June 3, 2025 • 19 mins
Breathe your way to better health! In this eye-opening conversation with Dr. Joita Ghosh, an airway-centric biological dentist from Kia Smile in Tampa, we explore the fascinating connection between your airway, sleep quality, and overall wellness.
Most people don't realize that oxygen deprivation during sleep could be the hidden culprit behind their chronic fatigue, pain, digestive issues, and even serious health conditions. Dr. Ghosh explains why logging eight hours of sleep isn't enough if you're not getting proper oxygen throughout the night. She breaks down the science of sleep, highlighting three crucial gases—oxygen, nitric oxide, and carbon dioxide—and how they affect your body's ability to repair and regenerate overnight.
We dive deep into both structural and functional issues that can compromise breathing during sleep. From tongue ties and narrow palates to allergies and nasal congestion, Dr. Ghosh shares practical solutions for better nighttime breathing. You'll learn how modern dentistry has evolved far beyond treating cavities to address whole-body health through proper airway function.
The conversation reveals how poor sleep quality affects nearly every system in your body, potentially contributing to heart disease, diabetes, dementia, and even cancer. But there's good news: addressing the root cause through proper assessment and treatment can transform your health outcomes. Dr. Ghosh emphasizes the importance of collaborative care between dentists, chiropractors, ENTs, and other specialists to achieve optimal results.
Whether you're struggling with unexplained health issues or simply want to optimize your wellness, this episode offers valuable insights and actionable steps toward better breathing, better sleep, and better health. Listen now and discover why your airway might be the missing piece in your health puzzle!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey everyone, welcome to another podcast of Living a
Full Life.
We've got a really specialguest this week, Dr Joita Ghosh
from Kia Smile here in Tampa.
Thanks for being on the show.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Thank you, and thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Yeah, as a dentist, it's cool to have you here and
talk about your expertise inoverall health as well, so we've
got a great podcast movingforward.
How long have you been adentist?
Where are you located?
What's your passion?
Speaker 2 (00:28):
How did you get into all this stuff?
Well, firstly, I became adentist.
I'm an international graduate,so I went to dental school in
India.
I got my bachelor's andmaster's in oral surgery from
India and then I moved to theStates in 2000.
I went back to school, earnedmy DDS from NYU and I've been
(00:50):
practicing since then, in from2010.
In the States, I bought mypractice in 2013 in the Tampa
area, so I've been in Carolwoodsince 2013.
And so this has been a journeyinteresting journey, so and my
(01:11):
passion is whole body health,the oral systemic connection and
particularly airway and how itconnects and helps people live
more fulfilling, healthier lives, and how we can transform.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
That's what we loved about you.
I mean, it's an unconventionaldentist philosophy, right?
I mean, typically, oral healthis the focus of the dental
profession, but it leads towhole body health in many
different ways, which we'regoing to dive in today.
So we've been talking aboutstress, we've been talking about
nutrition, exercise.
I always repeat these thingsall the time.
But what's health to you?
If you had to define health,what is it to be healthy?
(01:50):
Is it a thing you acquire?
Is it something that you wereborn with?
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Well, some things you're born with, but I always
believe in nature versus nurture.
So some things you're born with, but you have to surround
yourself, you have to give yourbody the right ingredients so
you can get healthy andhealthier.
So it doesn't matter if youhave genetic conditions or you
(02:16):
know family history of certainthings, definitely how you put
yourself in an environment whichis more conducive to a healthy
way.
That means eating rightnutrition very important.
Getting the amount of rest animportant amount is to de-stress
(02:37):
, not have enough stress, lackof stress, then focusing on how
to de-stress, detox your body,stress, then focusing on how to
de-stress, detox your body,focusing on right exercise,
focusing on how you can get morehydration, get more sleep, get
proper oxygen intake those arethe most important aspects.
(02:59):
Then you can get healthy.
It's not about weight only.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
It's not about it's not about weight only, it's not
about looking your best.
It's also feeling your best andyour mind, body, soul.
That's the key.
Health is not something we, weacquire.
(03:26):
You don't cross a finish lineand now, all of a sudden, you're
healthy Because, like you said,like because you reach your
weight goal or something likethat, that doesn't necessarily
mean you're healthy.
So I love that.
So we talk about nutrition, wetalk about exercise, just like
nutrition, just like how we eatand we watch our diet and we try
and fill it with nutrition,which means macro and
micronutrients that we need, andwe focus on this.
(03:46):
We also need to focus on oursleep, and I know that seems
kind of, you know, something wedon't think about.
We just close our eyes and fallasleep and there's not much to
it.
But there's a big thing to thisif we don't sleep properly and
we don't have healthy sleep, wecan't be healthy.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
Exactly and sleep.
People think like, oh okay, I'mgoing falling on the bed and I
fall asleep and I wake up to myalarm.
I've slept for eight hours andso that's good.
That's not the only componentof sleep.
There are various components ofsleep and it's important to get
(04:21):
all that pieces of the pie tohave a really fulfilling sleep
so the body can do what it doeswhile you're sleeping.
And that's the most importantaspect most people are unaware
of.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Yes, I love that.
So let's talk about that.
Let's talk about sleep.
So sleep.
There's a system to sleep.
It follows our circadian rhythmand there's an equation to
sleep as well.
We fall into three differentstages of sleep and I have a
sleep podcast with Dr Downs.
Actually, you should go backand listen to Dr Downs podcast.
I did with him.
That was cool and we talkedabout sleep in there and he
(04:57):
described it as you know theshallow sleep, deep sleep and
REM sleep and really the goal isto get not an abundance of REM
sleep but a certain amount ofREM sleep is where the body
heals and if we never get REMsleep, we can't really heal,
because we only heal at nightand I found that to be
extraordinary, fascinating.
So we want to talk about whatgets us in there, and really the
(05:20):
key to this is oxygen.
Oxygen is what determines goodsleep versus bad sleep, and I
think it's what I see in mypractice is like I'm tired, I'm
fatigued, I'm achy.
It's because of a long durationof poor sleep.
People are just the longer theygo with poor sleep, as the
years go by, they feel morefatigued, feel less rested and
(05:40):
they think they have chronicfatigue.
The adrenals may start to kickin.
But these are all symptoms oflack of oxygen when we sleep and
even during the day, Because ifwe're not sleeping properly at
night, our rib cage as achiropractor, I notice people's
ribs stop moving, they don'toscillate like they're supposed
to when they breathe, they justbecome very stiff.
And so now we're not gettinggood oxygen when we sleep
(06:00):
because of poor sleep, and we'renot getting good oxygen during
the day because we don't take asecond to take a deep breath.
We're all shallow breathing ourwhole life, and I found that
that's the slow cascade tofeeling fatigued all the time.
So how about you dive into thesleep?
How do we get more oxygen?
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Or how do we know if we're getting enough oxygen?
Where do we start?
So that's a great question.
Where do we start?
First, understanding how thebreathing affects you know, your
overall sleep.
What has oxygen and sleep gotin connection?
So one of the key thing isnasal breathing.
So I like to talk about threegases which is important for us.
One is oxygen, second is nitricoxide and the third is carbon
dioxide.
This is key, important aspectand this is what is kind of like
(06:49):
a switch which turns the bodyon and off.
So if the brain is not gettingenough oxygen while we sleep, it
cannot do what it does best,that is, repair and regenerate
while we sleep, One of the keythings you talked about, the REM
sleep.
Yes, not having enough deepsleep or REM sleep will cause
(07:11):
the toxins in the body not toget flushed out.
So as we accumulate that, itcomes to more of ending up
having other chronic diseases.
Chronic fatigue is just one ofthe side effects.
Our gut gets disbalancedbecause the brain is trying to
pull oxygen from different partsof the organs, different parts
(07:35):
of the body while we aresleeping and it's if it's not
getting enough oxygen and thereare weak transitions, meaning
the brain is waking up.
Not necessarily the personlying down in bed is getting up
and frequenting.
You know they're waking up, buttheir brain is waking up and
that kind of causes the body togo into a sympathetic pathway,
(07:58):
always not parasympathetic.
So parasympathetic pathwaymeans our body is in rest and
digest mode.
But if it's constantly fightingmode, that's upright, and
flight mode, that disruptseverything in the body.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Yeah, see, see how it starts to build that up.
So that's that's how it workswhen we're not getting enough.
And then we can have CO2buildup.
We can have all these othertoxic buildup as well, and I
think that's why people come inwith pain you know, discomfort
and achiness and pain is becauseof the toxic buildup as well.
And then we get into likedetoxes and we go further deeper
into diet and restrictions andpeople kind of get a little bit
(08:38):
better, but they're actually notgetting better.
I see these ones a lot and itcomes to sleep.
It really does come to sleep.
So let's dive into how.
So now we know okay, maybe,maybe we are oxygen deprived.
What can we do to get maybeassessed?
Is the, is the traditionalsleep apnea test the best one to
do?
And then, or what are ouroptions?
How do we get assessed?
What do we do?
What's the next steps to maybefigure it out?
(08:59):
Do we wear an aura ring?
Do we wear our Apple watch?
What do we do?
Speaker 2 (09:03):
So one of the key things yes, you can get a
preliminary screening with yourwatch or your aura ring, but it
not necessarily is monitoringthe oxygen concentration.
Monitoring the oxygenconcentration.
So very simple sleep study canbe done.
(09:23):
It's a home sleep study.
But one of the key things islike for everyone.
I recommend this to all mypatients and everybody.
I know nasal breathing.
If your nose is stuffy, ifyou're not getting enough, you
know adequate breathing throughyour nose, you know that you're
not getting the dilated vesselsbecause you're not getting
nitric oxide and that's whatdilates your arteries and
(09:46):
enables the oxygen to reach yourheart, to reach your brain.
So if you're not getting that,you start off there.
So we live in Florida, lots ofpollen, allergies and people
think like, oh, this is normal.
I would start there.
Nasal hygiene get yourselfevaluated by someone who knows
(10:08):
airway.
That means an airway-centricdentist.
They're looking at thingsbecause a constricted airway is
because of an underdevelopedmouth and that's where we come
in as dentists that we canevaluate.
We can see if a person hasstructural issues, if they have
any ties, tongue ties and likethe oral posture, how the tongue
(10:30):
is resting, everything Ifthey're grinding at night.
All these lead to like okay,there's something happening that
the body is trying to do whilethey're sleeping.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Makes sense.
So we have structural issuesand we have functional issues as
well.
Structural issues might besomething we were born with
right Tongue tie, lip tie,biblical tie, airway, small
mouth, hard palate for sure andthese have to be assessed by
somebody like you.
Then we have things that arefunctional as well, like
allergens and pollen andhistamine responses and
(11:03):
allergies, and that's maybe anENT evaluation or just
practicing better hygiene.
So a couple of tips.
Just as a chiropractor not anexpert, what I give people is
just start off with the nasalstrips of opening that airway,
just as a structural thing thatyou can do to start getting some
more air, as long as you canbreathe through your nose.
That's something I probablydidn't think about.
If you're just blocky in thereand you always have a stuffy
(11:24):
nose, that's probably not goingto even work.
You got to get that all cleanedout and make sure that that's
getting better.
So in our sleep podcast we talkabout an air purifier in the
room to minimize thoseenvironmental toxins that are
there and nasal rinses every day, trying to practice nasal
hygiene that way as well.
But what about the structure?
So what does that look likewhen we're like, okay, we're
(11:45):
doing the nasal stuff.
I do have allergies or I don'thave allergies, but either way,
I think I'm doing a better jobwith my nasal passage.
What if I have structuralissues that are going on?
What does that look like?
How do I get assessed for that?
What's the remedy for that?
Speaker 2 (11:58):
So structural issues.
If a person and it's notnecessarily that the tie is
restricting, it's notnecessarily that the tie is
restricting if a, if a child, westart as being a born right
from birth if they havestructural issues, like a really
strong tongue tie or lip tie,they're unable to latch on and
(12:20):
feed.
But if it's not, if it's not afailure to thrive, that child is
assessed and said, okay, that'sfine.
And then you up, you're unableto really have the tongue.
Being the architect of themouth cannot really form a very
wide palate, so that affectseverything.
(12:42):
So crowded teeth, malformationof the mouth and you know if
your mouth breathing everything,thumb sucking or any kind of
oral habits, that has to becurtailed.
So let's say you know you didn'thave that and now you're an
adult and you've had gonethrough a couple of sessions of
(13:03):
braces, you know that you mayprobably still have an issue.
So getting an evaluationstarting there, and then there's
different ways to help treatthat individual.
One key important thing is tounderstand not everybody has
sleep apnea.
It could be upper airwayresistance syndrome, so you
(13:24):
could have that oxygendeprivation due to a structural
issue and that can be resolved.
So we can ward off chronicdiseases and especially diseases
like heart attacks and diabetesand having issues like dementia
or Alzheimer's, because that isone of the key things.
(13:47):
Cancer, even cancer.
Having enough oxygen, gettingthat oxygen to your brain, to
your body, that's one of the keythings.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
Great, great tips there.
So then we get assessed andmaybe we have some of these
issues.
How do you help your patientswith some of these things?
What does it look like to workwith you if there is something
that you can help them with someof these things?
What does it look like to workwith you if there is something
that you can help them with?
Because they're thinkingdentist, oh, you know, I don't
have any cavities, but really wegot to think a little bit
deeper than that.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Yeah, so we look in my practice we assess everybody,
we screen everyone for airway.
I am an airway centric biologicdentist so my focus is how I
can make my patient healthier.
We are not just treatingcavities, we want to go to the
root cause.
So if we are evaluating, weevaluate for the heart tissues,
(14:38):
the structures, the tongue ties,the lip ties, the buccal
tissues and then we collaboratewith a chiropractor like you.
We collaborate the patient tohave proper skeletal alignment
they need.
If they have aches and pains,they need that kind of treatment
from someone like you.
But if they have other issues,like if a structural issue, we
(15:02):
collaborate with the ENT.
We collaborate with theirnutritional or functional
medicine doctor, someone to helpthem detox.
If they have mercury fillings,we do smart removal.
We make sure that the patientand then we expand their jaws
with oral appliances so they canget you know better and with
(15:22):
children we've seen tremendoussuccess with removable oral
appliances or some fixed oralappliances that help them grow
that they will never need bracesor they won't be those sick
adults journey with a lot ofprofessionals who have suffered
(15:47):
through many years of you know,having gone through that cycle
of being sick and not feelinggreat and they feel wonderful
after treatment and they arelike okay, why was I, you know,
why did I wait this long?
But the key starts in assessment.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
It all starts with an assessment, that's for sure.
So if you're feeling likeyou're definitely not getting
good sleep, you're feeling like,yeah, I definitely have fatigue
, I don't feel rested, we got tostart with oxygen.
I think it's going to save youso many other paths going down
and never getting to 100%,because once you fix this issue,
it's usually resolves the mainissue.
It's like the bottom of theiceberg.
(16:27):
You're getting there, you'regetting to the root cause of
this and it's really the airflowgetting that in there.
So that's, that's wonderful.
So if you're in the area, go toKia Smile.
For sure for that one.
But where can people findbiological dentists?
Maybe online, maybe they're ina different town, maybe they're
up in Jacksonville or something.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
Well, they can always search on Google.
There are different and thereare different organizations, so
you can look it up.
And patients can, definitelythey can call and we can refer
to colleagues if they are indifferent towns.
So, like I know, I get callsfrom different patients like, oh
, I have a family member in,let's say, delray Beach area, so
(17:06):
can you tell me someone likeyou?
So we can definitely draft ourpeople and we love to
collaborate with you know, makesure that the goal is to get our
community healthier.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
Good doctors love to cooperate because you can't do
it all.
I don't have all the tools thatI need.
You're the expert in the mouth.
I can help the spine and alignthe airway with the Atlas, but
that's about it.
I mean, so we have to worktogether to help people get
better.
I mean, I've true, I'm a truebeliever of that for sure.
Anything else you want to addto the podcast that I maybe
missed about airway and sleep?
Speaker 2 (17:39):
So one of the key things is like a lot of people
may not feel tired, they may notfeel that, but if they have
aches and pains, they have gutissues, they have skin issues,
and they are not 50 years old,they are young, they may
understand this.
That, oh okay, what?
How do I start?
Or if they see a child who'sgetting too many cavities.
(18:02):
Or if they have somebody intheir household who has chronic
diseases, and they eat healthy,but they are getting that.
So there has to be anunderlying oxygen deprivation.
There's oxygen oxidative stress.
Our environment is not.
It's full of environmentaltoxins.
(18:22):
The food we eat, the, you know,the, what we are breathing and
living in is not complete,conducive to the healthiest
environment, so as to say, andso the best thing is to get
yourself assessed and thenfollow the.
What's the best way to get to ahealthier self yeah, I love it
(18:43):
that.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
That's really it.
And then, by having the righttools and the right people,
saves you a lot of time, savesyou a lot of money honestly at
the end.
And then, by having the righttools and the right people,
saves you a lot of time, savesyou a lot of money, honestly, at
the end of the day.
Going to the right people atthe right time saves you a bunch
of cost as well.
So I hope this helps a lot ofpeople out there looking for
better results with their sleepand their energy and their
oxygen and all that great stuff.
Thanks for being on the show.
I appreciate your time.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Yeah.
Hey everyone, welcome to another podcast of Living a
Full Life.
We've got a really specialguest this week, Dr Joita Ghosh
from Kia Smile here in Tampa.
Thanks for being on the show.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Thank you, and thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Yeah, as a dentist, it's cool to have you here and
talk about your expertise inoverall health as well, so we've
got a great podcast movingforward.
How long have you been adentist?
Where are you located?
What's your passion?
Speaker 2 (00:28):
How did you get into all this stuff?
Well, firstly, I became adentist.
I'm an international graduate,so I went to dental school in
India.
I got my bachelor's andmaster's in oral surgery from
India and then I moved to theStates in 2000.
I went back to school, earnedmy DDS from NYU and I've been
(00:50):
practicing since then, in from2010.
In the States, I bought mypractice in 2013 in the Tampa
area, so I've been in Carolwoodsince 2013.
And so this has been a journeyinteresting journey, so and my
(01:11):
passion is whole body health,the oral systemic connection and
particularly airway and how itconnects and helps people live
more fulfilling, healthier lives, and how we can transform.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
That's what we loved about you.
I mean, it's an unconventionaldentist philosophy, right?
I mean, typically, oral healthis the focus of the dental
profession, but it leads towhole body health in many
different ways, which we'regoing to dive in today.
So we've been talking aboutstress, we've been talking about
nutrition, exercise.
I always repeat these thingsall the time.
But what's health to you?
If you had to define health,what is it to be healthy?
(01:50):
Is it a thing you acquire?
Is it something that you wereborn with?
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Well, some things you're born with, but I always
believe in nature versus nurture.
So some things you're born with, but you have to surround
yourself, you have to give yourbody the right ingredients so
you can get healthy andhealthier.
So it doesn't matter if youhave genetic conditions or you
(02:16):
know family history of certainthings, definitely how you put
yourself in an environment whichis more conducive to a healthy
way.
That means eating rightnutrition very important.
Getting the amount of rest animportant amount is to de-stress
(02:37):
, not have enough stress, lackof stress, then focusing on how
to de-stress, detox your body,stress, then focusing on how to
de-stress, detox your body,focusing on right exercise,
focusing on how you can get morehydration, get more sleep, get
proper oxygen intake those arethe most important aspects.
(02:59):
Then you can get healthy.
It's not about weight only.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
It's not about it's not about weight only, it's not
about looking your best.
It's also feeling your best andyour mind, body, soul.
That's the key.
Health is not something we, weacquire.
(03:26):
You don't cross a finish lineand now, all of a sudden, you're
healthy Because, like you said,like because you reach your
weight goal or something likethat, that doesn't necessarily
mean you're healthy.
So I love that.
So we talk about nutrition, wetalk about exercise, just like
nutrition, just like how we eatand we watch our diet and we try
and fill it with nutrition,which means macro and
micronutrients that we need, andwe focus on this.
(03:46):
We also need to focus on oursleep, and I know that seems
kind of, you know, something wedon't think about.
We just close our eyes and fallasleep and there's not much to
it.
But there's a big thing to thisif we don't sleep properly and
we don't have healthy sleep, wecan't be healthy.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
Exactly and sleep.
People think like, oh okay, I'mgoing falling on the bed and I
fall asleep and I wake up to myalarm.
I've slept for eight hours andso that's good.
That's not the only componentof sleep.
There are various components ofsleep and it's important to get
(04:21):
all that pieces of the pie tohave a really fulfilling sleep
so the body can do what it doeswhile you're sleeping.
And that's the most importantaspect most people are unaware
of.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Yes, I love that.
So let's talk about that.
Let's talk about sleep.
So sleep.
There's a system to sleep.
It follows our circadian rhythmand there's an equation to
sleep as well.
We fall into three differentstages of sleep and I have a
sleep podcast with Dr Downs.
Actually, you should go backand listen to Dr Downs podcast.
I did with him.
That was cool and we talkedabout sleep in there and he
(04:57):
described it as you know theshallow sleep, deep sleep and
REM sleep and really the goal isto get not an abundance of REM
sleep but a certain amount ofREM sleep is where the body
heals and if we never get REMsleep, we can't really heal,
because we only heal at nightand I found that to be
extraordinary, fascinating.
So we want to talk about whatgets us in there, and really the
(05:20):
key to this is oxygen.
Oxygen is what determines goodsleep versus bad sleep, and I
think it's what I see in mypractice is like I'm tired, I'm
fatigued, I'm achy.
It's because of a long durationof poor sleep.
People are just the longer theygo with poor sleep, as the
years go by, they feel morefatigued, feel less rested and
(05:40):
they think they have chronicfatigue.
The adrenals may start to kickin.
But these are all symptoms oflack of oxygen when we sleep and
even during the day, Because ifwe're not sleeping properly at
night, our rib cage as achiropractor, I notice people's
ribs stop moving, they don'toscillate like they're supposed
to when they breathe, they justbecome very stiff.
And so now we're not gettinggood oxygen when we sleep
(06:00):
because of poor sleep, and we'renot getting good oxygen during
the day because we don't take asecond to take a deep breath.
We're all shallow breathing ourwhole life, and I found that
that's the slow cascade tofeeling fatigued all the time.
So how about you dive into thesleep?
How do we get more oxygen?
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Or how do we know if we're getting enough oxygen?
Where do we start?
So that's a great question.
Where do we start?
First, understanding how thebreathing affects you know, your
overall sleep.
What has oxygen and sleep gotin connection?
So one of the key thing isnasal breathing.
So I like to talk about threegases which is important for us.
One is oxygen, second is nitricoxide and the third is carbon
dioxide.
This is key, important aspectand this is what is kind of like
(06:49):
a switch which turns the bodyon and off.
So if the brain is not gettingenough oxygen while we sleep, it
cannot do what it does best,that is, repair and regenerate
while we sleep, One of the keythings you talked about, the REM
sleep.
Yes, not having enough deepsleep or REM sleep will cause
(07:11):
the toxins in the body not toget flushed out.
So as we accumulate that, itcomes to more of ending up
having other chronic diseases.
Chronic fatigue is just one ofthe side effects.
Our gut gets disbalancedbecause the brain is trying to
pull oxygen from different partsof the organs, different parts
(07:35):
of the body while we aresleeping and it's if it's not
getting enough oxygen and thereare weak transitions, meaning
the brain is waking up.
Not necessarily the personlying down in bed is getting up
and frequenting.
You know they're waking up, buttheir brain is waking up and
that kind of causes the body togo into a sympathetic pathway,
(07:58):
always not parasympathetic.
So parasympathetic pathwaymeans our body is in rest and
digest mode.
But if it's constantly fightingmode, that's upright, and
flight mode, that disruptseverything in the body.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Yeah, see, see how it starts to build that up.
So that's that's how it workswhen we're not getting enough.
And then we can have CO2buildup.
We can have all these othertoxic buildup as well, and I
think that's why people come inwith pain you know, discomfort
and achiness and pain is becauseof the toxic buildup as well.
And then we get into likedetoxes and we go further deeper
into diet and restrictions andpeople kind of get a little bit
(08:38):
better, but they're actually notgetting better.
I see these ones a lot and itcomes to sleep.
It really does come to sleep.
So let's dive into how.
So now we know okay, maybe,maybe we are oxygen deprived.
What can we do to get maybeassessed?
Is the, is the traditionalsleep apnea test the best one to
do?
And then, or what are ouroptions?
How do we get assessed?
What do we do?
What's the next steps to maybefigure it out?
(08:59):
Do we wear an aura ring?
Do we wear our Apple watch?
What do we do?
Speaker 2 (09:03):
So one of the key things yes, you can get a
preliminary screening with yourwatch or your aura ring, but it
not necessarily is monitoringthe oxygen concentration.
Monitoring the oxygenconcentration.
So very simple sleep study canbe done.
(09:23):
It's a home sleep study.
But one of the key things islike for everyone.
I recommend this to all mypatients and everybody.
I know nasal breathing.
If your nose is stuffy, ifyou're not getting enough, you
know adequate breathing throughyour nose, you know that you're
not getting the dilated vesselsbecause you're not getting
nitric oxide and that's whatdilates your arteries and
(09:46):
enables the oxygen to reach yourheart, to reach your brain.
So if you're not getting that,you start off there.
So we live in Florida, lots ofpollen, allergies and people
think like, oh, this is normal.
I would start there.
Nasal hygiene get yourselfevaluated by someone who knows
(10:08):
airway.
That means an airway-centricdentist.
They're looking at thingsbecause a constricted airway is
because of an underdevelopedmouth and that's where we come
in as dentists that we canevaluate.
We can see if a person hasstructural issues, if they have
any ties, tongue ties and likethe oral posture, how the tongue
(10:30):
is resting, everything Ifthey're grinding at night.
All these lead to like okay,there's something happening that
the body is trying to do whilethey're sleeping.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Makes sense.
So we have structural issuesand we have functional issues as
well.
Structural issues might besomething we were born with
right Tongue tie, lip tie,biblical tie, airway, small
mouth, hard palate for sure andthese have to be assessed by
somebody like you.
Then we have things that arefunctional as well, like
allergens and pollen andhistamine responses and
(11:03):
allergies, and that's maybe anENT evaluation or just
practicing better hygiene.
So a couple of tips.
Just as a chiropractor not anexpert, what I give people is
just start off with the nasalstrips of opening that airway,
just as a structural thing thatyou can do to start getting some
more air, as long as you canbreathe through your nose.
That's something I probablydidn't think about.
If you're just blocky in thereand you always have a stuffy
(11:24):
nose, that's probably not goingto even work.
You got to get that all cleanedout and make sure that that's
getting better.
So in our sleep podcast we talkabout an air purifier in the
room to minimize thoseenvironmental toxins that are
there and nasal rinses every day, trying to practice nasal
hygiene that way as well.
But what about the structure?
So what does that look likewhen we're like, okay, we're
(11:45):
doing the nasal stuff.
I do have allergies or I don'thave allergies, but either way,
I think I'm doing a better jobwith my nasal passage.
What if I have structuralissues that are going on?
What does that look like?
How do I get assessed for that?
What's the remedy for that?
Speaker 2 (11:58):
So structural issues.
If a person and it's notnecessarily that the tie is
restricting, it's notnecessarily that the tie is
restricting if a, if a child, westart as being a born right
from birth if they havestructural issues, like a really
strong tongue tie or lip tie,they're unable to latch on and
(12:20):
feed.
But if it's not, if it's not afailure to thrive, that child is
assessed and said, okay, that'sfine.
And then you up, you're unableto really have the tongue.
Being the architect of themouth cannot really form a very
wide palate, so that affectseverything.
(12:42):
So crowded teeth, malformationof the mouth and you know if
your mouth breathing everything,thumb sucking or any kind of
oral habits, that has to becurtailed.
So let's say you know you didn'thave that and now you're an
adult and you've had gonethrough a couple of sessions of
(13:03):
braces, you know that you mayprobably still have an issue.
So getting an evaluationstarting there, and then there's
different ways to help treatthat individual.
One key important thing is tounderstand not everybody has
sleep apnea.
It could be upper airwayresistance syndrome, so you
(13:24):
could have that oxygendeprivation due to a structural
issue and that can be resolved.
So we can ward off chronicdiseases and especially diseases
like heart attacks and diabetesand having issues like dementia
or Alzheimer's, because that isone of the key things.
(13:47):
Cancer, even cancer.
Having enough oxygen, gettingthat oxygen to your brain, to
your body, that's one of the keythings.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
Great, great tips there.
So then we get assessed andmaybe we have some of these
issues.
How do you help your patientswith some of these things?
What does it look like to workwith you if there is something
that you can help them with someof these things?
What does it look like to workwith you if there is something
that you can help them with?
Because they're thinkingdentist, oh, you know, I don't
have any cavities, but really wegot to think a little bit
deeper than that.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Yeah, so we look in my practice we assess everybody,
we screen everyone for airway.
I am an airway centric biologicdentist so my focus is how I
can make my patient healthier.
We are not just treatingcavities, we want to go to the
root cause.
So if we are evaluating, weevaluate for the heart tissues,
(14:38):
the structures, the tongue ties,the lip ties, the buccal
tissues and then we collaboratewith a chiropractor like you.
We collaborate the patient tohave proper skeletal alignment
they need.
If they have aches and pains,they need that kind of treatment
from someone like you.
But if they have other issues,like if a structural issue, we
(15:02):
collaborate with the ENT.
We collaborate with theirnutritional or functional
medicine doctor, someone to helpthem detox.
If they have mercury fillings,we do smart removal.
We make sure that the patientand then we expand their jaws
with oral appliances so they canget you know better and with
(15:22):
children we've seen tremendoussuccess with removable oral
appliances or some fixed oralappliances that help them grow
that they will never need bracesor they won't be those sick
adults journey with a lot ofprofessionals who have suffered
(15:47):
through many years of you know,having gone through that cycle
of being sick and not feelinggreat and they feel wonderful
after treatment and they arelike okay, why was I, you know,
why did I wait this long?
But the key starts in assessment.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
It all starts with an assessment, that's for sure.
So if you're feeling likeyou're definitely not getting
good sleep, you're feeling like,yeah, I definitely have fatigue
, I don't feel rested, we got tostart with oxygen.
I think it's going to save youso many other paths going down
and never getting to 100%,because once you fix this issue,
it's usually resolves the mainissue.
It's like the bottom of theiceberg.
(16:27):
You're getting there, you'regetting to the root cause of
this and it's really the airflowgetting that in there.
So that's, that's wonderful.
So if you're in the area, go toKia Smile.
For sure for that one.
But where can people findbiological dentists?
Maybe online, maybe they're ina different town, maybe they're
up in Jacksonville or something.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
Well, they can always search on Google.
There are different and thereare different organizations, so
you can look it up.
And patients can, definitelythey can call and we can refer
to colleagues if they are indifferent towns.
So, like I know, I get callsfrom different patients like, oh
, I have a family member in,let's say, delray Beach area, so
(17:06):
can you tell me someone likeyou?
So we can definitely draft ourpeople and we love to
collaborate with you know, makesure that the goal is to get our
community healthier.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
Good doctors love to cooperate because you can't do
it all.
I don't have all the tools thatI need.
You're the expert in the mouth.
I can help the spine and alignthe airway with the Atlas, but
that's about it.
I mean, so we have to worktogether to help people get
better.
I mean, I've true, I'm a truebeliever of that for sure.
Anything else you want to addto the podcast that I maybe
missed about airway and sleep?
Speaker 2 (17:39):
So one of the key things is like a lot of people
may not feel tired, they may notfeel that, but if they have
aches and pains, they have gutissues, they have skin issues,
and they are not 50 years old,they are young, they may
understand this.
That, oh okay, what?
How do I start?
Or if they see a child who'sgetting too many cavities.
(18:02):
Or if they have somebody intheir household who has chronic
diseases, and they eat healthy,but they are getting that.
So there has to be anunderlying oxygen deprivation.
There's oxygen oxidative stress.
Our environment is not.
It's full of environmentaltoxins.
(18:22):
The food we eat, the, you know,the, what we are breathing and
living in is not complete,conducive to the healthiest
environment, so as to say, andso the best thing is to get
yourself assessed and thenfollow the.
What's the best way to get to ahealthier self yeah, I love it
(18:43):
that.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
That's really it.
And then, by having the righttools and the right people,
saves you a lot of time, savesyou a lot of money honestly at
the end.
And then, by having the righttools and the right people,
saves you a lot of time, savesyou a lot of money, honestly, at
the end of the day.
Going to the right people atthe right time saves you a bunch
of cost as well.
So I hope this helps a lot ofpeople out there looking for
better results with their sleepand their energy and their
oxygen and all that great stuff.
Thanks for being on the show.
I appreciate your time.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Yeah.
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