Opening Praise and Introduction

I mean, really just to not be afraid. I mean, I talk about because I worked in. I started as an associate in a private practice while I was starting this office.

I was working in corporate, and then I started my own. So I've cut, you know, I basically just wherever you are, learn and ask a million questions and, and kind of figure out your path because there's so many different things you could do in industry and there's so many, you know, if you can, even within starting your own practice, you can start so many different types of practices.

And so just kind of finding your passion and what you're comfortable with. I mean, that's what we talk about. And and it's funny because I've presented at some study clubs too.

And people are interested in and like people want to to know this stuff too, just even for them personally. And so it hasn't been, I mean, maybe a little bit of poking fun, but not in a, in a bad way.

They call me the hippie Dennis when I go like that, but, but then when a patient comes in and they're asking all kinds of questions, they'll text me or they'll say, hey, can I send you this session?

Because I don't know anything about, you know, the all these questions that they're asking me. So it's been kind of a networking thing almost, that. Welcome to Doctor Talks, the podcast where every episode leads to a healthier you.

Join us as we navigate the world of optimal health, uncovering groundwork and strategies to conquer chronic disease. In each episode, we'll bring you the latest insights from leading health experts, medical innovators, and wellness warriors.

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This is Doctor Talks, real talk from real doctors on the issues that matter to you most. Do oral systemic connections where I introduce you to amazing people.

Today I'm going to introduce you to my dentist, my holistic dentist who is an outstanding clinician and a really, really interesting human being. So without further ado, Doctor Rachel Riley from midway, Kentucky.

Hi, Rachel. Hello. It is cold and miserable in Kentucky. When is this? Winter going to end? I know, and our patient told me we're supposed to get another storm next week.

Oh my gosh. Yeah. Just be patient. It changes quickly here. Okay. Before I get into our history, we have a little history. And your background. This is what I want my viewers to know about you.

If I was to put 25 individuals of your demographic in our room, and then I pick someone and I hand them your bio, and I say, I want you to go in this room and find Doctor Rachel Riley, and I'll give you $1 million, and they would never pick you out.

Athletic Background and Early Success

Okay? You know, one of your superpowers is yours. So unassuming and you're so humble. And it's just refreshing because we live in an age of flex and everybody flexes about this and flexes about that.

And that's not your style. And, it's it's very, very cool. And so I want to thank you. I wanted people to know that right up front. Okay. Thank you. I'm going to start, I'm going to brag about you a little bit.

I'm a huge college sports fan. Everything right? I always have been. And I want to. And you were an elite athlete of, for nation playing Division one athlete.

And I have to talk about this. I just have to. Okay. But. Okay, so you you played, baseball, and you your position was pitcher. Okay. But before that, okay, some of the notes.

I did some research on the internet, man. There's a lot of stuff about you on the internet. Okay. High school, two state championships, two MVP's, Hall of Fame, countless records, 815 strikeouts, two perfect game, six no hitters.

This was the thing that I just had so much trouble wrapping my arms around. Your batting average was 422. That is ridiculous. That is like Ted Williams territory.

Okay, so my favorite story, collegiate story was your first game, at, a UK. You know, you're a freshman. You know, a lot of people don't make that step up from high school.

Yeah, right. That's a step up. Right? So you have a ACL procedure and you get kind of a late start. And so my understanding from what I read, your first game was against the number one team in the country at the time, which was Florida. Right. Your first.

I don't I don't think that was we played like preseason like not SEC teams. And I pitched in those. Okay. But you think that was hard and Florida was number one and you had seven perfect innings, right?

I don't know. All right. No, this is all in that it's got to be true. Right. So it's like it's like it's like what I did we in Florida was like the game that kind of put me over the so but actually to kind of debunk that a little bit I had struggled in in the preseason like tournaments.

And, and I was really like, can I do this? I don't know if I can and I, and I but I got to a point where you know, I, I just kind of I started that's when I started learning about breath and slowing down my breathing.

I mean, if we talk about any of that, like, that was kind of win. Wow. It was I started slowing my heart rate down. I started kind of like trusting myself and and and that was the game.

That really was the turning point for my pitching for 20. Yeah, we had a remarkable collegiate career. One of the things you were named to all SEC. You know, team, is that a coach's decision, that all SEC thing?

I believe it is. Coaches voting. Yeah. And that's what we do. Okay. And then I got to meet your coach, the infamous Rachel Lawson, at your open house. Okay.

Oh, yeah. First thing I asked her is like, what was it like to coach Rachel? Okay. Because I found you to be the the easiest coaching client I've ever had.

Okay, you listen, you learn and you execute, okay? And you say, well, that's kind of easy. And it's like, no, you don't know what it's like to coach dentist.

And people don't. It's not like that, right? So there was something special about it. So I read that I read a story. Rachel told me this, but also your high school coach that like, in the team bus, you know, Rachel's in the back of the bus reading a book, right?

You know, you just you just always working on yourself, working hard. You just get it, okay? And I think that's really, I think, just very admirable. So, Dean's list, College.

You know, the top 10% in dental school. Dental school is easy. I want to know about your upbringing and your parents. So, did your parents play sports or how did this.

How did this all come about? Yeah. Well, my I mean, my parents are. The older I get, the more I'm just in on them. Really? Just how hard working and how, just dedicated in their values and they, you know, they show up and and things that they have instilled in me, and thankful for.

But they just, I mean, they never missed getting me to a practice. They never they traveled to all my games and they both worked full time. I don't know how they did it all. Wow.

I don't yeah, I don't know. I just me too. I find a common thread and high performers like yourself and and generally it kind of starts there. You know, just supportive, you know, supportive.

Yeah. Yeah. That's how they played sports. I mean, not not in college. But they were they were both athletic. My, but just as an example, in PE in elementary school.

We had, like, this presidential test that we do was like a mile. It was pull ups. It was, how it was how flexible you were. And I couldn't get the blue medal ribbon because I couldn't do it.

Pull up. And so my mom made this chart for, like, every day that we're going to practice, we, like, colored in. And then my dad would take me. We started like, horizontal.

And then he took me on the slide and I would like, pull myself up at a diagonal every day. And like, they were just always for for something as as small and insignificant as that.

No, but they were very supportive being there at the moment. It's it's all incremental. This stuff is all incremental. Right. And I've kind of watched you, you know, that that term incremental.

Okay. So we meet in 2015. I had already left UK, teaching there and we met at a at a dental convention in 2015.

Finding Holistic Dentistry

And around that time I was, deep in my bio, my weird bio. I was a founding team member of, Ideal Practices, which was a startup, whatever. And, created their entire learning platform for startups.

So I decided I didn't want to do that. I kind of wanted to work closer to home. And that's when I began to work with, UK graduates. So then since that time, I think I've done like six startups in the area.

So you called me in 2016, and I remember the conversation. So, like, introduce yourself. You said that you had a, non-compete and you needed to get a little bit outside of Lexington. You said, what?

What do I think about midway? And there were two things that immediately came to mind. Number one, my favorite restaurant, heirloom, is a midway. And I knew that there had been a dentist at one time.

Okay. So that was that was a good thing, right? So at least there's been a dentist there midway. There's probably 1500 people, which is like okay ish.

Right? And then I oh, okay. So let me, I have this really cool application there. There's midway. Oh, no. Okay. This is like Norman Rockwell 101. All right. Yeah. Is Easter postcard.

Your office is right there. I'm not going to go into the real estate story because I don't want to get too abstract. But that was a good story in itself.

This is, this is midway. Super cool. Then I said to you, what kind of dentistry? You know, because, you know, my whole thing is from the start up. It's to create the brand, create everything.

And you said, I want to be a holistic dentist. And I was like, oh, you know, caution, full disclosure, I said things, two things not an issue at all with the consumers.

Okay. I can help you create the brand marketing, whatever. That's what I say. Are you ready for your colleagues to possibly make fun of you or be disparaging or, you know, something like that?

And, you know, you said, yeah, I'm good. I was like, okay, now if you're good, we're good to go. Now, I don't know if I've explained to you in detail why why that is so in in 2000, it was January of 2000 because I went and looked it up.

That's during the.com boom. I donated a website to Doctor Paul Kaiser. He was my mentor. I donated a website to his foundation, which was called the International Down Health Foundation.

Then I also started a Yahoo message board called the Holistic Dental Network. And it was, you know, compared to today, it was very and once again, I'm just kind of like the moderator. Right.

And it was a cluster F and a half. Okay. Mean, that was my first exposure to, the holistic and, you know, the foil hats. And it was a it was a little bit crazy, right?

Yeah, yeah. And so even today, if you go on to a general these private message boards and you put in, you know, I'll see a young guy and say, what's a holistic dentist?

There's a lot of really negative negative feedback on that. Right? Yeah. So so I needed to tell you as full disclosure, hey, that's kind of a loaded term. You're okay. Great.

Then let's carefully make this, like what it needs to be. Right. So let's start off with the definition of holistic dentistry, right? Also known as biological dentistry, is an approach to dental care that considers the overall health and well-being of the patient, not just their oral health.

Emphasizes the interconnection of the mouth, rest of the body. Oral conditions affect systemic health. Vice versa. You use minimally invasive techniques, biocompatible materials, and natural remedies whenever possible.

Who can possibly who can possibly not before that, right? I mean, that's the heart, right? So so we start out to kind of carefully, craft your career.

So the first question is, what inspired you to pursue this particular niche? I think I mean, initially it was it was almost personal, I mean, for me. So I did have to ACL tears one in eighth grade, that was my first one.

I had surgery, The summer after my eighth grade year to sew. And it was always my goal to be a Division one athlete. And so from eighth grade on, I had a strength coach, I had a physical therapist, I had a like a nutritionist and not she was an official, but she taught me how to eat well and learning that, you know, what I put in my body would change my body.

Learning how to build muscle and, and so and just being an athlete, you know, you're in that health and wellness space. And I wanted to be the best that I could be.

And then even growing up, my grandma, she was a type two diabetic, lifestyle. And, and I watched her slowly decline. I watched her have to go to dialysis three times a week, for years.

And I watched her. I watched my grandfather care for and and I, I mean, I love my grandma so much. I wish she was still here. And I know now that she probably could be, you know, making lifestyle changes.

So I knew I didn't want to go down that road if it was at all preventable. And I, you know, I was listening and reading to health podcasts and, and overall health and then, I mean, it did feel kind of like divine timing that I start working where you had worked.

And she introduced me to it. She was like, you know, Doctor Larkin, you know, he's a part of this organization. And I thought, what there's an organization for, you know, overall health and dentistry together.

And so I started I started listening to that stuff. And then I went to their conference. And at the conference I called home and I said, I'm, I'm, I can't not do this.

This is what I want to do with my life. What if your role as a dental professional could go far beyond teeth? What if you weren't just treating mouths but saving lives?

Preventive dental care is evolving rapidly. The oral microbiome, salivary diagnostics, laser biofilm therapy. They aren't just tools. They are the future of health care.

They're turning hygienist and Dennis into leaders in disease prevention, in whole body wellness. The question is, will you lead this change or be left behind?

This is your moment. My name is doctor Tom Larkin, and as a founder of proactive Oral wellness, my mission is simple to equip you with the tools and processes to transform your practice and your patients lives.

That's why I'm inviting you to join me and some of the nation's leading experts in Lexington, Kentucky on April 26th for the future of Dental Hygiene five.

The blueprint we will unpack the framework of the Wellness Center practice new patient onboarding from a variety of really unique practitioners, specific preventive protocols, medical, dental, collaborative communication platforms, AI and prevention, and the revolutionary products that are bringing so much hope to this movement.

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Hope to see you there. That's awesome. So what what would you say. And once again so this audience can be you know, a variety of people might be laypeople in this audience, medical professionals.

Because I'm kind of delving more into the integrated space. What is the philosophy of holistic? It differs from conventional. I mean, it's essentially proactive versus reactive.

But what would you say the difference in the philosophy?

SMART Protocol and Mercury Removal

Well, I mean, I think kind of like, you know, how, like VIP medicine even is trending toward, like a root cause type thing, getting to why things, you know, why am I getting a cavity or why do I have food all disease and and how it does connect the rest of body.

Why is it even important that I have, you know, that I fix these issues that, you know, it always really bothered me. You know, my first few years out when somebody would come in and they they don't have great lifestyle in terms of diet and they don't take, you know, oral hygiene is not the best, but they have perfect teeth and they don't really have an issue.

And then you've got somebody that's trying so hard and they're, you know, they brush twice and I know they're I know they're putting in the work, but they come in with issues.

They've got a new cavity every time. And and it was it was really hard for me to just not know why. I mean, and just say, well, we just need to do another filling and see it.

See you next time. Yeah. Because we're all the same. We're all different. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I wanted to be able to help them and help them know why and and even prevent future stuff if possible.

Okay. So initially I helped, you know, kind of map out a marketing strategy to kind of help you. And I have to tell you, and I don't know if you realize that how extremely bold it was. Okay.

You're not only going to a small town putting your stake in the ground, saying, I'm a holistic dentist. Well, you know what? If a out of those 1500 people, nobody wanted to go to holistic dentist, you know, they wanted their teeth.

You you would have problems. Okay. And so I keep coming back to the fact that, that you're a bold person, you know, and and that's really it's admirable.

It's paid off. It it always does. If there's authenticity around it. So you put your stake in the ground in town of 1700, you know, build it and they will come and and they have come.

Yeah. So who are some of the early people, you know, besides myself? You had a couple of people, you know, as far as mentorship, I know, as far as like where you went to shadow.

Susan Step, I think was her name in Atlanta. Susan was a mentor. Who are some of your early people that kind of helped you? Like, in the in in starting the office?

Yeah, just just kind of, you know, figuring stuff out as you as you began, you know, people. Yeah. I mean, gosh, well, I would say it started with podcasts and, and listening to I mean, I was listening to Anissa Holmes and I was listening to Jamie Amos and like all of the business, the, I'm like me, I think it's his name, the that we went to, in West Virginia. But, Oh, Paul Henning, the Barclay.

Yes, yes, yes. The Barclay. Yes. Yeah. And then really, I, I mean, that that group as an organizational systemic health. Yeah. That was the jumping off point.

I got paired with Susan E-Step while I was there, and so I got to hang out with her and she was on the board. So she let me come to, like, the dinner with everybody.

So I got to meet all of all the board members. So they're like superstars to me. And like, I, but then, you know, at those conference, at that conference, during a breakout session, I learned about ozone.

So then I started, I kind of went down that rabbit hole, and doctor Bob Harris, who's in Louisville. Then I went to his course. So he, you know, I call him any time I have an ozone question.

And it was just kind of like it was it was wild that it was almost like things were just, you know, I was I was in the right place at the right moment to meet the right person.

And, and then that kind of took me to another place and. Right. Yeah. You're right. It's been it's been a sequence. Right? It's one, one step after another.

So, talk to me about because some of listeners won't know, smart protocol. What what is smart? Okay. Smart is, safe Mercury amalgam removal technique.

That's what it stands for. Smart and and, there is concern that, well, all mercury, all the silver fillings that, are called amalgams, in the dental world, but, for, like, like a silver filling in your mouth is 50% mercury.

And so it's kind of like soft metal. When it goes in, you pack it in there and then it hardens up and. And that's the filling. So another organization that I'm involved with, the I and they have a lot of research and videos on their website showing when, when they filling is chewed on or heated, or even brushed.

You're getting some of those mercury vapors release. So, there is concern for just it's a heavy metal that that is a neurotoxin. Right. And so I perception is is a no brainer.

I'm not a holistic dentist, but yeah. No you're not. It should not be used. And and part of the protocol is for your safety, you know, doctor Michelle Jorgensen has a very dramatic back story of what?

What turned down this road. She became really, really sick from the exposure of of the mercury in removing fillings into practice. I think she went to Switzerland for Denmark.

And now, you know, she's like one of the leaders in the country there. So yeah, once again, I don't, I, I anecdotally, I think that I had some in dental school.

I mean, I was in the lab drilling on it and not using water and practicing for the practical and, and I was having all this and I was googling symptoms and I thought it was from I was eating too much like fish like because I was really trying to be healthy.

Practice Growth and Patient Care Philosophy

I was trying to eat and and I was like, I think I, and at the time, I had no idea really of that connection. Yeah. And and I wish, I wish I would have gotten my levels tested back then.

I don't, I don't know, but I think there was some level of, of exposure that was affecting me. So these conversations in 2025, to me, are a no brainer.

Now, in 2000, you know, that may have been, you know, the time was not right. Right. Yeah. Many things that are aligning themselves at this moment as you.

Yeah. As you can you can feel it in your gut. Right. As far as like yeah. You know, and like I said, it's been a sequence for you to get, where you're at.

Okay. How do you balance, patient X, right. I love this question. How do you balance patient expectations? Meaning one of the things that I know about you is that you have to know everything.

The smallest, most obscure fricking I mean, I don't want to, you know, these patients are demanding that reach out to you. This is not I couldn't not do it. You do.

Okay, because you have to be on your game, and I, I don't know if you if you keep a journal, but you should probably keep a journal. But, but people ask you that.

You're right. That's true. That's true. But you give me too much credit, too, because a lot of times I'll say, I don't know if I don't. I mean, I mean, and that's always questions.

Yeah. And then I go research it, I mean, even just this week, the. Yeah, everything's changing and, and I feel like even some toothpicks out this week, I've there's, there's a, a lead lead mama that's testing stuff and finding stuff in these whole even the natural toothpaste.

And so but patients like you told me to use this and so I'm, you know, constantly researching and constantly trying to find, you know, just give people that information.

I don't I don't ever want to, you know, lead people in the wrong direction. But you're not compromising all the time. Believe me. There. No, no no, no.

Yes. Are you asking you ask them as a patient anything in they're offended, you know, and they don't, you know. And that's I think that's one of the barriers to, to doing better care is that they're just not interested in, in responding to these patients.

And you have been, more than amicable. Okay. So the other thing that I've noticed from afar is the number of young families who want their children, in in your environment.

Okay. That's been surprising to me. I don't I don't know if it has. Me too. Yeah. And once again, that is young parents becoming educated about the issues and, you know, and they want the best for their kids.

Yeah. Yeah. So another extremely bold thing that you've done fairly recently is that you have, wait listed your practice. What I mean by that is that and I think it was maybe interaction with your, where your hygiene team, where they kind of like, you know, we we are at a clogging point.

What are we going to do? I kind of walk me through that because once again, I don't see very many people with the courage to do that. You know, most practices have this 5 to 10% marketing budget, and they are addicted to new patients like cocaine.

If I don't have, yeah, new patients a month, something's wrong. And it's just kind of a revolving, you know, the back doors open and you exemplify to me what, what I mean by closing the back door.

You know, you get people engaged and you partner with them in their health care. They're not going anywhere. And then you get to a certain point where you say, well, I can't take any more new patients.

So that's kind of how it is, because I, I just quality and being able to spend time with patients was always like a goal and a value that I didn't want to compromise on.

I didn't want people to feel like they were just in and out. I wanted them to be able to have time to ask me questions. I wanted to be able to give the care that I wanted.

And we were getting to a point where and I would, I mean, we got into the same we would get excited about how many new patients we got. And that was definitely while we were growing.

I mean, that was, you know, that was a number that we looked at and we got excited about. But then it was like, you know, I've got all these patients that either they're due for, you know, their recall or they have an urgent need and they need to get in. And we didn't have any place for them.

And and so we had to sit down and have some tough, you know, just conversations and decision making because it it's hard for me to turn people away. But I also didn't want to compromise the, the, the treatment that the people that already, you know, were established as patients were getting.

So so we did that so that we can I, I want to give. Yeah. Yeah. Them the care that they deserve. Yeah. No I just you know, what you're doing is, is what we classify as personalized care and personalized care.

It's really hard to scale, like, you know, oh, I'm going to get the space next door, get an associate, you know, and then you're then you're babysitting an associate because, you know, they're I mean, they're coming there for you, right?

And I just think you resist that a lot of temptations that most people are not strong enough to do. I think your vision and focus is just it's unreal.

So I have brought people from everywhere to visit your practice, and I'm going to show a picture here of somebody kind of special. Claire Stout from, she's in a small town from, outside of Manchester, England.

And so she contacted me last year, and she missed my spring course, and she said, can I just come and have you help me? And because she was doing a startup and I said, sure, I've got a guest house and I'll find an open weekend, and I'm going to put you with Rachel Riley for a day and let you kind of immerse.

So what you need to know is in her, in her new office, this is in her reception room. You are memorialized in another country. Oh, really? Absolutely, absolutely.

So I hope you I hope you visit her maybe this year and. Yeah. And to see her office. I can't remember the town, but it's a small. And she wanted to be the first person to bring, you know, a lot of these principles to the UK.

So that I think that's, that's so cool. Yeah. That's very, very commendable. I know that you have, presented at the dental school, and good for you, because that thing I told you about being make fun of or whatever, you've overcome that, but I gritty.

That's the only way you overcome that. Right. And and so you've been asked to present what advice do you give to a dental student? Because I couldn't imagine what it's like to be a dental student today, because you're getting really bombarded with a lot of social and a lot of pressure and a lot of, you know, everything.

Yeah. You know what? What advice would you would give? What do you give to them? I mean, really just to not be afraid. I mean, I talk about because I, I worked in I started as an associate in a private practice while I was starting this office.

I was working in corporate. And then I started my own. So I've cut, you know, basically just wherever you are, learn and ask a million questions and, and kind of figure out your path because there's so many different things you could do in industry and there's so many, you know, if you can, even within starting your own practice, you can start so many different types of practices.

And so just kind of finding your passion and what you're comfortable with. I mean, that's what we talk about. And and it's funny because I've presented at some study clubs too, and people are interested in and get like people want to to know this stuff too, just even for them personally.

And so it hasn't been, I mean, maybe a little bit of poking fun, but not in a, in a bad way. They call me the hippie Dennis when I go, like, but, but then when a patient comes in and they're asking all kinds of questions, they'll text me or they'll say, hey, can I send you this patient?

Mentorship, Teaching, and the Future of Dentistry

Because I don't know anything about you know, the all these questions that they're asking me. So it's been kind of a networking thing almost. But yeah.

No, it's it's been fun to watch. And I've said for over ten years now, I've said there are more people looking for this kind of dentist than there are dentist.

That's why that's why my course on kind of advanced hygiene has been pretty popular, because what I've I've been able to just been blessed with bringing newer technologies and newer approaches and stuff.

So one of the things that we were talking about, I've got a course coming up in April where when you get to present, you are really on the move, you're going to present in two topics, because one of the first questions that I get is, what is it like to what's the onboarding?

What's it like a new patient experience, you know, because what is it that you do. Right. Because obviously you take more than half an hour. Right. And what does this look like?

So, I've got four individuals that are coming to do this, and you're one of them. And then I'm going to have you go into a little bit more detail about some protocols.

You know, the smart we talked about reticent before. And one of the things which is really, really kind of new, we talked about last, last week is AI and bio restorative and, and it's kind of I'm going to be doing some presentation on that.

And I know it's a conversation that you and I are having, but this is, I guess, for a classification, this would be true regenerative dentistry. Now this is this is in the category of decay, right?

We've always had we've always had ways to help arrest decay or diminish decay, but we've really never had a chance to take a lesion at a very early stage and reverse it.

So like a virgin tooth. Right. So it's a really it's an exciting time to, to be a dentist right now because what we have is kind of the confluence of some technologies with, with the knee.

Right. Our healthcare and, absolutely needs to be changed from top to bottom. And dentistry is a big part of that. And that's really another part of my conference, is I'm bringing in some different thought leaders.

And the idea behind it is, to create a blueprint and say, you know, if you're a dentist, because I have I dentist that approach me are in different stages.

Sometimes they're in a startup. It's much easier to do a startup than it is to buy an older practice and make a pivot, right? Because you may have you may have 1000 2000 patients doing stuff the old way.

And then you have to go in there one patient at a time. As an evangelist and say, no, it's connected to marketing, you know, and that group that takes a lot of energy.

So, you know, I think the startup thing is a little bit easier, but, what I'm hoping to accomplish there is to, and I'm, I'm I'm so honored to have you as a faculty member because, you know, you typify, you know, you're the future of dentistry.

And I think and I've shown you, Victoria Sampson from from London, who's coming who's like 28, you know, this is this is the future. It's it's a bigger part of dentistry than it is now.

It's always been I would say that as a niche, it's been less than 5%. It's been small. Right. But yeah, but the interest right now is that a peak. So as an educator and a coach who's worked at this a very long time kind of assembling and networking and, you know, bringing these technologies to the forefront.

I think the time is, is now. And so I think I asked you, I said, you know, are you ready for me to kind of push you into the, you know, push you out there?

And, podcast is a great start. This is a, yeah, this is a great network that I'm that I'm dealing with. So. And I think I told you that the producers of this are the largest producers of podcasts in the functional medicine space.

So I'm going to be on five functional medicine podcast in the next month as a guest. Oh, wow. And I also I am chomping at the bit to them because when I went to the AA forum meeting in December, I really saw us being unrepresented.

We're unrepresented in the big picture, you know, 7000 people there and and the dentist. You know, we have trouble getting 100. It's really hard to get 100 people together, you know, on these topics.

And we're not represented. And we should be represented because the people that come to you on a day to day basis and they tell you all their medical staff and you see the interrelationship between the medical and the dental, and then you treat them and they improve.

You know, you know, this works, right? Yeah. So definitely I think we can do, the podcast is a is a part of it. You know, I kind of I decided to kind of have my own and, and kind of bring the people that, that I met to the, to the table and to.

So. Yeah. And I'm so honored that you are on my thank you, second podcast because you're, you're an exemplary, an exemplary human being. And I love my initial story about your humility.

I will never lose that million dollars. Well, thank you. And it's I mean, it's an honor to to learn from you and to be a part of your circle because, you know, some awesome people.

And I think that's your one of your greatest strengths is, you know, putting people together and getting ideas all together in, in one space. So, yeah, I'm very fortunate to have met you when I did.

And, and I appreciate all that you've done for me so far. Yeah. The universe is perfect. That's one of the things our. All right. Yes. And and, you know, thank you.

Thank you for tuning in to Doctor Talks. We hope today's episode has enlightened and inspired you on your path to optimal health. Each day is a new opportunity to make choices that empower your well-being.

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Rachel Riley, DMD

From D1 Softball Star to Holistic Dentist: Dr. Rachel Riley’s Playbook for Total Wellness