The Root of the Matter

72. How to Heal Early Cavities Naturally: Minerals, pH & Tooth Powder Explained

• Dr. Rachaele Carver, D.M.D. Board-Certified, Biologic, Naturopathic Dentist • Season 3 • Episode 72

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In today’s episode of The Root of the Matter, I sit down with Jennifer Rankin, owner of Wonder Oral Wellness, to explore a question I get almost daily:

“What toothpaste should I use?”

And more importantly…
“Does it actually help my teeth remineralize?”

Jennifer’s story is one of my favorites because it is so real. She started out as a customer who was simply trying to help her child avoid a cavity and ended up buying the company that changed her family’s oral health. Yes, really.

Together, we unpack:

🌿 Why tooth powder is making a comeback

Powders were the original way humans cared for their teeth. They are mineral rich, gentle, and free of the preservatives that paste requires. And honestly, your enamel loves them.

🦷 What actually remineralizes your teeth

No, it is not fluoride.
Your teeth are not made of fluoride. They are made of minerals.

Inside this episode, we break down ingredients that actually rebuild enamel, including:

  • bentonite clay for detox and natural minerals
  • micro hydroxyapatite from grass fed sources
  • calcium and phosphorus in bioavailable forms
  • baking soda for healthy pH
  • essential oils and cacao powder for gentle antimicrobial support

Your body recognizes real nutrients and it knows exactly what to do with them.

👶 How Jennifer reversed her son’s early cavity

This part of her story still gives me chills.
Within months of using Wonder’s tooth powder, a cavity that was headed toward a filling simply disappeared. The power of minerals, saliva, and the right environment never stops amazing me.

🌬️ Why the oral microbiome matters more than ever

We talk about:

  • the problem with mouthwash
  • how minerals fuel a healthy microbiome
  • why foaming agents like SLS disrupt enamel
  • and why kids’ teeth are struggling more today

At the root of it all, your mouth is an ecosystem, not a war zone.

🧠 Nano vs. Micro Hydroxyapatite

Jennifer explains why Wonder chooses micro, non synthetic hydroxyapatite sourced from New Zealand cattle and why you want your enamel support to come from something that looks like real food, not a lab.

🍓 Flavors that support the oral microbiome

From peppermint to citrus berry to the new cacao mint blend, every flavor uses real food grade ingredients with no natural flavors.

The chocolate one also makes an amazing stocking stuffer.

✨ Resources Mentioned

  • Wonder Oral Wellness tooth powders and oral care
    https://wonderoralwellness.com
  • Breath by James Nestor
  • The Dental Diet by Dr. Steven Lin
  • Bamboo toothbrushes, silk floss, and pH strips

Your teeth were designed to heal.
Your body is always communicating with you through your gums, your saliva, your breath, and your energy. When we give it minerals, calm, and the right environment, it knows exactly how to repair.

Maybe today’s step is simply checking



Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only. Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner. Before using any products mentioned or attempting methods discussed, please speak with a licensed healthcare provider. This podcast disclaims responsibility from any possible adverse reactions associated with products or methods discussed. Opinions from guests are their own, and this podcast does not condone or endorse opinions made by guests. We do not provide guarantees about the guests' qualifications or credibility. This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

SPEAKER_01:

Hello, everybody. Welcome back to another episode of The Root of the Matter. I am your host, Dr. Rachel Carver. And today we have Jennifer Rankin, who is the owner of Wonder. Um, is that the name of the company? Wonder Oral Wellness? Wonder Oral Wellness, yeah. Excellent. And is Wonder is a toothpaste, a tooth powder. There are different variations that I've been using a while now. And I'm very excited for Jennifer to kind of tell us her story, uh, tell us about her product, other products that may be uh in the making. Because a lot of you know, um, some people ask me all the time, what toothpaste do you use? What this brand, brand, brand. And, you know, I like to change it up all the time, but I like to have a couple of different things in my uh in my routine. I think like everything, if you just do one thing all the time, um, that you know, maybe that's not so good, right? If we ate broccoli every single day of our lives, maybe that's not the best, you know. Um, so but I really, really love Wonder for its um kind of commitment to being natural, to being healthy, um, to avoid all of the chemicals and other additives and typical toothpaste that we just don't need to be clean. So, welcome, Jennifer. Thank you so much for taking your time this morning to talk with us. Why don't you tell us a little bit about your story and how you came to be the owner?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Well, first of all, thank you so much for having me. Um yeah, so it all started with me first being a customer of Wonder. I it was the first time in my life I'd ever been introduced to toothpowder, it was through the company Wonder. I had followed this girl for many, many years first on social media, and then I was on her email list, and so I'd always get her blogs, and she always had, you know, wellness articles and all the stuff that I was really interested in. So I just kept following her. We never met in person, but she had a store with all holistic items. At first it was holistic cleaning products and sea sponges and stuff like that, but she added a tooth powder one day to her store. And so I saw it and I was like, tooth powder? What is that? So I was like, well, I'm the person that would buy that. So I'm like, I'm definitely trying it. I bought it from her, and that was my first introduction to tooth powder. And this was probably, gosh, I want to say six or seven years ago. So it was quite a while. Then I just, you know, time went on, I kept following her. Um, she eventually converted her whole store to oral products, specifically tooth powder. And now, over like maybe two and a half years ago, I went to the dentist just with my kids and just to like their regular cleaning checkup. And my son had a cavity between his adult tooth and baby tooth. And the dentist said, Hey Jen, if you get something remineralizing, I bet you can save his adult tooth. And then the the baby tooth will fall out, so no worries. And he pulled up some toothpaste on the screen. I almost I didn't even memorize it because in my mind I was like, I'm definitely trying Wonder with my kid. Um, so we I got Wonder for my kids. They all started using it. And then a few months after that, one day I just got an email from Wonder that they were gonna close down their company. And I was so sad. I was like, oh no, I love Wonder. I've never even heard of another tooth powder at that point, other than theirs. So I at first I was just like, I emailed them right away and said, Oh, I'm so sorry you guys are closing. Is will there be another one you recommend? Like, is there another tooth powder you guys recommend? And and you know, they wrote me back saying, Yeah, we're gonna we're have a plan, you know, we'll we'll try to figure something out. And then an hour later, I thought, I wonder if they're interested in selling Wonder because it's such a great company, it's such a great product, I love it. I think other people love it. I wonder if they want it to have someone else run it. So I contacted them, not thinking that they would really even respond, but they did quickly. And they were like, Yeah, we're interested in selling. There's a few other people interested, but if you're interested, let's like let's start talking, let's start the conversation. So we did that. Um and all while this is like in between his next appointment. So we still don't know what's going on with my son's tooth, right? So anyway, long story short, um, I do buy Wonder and I take over. And that was awesome, so exciting, and also did not know what I was getting into in a way. But I love the product and I was really excited that I was already a customer. I already felt like bought in. So it just felt like a gift to then if I being a part of it. I knew that I was already bought in as a customer anyway. So, anyway, my kids keep using it. We go back in the spring, you know, six months later, and I'm definitely so curious about that tooth. And we go back and I'm like, yes, definitely take a look at that tooth. Do you remember, you know, this is Joel who had that cavity? And he's like, first of all, he just looks, you know, with his eyes and his mouth, and he's like, Well, I don't see anything. I don't see anything at all. He's like, I could do an x-ray just to be 100% sure. And I was like, okay, I do want you to do the x-ray just because I really would like to know with this tooth. So we did the x-ray. He's like, John, there's no cavity. Like, you're good. He said, Whatever you're doing is working. And I was like, awesome. He's like, I can definitely tell your kids' teeth are remineralized just by looking at them. And I was like, awesome. So that was kind of how I got into Wonder, and now it's been almost two years.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, that's exciting. And it's kind of like those of us who dive into this biologic or, you know, I don't like the word alternative, but more holistic type of um uh philosophy, I guess, that we've we all kind of have our story, right? How we, you know, kind of moved in that direction. And um, what I think is really valuable about this story is that teeth can remineralize. I think so many of us just assume that, you know, the tooth comes in the mouth and it's just this stagnant thing that we use to chew food. Every single tooth is its own organ and it is constantly remineralizing, demineralizing all day, every day. We have acid in our mouth. We need to have the acid. That's what helps start breaking down our food. But again, if we don't have the proper balance, if we're not eating enough of uh mineral-rich foods, we're not using a toothpaste that has minerals, you know, then we tend towards the more demineralizing, right? And so we end up having bigger and bigger cavities or more and more. And obviously, if you've been listening to the podcast, you know there's a lot more to the story. But at the very center of it is the fact that we can remineralize, we can heal especially the starting cavities. You know, once we've broken into the inner dentin part, that gets a lot trickier. But the enamel is the thickest part of your tooth. That is the white, you know, part. And as we, you some of us will say, Oh, my teeth are yellowing, or so it can be, you know, some people think it's just staining, but it also can be that the enamel is thinning, right? Most of our food today is completely deficient in minerals. And so we are, all of us are tending more towards demineralization. So we, and and because of the toxic environment we live in, right, where the minerals that we may be absorbing in our food is getting used up so quickly. So we don't have enough to do the repair that's needed because sometimes we sacrifice our teeth to save our internal organs. So, and and there's so much that we can't control. Why we can't control all the toxicity on the world. So, what can we do to help mineralize? And again, we listen to the podcast, we know we talk about food and certain supplements, but what we're using for oral care is tremendous, right? It makes, and as you see, as you saw in in your in your child, and there's a there's a big push, like you know, there's a big talk these days all about fluoride, and you know, there's two different parties and how, but the bottom line is people, our teeth are not made of fluoride. There is no fluoride in our teeth when they come from mother nature, okay. That is not what keeps our teeth strong. It's the minerals that keep us strong. So, Adam, why don't you tell us a little bit about what exactly is in this wonder tooth powder and why why tooth powder versus paste?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Well, first I'll answer the question what is in Wonder? So we have it's only powders and it's we use bentonite clay, we use microhydroxiapatite, we use calcium carbonate, baking soda, um, cinnamon clove, and xylitol. And if we're if the certain powder I'm making has a flavor, it's with essential oil. We add a little bit, not a ton, but that's kind of how you get the flavor. Our the one for kids, which is not called citrus berry, has organic strawberry powder in it. So everything is flavored with like a food grade, not no natural, like no all like, what is it, all natural flavors? It's like there's no natural flavors. It's all actual food grade items like powdered strawberry, rock a powder, peppermint oil, all of that. So that's all those ingredients are there for a reason. They're there to remineralize, quote, like heal, I guess, teeth, help your pH level, um, uh help remove plaque, you know, balance your, yeah, like your pH, remove staining, um, yeah, all of that. And specifically the remineralizing.

SPEAKER_01:

Right. And so why what's so special about bentonite clay?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, bentonite clay helps remove impurities, it stable it um purifies your mouth and helps balance the pH. And and that's really, really rich in natural minerals too, right? Yeah, yeah, that actually remineralizes too. I always like wait to talk about the hydroxyapatite, how that remineralizes. Yeah. But the bentonite clay actually really remineralizes as well.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And it's um, again, like really rich in those nutrients. Bentonite clay also, because it's so rich in minerals, it helps increase the pH. So the the lower the pH, the more acidic the mouth is, right? The more we tend towards breaking down of things. So if you can't have a more neutral pH in your mouth, you're not going to put those minerals into the tooth. So that's why we have baking soda, right? Baking soda is something that alkalinizes the whole mouth. And again, you need the alkalinity in order to pull the minerals and have them uh be brought into the enamel and actually, you know, form the crystalline structures there.

SPEAKER_02:

Right.

SPEAKER_01:

Calcium is obviously one of the major minerals there, along with phosphorus and a little bit of uh magnesium too. But again, those are the things that we find in the clay. And so if you look at there are other tooth powders out there, those are some of the basic ingredients there, but then some of them will add um, you know, other stuff that we don't need. So you mentioned the hydroxyapatite, which, you know, that can be controversial because there is synthetic, there is non-synthetic, there is the micro versus the nano. Um what tell us what you know about hydroxyapatite and why you use the micro.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. So what what we've landed on is, yeah, so you said that there's like the nano, the micro, synthetic, non-synthetic. We really wanted to stick to one that was not synthetic. So we use a micro hydroxyapatite that comes from grass-fed um cattle. And so it's comes from the bones. And we just felt the most comfortable with that. We didn't really want a synthetic ingredient in our tooth powder. Also, another thing that people don't realize just having a non-synthetic one, so the actual microhydroxy appetite that comes from bone, specifically the one that I get as well, because there's different ones, even like different qualities. But the one we get is made from bone. And a lot of times companies will take the bone and they do it through this process called ashing, where they strip everything away, everything except, you know, and only the hydroxyapatide is left. The company we get it from does heat the bones, obviously really hot and makes a powder out of it, but it's not so hot to the point where it takes all the proteins out. There's like peptides, proteins, even collagen, and all the calcium and um phosphorus and a little bit of oxygen and hydrogen that make the hydroxyapatite. So it's just a much better quality from what we've been able to do our research and understand. We just feel really comfortable with the product being basically it's a food grade ingredient while still doing the work that it needs to on our teeth. We prefer not to have a nano at this point from what we've learned. We're just don't feel comfortable having a particle that small. I know that there are, I am familiar with some of the studies coming out from Europe. And, you know, there's a certain there's a certain one coming. If you get it from Europe, like that's supposed to be okay. And at this point, I'm just like really happy with what we're using. I feel really comfortable with it. We get it from New Zealand. They have the highest standards. It's like the cleanest and highest standards of a bovine like cattle there. And we really trust the company. Uh, we trust the process that they're using, and they're maintaining as much as we can of what you need for your teeth. Like I said, the collagen, the protein, the peptides, and the calcium, the phosphorus that are in the hydroxyapetite. So we just think that's gonna remineralize your teeth better.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And and our body recognizes things that are like real food, right? So it's really important. And I think you bring up a really important point about processing. It's kind of it insulin made me think about seed oils, right? Like you can sunflower seeds, you know, are okay. All these seeds are okay. When you make an oil, so many of these seed oils become bad or rancid because you heat them to such high temperatures that it distorts the proteins, it distorts all these things. And and you know, the bonds, everything in a in a biochemical way, it becomes something that's no longer recognized by your body and it actually becomes inflammatory. So that that whole, and then you'll see some things they say cold pressed, you know, acceller-pressed. And that's, you know, again, a change in the processing can help something stay a little bit more natural, a little bit um, you know, healthier for us. I think that's part of the problem in the world today is overprocessed foods, right? Processing, we're like removing all the nutrients, you know, because it may have come from, you know, a plant or whatever, but the way that it gets processed. Not add any more. No, it removes all those nutrients. So it's it's so that's really important thing. And it says a lot about your company and the you know, the standards and the quality that that is important because again, we are putting this in our children's mouths, our mouths, and yeah, and like I said before, there's so many things we can't avoid. So the things that we do choose to use, you know, we want it to be um as as clean as possible. As far as the nano, I think that's that's really important. And I'm glad you guys haven't moved to that because again, when something is so, so small, we don't necessarily know what it's gonna do. Is it gonna make, you know, most of us are really, we have more bacterial and and fungal microbial cells in our body. What is that gonna do to those things, right? That are so healthy and important for our immunity, for our digestion, you know, our our mental health and all that. So, you know, we don't we a lot of things we don't realize are impacting actually the microflora and our microbiomes in our body. 100%. So that brings me to the whole um idea of xylitol. So, you know, I'm like, eh, kind of on the cheeks about about xylitol. Um, there are many, many, many studies showing it's good and it can improve our um lactobacillus and bipido, the the colonies, um, which are really important. Those are kind of like keystone species that help our gut be very healthy. Um they convert um into short chain fatty acids, which again are feeding the microbiome, so it can be really good. And there's a there, like I said, tons of studies showing that. Then there are some other studies showing, well, it's a sugar alcohol um and it can be problematic. I was researching this recently, and and a lot of the studies that show you know the benefits are done in rats who have clean digestive alcoholic. So so I think the few studies that you find that say, uh, maybe not such a good idea. And some of the other sugar alcohols that I think are are are worse, right, are like the sorbitol um that you see sometimes in a lot of natural toothpaste too. And the the the issue is if you have a diotic gut, right? So if you have leaky gut, you have an imbalance, you have any inflammatory conditions, SIBO, SIPO, colitis, all those, sugar alcohols are not gonna be great for you because you already have this imbalance and those sh feed the bacteria, whether it's good or bad. So if you already have an overgrowth of something, that could lead to uh, but again, in toothpaste, most time you're not swallowing this, right?

SPEAKER_00:

You are just we do recommend swallowing it. Yeah. Just using to brush and then, you know, it's safe, it's safe to swallow.

SPEAKER_01:

But this is safe to swallow, but I see what you're saying, yeah. And I think that's an important caveat to know, and especially for me too, you know, as it has people ask me that question all the time. And so, yes, and I do, you know, so many of us do have one degree or another of the leaky gut, but those of us who have that diagnosed condition, that's where, you know, and again, we're not really swallowing this, but I think that's that's can be the issue with the the sugar algorithm. Like I said, lots of natural ones have sorbitol and erythritol and the xylitol, and it's like, okay, you don't need so many. You don't need that many sweeteners. Yeah, yeah, right. And yeah, but you do have other um and you do have different flavors. Tell us about the different I do.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. So we have uh a peppermint, which is probably our most popular one. I think if people it's already, I think, a hard thing to sell tooth powder because people are like, why, why would I get tooth powder, right? Like I love my toothpaste, I love how it foams. So we have a peppermint, because at least it's like, okay, your your brain can think like, okay, I'm used to peppermint. I will I'll try the peppermint. So it is our number one bestseller. People usually start with that one. Um, it is probably my favorite one too. We have a, we have unflavored, actually. That one has no flavor, but has all the base ingredients that are good for you, like, you know, the bentonite clay, the hydroxyapatite, all those ingredients that are remineralizing and all of that. We just don't add flavor. Some people are extra sensitive and don't want anything. You know, I've also heard, I've gotten feedback from people that have texture issues. They're like, we really like the tooth powder, or we really like the unflavored. We just don't like texture issues. Or if our your kid has uh yeah, like texture issues, they they might do well with the unflavored. We have a strawberry, not it's called citrus berry. It has straw, like the strawberry powder in it and orange oil. And that was originally created more towards kids, but I think anybody can use it. My husband loves that one too, and my well, my kids do, and my husband loves that one. So we switched the name to switch citrus berry, so it's a little bit more like, hey, anybody could try this. Like it's a gray flavor. Um, I just came out with a cacao peppermint, and it's kind of like a holiday flavor, but actually, more importantly, cacao powder is actually really good for your enamel as well. We use a raw fermented cacao powder and it's organic. Um, so it's like a twist on the peppermint with a little bit of hint of chocolate, but the chocolate is actually super remineralizing for your teeth as well. So we wanted something that was also going to be good for your teeth, not just going for the flavor. So we have that one that just came out, and then we have a whitening one, and it has all again, all the same-based ingredients, and we have a little bit of charcoal in it. We don't put a ton. I know that can be controversial as well. Um, but we don't, we really don't put a lot. I would never recommend people just using um charcoal on their teeth, like straight up. Um, it's actually it's so minimum, but we do put a little bit in there just for people that want to get extra staining off.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. I really like beyond the flavored. And I I've tried a bunch of different, yeah, a bunch of different tooth powders, and some of them are I don't know how to describe it, like too gritty. Yours is very fine, very, very fine. Not gritty at all. Like some of the other ones I've had are are very gritty, and and some of them have um, I don't know how to describe the taste, but not necessarily unpleasant, but not the best. And yours is just so it's so mild, I think, because it's so fine grit. Like I I love it. I I like the unflavored very much.

SPEAKER_00:

We do pride ourselves in like our our tooth powders don't taste horrible. You know, tooth powder, it's not like it could be like dirt or you know, but we do feel like we've really tried to go the extra mile to also have it be a good experience if you're gonna use tooth powder. It's already pretty different than paste.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, you know, and I think what's interesting, like the history behind cleaning mouths, it always started with tooth powders. Like that. I know most people have no idea. Yeah, it wasn't, I forget when paste came out, 60s, 50 50s, 60s, it's been like a hundred years, a hundred between a hundred and a hundred and fifty years.

SPEAKER_00:

And Colgate, Colgate did bring toothpaste on the market.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Um, but before that, like for obviously thousands of years before that, it's always been powder. And and and if you look back at the ingredients, even from different parts of the world, from like the Egyptians, whatever, Europe, it was always, they were always using mineral-rich powders. Like it was the whole point was to actually help your teeth and add minerals back to your teeth. Like that was the whole point of cleaning your mouth with minerals, like whether they used eggshells, oyster shells, ox hooves, like you know, all of that, myrrh and herbs. It was always like they were always looking for ingredients because they knew these were good for your teeth. And now from what now what you get on the shelves is like, you know, I'm not sure which ones of these are good for your teeth, you know? Right.

SPEAKER_01:

But we all get in our psyche, you know, that the if something doesn't foam, then it's not cleaning, right? We're used to it. It's a problem where like soap foams, you know, and all the other things foam. But, you know, that's uh most of that is from the sodium laurel sulfate, which we know has a lot of uh, you know, negative negative side effects. And again, in addition to all the other toxins today, we talk about all the time in the podcast, 80,000 plus chemicals, probably up to 90,000 now, um, in the environment. We don't anything we don't need to add, we should avoid, you know. So all of those products. And there are no minerals in toothpaste in the in the you know, the typical conventional ones we think of. Agree. Yeah, agreed, agree. Right. The the main brands um typically don't have that. They have the SLS, they have fluoride, um, and then just and colors and dyes. All kinds of things that have no place in our body. Especially for kids. Like, why are we putting dyes in their mouth too? No, no, yeah, just to brush out teeth. We have now I what is it, the red 40 that's now the FDA said, okay, we can't have that. You know, so we're making these tiny steps, but uh it's it's unbelievable in in how much how many of these ingredients really have no place in helping our teeth. And you know, there's this big controversy over fluoride, it's just never-ending. There was a huge push. I guess I read an article yesterday how simultaneously in some really big scientific journals came out about, oh, there's this new big study that shows there's no IQ difference, because that was the big thing that came out late in the fall, right? Which is fluoride causes IQ problems, blah, blah, blah. Um, and so now all of these other, you know, companies that are kind of depend on fluoride, you know, there's there's so much money and bureaucracy when it comes down to these kind of things and very little science, right? And and so people are like, I don't understand. You know, we've been taught that fluoride is the end-all deal. But at the end of the day, fluoride is not present in natural tooth. You do not need fluoride to have healthy teeth, and it can potentially, you know, be a dental. The other thing that I'm talking about, yes, IQ is a problem, but so many people today have have thyroid issues, are hypothyroid. And we need iodine, it's really important for the fluoride, and the fluoride will compete with iodine. So if you think of a typical American diet and somebody who uses conventional toothpaste, they're getting all sorts of fluoride. And if they're not eating a lot of seafood or not, you know, they're not getting a lot of that iodine. Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_00:

And so I tell people all the time now, like, okay, like, okay, maybe it maybe a tiny bit of fluoride wouldn't affect you, but like you don't know anymore what you're getting. Between your water, you know, like when you go out to eat, everyone's you, you know, and you're buying soup or whatever, they just used regular water to make that. So it's, you know, everywhere you're consuming, and then it's in your toothpaste, you might get the extra topical treatment when you're at the dentist. Uh, they used to prescribe pills. I don't actually know if they do that anymore for kids, like the fluoride pills. Maybe some people still do that. It's just so much. And the more is not better with fluoride. In fact, it's toxic at high levels. And that's why on your toothpaste tubes it says, like, if you swallow, call it control. Call it poison control. I'm like, you know, our tooth powder, like, that's not gonna happen. I obviously don't recommend you sitting and eating the powder, but it's not like toxic like that. Like, there shouldn't be that many toxins in your toothpaste where like if you swallow too much, like you'd have to call poison control.

SPEAKER_01:

Like, yes, that's concerning, you know. Yeah, at the most, if you ate a whole thing of tooth powder, you could have a detox reaction because your body would suddenly be flooded with all these nutrients it's been missing, and like all of a sudden everything would turn back on and your body would be like, Oh, it's not getting the minerals you need.

SPEAKER_00:

Your body might actually like that. It'd be like, sure, give me a little bit of this. Like, I could use the the calcium and the phosphorus, and yeah. A lot of people are definitely mineral deficient for sure. I think it's the biggest thing. I I do think you could fit, like you said, like diet is such an important part of it. And just being happy you know, having enough vitamins A and K and D would make such a difference, but our diet just doesn't allow for us to have that anymore. No, you really have to like go out of your way and be intentional, especially with your kids. You know, if you're you know, how can I get these nutrients in their body? Yeah, yep, yep.

SPEAKER_01:

And it's very tricky, you know. Little kids are not gonna be swallowing pills and all these kind of things. So, um, you know, starting in the mouth. And again, the other thing we have to remember is by treating the mouth right, right, we're going to cultivate healthy bacteria in the mouth, right? The mouth is not sterile, and that is not the goal. The goal is to have a healthy balance um, you know, of that that good bacteria because we're swallowing that. We swallow about two liters of saliva a day. So healthier, yeah, the healthier that mouth is and the healthier that microbiome is, therefore, then the gut microbiome is is healthier too. And then um, you know, you're gonna avoid those things we talked about, like the SIBO and the CIFO and colitis and IBS and all those kind of things. So, and we talk about all the time, right? The health starts in the mouth. So this is very accessible. And that's what I tell patients all the time is the favorite part of my job is that I can affect the whole body and we can just see chaining the mouth, right? It's a lot easier to treat the mouth than try to deal with ulcerative colitis or something, right?

SPEAKER_00:

Totally. And I had I really didn't know how much I had been in whole like learned a lot about holistic living and all of that before getting into wonder. But once I got into wonder, and obviously had to learn so much about the mouth and how it affected the whole body, I I never realized how much the mouth mattered. It's where your gut health begins. Like it's you can't have a healthy gut, or you can't have a healthy body without a healthy mouth. It's such, it's so crucial. People have no idea. Like, I didn't even know, and I was like into holistic living, and I didn't realize how important the oral microbiome was, how your body naturally doesn't want you to have cavities. You know, it already wants to do it by itself. Like without tooth powder, without toothpaste, your body wants you to have, it's like naturally made to prevent having cavities between having a good saliva and or you know, good bacteria in your mouth. And we're constantly destroying all the bacteria in our mouth, like all the good bacteria. I heard once a like a doctor describe using mouthwash almost like putting an antibiotic in your mouth every day, because it just destroys all the good bacteria. And we would never do that with and like regular antibiotics. Like we know enough that that would destroy your gut. You wouldn't want to do that. So why are we doing that to our mouth? And then that is gonna affect your gut, correct? If you did that.

SPEAKER_01:

And the biggest thing with mouthwash, we talk about all the time, is specifically we're killing the bacteria that produce nitric oxide. Nitric oxide is that molecule that dilates our blood vessels. So, you know, I read an article once it was like, Oh, is mouthwash giving us a heart attack? Right? And that's it. Maybe it is. We've got to be careful, right? In the mouth, you know, less less is more. The more we're trying to And and we've got to get away from the thought of all bacteria is bad, right? We gotta kill everything. No, no, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_00:

You know, it's like then the last causes a huge problem actually. Killing all the good bacteria will like mess everything up, including in your gut. Like destroying all your good bacteria will be a huge problem for immune your immune system.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And I think this is a problem I see a lot now with, and then we have a lot of medications, right, that are are imbalancing the gut uh bacteria. You know, I see a lot um with patients that, you know, pretty healthy, and now all of a sudden they've got all this decay. You know, what is going on? That's differently. That's so much coming from the gut and the imbalanced immune system there. So um, you know, it's it's always hard for me to see that, be like, oh geez, you know, it's not about just brushing better, right? We have to, again, how can we influence that whole um and it's hard if you you have to take all these, you know, medications for certain things. Again, nobody has to take these things if we if doctors really understood more about the root cause of these diseases. But um for people who are on them, you know, uh a lot of them, you can't just go off willy-nilly. So you could work towards restoring everything, but in the meantime, you know, of course there's all these things that can be negatively impacting us. So um that's what I'm always trying to preach to everybody, right? It's all about balance, balance, balance, balance. You know, nobody's ever gonna be perfect. But again, how do we and that's the biggest nutrient. If my my kids, you know, in the past I've given them so many supplements and now they're teenagers, they want nothing. Um at the very least, I give them a mineral tablet every day. I'm like, if you do not eat, you can take minerals because that is the right.

SPEAKER_00:

We're just not even getting enough just what even if you're eating like fruits and vegetables, unfortunately, even those just don't have the minerals they used to. So it's unfortunate, like the broccoli now, I guess, is not the same as broccoli 200 years ago. And I think it depends what soil it was grown in. That's a whole other conversation. But like just getting your kids to eat broccoli is hard enough. And then you're like, well, is this even like nutrients? Is like, does it even have the nutrients in it?

SPEAKER_01:

It's 100%. That's why it's so important that you are sourcing these places, like New Zealand. They're known for their, you know, really oh, that's where I get all my liver capsules from. You know, everything they're they're known for their, you know, healthy, natural, regenerative type of practices that are keeping them soil because, you know, what are the cows eating, right? It's not just about different ways nicely, but are they, you know, what are they eating? Are they having the the fresh air? They have the freedom to roam, all of those things, right? We talk a lot about on the podcast about you know the mental, emotional, spiritual. And, you know, even if maybe a cow's getting organic fed, but if it's in a big pen and it can't ever get outside and they're, you know, salad, you know. Yeah, they're not happy. Yeah, they're supposed to snug.

SPEAKER_00:

And one thing I wanted to point about the hydroxyapatite that I when we were talking about it, it was when you have a synthetic one, it's doesn't have the same protein blend of like the bovine, you know, one that we use, like the from from bones, because our bones are made of hydroxyapatite, and so are our teeth. So when you just take it from bones from cattle that are taken care of well, it has the protein blend, like I said, the call, like the peptides, the amino acids, and the collagen still mixed in in the hydroxyapatite. When you're making it synthetically in the lab, it has, yes, this the synthetic version of calcium and phosphorus, but it does not have that protein blend that we get in ours. So we are happy and are so happy, you know, that we could find a company that could source it this way. So you're either way, you're not gonna get that protein blend in a synthetic one. So this is the only way I I think you could get that protein blend is this way, which is why we use this ingredient. And again, when it's more natural, your body recognizes it.

SPEAKER_01:

That's the problem with you know, there's a lot of controversy over supplements in general. And that's because a lot of supplements are synthetic. Or that's also a problem, right? They're using inorganic minerals, you know. This is a problem too. Even worse. Water. People who have well water, like myself, you know, we have very hard water, and it's like, well, but it's very mineral rich, except it's inorganic minerals, and our body Yeah, I have mineral water too. I mean, we have well, I mean, we have well water too, and it's very hard. Yes, our body doesn't like, you know, the inorganic minerals. They want this, so I prefer like the organic minerals from like folgic and humic acids, you know, things um natural because our body will write, and that's the same thing in food. It's just this is one of the reasons why pharmaceutical drugs have so many side effects, because they will take a natural ingredient that's come from nature, right? Like aspirin, for example, like the salicylic acid eventually, you know, came from willow bark, right? And and they found, okay, this is what's the active ingredient. So we'll just make this as a medicine. But if you, you know, back in the day when these, you know, the healers, they would take the bark, you know, and boil it down, but they're using all of the ingredients. It's the difference between having an apple and apple juice, right? Because apple juice is all sugar. You've removed the fiber, you've removed some of the phytonutrients, so you're not getting, so you get much more of a sugar spike with the juice versus an apple. Like when you take the, you know, everything is Mother Nature has made things in these in the in these recipes, right? Because that's how they all work together, right? You can't have bread with just flour.

unknown:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

Right, yeah, right, of course. And the yeast. I mean the whole part, yeah. Exactly. So with this hydroxy appetite, it has the complete protein. It doesn't have like just the synthetic version of calcium and phosphorus. And then your, yeah, you like you said, your body doesn't fully recognize the synthetic version. And then even with supplements, you don't know how it's affecting your body. Like, how is your body absorbing these nutrients if it doesn't fully recognize it? With our protein blend that we have in the hydroxyapatite, it also tells it more accurately tells the phosphor and calcium where to go because it it's more recognized by the body how your hydro how your enamel is built anyway.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

I love how you said that because we talk about that a lot of times with um people come in and they have, you know, they're on calcium because they need to have strong bones. They're on calcium and vitamin D. It's like that's great. But without the vitamin K, without the vitamin A, without your magnesium, the calcium doesn't know where to go, right?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, when people say they just take calcium, I'm like, you can't just like that's don't do that. Don't just take calcium. You have to have the vitamin K with it, or it just goes into the wrong places, right? Correct.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, the vitamin K will pull it out of the soft tissue, right?

SPEAKER_01:

And put it in tissue.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So yeah, nothing, nothing works in isolation, you know. And again, that's where we get the problems with a lot of pharmaceutical drugs. We're just pulling out that one active ingredient instead of understanding how it works, you know, as a whole. So um, so tell us, is there any any you've got this great new chocolate peppermint flavor? I want to try that. That sounds really good. Um that might be a nice stocking stuff for people. It is a time of year. That sounds really good. Um we have those few tooth powders. Is there anything else that Wonder offers or that you're thinking about?

SPEAKER_00:

Well, we do have um on our store, online store, we do carry like bamboo toothbrushes. We carry silk floss that doesn't have Teflon or petroleum on it. We do offer mouth tape and pH strips and um yeah, the band. We have a couple books on there. You've probably read them, The Dental Diet and uh the breath, the breath book by James Wester. Those are amazing books, by the way. When I first read that breath book, I was blown away. I was like, by the first few pages, I was like, what? How much your breathing affects your whole body and your all your health, like your heart health. And I was like, what? This is this is crazy. Um, but it was it's such a good book. If you really wanted to know more about having good, like breathing well, that's an amazing book. The dental diet book, I feel like was really good. It was really simple in a way like I could understand it. Most people could read that book and and understand what it's saying. It just was simple and like it described how you should eat and what the what the problem is with how we eat now. You know, obviously talked about Dr. Weston Price um and all his studies and how he's affected, how we view you know more holistic dentistry today. It's because of him and that whole story. So if you want that, that's I would highly recommend if you'd like to read. I gave that book to every one of my team members.

SPEAKER_01:

And actually, good he's got a great uh graphic in there that shows exactly how the calcium, the vitamin A, and all that work together. And I've had to exactly photocopied that picture and put it in many of my um presentations because it's a great example. This is really showing what's what's going on. So yeah, he's another person from down under, you know, they've got it going uh down there. Yeah, he's a journalist, and that is that is an excellent uh like and it's a pretty easy read too, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Um yeah, yeah. I like how it's like anybody could understand that and read it.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, there's a lot to say. Um James Nestor in May. Uh he was at a conference I was at, so it was great. Oh, that's so cool. Yeah, and still it's been five, five and a half, almost six years, I think, since that first came out. And he's still okay, you know, still people are just so one book my my father actually read cut cover to cover. He tends to like read a little bit here, read the end, and like he read the book. He was so into it, you know.

SPEAKER_00:

Um Yeah, it's so fascinating. I was just like by the first few pages, I was like, What how can this even be? How did how does nobody know about this? Like you can change and like improve your health so much by different ways of breathing, and they you know describe, you know, and then he heard the whole thing of mouth breathing versus nasal breathing, that whole conversation. I was like, oh my gosh, like this is so fascinating. Yeah. And now I actually for looked at my own kids like for the first time after reading that. I was like, oh, they have issues. Like now I have one daughter that's seeing an airway-focused orthodontist because she had issues. My other son, I discovered had a deviated septum. So we're trying to figure out he can't breathe well at night and he's always getting congested. So now we we are going to see an airway-focused ENT for him. Um, and I'm so glad that I was open to these things because I had no idea, even with my kids for many, many years, like even being healthy and whatever, I had no idea that I needed to be looking for these things. So if you're interested in more.

SPEAKER_01:

The the first time I gave a talk at Cellcore, I was talking to all these holistic-minded healthcare practitioners. And what I just took for granted, I was like, wow, even these, you know, health-focused individuals had no clue about the oral impact. And I was like, wow, this is really, we have got, you know, another impetus to start the podcast. Because I was like, wow, even as those of us who are highly educated, who are in this space still, we still disconnect and be like, I'll just let the dentist do it. It doesn't matter, you know, it's and um so really impactful, you know, trying to get that that awareness out of there. And I love what he said. I talk to my patients about this all the time, the breath. I'm like, it is free, it is completely within your control, and it is the fastest way to get your nervous system balanced, because in my opinion, the nervous system controls everything. So we can, you know, eat a certain way, we can take all the supplements, do all the biohacking and all the tools, but at the end of the day, it's dependent on your nervous system. So learning how to breathe more slowly through the nose is can, you know, take away every everything else. So now a lot of our conversations start with let's get that that breathing right so that we get that vagus nerve working properly. You know, I think the whole idea behind snoring and sleep apnea has a ton to do with the vagus nerve and your parasympathetic nervous system. Learning how to breathe properly in the day is going to train your diaphragm to breathe properly at night. That's really good. We have all these band-aid things, you know, we have oral devices, we have the C calls. But again, what is the physiology? What's really happening there? And a lot of it has to do with, you know, if we can retrain our breathing. You know, that's a big, you know, it's not saying it's huge thing, but that's a huge, huge component. Um, yeah, I saw a patient the other day has been on CPAP for years, like the back of his throat just was a mess, you know, because you think air down your throat was like so uh, I was just like, oh my gosh, I don't know how to get any space for air because it's everything has been collapsed and pulled and so hard. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

I know. And there's like simpler ways that, like you said, they're free. Like if you just could educate people and they knew that they could start taking control over some of this stuff, it'd see such a huge difference. Like with like the whole sleep apnea thing, like you said, I feel like and then you're if you're not sleeping, well, obviously that's gonna affect your your nervous system too. Like that's gonna mess our like that's your foundation, you know.

SPEAKER_01:

And like you said, with your kids, a lot of it, you know, these structures and patterns and habits develop in childhood. So when we can recognize, you know, this is my my, you know, I'm trying to teach all the other dentists out there, this is what we need to look for in two and three-year-olds, because you can see the patterns very, very early. Um, it's funny. I look back at my kids' pictures now, I'm like, oh my gosh, every picture when they were babies with their mouth wide open.

SPEAKER_00:

I was like, I know. I didn't even know that was a problem. Like, who who even knows that that's a problem? They just think that that's totally normal. They're like, oh, mm-hmm. Yeah, it's crazy. Now I always recognize in pictures, I'm like, oh, that kid has their mouth open. Or you know, like you always see who has their mouth open and they're like mouth breathing. You're like, I wish I could tell them, like for their health to retrain themselves.

SPEAKER_01:

But it it is, yeah, it's getting more out there. And again, that's why we like doing these kind of things. So we can podcast, we can, you know, this is listened to all over the world, which still is crazy to me and amazing. But again, that that I feel so passionate about it, creating that awareness, having these conversations. So people are like, oh, and the more they hear it, the more it gets really entrained into the brain, so that we start really making changes in, you know, in the healthcare system in general. So yeah, it's very exciting. Yeah. So as we're kind of wrapping up, is there anything else you want to tell us a little bit about one or how we can find it?

SPEAKER_00:

And yeah. Um, I realize I know I'm gonna answer really quickly that question. You said, Why are you a powder? Yeah. And I am a powder, really just for the reason that I don't have to have any preservatives when I have a powder. Because as soon as you had water to make a paste, you have to have some sort of stabilizer or preservative, like it which is normal. It will water makes things go bad faster. So we are a powder, so we can just have the ingredients we want. So that's like the quick version of like, it's not like I'm against paste. I'm more just like this, this allows me to have a more cleaner product, like allowing me to have just what I want in there and not having to have like a filler or a chem a preservative or anything like that. So that's why we are powder. Um yeah, you can find us on well, wonderalwellness.com. That's our website. Um, we're on social media, um, at Wonder Oral Wellness for Instagram and Facebook. And yeah, those are the main main ways you can find us.

SPEAKER_01:

Fantastic. Well, I've I've become a big fan. We've changed everything over in the office with um. I'm so glad. Yes. And folks, you can find it at Dr. Carver's office. Um, yes, it's very enjoyable. And I definitely're gonna have to order for the holidays. I want to try some of this.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, try the chocolate. Yeah, Papi.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I'm sure I think some people may know it, you know, the cacao um really does have a ton of phytochemicals. Um, I don't know that I knew that it was, um, but it probably does have a lot of good minerals in it, right?

SPEAKER_00:

And yeah, it does. And has flat noids, I think that's how you say it. Yeah. And it's it's one of the foods that has the most flat noids. Uh, and that's really good for you too.

SPEAKER_01:

So all those good nutrients are unique chocolate. I mean, I always used to be a vanilla person, but now I'm like, hmm, all good chocolate and cacao is, you know. Doesn't hurt anyone. That's fantastic. Well, thank you so much, Jen, for introducing us all to your great product. Like I said, I am a fan, and I it's and I've tried a bunch of different powders, and I really like the fineness of this one. The I I personally love the unflavored. You know, there are some people who may be more sensitive even to essential oils, even though they're natural. Um, but the unflavored is fantastic. Um, big fan. So yeah. So check out the website, everybody. Like I said, an excellent stocking stuffer. You don't have to have all those weird knickknacks that you do nothing with, nothing that will actually be beneficial for them in the long run would would go. Much appreciated there for everyone, I'm sure. Well, thanks again, everybody. I hope you learned something in this episode and we'll see you on the next one.

SPEAKER_02:

All right. Thank you.