Liz and Dr. Blodgett talk about Liz’s experience traveling to Blodgett Dental Care for a root canal extraction; human psychology and dentistry; energetics, energy work and dental care; post-extraction options and implants; and how to find a holistic/biological dentist. Find Dr. Blodgett @blodgettdentalcare on Instagram and through his “Toxic Tooth Tour.”
TRANSCRIPT
Liz Talks
This is episode 20, topic: Liz Talks to Dr. Blodgett of Blodgett Dental Care about holistic dentistry, root canal removal, implant & replacement options after an extraction, and more!
In case you missed it, in episode 19 I talked how I care for my mouth (a routine I do 26% of the time, all the time), calcium nanohydroxyapatite toothpaste vs. fluoride, using ozone for oral care, and my biohacker alter-ego.
Before I begin, I want to quickly thank Arrowhead Mills for their generous sponsorship of this podcast. next time you go to the store, I’d love to have you support a company that supports MY work, and look for Arrowhead Mills products. You can also find them on Vitacost.com. Arrowhead Mills pancake mixes are ALL we use for our Saturday morning pancake tradition, because I tried ALL the options – including homemade pancake mix, which got infested with weevils – and none of them were as consistently good or as easy as Arrowhead Mills.
Today, I’m interviewing Dr. Kelly Blodgett of Blodgett Dental Care, which is a holistic, biological dental practice located in Portland, OR. As I said last week, Dr. Blodgett is in Kansas City for his Toxic Tooth speaking tour and he’s sitting down with me face to face for a chat about all things dentistry, root canal removal, and implant placement, and the future of dentistry.
Dr. Blodgett’s team did my root canal extraction several years ago. I traveled to their clinic because I’d heard they were literally the best in the country. And I got such great, holistic yet cutting edge care from them and we’ve kept in touch ever since.
Here’s Dr. Blodgett’s bio: Dr. Blodgett is a General Dentist who is board certified in Naturopathic Medical Dentistry and Integrative Biological Dental Medicine. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Oregon and since becoming a licensed dentist in 1999, he has transformed thousands of mouths and lives, performed hundreds of presentations on progressive dental concepts and most importantly, he has never forgotten his commitment to connecting with the human being first. Dr. Blodgett is committed to investing his energy to help all dental practices adopt biological practices and develop communication skills that respect the autonomy of the patient.
And we talk about that in detail on this podcast. Let’s get to the interview!
Liz Wolfe: Dr. Blodgett; thank you so much for meeting me here in Kansas City and coming on the Liz Talks podcast!
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Thank you! I’m so excited to be here. It’s my first time in Kansas City.
Liz Wolfe: What do you think of it so far?
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: It’s a colorful and lively town.
Liz Wolfe: Tell everyone about the naked people.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Yeah, yeah. It was crazy rolling into town after midnight last night, and people rolling out of the theater almost 1 o’clock in the morning with hardly any clothes on {laughs}. Yeah, I was shocked.
Liz Wolfe: I’m going to have to figure out what that was. Because that’s not like a Kansas City tradition; nudity in 30 degree weather. That I know of.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Yeah. The guy at the front desk said it was a rave, apparently. So I wasn’t expecting raves in Kansas City.
Liz Wolfe: Well, aren’t raves supposed to be these underground things? Aren’t they supposed to be in a warehouse down by the river or something like that? It’s an official rave. I don’t know. It seems like we’ve kind of; I don’t know, millennialed up that whole concept.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: It was clearly a very accepted thing. And very colorful.
Liz Wolfe: Ok. Yeah, well. Welcome to my city, sir.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: OH, thank you.
Liz Wolfe: So glad to be hosting you here. So what actually brings you here? It’s not just the Liz Talks podcast. I know that was a big part of it, I’m sure.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: It’s pretty much you, Liz.
Liz Wolfe: {laughing}
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: No, absolutely. Three things; seeing you, and I’m also doing a muscle testing course over the next couple of days. And on Sunday I am kicking off my toxic tooth tour. And we’ve just, through social media, been inviting people to come who would like to talk about concepts of holistic oral health and biological dentistry. And learn more about how the health of their mouth is connected to the rest of their life experience, and health. And yeah. That’s been something on my bucket list here for a couple of years. COVID kind of slowed it down, so we are finally getting to it. And Kansas City is our first city to do this in. So I’m really excited for that on Sunday.
Liz Wolfe: I love that. That’s so exciting. And Kansas City; the holistic. What’s the right word? Holistic, integrative, biological; what’s the word.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: That is a lovely question. As a matter of fact, just this week I wrote about that in my Toxic Tuesday post. The terms that you hear a lot are biological dentistry; holistic dentistry; functional dentistry. To be quite honest, the words in and of themselves are a little bit meaningless. It really boils down to what does that practice that you’re calling; what does that mean for them. What does it mean to you, and what are you seeking?
And my whole point of the post this week was that there are amazing dentists out there who don’t consider themselves holistic or biological, but are awesome. You know? And you would be well served to see them. But yeah, those are the terms that you see slung around these days. And there are groups, you know, who follow more of biological or holistic concepts or modes of thinking, perhaps. So, yeah.
Liz Wolfe: So we’ll just call it; we’ll probably call it a few things during the course of this podcast.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Totally fine.
Liz Wolfe: All of those things being equal. I feel like the scene in Kansas City is growing. I remember 5, 10 years ago when I was looking for a biological dentist in Kansas City, I couldn’t find one. I did end up landing in one place, and still thinking I needed to go to St. Louis or Wichita, which is a couple of hours from Kansas City, to find somebody. The Fetziks are in Wichita; they’re fairly well known for their work with children and with tongue tie release and whatnot.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Right.
Liz Wolfe: And now we have Dr. Humphrey here.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Yeah.
Liz Wolfe: Dr. Babcock. We’ve got a few different options; which is great. But I remember even when I was looking at; which we’ll talk about momentarily. Looking at getting my root canal; one of my root canal teeth, removed. The option; I was looking way outside Kansas. And that’s how I ended up seeing you in your practice, and Dr. Neish. And I had the greatest experience with you guys, which we’ll talk about. But in general, I think the scene here in Kansas City is growing. So it’s really, really special to have somebody like you pop in to share some of your knowledge with us.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Well, thank you. I’m so happy to hear that. And I have been observing the same thing, around the United States. As a matter of fact, last weekend I was just talking with a gentleman who practices in Iowa. I’ve been mentoring him for the past three years. It’s awesome to see that people are getting interested in; how do I optimize my health beyond what I’m eating, how I’m sleeping. Not that those things aren’t ridiculously important. But what’s going on in your mouth is vitally important to your health. So it’s cool that it’s gaining traction.
Liz Wolfe: Yes, for sure. And just to have a practitioner; a dentist, a doctor; whomever it is that you see for your healthcare, just to have somebody that’s forward thinking. That cares about; because holistic and biological; we can use all of these different words. But what we’re really wanting; or what I was really wanting, was someone that is not only aware of how the body is supposed to work. How a good functional well-oiled system is supposed to work just naturally, but who is also bringing in all of these cutting edge treatments and options, and kind of melding those two worlds.
So it’s just cool to see that growing and see that people who, maybe can’t travel like I could at the time, have more access to those options.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Yeah, for sure.
Liz Wolfe: Ok. Maybe we should give people a little bit of background as to how you and I connected.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Sure!
Liz Wolfe: As I said, I visited your office because I was told you were the best in the business. And because I heard, like I said, that you used cutting edge technology that isn’t seen, or wasn’t seen, in a lot of offices. So I came to see you for a root canal tooth removal. And I’ve talked about it in some of our other podcasts; the Balanced Bites podcast I talked about it. I’ve talked about in several places. But I had had some kind of wacky symptoms, and this tooth that I had a root canal on had never really felt comfortable. It never really felt quite right.
So I thought; alright. It is time to go consult with somebody who I really believe I can trust. Because it’s kind of scary to think about getting a tooth taken out. A lot of dentists; even a lot of holistic, biological, integrative, whatever; one of the first things they say is; gosh, I hate to see you lose that tooth.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: {laughs}
Liz Wolfe: You don’t want to lose a tooth. We want to keep it in there if we possibly can. So I felt like I could trust what you were doing, I could trust your practice, I could trust the cutting edge resources that you had. So I flew all the way out to Portland to see you all to have this tooth removed; number 19, I believe it was. This massive molar. And to take a look at it and to kind of go through the process from there.
Now, we’ll talk later about the fact that I haven’t done anything yet with that space in my mouth. And part of that is I got pregnant. There was a pandemic. You know; all kinds of crazy stuff. But that’s how I ended up coming out to see you.
So, with all of that said. I would love to hear from you. I know what my answer would be. But what are some of your favorite cutting edge treatments and procedures that you do that you believe more dentists should be using. and maybe what are some of the more traditional concepts that you think dentists should be more aware of.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Sure. Yeah, that’s a great question. And we could go on a long time about that, I’m sure.
Liz Wolfe: Yeah.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: But; well, so if we go back to the phrase “biological”. My brain things along the lines of; how do we, as oral health care providers; how do I help create a synergy between what I’m creating in the mouth when there’s been damage, let’s say. Let’s say somebody had a cavity in the tooth, and I know when I was a little kid in the 70s, it was pretty much drill it and fill it with a mercury filling.
Now, it just makes no common sense whatsoever to put a known neurotoxin inside of a person’s mouth where they’re going to swallow the mercury and inhale the vapor as long as it’s in there. Even the American Dental Association a couple of years ago acknowledged that mercury vapor is, in fact, constantly emitted from all mercury containing fillings.
Liz Wolfe: Really!? I didn’t realize that. So they’re leaning into that one. Ok.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Yeah. Their website still says; we still say it’s safe. But not for pregnant women, or kids under 6, or anybody who probably wants to have good health. So there’s that. There’s the bandwagon of fluoride. Which; we think about, again, it has known systemic negative impacts. Particularly on our neurology. And plenty of studies have been done with fluoride looking at the lowering of IQ of populations that are exposed to fluoride. And you know, the argument in the dental community of course is; well, it makes the teeth more acid-resistant. Which, in fact it does. It takes a greater degree of acidity to break down fluoridated enamel. But you can’t put fluoride in the mouth without it being absorbed by the oral mucosa.
So, you know. People are only getting part of the story. Same thing with the mercury fillings. It’s like; well, it’s strong and it won’t break. Blah, blah, blah. Meanwhile to put it in the tooth, you have to destroy the structural integrity of the tooth. And you know, bonus, you get exposed to toxic mercury. It just doesn’t make any sense.
So I think that I wish; I’m not a should person. I don’t think dentists should do anything. But I wish that more dentists; and I certainly hope that they become more conscientious of the impact; particularly long term impact, that the kind of care they’re providing will have on their patients. Because most people who come find me; just like you did, have been experiencing things. And by the way, it doesn’t have to be symptoms that are orally related. It could be; man, my knee has been killing me. Or my thyroid gland hasn’t been functioning. And it’s kind of odd because it started not working well 3 months after my root canal.
Liz Wolfe: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: You know. And of course, people, if they bring that to their dentists, are poo-pooed. Like; well that’s not possible. And in fact, it is possible. Everything is connected. It’s a huge part of my platform, I guess you would say, that everything is connected. Including how you think; how you feel. Which is why we create space in our practice. Like we were talking about earlier. When we see new patients; on those days, we do nothing else so we can be 100% present with people so that we can connect emotionally. We can be present to hear them. We’re not having the sounds and smells of dentistry going on around trying to connect with human beings that we’ve not yet met.
So, yeah. That’s a huge hope I have for the dental profession. That we start to see that everything we do in the mouth is going to have an impact on the rest of that person’s life experience. And not just in the mouth, by the way. How we talk to people. How we listen to people. How we acknowledge the truth that they experience is an important part of really creating an experience around the dental experience people have that is positive. Because historically, we’ve done a great job of making it a horribly negative experience.
Liz Wolfe: Yes. Yeah, I think most people just expect that the dentist is going to suck.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Yeah. And it’s; as I look at it. And again, I come from a background in psychology. That’s what I studied in college. I really respect people’s feelings. I mean, that’s really important to me because I want to make personal connections with them. And when you look at the language around how people are talked to; not talked with, but talked to. It’s; “Liz, you need a crown. Liz, you need a root canal. Liz, you need some fillings.” They’re not asking you; what are your goals? What level of health are you trying to achieve? 10 years from now, what kind of oral health would you like?” Those aren’t the kinds of conversations typically that you see.
It’s like; we’re just going to consider the objective information. What do we see on the x-rays? Did my pokey explorer stick into your tooth when I jabbed it? You know. It’s all these objective things. And we grossly disregard people’s subjective experiences. Which is why, in my opinion, people have kind of a negative opinion of going to the dentist.
Liz Wolfe: Yeah!
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: And it does not have to be that way. I mean, we’ve created a practice that is entirely about positive patient experiences. So it’s 100% possible to make it awesome.
Liz Wolfe: Well one thing I really appreciated about your office was that one thing that was really important to me was that you walked me through everything step by step. And obviously, this podcast is not meant to be an ad for your office. I mean; it’s probably going to end up being that way anyway. But what I appreciated was; it wasn’t just like; I saw this on the x-ray. We need to do this. It was like; let’s sit down. Let’s look at what we see. Let me explain exactly what it means and what I’m seeing and what your options are from there. So I appreciated that very much.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Thank you.
Liz Wolfe: Yeah. So one of the; gosh I have so many questions. But one of the things that I wanted to talk about to reference what I said earlier about how most dentists will say; gosh, I really don’t want you to lose that tooth. And one of the things that you do in your office is remove root canaled teeth.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Yeah.
Liz Wolfe: And part of that is; of course, having to do with the fact. I think. And I follow your Instagram, and this is what I’ve gleaned from it, and from what you’ve explained to me, and your staff has explained to me; is that you can never really seal off a tooth. Right?
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Correct.
Liz Wolfe: That they’re so porous; it’s impossible to seal it off so that there can be absolutely no growth of microorganisms.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Right.
Liz Wolfe: So that’s kind of where it starts. Right?
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: That’s 100% correct. And in a short form; when we think of teeth, you and I talking to each other, smiling and everything. When we think of people’s teeth, we tend to think of the enamel portion. That’s the part of the teeth that we actually see. But the enamel on a tooth is maybe 15-20% of the tooth. The other 80% of it is called dentin, and it’s entirely porous, like a sponge. Now when your tooth is healthy and alive, the center portion is filled with blood supply and nerves. And all those little pores have tiny little nerves that stick in there.
Once a tooth dies; whether it’s due to decay, or a dentist has done a root canal, and you no longer have vital connection inside that tooth, all of those little tunnels or pores become empty. And they are on an order of 10 to 20 times larger than the microbes that live under your gumline. And those microbes have no problem then just marching right on inside that tooth.
In my mind, I think of it like; if I put a boat in the water that was made out of sponge, I would eventually expect it to sink because it’s going to absorb everything around it. Which is water. And that doesn’t work. So the same thing is true in what I see; and as you mentioned, I spent most of my time removing chronically infected stuff out of people’s jawbones. And most if not all of what I’m removing is dentist-caused. It’s had root canal therapy.
Yesterday I spent a lot of time removing infection from jawbones that was subsequent to wisdom teeth extractions. Which we call cavitation lesions. So it’s unfortunate when you can set things up. Let’s say a tooth has died. You don’t need a root canal, certainly. It’s an option, and it’s one that you can consider. But it’s also an option to consider removing it if the person does not want chronic exposure to microbes in their jawbone. Unfortunately, that’s not the mindset or the verbiage that most people are exposed to. It’s; “Oh! Your tooth hurts, Liz. You need a root canal.” You don’t get another option. I mean, literally.
And if people are bold enough to ask; well, are there any other options? Well, you could take it out. Then they give you a very biased opinion; which, fair enough, every dentist is entitled to have an opinion. I think that’s ok. But I think that human beings deserve to understand the pros and cons of all the options so that they can make choices for themselves that are consistent with their own values.
Liz Wolfe: Yeah.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: In other words; most people are getting the very biased opinions and values of the dentist, and by and large, the dental profession. Not asking; they’re not able to make a decision that’s based on their own values. The patient’s values.
Liz Wolfe: Yeah. Well it was never even presented; the root canals that I’ve had, and what I talked about, I believe, in the episode that’s going to come out either one or two prior to this one; I just had terrible teeth from the time I was a kid. I had two root canals by the time I was a teenager. And that was the only option. There were no other options given to me; or to my parents. So I assumed; or I would assume, that there was no other possibility. So it is very interesting that many dentists sort of consider tooth removal to be an entirely different animal, when in speaking to you, it’s one of several options that you might have for your individual experience.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Sure.
Liz Wolfe: And I see; when you talk to people through your Instagram page, a lot of times people, it seems, want you to tell them exactly what to do.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: {laughs} Yeah.
Liz Wolfe: Which you cannot do, obviously.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Right.
Liz Wolfe: But when somebody comes to you; walk me through maybe a fictional patient where they come into you. They have problems that they’re not sure about they think maybe are connected to this tooth. You take a look at it; what are you looking for, and how do you present the options and maybe a why?
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Yeah. Well, the first thing that we do; and as I mentioned, when people come in for the first time, each person has two hours that is set aside just for them. During that time, we want to understand their health story. How did they come to pick up the phone, or get on their computer and email us? You know? Usually there’s a story behind that that sounds something like; well, I’ve had these things done in my mouth and I’ve never felt; like my truth has not been honored or respected. And I have noticed these changes in my health since having treatments X, Y, and Z done.
So that to me is highly important to understand the subjective nature of what their health experience has been like. What have they sensed? What have they felt? What do they believe? Because if we acknowledge that everything is connected, then their beliefs around what they’ve been experiencing are so valid. And of course, if we don’t consider it, we’re going to miss a lot of the opportunity to heal.
So that’s from the subjective side; really important to me. On the objective side, we’re then going to gather quite a bit of clinical information that looks like, in our practice; photographs. We want to make it approachable and relational, so that our guests can see exactly what we see. That looks like also three-dimensional radiographs or x-rays, cone beam CT scans, two-dimensional x-rays. Sometimes we will refer to energy workers; whether those be like muscle testers, acupuncture and meridian assessment people. I met a gal yesterday who was actually in our surgical suite while we were doing surgery using a pendulum.
Liz Wolfe: Oh!
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: So that she could share with us, based on her energy readings, when the bone site was clean. So we gather all sorts of interesting information. And then we have this time and space where we can sit around and talk with our guests about what do we see. What have we heard from them? And what connection do we see based on their health experience and how we perceive that their oral issues are connected. That’s usually somewhat of an ah-ha for people. But more than anything, I find it’s an acknowledgement of what they suspected all along. So it’s really meaningful experiences.
As a matter of fact; this gal who had brought the pendulum person with her yesterday, she made such a loving and kind comment when her surgery was over. She said; you know, this is the first time in my life. And she’s 53 years old, by the way. First time in her life she’s really felt like any doctor actually truly listened to her. Was present in listening to her. And I thought; wow. What a gift for her to share that. But you know; what a gift for us to give that to her, I guess. And we have to create space for her. Right?
Liz Wolfe: Yeah.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: We’re used to the medical or dental experience of; hey, it’s good to see you. I’ve got two seconds.
Liz Wolfe: Uh-huh. Doctor is going to come in for a minute. You might be waiting for 35 minutes, he’ll come in for two minutes, and then you’ll be on your way.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Yeah. Jab, jab, poke, poke. Good to see you. Hope the kids are well. You know? And that’s just not; obviously. That’s not healthcare. It’s symptomatic management at best. And it doesn’t help people stay well.
Liz Wolfe: Agreed. So one of the things I really liked about your practice, as I said before. It’s this really beautiful melding of the holistic; the whole person ideology and also the cutting edge. So when I was there getting my extraction, you did this really cool thing with PRP. Right; PRP?
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Yep.
Liz Wolfe: I got to see the whole process of you extracting it, and centrifuging or whatever you did. And it was really, really neat. You did that. You all use ozone. There were a lot of really cool, really evidence-based yet cutting edge types of; I don’t know if the word is treatments. But that you were using. But I also really did feel like; for example, the woman with the pendulum. For you to create space for that is sort of a sign of just deep respect of where your patients are coming from. And I imagine that probably comes from your background in psychology. That’s probably not something that you got in dental school.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Right.
Liz Wolfe: Yeah.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Correct.
Liz Wolfe: Correct.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Well, it is interesting. Because my senior year of college, I worked on a crisis line. And one of the things that I intuitively sensed in that job. Which I found highly stressful; go figure. Was that people would call in, and I could sense they already had the answers that they were looking for. But they often needed to be shown, or have the right questions asked, or something. Create enough space, slow down, so we can see what is it that’s troubling you. How can you perceive it in a way that you can take control of as much as possible? And that’s; I’ve taken that and try to respect that in our dental practice as well. Connecting with human beings is the most important part in my opinion of how we provide meaningful health care. You don’t have to think if you’re just looking at x-rays and poking at teeth. Right? You’re not considering the human being that’s attached to that mouth.
Liz Wolfe: And sometimes that’s probably a really tough thing. There are probably some brilliant and scientific dental minds that go into the profession who really don’t have that side to their personality. And that’s probably more of a mountain to climb than many practitioners can even manage.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Yeah. Well, when you look at; and I’m hoping that this is changing. I’m not a part of any dental skill admissions board, so I don’t know. I don’t know what they’re looking for in applications these days. But I know when I applied; not surprisingly, it was highly, leaning towards; what science classes did you take? How were your grades in your science classes? Are you good at three-dimensional perception? And that was pretty much it. You know? You had to probably interview reasonably well. But it was really scientifically focused. Very little on; what’s your life been like in terms of connecting with human beings? Which, of course, that’s really what we’re doing. {laughs} You know?
Liz Wolfe: Yeah. Absolutely. Ok, so I want to talk quickly about a few words that we’ve thrown out there. Or maybe just that I’ve had in my notes here that I’m anticipating people’s questions, basically.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Sure.
Liz Wolfe: One of the questions that I received when I started talking about my experiences with getting my root canaled tooth removed was; are these cone beam x-rays safe? Is the x-ray technology safe? Isn’t that dangerous?
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Sure. So, in short, yes. People have been…
Liz Wolfe: Wow, thank you for that honest answer. {laughs}
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: You know, I took an airplane flight to get here. If it’s during daylight hours, the fact is I’m going to get exposed to all sorts of radiation the higher I go in the atmosphere. Even through a plane’s walls. Right? We’re all constantly exposed to things that have the potential to create oxidative stress. The goal is; try to reduce it as much as possible. I certainly wouldn’t want to take a cone beam on somebody once a month for five years. That wouldn’t make sense. But, in terms of trying to appreciate the nature of what’s going on inside of people’s jawbones; particularly when you are doing therapies. Let’s say that we’re going to call a root canal therapy. How do you appreciate a three dimensional issue when you’re limited to viewing it in a two-dimensional realm?
So, interestingly, if you compare three-dimensional radiography to the two-dimensional panoramic x-ray that we’ve all seen going to the dentist over the years. If you were a kid and had braces or whatever. We’ve been using panoramic x-rays for years. There’s no difference in the radiological exposure. So in our practice we do, for every new patient, a three dimensional cone beam CT and a full mouth two-dimensional series of x-rays. So I can see highly detailed information and more generalized information in three dimensions.
Now, my goal would be; hopefully we’re not taking any more of those for some time. But if people are having teeth taken out, or they’re having implants placed, we’re going to need to assess what we’ve done. Or if we’re going to plan, we might need more three-dimensional x-ray information later. Again; we’re going to get exposed here and there. That’s where making sure your gut health works well, and making sure that you’re eating optimal nutrition, and getting clean water, and sleeping, and detoxing. Those are the things that help us stay in balance. It’s not just like; x-rays, bad. You know?
Liz Wolfe: Yeah. And you’re dealing in reality. You’re not picking somebody off the street and saying; hey, you look healthy. You say your mouth is good? You’re all set? Great. Let me do an x-ray on your real quick. It should be fun. I mean, it’s not; you’re seeing people that have a need that needs to be fully assessed, like you said, in a three-dimensional way. because what you’re doing is potentially life-altering in a positive way, obviously. But at the same time, let’s imagine a world where somebody had a need; a tooth that was bothering them, and there were no x-rays. What would we do? It would be Tom Hanks in a cave with a volleyball yanking out his own tooth.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Right. Yeah. Well, yeah.
Liz Wolfe: {laughs}
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: I have been asked many a time. People will email the practice. They’ll say; I want to come in, and I want you to assess me; but I don’t want x-rays. It’s like; how can I assess you if I can’t actually see the things you’re asking me to look at? You know? And in truth, again, like we were talking earlier about things being connected. I mean, I can’t tell you how many maxillary sinuses or frontal sinuses; all these sinuses that are connected to the teeth within your mouth. And we see infection all the time. You know? The infection from the gums, or from the teeth. Or even from extraction sites that didn’t heal well. And the sinuses will be full of garbage. And it’s related to what’s going on in the teeth. And if I didn’t have a three-dimensional scan, I literally cannot see that.
Liz Wolfe: Yeah.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: So people are generally asking; I want you to make sure that I stay healthy. Well, I have to be well equipped to do that.
Liz Wolfe: Yeah. Absolutely. Ok, so maybe; where do I want to go next? I want to talk about. Ok, these might not be connected, but I’m a lay person, so you’ll just have to forgive me. I want to talk about cavitations and chronic low-grade infection. Root canals, but take it wherever you want to take it. Why should people be aware of this? What is it?
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Yeah, well, and I do think it’s all connected. So let’s say it could be gum disease. It’s basically a biofilm out of balance where the body is saying; hey, I’m inflamed down here because there’s a problem. The same thing is true around root canaled teeth. Again, we talked about microbes making their way in, and they’re inside the jawbone, and as you were describing. I love it. I had this awareness; it never felt right.
Liz Wolfe: Yeah.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: And when I hear that it’s like; well, if it doesn’t feel right, it’s not right. You know? And the same thing with the cavitations. It’s literally an area within the bone that did not heal optimally, and it’s either necrotic. Rarely do I see it sterile and dead; mostly it is teeming with microbes, parasites, bacteria, what have you.
Liz Wolfe: And you test these things?
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Yes.
Liz Wolfe: We had my tooth sent out for like a DNA; what was it?
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Yeah, DNA connections in Denver, Colorado.
Liz Wolfe: Yeah. So you can see what’s actually in there.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Yep. And I’ve literally sent out more than 500 root sets now. It’s to the point unless somebody wants to know, I don’t necessarily send the roots out anymore. I always send cavitational stuff. Because I want to verify that what they have been experiencing is corroborated by DNA evidence because you can’t see bacteria. You can’t see viruses. You can’t see parasites with your naked eye. So I like to verify that what I’m taking out in fact was loaded with microbes.
But they’re all connected. I would say they’re all similar to the extent that they’re creating both a microbial challenge in areas where we should not see microbes. You shouldn’t have microbes inside your jawbone. You shouldn’t have microbes inside your teeth. And it creates an energetic imbalance. And that’s why I love including the energetic measurement people and healers. You know? Because the information they’re gathering is valid. You know?
Liz Wolfe: Yeah. And I hadn’t thought of it. You know; we talked about the energetic thing. And I did an interview a couple of episodes ago with Dr. Axe. And we sort of talked about the different ways people can perceive or divine or articulate things for themselves to make it make sense. So for me, that feeling of; something’s not right. There’s something off here and I can feel it. That’s energetics. That’s something I could feel but couldn’t necessarily put into words.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Yeah.
Liz Wolfe: And then we kind of talked it in terms of Chinese medicine and, like you were talking about energetics and when Dr. Axe and I were talking, we were talking about sort of the similarities between the concepts of, for example, prayer and meditation. Like; sometimes it just; you have to drill down to sort of the vernacular of the person that you’re actually speaking to.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Right.
Liz Wolfe: How they conceptualize these things, and whether you want to call it energetics or something felt off; whatever it might be. All of that is sort of wrapped into this same thing. And that is that the space is not healthy. It’s causing inflammation that’s affecting potentially the rest of your body. Right?
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Yeah. Absolutely. And what I tell our patients all the time is, if it doesn’t feel right, it’s not right. If you have a sense; and I hear this all the time. Well; I went in, and I didn’t want the root canal in the first place. So it’s like, already the energy of their life experience was resistant to that. And it just never makes the connections.
Now, I can argue that; are there millions of people who have had root canals who are totally unaware that it’s having any impact on their health? Absolutely. And will they maybe go through the rest of their life and live and die and not think twice about it? Sure, absolutely. That’s totally possible. The problem is that our profession focuses only on that side of it. Oh, if these 9 people out of 10 have been asymptomatic, then you’re going to be fine. Well; that one person out of 10 is; what are you talking about? 20-plus million root canals a year in the United States alone? I mean, that’s, what, 2 million people, arguably, that might be sitting there going; God, I don’t get it. You know? This thing doesn’t feel right.
Liz Wolfe: Something’s off.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: No, no, no. You’re fine.
Liz Wolfe: Yeah.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: It looks; That’s my favorite one. It looks fine. {laughs} You look at the two-dimensional x-ray that nobody can read. No, it looks fine. And by the way, I’m just going to totally discount what you’re telling me, because you don’t know anything and I’m the dentist. I’m right and you’re wrong. That’s the unhealthy dynamic that we’ve created and why dentistry has such a bad name.
Liz Wolfe: It looks fine to me; therefore it’s not happening to you.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Right!
Liz Wolfe: Yeah. That’s tough. And you know; we don’t have to go down this path too far. But I’m so interested in the energetic stuff. A long time ago I interviewed Dr. David Hanscom, who wrote a book called Back in Control. And he’s a spine surgeon who basically refused to do spinal surgery on people until they went through, basically a course of mental, emotional work.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Oh, yeah.
Liz Wolfe: And he was saying that he was not having to do spinal surgery on these people once they went through this whole protocol. I talk about expressive writing as one of them that he talked about. But one of the things he talked about on the podcast was how we know scientifically, there are studies on this, that trauma is associated with autoimmune disease later in life. And in thinking about this podcast with you, and my experiences with dental care. Thinking about the level of trauma that some dental work probably causes for people. Children in particular.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Yeah.
Liz Wolfe: But having someone in your mouth drilling into your body. How many of your instincts you have to suppress and suspend just for the sake of getting through that. And how that is traumatic. And I do believe that our tissues store trauma. And that’s about as woo-woo as I like to get. But there are multiple books on this.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Oh yeah.
Liz Wolfe: There are very good scientific; reputable scientists that have argued this same thing. And I imagine that probably plays into it a little bit, as well.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Yes. And that’s just the physiologic side of it. How about when you show up two weeks after you’ve had a crown put on a tooth, and you’re telling the dentist; hey, this thing is not feeling right. And of course, they usually go to the bite first because it’s what they know. And then you come back another time, or another two times or three times and they just tell you; basically, I’m not hearing you.
In my basket, I have more drilling, or I can kill it and fill it with a root canal. That’s all I know. Not like; maybe something is wrong underneath. Maybe the crown could come off. How you are you doing? I mean, Dr. Neish and I talk about this frequently in our practice where; sometimes just showing up, sitting alongside somebody. Saying; I’m really sorry that you’re having this experience. Just acknowledging the human experience of being uncomfortable. Whether it’s due to dental work that they had or just in general, their teeth aren’t feeling well. It has so much power to acknowledge that you have feelings around this.
And the energy; you and I have seen this. It’s like the energy can shift so drastically to where they become less resistance to the experience. As you can imagine, the number of people that I meet where; not everybody, of course. But some show up to the practice, and they’re instantly defensive. Understandably. I mean, they’re used to going into a space where somebody is going to tell them what’s wrong with them based on objective findings; they’re anticipating not being listened to. And I mean, who wouldn’t, in an attempt to protect yourself, be defensive? I mean, it’s just amazing. I can watch it in their body language, and I feel it in their aura. Where they just start to melt once I’ve spent enough time. And I don’t know what that is for any given person. You just have to be present with them. And you can feel like the energy will shift when they know we are going to be there for them. They will be heard. Their input is not only valid and valued; it’s critical. You know; I have to understand it so I can help them as a whole human being.
Liz Wolfe: And scientifically, we know that that type of mindset is more conducive to healing and recovery than the alternative.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Right.
Liz Wolfe: So it’s better for everybody all around. Ok. I want to talk; we talked about low-grade infection, which is what we see when you basically a dead, what? A dead organ, in a way?
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Yeah. Chronic inflammation; and the work of Brad Bale and Amy Doneen, who wrote the book Beat the Heart Attack Gene; they showed not just connection. They showed causation between chronic oral infection; gum disease, root canals; cavitations. Those lead to; they cause cardiovascular events. Strokes, heart attacks, Alzheimer’s issues. So this stuff is 100% proven that when you have chronic inflammation; oxidative stress in your mouth from whether it’s gum disease, root canals, what have you. It will have an impact. Whether you become symptomatic and die from it; that will shift between every person who experiences it. Right?
But it’s real. And when we’re looking at a health picture, we have to consider it. I mean, how often do you go to the physician, and they want to know; do your gums bleed when you floss? Have you had any root canals? Have you had any teeth extracted? Does you bite feel balanced? These are all critically important things to a person’s health. But they’re literally not addressed.
Liz Wolfe: Yeah. Ok. So let’s talk about bite a little bit.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Sure.
Liz Wolfe: Because this is fascinating to me. And I imagine; if you could address this. If this is relevant in any way. The way that a lot of tooth rearrangement; braces, orthodontia, is handled.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: {laughs}
Liz Wolfe: I had; I mean it’s expensive. I had the top 8; the front top 8 teeth just kind of rearranged to give me a nice smile. But I would imagine when you’re moving around a couple, but you’re not kind of moving everything in a more; I don’t know, holistic manner, that you’re actually kind of making the bite more wonky?
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Right.
Liz Wolfe: So tell me; what do you know about the bite? What can you tell me about that?
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: And that’s kind of issues that are further down the line of life experience, generally speaking. A couple of books; one is called Sleep Interrupted. And another one called the Dental Diet by Stephen Lin out of Australia. In both those books, they look at Weston Price’s acknowledgement of the importance of a diet that is full of whole foods, where you are breastfed as a baby. The value of breastfeeding, of chewing real foods. Where you actually have to…
Liz Wolfe: Mm-hmm. That’s a big one.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Put pressure. Like stimulate the growth centers of bones.
Liz Wolfe: You know; I’m sorry to interrupt.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: No, please.
Liz Wolfe: But we actually; I talked about on a previous podcast. We had a body worker that we took my second baby to who said; babies have this need to suck, all of that. But he said they also need to gnaw. From the time you’re really small, you need to be kind of stimulating your mouth in that way. And it takes on a whole new value and you have teeth and you’re working on developing the jaw further with those mechanical stimuli.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: For sure. Yeah. So, historically, if we go back hundreds of years. That’s how you would; well of course they didn’t have braces at the time. Right? It’s how you would develop an appropriately sized jaw for your teeth. I mean, by and large the level of crowding that we see today and the level of business of orthodontists. It’s such a; it’s a thing of our time. Right? How can suddenly. It’s like; well, we’ve got the specialty now, not to say that orthodontics isn’t important and can be very helpful for a lot of people. But, it’s so much more of a societally accepted thing. Because you can go to some countries where it’s just not part of their life experience. You know? But where we are; modernized culture. It’s; here’s your fig newton. {laughs}
Liz Wolfe: Guilty. Organic fig bars. Excuse me; thank you very much.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Sure. Not to say it’s not delicious. {laughs}
Liz Wolfe: {laughs}
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: But we have to exercise our jaws. Not to say that every meal has to be; give me the gristle so I can just gnaw for an hour on this one piece of meat. But we do have to have some level of stimulation. And it’s greatly lacking. When you look at the modern western diet; it’s lacking in texture. It’s prechewed!
Liz Wolfe: Yeah. It is. That Weston Price I think used the term; diseases of civilization. Was that Weston Price’s term? I can’t remember. But it’s not, obviously we wouldn’t say a disease of civilization. But a reality of civilization is that our foods have become softer. We have to do a lot less work to eat them. We do a lot less gnawing. A lot less chewing.
Also; there are a ton of things that work that we could talk about from women not getting the proper support to be able to breastfeed, to things like tongue ties, to all kinds of biological, mechanical, all of those different things that really kind of set us up for a difficult journey from the very beginning. And I’ve talked about this on my podcast as well. My first daughter is doing the ALF device right now. It was the right choice for us; there are probably many other things that we could do or should have done. But at the same time; you have to balance how much you can even tolerate of what you’re having to put your kid through. What they’re ok with. And all of that.
And of course; there’s probably genetic, epigenetic or; what’s the word? Not genetic but, the polymorphisms. Like MTHFR where maybe mom doesn’t know that she’s compound heterozygous and dad is compound heterozygous and they’re not taking enough folate, or not getting enough choline. This is something I think I probably should have been more aware of when I was pregnant with my first. So then you end up with some other issues with your nourishment while you’re pregnant.
So all of that to say; we are doing the best we can to figure out the order in which to address these things, and often times, we don’t even know there’s anything going on until we end up going to see Dr. Blodgett in Portland because of a root canal that was probably botched 20 years ago that I had to have for multiple reasons.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Yeah.
Liz Wolfe: You know. So compassion and grace for everybody that’s trying to figure this thing out, for sure.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Absolutely. Yeah. Well thank you for mentioning; I’m going to steer it back for a second.
Liz Wolfe: Yes; please do.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: To the bite issue. Because I do want to point out; and it’s really something. Nobody can be an expert in everything, right? In our practice, Dr. Neish is really; not that we don’t both really value and appreciate the importance of a balanced bite. But it’s one of; when I think about. You remember the dog whisperer guy?
Liz Wolfe: Oh yeah.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: It’s like; I’m kind of like the root canal whisperer. I just listen to what’s going on. He’s really; he’s so intuitive around the nature of people’s bite balance. And almost from an osteopathic standpoint. He just is so good with that and helping people to find the balance between where teeth connect so that your jaws are in a state of harmony. Right? It impacts your temporomandibular joint. I mean, how many people do we hear say I’ve got TMJ; or technically TMD; right? Temporomandibular dysfunction.
And it’s like; well yeah, if you had a small rock in your shoe, and you were trying to walk two miles, your gait is going to be weird. Similarly if you have one filling or a sealant or a crown or whatever and it’s just slightly off. You’re going to be repositioning your jaw constantly. Which creates stress in your jaw muscles, your neck muscles, your shoulder, your back. Like; it will impact everything.
It’s not to say that every back and neck problem and shoulder problem is dentally related. But it’s part of the picture.
Liz Wolfe: Sure.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Interestingly; conversely, a problem with your back can cause jaw problems. So we have to think of everything as being connected. It’s all an important part of looking at a person’s health.
Liz Wolfe: So, to validate that further. When I got number 19 removed, in the first 12 to 24 hours, I had a lot of trouble closing my mouth. It was like my mouth was kind of trembling when I would try and close my bite. Because it was like this electricity, where something used to be there, and it wasn’t there anymore. It resolved quickly; it was kind of part of the process of it. But that really validated how much we are neurologically firing as we’re using our mouths.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Oh yeah. Well, and when you can’t land; I remember years ago I was out of town, and slept weird in this hotel bed. And I don’t know what happened to my jaw during my night of sleep. But somehow, my right TMJ got totally tweaked. Almost out of joint. And my teeth could not come together. And not only was the TMJ horribly painful; it was so disconcerting to not be able to close my teeth together. Thankfully it resolved in a fairly short order with some laser therapy; but it was so stressful. To not be able to chew? It’s like; oh man. Talk about all the things to take for granted. {laughs} You know?
Liz Wolfe: Oh my gosh; yes. Ok, so I’ve been talking; we’ve been talking for like 50 minutes, and I know we want to try and keep this to an hour. So I’ll see if I can do that. We’ll see how it goes. Because I have another really important question that I want to ask.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Certainly.
Liz Wolfe: And this is another thing that I see in the comments of your Instagram. Where people come in and they want to ask you exactly what they should do after they get a root canal tooth removed. Do I get it replaced? Do I get; what do I do? And obviously you can’t tell them in the Instagram comments {laughs} what they should do.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: {laughs} Right.
Liz Wolfe: But can you walk me through a few of the options that people have and how you address them with people?
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Absolutely. So, option number one, always, is that you could do absolutely nothing. There might be consequences to that. Teeth around there might move. But you could literally do nothing and let it heal. And if the bone is in good health, and the gums are in great health, and the energy is flowing well. Who cares?
Now, most people. Let’s say it’s a tooth in the visible realm. That’s not acceptable to them. {laughs} Arguably, if it was your front tooth, you might have replaced it by now; right?
Liz Wolfe: Probably, yes.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: And I totally get that. Totally get that. So, with respect to option two; I would say a removable appliance is a possibility. And there are an endless variety of removable appliances that you could do for a single missing tooth. Most commonly I’ll use something called a Duraflex appliance; the material is slightly flexible. It’s relatively firm, but it has a little flex to it, and you can literally click it into the space. It gives you something onto which you could chew softer foods. More than anything it just prevents the other teeth from moving.
Liz Wolfe: Gotcha.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: So that’s; if a person is thinking; well, I may want an implant in the future. Then usually I’ll encourage them; think about space maintenance somehow. We’ll figure that out. So that’s option two.
Option three; I’m sure you may have heard of a dental bridge?
Liz Wolfe: Mm-hmm. Is this the one that involves filing down?
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Correct. Yeah. And there are versions of bridges these days. This is the traditional sense of a bridge. Where you are literally grinding teeth down. There are some bridges you can do these days where you don’t have to take as much tooth structure away. But, my feeling is; why would you grind away healthy tooth? If the adjacent teeth are in great health. Or even if they’ve had a couple of fillings, and don’t need any other work, why would we damage them to fill this hole? It just; so personally, that’s not my favorite. We throw it out there as an option. We pro and con it. But it’s not something I do a lot.
Now, if the adjacent teeth both have crowns on them, and you can just take out the old crowns and clean them up and utilize those teeth; maybe it’s a good option. So it’s on the table.
And the other option would be like an implant; dental implant. Which in my practice we use pretty much 100% of the time now we’re using ceramics. So zirconium oxide, which is commonly referred to as zirconia. It’s an oxidized metal. So it’s a ceramic. It looks white. Crazy enough, you can actually drill on it like it’s a tooth.
So yesterday, you know, for a young woman. We had taken out her very front tooth; upper front right tooth. And go figure, she wanted a tooth replacement immediately.
Liz Wolfe: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: And often times, we’re able to remove the tooth, remove the infection around it, put in a zirconia or ceramic implant, and then put a temporary crown on it immediately.
Liz Wolfe: Oh, ok. In the same visit.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Yeah, using CAD/CAM technology and you were mentioning earlier that we do have a lot of really cool technology. None of it is new, by the way. You know, it’s all been around 30 years.
Liz Wolfe: Wow.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: We’re just using it creatively. And then we bond that temporary crown to the adjacent teeth for support. Because we can’t load the implant for another three to four months. We have to let the bone attach to it.
Most of our patients prefer that. Just because it will behave the most like a tooth. Up until four or five years ago, I’d put in hundreds if not thousands of titanium implants. Again, not that that can’t work really well for a lot of people. But I have certainly seen my own patients, and others, where you put titanium in their jawbone, and it throws off either their energy or literally they might be allergic to a substance within that titanium alloy. A lot of people are literally allergic to the nickel.
And gosh; I had one lady years ago. I remember putting her implant in her upper left jaw. And I didn’t see her back for six months. And in that six months, she had been seeing a dermatologist because she couldn’t figure out why she had all this skin breakout. And lo and behold, it was that titanium implant. We took it out; her skin problems went away. Immediately. It was like; ooh. What else don’t I know? {laughs} You know?
Liz Wolfe: Yeah.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: So Dr. Neish and I have pretty much agreed; unless it’s a very, very special set of circumstances, we pretty much use ceramic implants for all people now.
Liz Wolfe: Ok. So do nothing; Duraflex; bridge; ceramic implant. These are your options. And for someone that didn’t even know that taking out a tooth was an option, this is always very mind-blowing to me.
So I think probably; like I said, I got pregnant, pandemic, all of that stuff. I think my personal preference would probably be an implant. And I’ve consulted with your office about that; and I’ll let everybody know what we do moving forward.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Yeah.
Liz Wolfe: Ok. So let’s close this out. Is there anything else that you wanted folks to know? And if not, can you let folks know how they can find a great dentist who approaches their practice the way you guys do?
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Sure. Sure. Yeah. I guess what I would add is to let your listeners know. I am on a life’s mission to see the practice of dentistry become one that people have a positive association with. If I can have an impact in that way, then my life’s energy will have been well spent. And I need their help. Sharing, particularly my Instagram account with people that they know and love, who are perhaps not aware that every single thing that’s been done; not only in their mouth but in their feelings around their mouth. It’s important, and it has impact. And there are ways, in fact, to have a ridiculously positive experience and association with your oral health care.
We’ve got to see the profession change. And that, in my opinion, will not happen until society becomes aware enough that they start asking. Maybe not even asking. Demanding from their dentist better. To be respected. To be heard. To be honored. It’s so critically important.
So I could use your help. I intend to do more of my toxic tooth tour this year. In the next three months, I’ll be starting off here in Kansas City, and then Los Angeles, and Dallas, and New York in June. And we’ll see where it goes from there. Hopefully we can spread this message that better is possible.
And I would also add to anybody listening; if they feel like something is going on within their dental realm that has not; they’ve shared it with their dentist or their hygienist and it’s really been poo-pooed, or discounted; it’s real. Please don’t ignore it. There are dentists out there who are willing to acknowledge your truth. Finding them is not easy. I will admit.
I would like to say that, if people go to my Instagram account; I have posts where I share how do you find a great biological dentist. And I offer some resources there; there are professional groups that many conscientious dentists and caring dentists will belong to. But the only way you’re going to know is to call up the office, or email their office, and find out; how do the human beings there connect with you? How do you connect with them? What does thoughtful communication look and feel like?
I mean, it’s something, in my practice, I spend 15 to 30 minutes every morning working with my front office team on thoughtful communication. We review emails and phone calls that have come in every single day. So that we make sure; just like staying fit physically. Or maintaining good gut health. We’re doing our best to exercise our conscientious thinking and listening skills. It turns out it makes a big difference when you focus on it every day. I know it’s a lot. {laughs}
Liz Wolfe: No, I think it’s perfect. And it’s something that I definitely experienced, and have continued to experience from your office over the last however many years. I mean, about once a year I reach out and I’m like; hey, I’m thinking about doing this maybe I might be ready. And then life gets busy, and I don’t {laughs}.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Of course.
Liz Wolfe: But every time I’ve communicated with your office, it’s always been an excellent experience. And as you were just speaking, I was thinking to myself; I would actually rather; I mean, I would rather have both, where I have an office like yours that communicates well and that also is wonderful with treatment options. But I would almost rather go to a conventional run of the mill type of office that treats me really well than a holistic biological dentist that is really difficult to communicate with. Is condescending or what have you. I mean, who knows.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Right. And that’s the danger of; what if you find somebody who uses the phrase “We’re a holistic practice! We’re biological” Whatever. “We’re a functional dental practice.” And you call up; but the verbiage is still the same old, same old. It’s like; well, ok Liz. You’ve got a root canal. You need it out. You need an extraction. And you need an implant. It’s like; you don’t need any of that. You don’t need teeth.
Liz Wolfe: {laughs}
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Right? I have patients with dentures. As a matter of fact, I saw a woman yesterday. She has an upper denture. She has no upper teeth. She’s in her late 70s. She’s healthy as can be. She’s a total kick in the pants. And she has no upper teeth. You don’t need teeth! They’re kind of nice to have.
Liz Wolfe: They’re nice to have.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Yeah. I’m a fan of them, certainly. I’m not encouraging people to get them out needlessly. But nobody needs what we do. If we were to argue that they need anything, to your point, it’s that they need connection with human beings. And the rest of it just stems from there naturally. Right?
Liz Wolfe: Yeah.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: You can find whatever kind of care floats your boat. But if we can be present with people and honor their experience; that’s a whole lot better for everybody. {laughs}
Liz Wolfe: Yeah, for sure.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Yeah.
Liz Wolfe: Yep. Ok, so it’s Blodgett Dental Care on Instagram, correct.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Yes. Blodgett Dental Care.
Liz Wolfe: Ok. B-L-O-D-G-E-T-T Dental Care. And folks; if you can’t find somebody nearby, I can certainly vouch for Blodgett Dental Care, and the fact that most airlines fly into Portland.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Amen. Yeah. PDX has become a big one.
Liz Wolfe: It has indeed. Alright, folks. Dr. Blodgett, thank you so much for being on the podcast today. And I wish you the best of luck on your speaking tour, and of all of your endeavors going forward.
Dr. Kelly Blodgett: Thank you Liz. It’s an honor to be with you.
Liz Wolfe: Before I let my listeners go, I do have a bit of an overshare. This one is about the after-care of my dental treatment with Blodgett. Now, I had a wonderful experience at Blodgett; or as good of an experience as having a tooth removed can be. And they sent me home with my mouth packed with PRP, stitched up, and ready to heal. Now, at the time, I was serving as one of the president’s of the mother’s club of my neighborhood, and we had planned a summer floatilla. So, this was, I think in August, and it was a big end of the year, winding down, mom floatilla where we all took boats out on this little lake and just floated together, hung out, had fun, and of course, did some drinking, some laughing, some talking, all of that. And I thought; I’ve got to be there. It would just be not cool if I was around and I didn’t show up, since I’m one of the presidents.
Now, I didn’t drink. Or at least I don’t think I did. I can’t imagine I would have. But what ended up happening is it was such a rip-roaring good time that I was laughing a lot. And what I think happened was that pull of my smile on my oral tissues ended up causing a little bit of a rupture; I mean, I was laughing really, really hard. It takes a lot, but the force of it was pretty intense. And it ended up maybe popping a stitch, or pulling on some of that repair that they had done in there. And my mouth; you guys, if you’re queasy about blood, then you might want to turn it off. But I ended up suddenly having this rush of blood in my mouth. And I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t articulate what was going on, other than just to be like; “Mmmr, mmrrm, mrmr, mrmrm.” Somebody hand me a paper towel.
We’re literally in the middle of a lake, and this is just how things happen to me. When it’s a disaster, it’s a real disaster. We’re in the middle of a lake in the boat that I had taken out there; it was my parent’s boat. They have a little 15-year-old pontoon boat, so we chugged it out to the middle of the lake and tied up to a couple of other ones. And my mouth. My mouth is having a severe issue. But I can’t open my mouth to talk about it. I’m trying to keep pressure on the space, and I can’t articulate what needs to happen next.
Somehow, someway, I managed, around all these people that, some of which I didn’t know that well, had no idea what was going on and are wondering why this girl is frantically gesturing for something to put into her mouth. So finally I get a paper towel. I put pressure on the space; which is all the way back in my mouth. It was the number 19 molar. So I’ve got my hand in my mouth, pushing down on this paper towel try to keep the bleeding away. And finally, somebody kind of got what was going on, and was like; ok. I’ll drive the boat back so you can get off the boat.
I’m trying to call my husband. I don’t have my phone. I’m trying to figure out somebody that can come pick me up that can take me back to my house, which was like 5 minutes away, and figure out what to do about this bleeding situation.
Luckily, Dr. Neish, who had worked on my tooth at Blodgett Dental Care, was available via phone. He had given me his phone number for anything that I needed, so I was able to get in touch with him really quickly and talk it through. But it was so unbelievably embarrassing, and just a comedy of errors. Which is basically what happens to me, when something happens it happens big. But the moral of the story is: NO SUMMER FLOATILLAS AFTER ROOT CANAL EXTRACTION. Rest. Take it easy. Don’t laugh too hard after you’ve had something major like that done to your mouth. People still talk about it. It’s very embarrassing.
All right, a big thank you to Arrowhead Mills for making this episode possible – I hope you enjoyed it! Don’t forget to follow @BlodgettDentalCare and me, of course, @RealFoodLiz on Instagram. I appreciate you!
That’s it for now – I’ll see you next week!
