24 Jun The Truth About Dental Toxins Destroying Your Health with Dr. Michelle Jorgensen
Are you struggling with unexplained fatigue, brain fog, or stubborn health issues that no doctor can seem to solve? What if I told you the answer might literally be staring you in the face every time you brush your teeth?
As someone who’s spent years helping midlife women become their own health detectives, I’ve learned that sometimes the most overlooked clues are hiding in plain sight. That’s exactly why I was so excited to sit down with Dr. Michelle, a health-based dentist who’s revolutionizing how we think about oral health and its profound impact on our entire body.
Dr. Michelle’s story isn’t just professionally compelling—it’s deeply personal. After a decade of traditional dental practice, she found herself mysteriously ill with devastating symptoms that nearly ended her career. What she discovered changed everything, not just for her own health, but for how she approaches dentistry entirely.
When Your Body Betrays You: A Dentist’s Health Crisis
Imagine being in your mid-thirties, supporting four young children, and suddenly finding yourself so sick you can’t even hold the instruments that define your livelihood. That’s exactly what happened to Dr. Michelle ten years into her dental career.
Her symptoms were frightening and seemingly unconnected: excruciating gut pain so severe she couldn’t drink water, memory problems that left her unable to finish sentences or remember patients’ names, and painful numbness in her hands that made practicing dentistry impossible. Despite seeing multiple doctors and trying every conventional approach, no one could provide answers.
The breakthrough came from an unexpected source—another dentist who asked a simple question: “Have you ever looked into mercury as a problem?” Dr. Michelle initially dismissed this, knowing she didn’t have mercury fillings herself. But then came the revelation that changed everything: it wasn’t the fillings she had, but the ones she’d been drilling out for a decade without protection.
The Mercury Poisoning Crisis Hiding in Plain Sight
Here’s what most people don’t realize: silver dental fillings are 50% mercury, and when dentists drill them out, the mercury vaporizes and goes directly into the practitioner’s breathing space. Dr. Michelle had been getting mercury exposure from every patient, every day, for ten years.
When she finally got tested, her mercury toxicity levels were off the charts. Suddenly, all her seemingly unrelated symptoms made perfect sense—mercury is the most neurotoxic element on the planet, literally frying the nervous system.
But here’s the shocking part: this isn’t just a problem for dental professionals. If you have mercury fillings in your mouth, research now shows they release mercury into your system 24/7. The more fillings you have, the more exposure you’re getting.
Why Mercury Fillings Are Still Legal (And Why That’s Changing)
The history of mercury fillings reads like a cautionary tale. Originally developed in the 1800s by barbers (yes, barbers used to do dentistry!), these fillings were created by mixing silver shavings with liquid mercury. Even then, doctors warned against their use because hat makers using mercury were literally going mad—this is where the term “mad hatter” originates.
The medical community recognized mercury’s neurotoxic effects, but the financial incentives kept the practice alive. Today, mercury fillings can still be placed in dental offices across America, despite mounting evidence of their health risks.
The reason they haven’t been banned? The same legal and financial considerations that keep many harmful practices in place. If regulatory bodies admitted mercury fillings cause health problems, every dentist who ever placed or removed one could face lawsuits.
Should You Remove Your Mercury Fillings?
If you’re experiencing brain fog, nerve issues, gut problems, or other unexplained symptoms, mercury fillings could be a contributing factor. However—and this is crucial—removal must be done safely. Improperly removing mercury fillings can actually cause more harm than leaving them in place.
Safe removal requires specific protocols including rubber dams, high-volume suction, air filtration systems, and protective equipment for both patient and dentist. Dr. Michelle recommends finding a dentist trained in safe mercury removal through her website directory or the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology (IAOMT.org).
The Fluoride Controversy: Protecting Teeth or Harming Thyroid?
Perhaps no dental topic generates more heated debate than fluoride. The public health initiative to add fluoride to water and dental products was launched with good intentions in the 1920s and 1930s when researchers noticed that communities with naturally occurring fluoride in their water had fewer cavities.
But here’s what they didn’t anticipate: fluoride doesn’t stay localized to teeth. When ingested, it affects every cell in your body, creating what we call “side effects.”
One of the most concerning effects is on thyroid function. In the 1970s, fluoride was actually prescribed to patients with overactive thyroid because it reduces thyroid function. Now we’re adding it to everyone’s water supply and toothpaste. Is it any wonder that thyroid problems, especially among women, have reached epidemic proportions?
Fluoride interferes with how iodine activates thyroid hormone, potentially causing what’s called “type 2 hypothyroidism”—you have all the symptoms of low thyroid, but blood tests come back normal because fluoride has replaced iodine in the activation process.
Root Canals: The Hidden Source of Chronic Disease
If mercury fillings and fluoride weren’t concerning enough, root canals present perhaps the most significant threat to long-term health. Dr. Michelle shared a startling observation: in her years of practice, she has never seen a cancer patient who didn’t have either a root canal or an infection where a tooth was removed.
Here’s why root canals are problematic: while the main nerve chamber can be cleaned and filled, every tooth contains miles of microscopic tubes called dental tubules. These cannot be cleaned or filled, leaving dead tissue that inevitably becomes infected.
Your immune system must work 24/7 to contain this infection, diverting energy and resources from other vital functions. This constant immune burden can contribute to autoimmune diseases and other chronic conditions.
What Are Your Options?
For teeth that haven’t died yet but are causing pain, there are alternatives to root canals. Biological dentists can often save teeth using ozone therapy to kill bacteria in the deepest layers of decay without exposing the nerve. Dr. Michelle’s practice saves about 85% of teeth that other dentists say need root canals.
If a tooth is already dead or infected, extraction followed by a ceramic implant (not titanium) is often the healthiest long-term option. While this involves multiple steps and appointments, it removes the chronic infection burden from your immune system.
The Bigger Picture: Your Mouth as a Window to Your Health
What makes Dr. Michelle’s approach so valuable is her recognition that the mouth isn’t separate from the rest of the body—it’s intricately connected. According to research cited in “The Hidden Epidemic” by an MD and lawyer, 60-80% of chronic disease is related to oral health in some way.
This is why being your own health detective is so crucial, especially for midlife women dealing with complex symptoms that conventional medicine often dismisses as “just hormones.” Your mouth might be holding important clues to your overall health picture.
Taking Action: Your Next Steps
If this information resonates with you, here are practical steps you can take:
- Find a biological dentist trained in safe mercury removal and holistic oral health approaches
- Get a cone beam CT scan if you have root canals to check for infections
- Consider mercury filling removal if you’re experiencing unexplained health issues
- Switch to fluoride-free oral care products with hydroxyapatite instead
- Support your body with proper minerals (calcium, magnesium, phosphate) plus vitamins D3 and K2
Remember, you don’t have to tackle everything at once. As Dr. Michelle wisely notes, sometimes it’s about triaging—addressing the most urgent issues first while monitoring others.
The Power of Being Your Own Health Detective
Dr. Michelle’s journey from sick dentist to health-based practitioner illustrates something crucial: sometimes the answers we need aren’t going to come from conventional sources. Whether it’s your regular dentist dismissing concerns about mercury fillings or your doctor attributing everything to hormones, you have to be willing to ask deeper questions and seek practitioners who understand the bigger picture.
Your health is too important to leave entirely in someone else’s hands. By understanding how your oral health connects to your overall wellbeing, you’re adding another powerful tool to your health detective toolkit.
The mouth-body connection isn’t just trendy wellness talk—it’s backed by growing research and the clinical experience of practitioners like Dr. Michelle who see these connections play out in real patients’ lives every day. Your journey to optimal health might just start with opening your mouth and asking better questions.
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The contents of the Midlife Conversations podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider. Some episodes of Midlife Conversations may be sponsored by products or services discussed during the show. The host may receive compensation for such advertisements or if you purchase products through affiliate links mentioned on this podcast.
