Sharla Aronson: Unlocking Health and Wellness Through Biologic Dentistry Sharla Aronson: Unlocking Health and Wellness Through Biologic Dentistry
Episode 91

Sharla Aronson:

Unlocking Health and Wellness Through Biologic Dentistry

Discover how dental health can impact autoimmune symptoms and overall health, in this podcast interview with Dr. Sharla Aronson, a biologic dentist and founder of Aronson Family Dental in Fort Collins, Colorado.  In the first part of the podcast, Dr. Aronson discusses how biological dentistry differs from traditional dentistry and focuses on individualized approaches that acknowledge the connection between the health of the mouth and the rest of the body. She also emphasizes the importance of using tools such as laser ozone and biocompatibility testing. We also discuss the importance of using Hydroxyapatite instead of fluoride in toothpaste, hidden infections in the mouth that can lead to autoimmunity, and the removal of amalgam fillings in a safe and effective manner. And Dr. Aronson emphasizes the importance of considering a patient's individual health needs when providing dental treatments, and how airway health is linked to the size and development of the jaws. Throughout the episode, Dr. Aronson provides valuable insights and practical advice to help listeners better understand the impact of dental health on overall health. I'm so excited to share this information with you!

First Aired on: Jun 12, 2023
Sharla Aronson: Unlocking Health and Wellness Through Biologic Dentistry Sharla Aronson: Unlocking Health and Wellness Through Biologic Dentistry
Episode 91

Sharla Aronson:

Unlocking Health and Wellness Through Biologic Dentistry

Discover how dental health can impact autoimmune symptoms and overall health, in this podcast interview with Dr. Sharla Aronson, a biologic dentist and founder of Aronson Family Dental in Fort Collins, Colorado.  In the first part of the podcast, Dr. Aronson discusses how biological dentistry differs from traditional dentistry and focuses on individualized approaches that acknowledge the connection between the health of the mouth and the rest of the body. She also emphasizes the importance of using tools such as laser ozone and biocompatibility testing. We also discuss the importance of using Hydroxyapatite instead of fluoride in toothpaste, hidden infections in the mouth that can lead to autoimmunity, and the removal of amalgam fillings in a safe and effective manner. And Dr. Aronson emphasizes the importance of considering a patient's individual health needs when providing dental treatments, and how airway health is linked to the size and development of the jaws. Throughout the episode, Dr. Aronson provides valuable insights and practical advice to help listeners better understand the impact of dental health on overall health. I'm so excited to share this information with you!

First Aired on: Jun 12, 2023

In this episode:

Discover how dental health can impact autoimmune symptoms and overall health, in this podcast interview with Dr. Sharla Aronson, a biologic dentist and founder of Aronson Family Dental in Fort Collins, Colorado.

In the first part of the podcast, Dr. Aronson discusses how biological dentistry differs from traditional dentistry and focuses on individualized approaches that acknowledge the connection between the health of the mouth and the rest of the body. She also emphasizes the importance of using tools such as laser ozone and biocompatibility testing.

In subsequent parts of the podcast, we discuss the importance of using Hydroxyapatite instead of fluoride in toothpaste, hidden infections in the mouth that can lead to autoimmunity, and the removal of amalgam fillings in a safe and effective manner. We also talk about the importance of considering a patient's individual health needs when providing dental treatments, and how airway health is linked to the size and development of the jaws.

Throughout the episode, Dr. Aronson provides valuable insights and practical advice to help listeners better understand the impact of dental health on overall health. I'm so excited to share this information with you!

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Episode Transcript

 Julie Michelson: [00:00:00] Welcome back to The Inspired Living with Autoimmunity podcast. I'm your host, Julie Michaelson, and today we're joined by Dr. Sharla Aronson, biological dentist and founder of Aronson Family Dental in Fort Collins, Colorado. 

In our conversation, we explore what biological dentistry is, how it differs from traditional dentistry and why it may be the answer you're looking for to [00:01:00] finally alleviate your autoimmune symptoms.

Dr. Aaronson, welcome to the podcast.

Sharla Aronson: Thank you, Julie. Thanks for having me.

Julie Michelson: I am so excited for this conversation because I just think that people really need to hear what you have to say. But also, I, I always forget living in the world that I live in, that the general, there's so many things the general population just has never heard. So yeah. So I'm excited to, to get started, but I know you started as a traditional dentist.

Sharla Aronson: Mm-hmm.

Julie Michelson: And so I'm curious how, what kind of triggered you to enter the world of biological dentistry?

Sharla Aronson: Absolutely. Well, as you were saying, there's a lot of things people don't know, and as a dentist, I didn't know that biologic dentistry even existed. I discovered functional medicine after I had my first child. Kind of went through that, not feeling great, [00:02:00] something's not right. And got tuned into that for myself.

And it was through my functional medicine doctor that I learned that there's something called biologic dentistry. And the more that I learned about biologic dentistry, the more I realized I have to do it. You know, it. It's one of those things, once you learn it, you can't unlearn it and you can't practice the old way anymore.

Julie Michelson: That's the perfect segue into what in the world is biological dentistry.

Sharla Aronson: I like to think of it as the functional medicine of dentistry. So instead of, you know, just trying to treat your cavities and send you on your way, we. Number one, honor the fact that your mouth is attached to the rest of your body. So what we're doing in your mouth is affecting your body and the condition of your body is affecting your mouth.

The other thing that's really critical with biologic dentistry is we know that each individual is unique and [00:03:00] therefore our approach for them needs to be individualized. So we're looking at. We're talking about so much more than just flossing and avoiding sugar, right? We're looking at how does gut health relate to your mouth?

What is your or your oral pH have to do with disease? How does your airway impact it? Your skeletal formation your habits, what toxins are you exposed to? All of that. So we're just looking a lot deeper. We still do dentistry. You know, we're u but we do utilize other tools to make sure that we're helping optimize healing and disinfecting.

So things like laser ozone we do biocompatibility testing to make sure that what I'm putting in your body isn't, you know, triggering something immune and immune reaction in you

Julie Michelson: All the things I'm. So excited. I'm like, oh, there's so many rabbit holes to go down. And I'm, so, I'm thrilled that, and maybe I heard, [00:04:00] heard it from you and just didn't even realize when people ask me about biological dentistry, that's always my answer is like, it's like the functional medicine of dentistry.

So I've been doing it right. Yay.

Sharla Aronson: It's, that's the best way I have to describe it, right?

Julie Michelson: Sure. Yeah. And it's not like you said, you're, it is, it's still dentistry. Like you're, you're still, I know from firsthand experience you know, handling issues that, that arise.

Sharla Aronson: Hmm.

Julie Michelson: So I wanna start even like basics. And then kind of work into some of the really super exciting things because again, this goes back to things that I think are so well known if anybody is aware of functional medicine or the health space. So let's just talk about basic care,

Sharla Aronson: Yeah.

Julie Michelson: and in particular, toothpaste.

Sharla Aronson: Okay.

Julie Michelson: Because I feel like you probably have a little bit of a different take on it than somebody's [00:05:00] traditional dentist.

Sharla Aronson: Yes, absolutely. You know, and one of the, one of the things I was thinking as you were speaking is the reason I think we call it biologic and it dentistry is that it is again dentistry, but we're, and it's all based on science. There's Incredible organizations that do the research that know, you know, that we can look into these things and it is backed by that.

But as far as toothpaste, we use an alternative to fluoride called Hydroxyapatite, which is the mineral that makes up most of your tooth. So instead of using a chemical to remineralize and heal teeth for using the actual mineral that makes up the teeth you can go into a rabbit hole on fluoride.

Julie Michelson: I, I couldn't not bring it up though, because this is an autoimmune podcast,

Sharla Aronson: yes.

Julie Michelson: and so the, I I will pro I'm probably way more comfortable to say things that you, so these aren't your words. These are mine. I tell my clients, number one, fluoride is a neurotoxin. [00:06:00] So putting it in your mouth not a great idea.

Even if you're not small, I ha I do have, I have. Fantastic clients and some of them are wise asses you know, and you, you don't have to be swallowing it or you're absorbing through your mouth. Then specifically more autoimmune. We know when they talk about research and science that that fluoride can exacerbate thyroid conditions and so, You know, I go beyond toothpaste.

It's always the first thing I'm like, what are, what are you using? You know, filtered water. Our skin absorbs as well. But just getting that fluoride toothpaste that has been pushed on us most of our lives out of, out of people's mouths, I think is a huge improvement.

Sharla Aronson: Absolutely. I completely agree. And I. You know what made sense to me is when I realized that fluoride is a stronger molecule [00:07:00] than iodine. We know how important iodine is for that thyroid, but then we're, you know, giving ourselves fluoride that's just kicking it out. So you've gotta get rid of that. We need to, you know, help support our thyroid and not have some, give it something that's competing.

So yeah, and we have such great alternatives that there's just not a need for it.

Julie Michelson: Yeah. And thank goodness this is a time where you don't have to make your own toothpaste. There's, there are more and more products coming out all the time. I always say like, I am like a clean bean at home. But I don't, I don't make my own detergent. I don't make my own. So like, you know, it's every week I feel like there are more truly clean products coming out there.

And why wouldn't you use something that can help you? Put tooth in instead of not.

Sharla Aronson: exactly. Exactly.

Julie Michelson: So I love that. So I want to, because again, we could talk for four hours and I still wouldn't get to [00:08:00] all the things I want listeners to know. So I'm gonna try really hard to steer as much of it directly toward autoimmunity as I can.

So I wanna talk about this connection between dental, health and autoimmunity. And d how, which ties into how I found out about, you know, biological dentistry before I had a biological dentist,

Sharla Aronson: Yeah.

Julie Michelson: Because I was referring clients. So, so what is that connection

Or one of

Sharla Aronson: Right. I was gonna say there's a few you know, the most well-known connection that even conventional dentists should be talking about is the fact that dentists are constantly dealing with a chronic inflammatory condition. Gingivitis, periodontitis are both conditions of inflammation, right? And in susceptible individuals.

If we have that inflammation ongoing, we can have autoimmunity, right? One of the other things specific [00:09:00] to dentistry and autoimmunity is dentistry utilizes a lot of metals in our restorations. Whether it's the mercury containing amalgams, right, which amalgam means a mix of metals, we're using all kinds of metals in the mouth or even restorations, like crowns that contain metals, but again, metals and susceptible individuals can cause inflammation and can trigger.

Autoimmunity. And then I would say kind of the third thing that is ongoing in the mouth is we will often have hidden infections in the mouth for those people who have seen the movie Root Cause that's what they're talking about. They didn't necessarily point that out so well, but it's, they're talking about the fact that we can have infections that are asymptomatic, but that are.

Really terrible for your health, right? There's bacteria that are leaching toxins into your body, inflammation that you don't know about. And so biologic dentists specifically we're [00:10:00] spending a lot of time looking for those hidden infections. Sometimes for my patients that have autoimmunity or chronic health conditions.

It's just one of those things that they don't realize is an underlying contributor.

Julie Michelson: And I love that you highlighted that because so often we think, oh my gosh, you know, I'm somebody, I am like a baby with mouth pain. Mouth pain is, is real. Even at the height of my ra, when. My whole body was in pain. If I had mouth pain, it was a whole different story. But you, do you think of. If you had an infection, you know, brewing in the mouth, a, you would feel it, you would, you know, smell something.

You would, you would know. And so that's one of the reasons I wanted to highlight that and why they can be so difficult to detect unless you're going to somebody like you who's looking,

Sharla Aronson: Right 

Julie Michelson: what, how, how, how do people get these hidden infections if it's [00:11:00] not this big thing that they know about.

Sharla Aronson: right. I know it. It shocks me all the time. I find hidden infections every week, and most of the time people just don't even know it's there. Partially it's because. The bone doesn't have a lot of nerve sensation, right? And that's where we find it is in this bone. It happens for a couple of reasons.

Number one, if you have a tooth that is not vital, that is dead, it doesn't have a nerve, it can't feel anything. So that would be like a root canal treated tooth that maybe has an infection around it and people just have no idea, you know, that it's there. Again, once the nerve dies, people just don't know.

So even if it hasn't had a root canal, but the tooth is dead, we can get an infection around that. If there's trauma to the bone we can develop an infection in that. And then finally in an area where a tooth was removed and if it didn't heal completely, we can develop an infection in the jaw bone and just.

Not symptomatic, but all the time it's, you know, the [00:12:00] bacteria leaching toxins into your bloodstream. You're having cytokines in that area and it's just not a healthy situation.

Julie Michelson: So you mentioned when a tooth is removed, Wisdom teeth. Cuz I think that's such a common, especially years ago, I know that was kind of automatic. Like, oh, you're old enough. Let's take your wisdom teeth out.

Sharla Aronson: Right, exactly. And you know, one of the things that we're dealing with in the mouth, if you think if, if you were gonna have surgery on your elbow, they would take you into an operating room in a sterile environment, right? They would do the surgery, it'd be sterile, it would be closed. They're controlling for infection in the mouth.

We can't sterilize it, right? And so when you take out wisdom teeth, you have this. Big gaping wound that has bacteria constantly bathing it. And in particular there's something called a periodontal ligament that's around teeth. And if you leave that soft tissue in the bone, it may not always heal all the [00:13:00] way.

So, and then it, you're trapping the bacteria from the mouth. So it's just, it, it's a hard situation that you have to try to, you know, help the body heal and it doesn't always heal.

Julie Michelson: And you have tricks and tools that you use when you do dental procedures. So I feel like this is just the perfect segue. And then I do wanna circle back to root canals. But

Sharla Aronson: How do we

Julie Michelson: you do, you do procedures in your office, what are you doing that's different?

Sharla Aronson: Yeah. So we're trying to prevent that. That cycle, right? We don't want infections. So when we take a tooth out, we're removing that periodontal ligament, especially, I mean always, but when you have an infected tooth, the ligament around the tooth is also infected, and if we leave that tissue in there, we're leaving all that bacteria.

So we're removing the ligament, but also all those bacteria are in this porous bone. So we need to utilize things that can get in there. We use laser because [00:14:00] the light energy will actually kill the bad bacteria and we use ozone to get in there and clean it out. And then finally, instead of leaving a big gaping wound, we actually use something called platelet rich fibrin or P R F, similar to P R P people might be familiar with where we actually take.

Vial of the person's blood, spin down the growth factors, make a clot and put it in there. So when you put the clot in, it's going to speed up. He healing, it's gonna prevent dry sockets cuz what a dry socket is, is when you lose your blood clot and now you have the bone just exposed to the mouth and getting infected.

Julie Michelson: I just thought dry socket was just painful.

Sharla Aronson: It is painful, but,

Julie Michelson: It is, it is indeed. And I wanna share because it can sound overwhelming. I know. I. You know this cuz I've shared with you for years as I'm referring other people to you who, you know, [00:15:00] just weren't healing the way I would expect by handling the other things.

I, I, for several years have been like, I need to go, you know, I need to go. I need to go. I need to go. I wonder. And of course less urgency cuz I feel great, but I wonder, I wonder, you know, what's going on in my mouth? And, and so it can sound overwhelming if you're sitting, if you're listening and you're thinking, oh my gosh, I had wisdom teeth out, or I had root canals.

I, you know, I wonder if it's, it's not too late to address. Pa, you know, old, old issues and, and handle these infections. But in my simple mind, I think like, oh my gosh, if there's an infection in the bone, that means you have to, you know, almost like surgically, you know, open, open up the tissue and get in there.

And that's not the case. So I, I just share with listeners how, how you do handle, well, first let's actually, let's talk diagnostics. How do you know somebody shows [00:16:00] up? And, and so how are you even finding out, you know, if this is something that's been brewing in there 2030? I mean, I had my wisdom and teeth out 30 years ago.

Sharla Aronson: Mm-hmm. You can't see it on a two-dimensional x-ray, which is the kind of x-ray that you're routinely getting at the dentist. You have to take a 3D x-ray or a cone beam, is what we call it, to be able to see that. These type of infections will hide. But we can see 'em on ct. And so first and foremost, it's getting that CT to check and then you know how to treat it.

If you treat it. Some, some dentists would say you don't treat it. Some dentists would say you absolutely treat it. Again, part of that individualized conversation with the patient is for you, you know, do we treat this and how? You can surgically go back in, open the site, clean it out, do laser, do ozone, do p r f, close it up.

It is a little bit hard to justify doing that, right? So can we try something that's more [00:17:00] conservative? The co conservative treatment that we use is ozone. And so ozone is a, I think of it as a super oxygen. It's three oxygen molecules. It is not ozone. Like when you hear about an ozone warning day, that is what we call dirty ozone, right?

It's mixed with pollution and you're getting VOCs mixing and it, that is not what we're using.

Julie Michelson: No.

Sharla Aronson: We're using a pure medical grade oxygen to create this O three. Now we can then use it to, we can inject it. And it will then break down into peroxides. It will oxygenate this tissue, right? Because the bacteria that we're dealing with that are causing these issues are all AOBs.

That means you expose 'em to oxygen, they're, they rupture, they die. 

Julie Michelson: I love, I love, I'm like, I'm gonna learn so much today.

Sharla Aronson: Yeah.

Julie Michelson: just out of sheer curiosity, why, unless. You know, the patient doesn't [00:18:00] want to do it. Like, is there, what would be the case where you would say, we're not gonna treat, like if someone's coming to you, and I know you get all, all walks of people, but let's stay in the, like, you know, somebody with autoimmune symptoms that are not resolving. there be a a time where you would be like, oh, you know, oh, we see this infection in there. Just leave it.

Sharla Aronson: No, not usually. It's, I'm thinking of the people that maybe they, they're in perfect health. They have not a, not an issue at all. And they, and in that case, we're gonna monitor things. We're going to take a, a 3D x-ray maybe every three to five years and make sure nothing is changing. Because often.

You know, with any disease it's about kind of the perfect storm, right? It's not, it's lowering the threshold of the things that are causing the inflammation of the things that are triggering. And so that's what we're trying to help do. And you know, and the patients with autoimmunity where they can't do it.[00:19:00] 

This may be the thing that is holding 'em back, right? Or I'll see like patients who have a another condition like Lyme or mold and they're doing all the detox and they're doing all the treatment and they cannot clear it, it keeps reactivating. That may be something that's kind of hiding in these areas because they don't have it.

You know, this jawbone doesn't have great blood flow. It's an area where it kind of can just go fester and then reactivate. So the ozone is helping kill it. Whether it's, you know, ozone will kill bacteria, fungi, viruses, even some parasites, right? So it's kind of getting all of that cleared up.

It's stimulating the immune system. It's an irritant a little bit to the body. So it's saying hello, send it, send the good guys here to clean it, clean it up, and stimulating blood flow. So it's just kind of helping improve healing. Disinfect and then allow your body to do the healing on its own. The nice thing about ozone is we're not doing a surgical [00:20:00] procedure.

It's injections, right? So not a lot of risk to the patient either, right versus

Julie Michelson: sure. And they're not speaking from experience. It, it's really not a big deal. It sounds like a big. Big deal. It, it's, it's not for the patient. There's, you know, there's really not, there's no downtime, there's no pain. It's, it's really a simple procedure. Which is why even though I'm asymptomatic, I'm like, no, go in there and get it.

And I'm an Ozone fan anyway, and that's one place I certainly have never injected my own mouth.

Sharla Aronson: right.

Julie Michelson: I. But you know, it, it's, it, it just, We use it for non-entry applications as well, and, and ozone can be really, really helpful. And I love that you said, I, I remember I used to say, you know, oh, I, I'm gonna find the, the root cause, you know, the one, the one thing causing, you know, my autoimmunity, somebody else's autoimmunity.

And so I, [00:21:00] I, it is always what's tipping the scale, like what is holding your body at that place. And so if you're. Eating well and managing stress and, and you know, careful about toxins and you're sleeping well and you're moving right, and you're still not better. I mean, I would love for when this is the norm and people aren't, it's not just like, oh, if you're sick and you've done all these things, find a biological dentist.

I think everybody should have one. But, and one day, this is why we have these conversations.

Sharla Aronson: Absolutely. I think it's the dentistry of the future. I think, you know, people and the dentists will eventually start being like, I'm tired of coming in and having cavities every time, and you know, you're gonna do another one and why can't we, you know, start to get to maybe like what's going on.

But that's like functional medicine,

Julie Michelson: yeah. You asked the question why, right? Why is this happening and let's go after that and we'll fix whatever's going on. But [00:22:00] you know, Let's, let's really get to the cause.

Sharla Aronson: Yes. Yes, absolutely. And when you were saying that from all my biologic training, that is the thing I come away with is it's not one thing,

Julie Michelson: Right.

Sharla Aronson: it's all of it. Right? And so when we look at patients, we're looking really comprehensively and then, How do we, you know, one, what can we educate the patient on? How can so say if I have a patient who's not even seen a functional person, but they're one of my patients and, and I'm thinking, why do they have cavities all the time, right?

We're talking about, or I'm referring them to someone to go look at your gut health cuz that is impacting your mouth. Right. It's, it's just so much more than, again, sugar flossing. No, no, no. It's so much more

Julie Michelson: And yes, those, those are sugar is inflammatory and we should floss just to, so, but that's the, the, yeah, the tip of the, that's [00:23:00] like the base, like beyond, below basics. It's not even you mentioned, Toxins and Mercury specifically and other metals. You know, for me there's that direct connect cuz toxins are such a driver of autoimmunity.

So even somebody who doesn't have hidden infections and, and, you know, gave up their fluoride and you know, can, can still be having issues. And here's one of the, the areas where. I always like to be really careful. We talk about toxins and specifically, you know, mercury and amalgams and I, I don't want anybody to go running to their dentist and ask to get their dental work replaced.

Sharla Aronson: Right.

Julie Michelson: Because I am the perfect example of, you know, often, no, we don't want mercury leaching in our mouth no matter what. But that removal process done in a traditional way. Is, I think, way more dangerous than just leaving that [00:24:00] dental work intact. And, and so I just wanna touch on smart removal and, and what's different about you?

You know, the precautions you take when you are, you know, replacing old dental work.

Sharla Aronson: Right. Yeah. So those amalgams are 50% mercury. And when it's in your mouth depending on whose kind of research you're looking at conventional dentistry would say it's fine. It's in our, it's not interacting. If you look at the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology, they have a lot of research and have done a lot of research on what happens when you chew, what happens when you put heat in your mouth.

But what we do know and what. I, I don't know that even the a d a can argue is that when we drill on these fillings, which is what we have to do to take them out, we [00:25:00] will absolutely be releasing mercury. And so, as you said, like don't just run out and get 'em done the conventional way because you're going to be getting mercury in your mouth.

You're gonna be swallowing it, it's getting on your tissue, and you're inhaling it. You want to use a dentist that protects you, right? So we have a protocol called the smart protocol Safe Mercury Amalgam Technique, and we're going to protect your tissue first and foremost, we we're going to, well, before you even get to the procedure, we are thinking about.

Are your detox pathways open and supported already. And so that's where I'm talking to the functional medicine doctor. Right? To their coach, to somebody to make sure that you know, we're not constipated, that your liver and your kidneys are working, right. All of those pathways are open. We wanna make sure we're optimizing antioxidants prior so that.

If you get any exposure, you're detoxing it. We're typically going to [00:26:00] have some sort of binder be taken before and after. That way if any gets in there, you're binding it and excreting it. So that's, even the prep is different right. When you actually do the procedure. We're also protecting your tissue with a rubber dam and with activated charcoal rinses.

The way that I take out, The actual amalgam is different. I'm trying to take it out in just chunks and pieces instead of just pulverizing the whole thing. Turning it all into a vapor.

Julie Michelson: Yeah.

Sharla Aronson: Exactly. We use a special vacuum that's right, right by your mouth that has HEPA filters on it to collect that vapor.

And then the patient Importantly is also on a, a separate oxygen source so you're not inhaling, you know, all of that as well. We're also using like two suctions in your mouth to prevent you from inhaling and so it's a whole, it's a whole procedure. But. Again, it was, it was made by the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology, and they have done the research on when [00:27:00] we do it without, here's your exposure.

And when we do with the precautions, we've lowered your exposure so much more because we just don't wanna trigger something, something in someone. Right.

Julie Michelson: Right, or I mean, take somebody who's. You know, not feeling well when they show up, you're exacerbating it. I can't even imagine my, my daughter, listeners may know I've mentioned it before, but my, I had a bunch of dental work replaced. When my daughter w when I was pregnant with my daughter, and she has mercury toxicity.

I mean, she's worked on it over the years, but when we first did her toxin panel, her mercury was through the roof. And I had to con, you know, because luckily I know enough now, I could connect those dots of like, oh my gosh, she had exposed in utero and I, I had a ton of dental work done when I was pregnant with her, so, yeah.

Sharla Aronson: See, and that's like, we would not. Do it when somebody's pregnant, unless we absolutely have to. Even [00:28:00] in nursing, we're avoiding it, you know? Cause we just don't want the child to be exposed. And thanks for sharing that story. I mean, for me that was, as soon as I learned about all of this, I learned about how much exposure I've had in my life.

I mean, I, I've been told since dental school, it's fine. It's fine. Yeah. It, you release mercury when you drill it out, but you're fine. Like we didn't, I've never been told to take any precautions. I was pregnant while doing it. Un you know, I take it out every day. I have no protection. My first child and well, and subsequently second child, were both born with hearing loss, sensory neural hearing loss.

So I don't, I don't know. Right. I learned after the fact, like, wow, they had exposure. At the same time, I feel like the conversation of epigenetics was coming out,

Julie Michelson: Mm.

Sharla Aronson: Because yes, there's a genetic component with having two children probably that have hearing loss, but is it epigenetic? I, we've, it's never seen it anywhere in our family, but did, did it something turn on that gene, [00:29:00] right?

And so my biggest takeaway from that, and I think. I didn't want to become a biologic dentist. I didn't want to be like, I, I seriously went into this kicking and screaming. I didn't wanna be different. I didn't wanna stand out. I don't necessarily want to be the spokesperson, but I cannot practice different.

Because I know, and I know that what I'm doing can impact other people. And that, especially with this epigenetic Information, what I do can impact these people for the rest of their lives. Right? It can turn these jeans on and off. 

Julie Michelson: Well, and to be clear, my daughter happens to be my youngest. So had I had a subsequent pregnancy that ended with a baby, that baby too would've had mercury toxicity because it was just living in my toxic soup. And I, I think that's the other piece is, you know, the, the burglary thing's not new, it's just.

Finally, like in indisputable at this [00:30:00] point, you know, it used to be like, oh, you know, the crazies and the conspiracy theorists and the, and now it's like, no, it's science. It's just

Sharla Aronson: Oh yeah.

Julie Michelson: And so there's that piece where you're unprotected. But also, it really wasn't that long ago that, that. We believed that, oh, the placenta was like this magical filter and the baby was just, you know, cocooned with pure blood and, and safe and it's so not

Sharla Aronson: no. Can do all the things.

Julie Michelson: Yeah. Yeah.

Sharla Aronson: Right.

Julie Michelson: It's all good.

Sharla Aronson: I know.

Julie Michelson: yeah, so.

Sharla Aronson: We have, I mean, we have had some, definitely some changes and some wins in 2020. The F D A Safety commission finally said, do not put dental amalgams in. And this is in the us mind you, in other countries it's banned. But in the US at least we've had wins.

Don't put it in pregnant women. Don't put it in any nursing. Women. Children people who have impaired kidney function. Don't [00:31:00] put it in people with preexisting neurologic diseases. So we're getting recognition, right?

Julie Michelson: Well, and they, to be fair, they have to be careful because if they come out, And say like, we're, and I'll say it, and people, it's fine. You know, mercury is bad. It's toxic. I, I, I used to love playing with You're young, but I used to play with, my favorite thing was the broken thermometer because Mercury was so fun to play with.

Yeah,

Sharla Aronson: Right.

Julie Michelson: I know. It's a, it's a kind of a cool thing, but we don't, just don't do it. It's not good. But you know, the. We, it's been used for so long and we've been told it was safe for so long that if, you know, somebody like the F D A finally came out and said, you know, it is toxic, I can't even imagine, you know, everybody would just go nuts.

But it is toxic and so I'm glad that there are steps being taken to at least protect [00:32:00] cer certain populations.

Sharla Aronson: right? Right.

Julie Michelson: Yeah, that's a, it is a it. It's a big win and a baby step all at the same time, but that's okay.

Sharla Aronson: I know, I know. And I think it's, what's hard is. One, I don't think all the dentists know. Right. We were told it's fine. There's no precautions taken for us. Two, the intention of the amalgams from the get-go was good. Prior to that, we would just extract teeth cuz you either got gold, you could afford gold, or you had to take teeth out.

Right. So we've been able to save a lot of teeth, which helps with function and all of that. But we have better options now.

Julie Michelson: Yeah.

Sharla Aronson: And so it's.

Julie Michelson: What are the better options? That's a great, I didn't even think to go there, right? So we're like, okay, you know, We, we know you don't want amalgams. We know that even things like crowns can have metal, you know, in them.

Sharla Aronson: Mm-hmm.

Julie Michelson: So how, how do people even know if they ask [00:33:00] their dentist? I've had this experience actually in the past.

But if they a say to their dentist, I don't want amalgam, and the dentist will say, oh no, it's not. You know, how do you know what you're getting? Or what should you be asking for if you don't already have a biological dentist?

Sharla Aronson: Yeah, I think first just be comfortable asking. You have a right to know what's going in your mouth so you can ask, you know, what's it going to be? And you know, if it's a filling, we're gonna use some sort of resin. There are many different types, types of resin. In, in my office we use one that instead of having plastic particles in it, they are ceramic particles.

Right.

Julie Michelson: is why you're my dentist.

Sharla Aronson: Yeah, cuz we don't, if we can avoid the plastics in your mouth, let's avoid that. Right? But you have to be intentional about it. That, of course, is not going to be the least expensive kind of composite or resin. The other alternatives that are great are either as a cornea or like some sort of ceramic.

So if you need a [00:34:00] crown Or even an implant. There are zirconia implants. So we have options. A biologic dentist too. One of the things that we will do for people, we can do it with everybody, but specifically for people who we know, they have a sensitive immune system. They have sensitivities, they have autoimmunity, those kind of things.

We can do a biocompatibility test. That's where. They actually test your blood serum with all the dental materials and we get a list of reactive, not reactive. And so that way what we're selecting for you is not triggering something.

Julie Michelson: Which is so huge. It, it really is. Yeah, it's. Truly amazing. 

So we covered ozone and kind of the, the dos and the don'ts. So do you think like kids should be like, just this is, should be the new dentistry. So you know, even pediatrics, they shouldn't be going and getting fluoride trays [00:35:00] and are they still doing that? I'm guessing they're

Sharla Aronson: They are, they are still doing it. Yeah, I mean, in the ideal world, it would be more of a conversation of diet, gut health, pH looking at how the child is sleeping. Mouth breathing plays a huge part in one oral microbiome, right? So if we have a unhealthy microbiome, we're going to be set up for disease, but also the pH, right?

So an acidic mouth. Is going to lead to cavities. Cavities by nature are when acid destroys the enamel. That would be the ideal. Right. But fluoride in general for kids, yeah. We don't use that. We would be using ozone if we instead, you know, we can actually use ozone gas on those areas that we're worried about.

Yeah. Alter

Julie Michelson: then you're looking for, why is it happening even then? I wasn't playing, this is a rabbit hole. I was gonna leave untouched, but now I [00:36:00] can't.

Sharla Aronson: Okay.

Julie Michelson: You mentioned mouth breathing and how kids are sleeping. You, me, you. Earlier said, you know, bone structure affects, affects us. So, but I just wanna really lightly touch on, I know on, on apnea.

And, you know, you know, in addition to autoimmunity, I'm a certified BR Recode 2.0 coach. I work with Alzheimer's on cognitive decline and the the over you can't. As you mentioned, like your mouth is part of your body, that sounds like so crazy. Everything the overlap is, is just unbelievable. So from dental health, but this bone structure apnea a and people think it sounds crazy to be considering whether your children have apnea or not.

Sharla Aronson: Oh yeah, but you can't, I don't [00:37:00] think you can ignore it. And luckily even dentistry as a whole is getting it. So like our conventional Conference this year was almost all airway. We cannot

Julie Michelson: Oh, that makes me so excited.

Sharla Aronson: Yeah, it's, I think it's kind of the, I think it's the entry point for a lot of dentists, so I'm inspired that they're gonna be like, well, wait a minute, cuz now it's, you start to tie all of it together.

Julie Michelson: Yeah, you can't, you can't keep it com compartmentalized at all. And I joke, I, I remember I have, I had a friend growing up who had a pallet expander, and I'm old enough that it was kind of rare, even though, you know, many went, had braces. Everybody, you know, all my siblings, all, we all had braces.

And I was like, I felt so bad for him and I was so glad I didn't need a pallet expander. Now I'm like, dang it, I should have gotten a pallet expand. Like I

Sharla Aronson: removing teeth [00:38:00] right.

Julie Michelson: Yeah, well, oh yeah, they pull teeth on missing teeth. I'm, you know, to make room. But also now that I have a deeper understanding and knowledge of airway and how important having a nice open airway is.

I, it's, it just it, it's remarkable. I no longer feel badly that my children got actually addressed properly

Sharla Aronson: Yeah. Right. I put them through an expander.

Julie Michelson: Yeah. Yeah. And now hopefully they'll be able to breathe well for the rest of their lives. So

Sharla Aronson: because again, to kind of like when you, you realize that oxygen is the most important thing to our body. So airway is huge. Right. And I think when I was listening to your podcast, you've talked about Western Price before. So Western Price was a dentist who looked at. Cultures that did not have industrial agriculture.

Right. And he saw that they have [00:39:00] these beautifully developed skulls and jaw bones, straight teeth, big wide smiles. And this was, I mean, he did this in the early 19 hundreds, I think this research, but. What we've seen is that, and again, this all ties together as our diet has changed. As we stopped nursing babies, as you know, we started doing soft baby food.

And then the, you know, the J jaws got smaller because they didn't need to grow, right? To eat harder. Food to the musculature is what's going to help the jaws grow If you're not nursing a baby and they don't have to work as hard, jaws don't grow as well. So, and then we subsequently have another generation behind the people where this all changed, right?

So it's like, if I have small jaws, my kids are gonna have small jaws as this passes down. And so for dentists, this is, we see a lot of signs, right? We can see signs of sleep apnea in, in our patients. Clenching and grinding we're starting [00:40:00] to realize is highly associated with. Airway. So when we see that wear on people's teeth, it's, especially when we see like those flattening of the front teeth, it can usually mean they're jutting their jaw forward when they're sleeping, cuz the body's trying to keep that airway open.

We're. You know, weed. Also in our office, we're looking at like tongue tie. When your tongue is tied to the floor of your mouth, it cannot get suctioned into the top of your palate the way it's supposed to. When you're sleeping, when it can suction out of your airway, it stays out. You have a nice airway.

When it's stuck to the floor of your mouth, it falls back in your airway and we start having apnea. So you know, this was a very long rabbit hole. It's

Julie Michelson: I knew I was laughing when I said lightly. Cuz it, it's it, yeah, it is. I know we have three, only three more hours to go and we'll be done.

Sharla Aronson: But it's, I mean, and it's you know, if you don't develop the pallet, the pallet is the floor of the nasal cavity. If that's not broad and developed, your nasal cavity is narrow and small, and now we can't nasal breathe, and now we're mouth breathing, [00:41:00] and now we're having. Microbiomes out of balance, you know, cavities, all, all the things, and it all relates.

Right. So it's a big part

Julie Michelson: So it really is connected to overall health. You're not just making that up.

Sharla Aronson: Right. And, and the mouth is actually attached to the nasal cavity. It's right there.

Julie Michelson: it's wild.

Sharla Aronson: Yeah.

Julie Michelson: Well, and there is, if you think about like our, that there's a lot going on in this small space in the front of our head. Like the, it's just, there's a lot involved in there. So we, we really did just scratch the surface, but it, it, it was such an important conversation. I, I just am really, really grateful.

That you were able to, to join us and at least give people a little tease of, you know, what biological dentistry is and how it ties in with, with overall health and why I have become so passionate about it. So I'm, I'm really happy you're [00:42:00] here. I want to give people a, a resource of, you know, if they wanna learn more about biological dentistry.

I'm guessing, I know where you're gonna send them, but where, where would you send them to look?

Sharla Aronson: I love the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology. 

Julie Michelson: And for those of us who like abbreviations,

Sharla Aronson: Yes, the I A

Julie Michelson: o mt, and I think it is ia omt.org, is that their

Sharla Aronson: it

Julie Michelson: site? Yeah. You can. Find a practitioner, you can learn more about it. For everybody that that's in my world that's been dying for this interview to release, that's where I was sending people. Well, here for now.

Just look there.

Sharla Aronson: Yeah, they, it has even like questions to ask your dentist. They've also taken on starting to train biologic dentists, right? So it's not a specialty, it's just a philosophy. And so the I A O M T is trying to make sure [00:43:00] that if you're identifying yourself as a biologic dentist, that you're actually like walking the walk, right?

That you're not just saying I'm a biologic dentist, but you're actually, you know

Julie Michelson: Well, it's the same with the, with functional like, Anybody can legally say they're a functional medicine provider or they practice fun. You know? Or in my world, anybody can be a health coach. That's why I'm board certified. Like you wanna get, you really wanna look for the training to know that, that somebody is really doing what they say.

Sharla Aronson: Exactly. Yep. So they're a great resource. Again, they have all the research and and the directory. So for people that are, that are not local, they can look and figure out where to go and,

Julie Michelson: Yeah. And we didn't share. You are, you are in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Sharla Aronson: That's right. Yep. I'm in Fort Collins. And, you know,

Julie Michelson: Busy.

Sharla Aronson: we are busy. There's not, you know, there's no other biologic dentist here yet. And I don't think there's anyone until [00:44:00] Jackson Hole, Wyoming. So, but there's a, there's a big gap, but yeah, we're in Fort Collins. Our practice is called Erinson Family Dental.

You know, you can find us on Instagram or Facebook or just the website and yeah.

Julie Michelson: And everybody's super friendly. So if, if you, if you are local, I suggest you reach out. So I warned you, and you know this already, but I am now going to ask you what is one step that listeners can take today to start to improve their health?

Sharla Aronson: You know, kind of staying specific, I think find out if you have those hidden infections. You know, either if your dentist doesn't have that 3D X-ray, I would, I. Get one. Just get that baseline, make sure, especially if you're struggling with like, what is there something right, that I can't I would look into that.

It's amazing what, what we find when we start taking those 3D images.

Julie Michelson: Yeah. I think that that's brilliant. That was, [00:45:00] I, I, like I said, I, I waited, I was dying to, to see what was going on in my mouth and then not surprised to find out I had some stuff to take care of. So even though I didn't have those kind of symptoms, so

Sharla Aronson: exactly.

Julie Michelson: amazing. Thank you, Dr. Aaronson, for joining us. You have shared amazing gold.

I know you probably think like you just scratched the surface, but I just think listeners are gonna get so much value out of this episode.

Sharla Aronson: Thank you so much, Julie. I appreciate it and thanks for helping me let people know what it is.

Julie Michelson: Yeah, no more hiding. You have to be a leader. You've been called.

Sharla Aronson: I've accepted it. I've accepted it. I just, I want Dennis and I want people to understand that, you know, there's another way and that can, that we can focus on supporting your health.

So

Julie Michelson: Love it. Thank you so much for everyone listening. Remember, you can get the show notes and transcripts by visiting InspiredLiving.Show. I hope you [00:46:00] enjoyed this episode as much as I did. I'll see you next week. 

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Sharla Aronson

Dr. Sharla Aronson is a biological dentist who has a passion for health and wellness. After practicing conventional dentistry for 10 years, she discovered the benefits of biological dentistry and has since dedicated herself to this field. Dr. Aronson uses innovative technology to help patients understand their oral health and take control of their well-being. She is committed to providing high-quality care and empowering her patients to make informed decisions about their treatment options. Outside of work, Dr. Aronson enjoys spending time with her family. She is married to her high school sweetheart, Chris, and they have two wonderful daughters.

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