probes, and why that bleeding is not a sign they are failing at oral care, it is a sign of a low grade infection.

This conversation goes deep into biofilm, the protective jacket these bacteria build around themselves, and why that changes what home care alone can actually accomplish. Jennifer also walks through how bacterial testing works in real terms, what a report tells a practitioner, and how that information reshapes the conversation with a frustrated, "I do everything right" patient.

Two research moments in this episode are worth sitting with. Jennifer shares a study from Blood Transfusion Magazine showing that donated blood has tested positive for P. gingivalis, with recipients later developing periodontal infections. She also talks through a 2007 study linking Fusobacterium to stillbirth, and newer research connecting that same pathogen to breast cancer in patients carrying the BRCA1 mutation.

What you will learn in this episode:

The difference between the 500 to 700 oral bacteria types and the 11 pathogens that actually cause gum disease

Why bleeding on probing happens even in patients with strong home care

What biofilm really is and why it protects bacteria from brushing and flossing alone

How bacterial testing works and what a report actually shows

The blood transfusion study connecting P. gingivalis to contaminated donated blood

The Fusobacterium research linking gum disease to stillbirth and to breast cancer in BRCA1 patients

Jennifer's perspective as someone who has spent nearly three decades in bacterial testing

Tosha's take:
Your gum tissue is skin. If the same amount of skin on your arm was bleeding every time you touched it, you would not call that normal. This episode gives you the language to help your patients see it the same way.

Want a script for talking to patients about bleeding gums that actually lands? DM SCRIPT to @toshardh on Instagram.

Connect with Jennifer P. Sieder, RDH:
Instagram: @microbelinkdx
Facebook: facebook.com/microbelinkdx

Website: microbelinkdx.com

Connect with Tosha:
tosh.care | @toshardh | mouthymatters.com

Stay Awesome!
-Tosha, RDH

Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner.  Opinions from guests are their own.  This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.