Join us in this enlightening episode as we uncover the profound impact of oral health on your overall wellbeing with Dr. Lisa Creaven, co-founder of Made by Dentists. Discover how your smile is intricately connected to systemic health conditions like diabetes and heart disease, and gain valuable insights into boosting not just your dental health but also your confidence and life potential. Dr. Creaven's expert advice will reveal why proactive oral care is crucial for more than just preventing cavities.
Explore the transformation of the oral care industry as Dr. Creaven and I discuss the urgent need for clean, effective, and eco-friendly dental products. We expose the hidden dangers of traditional toothpaste, such as microplastics that can infiltrate your body and harm the environment. Learn actionable tips for selecting toothpaste that rebuilds your enamel without compromising the planet. This episode will reshape your perspective on your oral hygiene routine.
Dr. Creaven doesn't just focus on the problems—she offers solutions. Made by Dentists bridges the gap between patient care and product innovation, providing science-backed dental care products now available at Target stores nationwide. With a commitment to affordable and accessible dental care, we're fostering industry-wide change by prioritizing your health and the environment. If you're ready to revolutionize your oral care with integrity and transparency, this is the episode you won't want to miss.
Key Topics Covered:
Oral health's connection to systemic diseases like diabetes and heart disease
The dangers of traditional toothpaste, including microplastics
Selecting eco-friendly toothpaste that rebuilds enamel
Made by Dentists' innovative dental care products
Boosting your confidence and life potential through proactive oral care
Revolutionizing oral health with clean, science-backed solutions
Tune in now to transform your smile and wellbeing with Dr. Lisa Creaven!
Join us in this enlightening episode as we uncover the profound impact of oral health on your overall wellbeing with Dr. Lisa Creaven, co-founder of Made by Dentists. Discover how your smile is intricately connected to systemic health conditions like diabetes and heart disease, and gain valuable insights into boosting not just your dental health but also your confidence and life potential. Dr. Creaven's expert advice will reveal why proactive oral care is crucial for more than just preventing cavities.
Explore the transformation of the oral care industry as Dr. Creaven and I discuss the urgent need for clean, effective, and eco-friendly dental products. We expose the hidden dangers of traditional toothpaste, such as microplastics that can infiltrate your body and harm the environment. Learn actionable tips for selecting toothpaste that rebuilds your enamel without compromising the planet. This episode will reshape your perspective on your oral hygiene routine.
Dr. Creaven doesn't just focus on the problems—she offers solutions. Made by Dentists bridges the gap between patient care and product innovation, providing science-backed dental care products now available at Target stores nationwide. With a commitment to affordable and accessible dental care, we're fostering industry-wide change by prioritizing your health and the environment. If you're ready to revolutionize your oral care with integrity and transparency, this is the episode you won't want to miss.
Key Topics Covered:
Oral health's connection to systemic diseases like diabetes and heart disease
The dangers of traditional toothpaste, including microplastics
Selecting eco-friendly toothpaste that rebuilds enamel
Made by Dentists' innovative dental care products
Boosting your confidence and life potential through proactive oral care
Revolutionizing oral health with clean, science-backed solutions
Tune in now to transform your smile and wellbeing with Dr. Lisa Creaven!
If you'd like to connect, reach out to me at audra@womeninthearena.net
***One last thing...I have an interview wish list because a girl's gotta dream
Viola Davis
Dolly Parton
Ina Garten
Joan Jett
Maybe one of you can help me out!
Thank you all for supporting this show and all Women in the Arena!
Audra:
Welcome in everyone and thank you so much for joining me again this week. This week we're going to talk about a very important topic and not necessarily always a popular one, but I am joined by an amazing guest. I'm joined by Dr Lisa Craven and she is the co-founder of Made by Densys, which she founded with her sister. She hails from Dublin, ireland, where she studied and had her own dental practice for 10 years. She now is living in sunny California with her four children where she runs the US division of Made by Dentist. It is both my pleasure and honor to introduce to you Dr Lisa Craven. Lisa, thank you so much for joining us and welcome to the show. Thank you so much for having me. I'm so happy to be here. I'm very excited for you to be here.
Audra:
I realize the topic that we're going to dive into is going to make some people kind of cringy, but we're going to make this approachable, educational and hopefully encourage those to take a little bit more proactive step in their oral health. I know everybody is going. Oh my gosh, I'm one of those weird people that loves going to the dentist. I know I'm in the minority, I just love it. So if Dr V you're listening shout out to you. Thank you for taking good care of me. But, lisa, first of all, let's start with why oral health? Why should we? Besides the anxiety of going to the dentist, why is it important that we make oral health a priority?
Dr. Lisa:
I mean, I think, that you know as a dentist, oral health is just, it really is a fundamental part of your health. Not only does it contribute in a positive or negative way to your overall health, it can actually be a reflection of your health also. So sometimes if you have issues going on in your body like diabetes or autoimmune issues, you actually literally physically see those reflected in your teeth. So it's a very you know. The whole body is such obviously a complete unit. It's all linked, it all matters. I mean, when you look at your gut microbiome, that starts in your mouth. That bacteria, that type of bacteria, the need for healthy bacteria begins in your mouth. That bacteria, that type of bacteria, the need for healthy bacteria begins in your mouth. If you're looking at heart health, that is affected by your oral health. If you are diabetic or you want to be more concerned about your blood sugar, that is affected by your oral health. So much so that there's actually studies that show if you floss your teeth and you're diabetic, you can actually improve your blood sugar control by having better oral health. And if you have poor blood sugar control, you actually can impact your oral health. You have worse gum disease if you have, and that link is very, very well established. For example, if you are having knee surgery, hip surgery, any orthopedic surgery, your surgeon often especially hips. They often refer you to your dentist to get a clean bill of health Because he knows post-surgery the biggest risk of infection or one of the biggest risks of infection in an orthopedic hip replacement is poor oral health. That so that is how, as a medical body, we are very aware of that link and the risk of poor oral health and how it impacts your body. It's associated, if you're pregnant, with low a preterm births, low birth rate of of uh, of baby. So I think when I'm talking to doctors, like they had, they are very aware of that link in terms of how your oral health can impact your overall health. I mean, obviously, from a dental point of view, I want your teeth, your gums, you know the lining of your mouth to be super healthy. But I really do, as a person, I'm very invested in like a holistic approach to healthcare and I do genuinely really see how it can really impact the rest of your oral health, even psychologically. So many, so many. I think Malcolm Gladwell wrote a book about the the impact of poor oral health, um, which leads to poor aesthetics.
Dr. Lisa:
You know of your smile and how that impacts your long-term potential, your earning potential. It's, it's so, it's a psychological, it's a beauty, it's a sense of self, it's a wellness, it's a health and it's literally the lower third of your face. So it should be. It is very important. I think people are very you know, very, you know personally invested in how their teeth look and feel and function, and I think that's getting more and more which know very, you know personally invested in how their teeth look and feel and function, and I think that's getting more and more, which I'm very happy about. I think we're getting a lot more proactive about our healthcare and less people are going to the dentist you know, if they broke their tooth, more people are going. Okay, I go every three months or I go every six months, and this is this is the schedule I'm on, and that proactivity when it comes to healthcare is key.
Audra:
You mentioned a lot of things that I have never heard of the orthopedic surgeon having it being directly linked to psychological health. Why are these things not being more publicly shared? That being proactive with your oral health is a direct impact to your overall physical health. If you had not mentioned that to me, I would not have known. Why aren't we talking more about this?
Dr. Lisa:
I know, and it's funny because in the literature and like medical literature, it's very well established. It's actually been established for decades. This is something we have known as dentists for years and years. I mean, and I think this comes back to, honestly, one of the reasons that Vanessa and I started the company is that, yes, we want to create amazing products that work really well, but when you're working as a dentist, you just simply don't have the time to sit down and explain and discuss the individual, that person's needs and wants and how this can impact their overall health. There's a huge genetic tendency and predisposition in oral care from an inflammatory point of view or from a gum disease point of view. So we're all very, very different genetically, we all live different lives and I think that it takes time. That's a wider conversation, I think dentists certainly when I was working as a dentist, I didn't have the time to spend with patients, and so it's one of the key reasons that Vanessa and I wanted to set up the brand is not just to create amazing products that we know are going to support, but to really drive education and awareness around the importance of oral health and to be far, far more preventative and proactive and it's probably a bugbear of mine, because a lot of people don't realize that cavities are the number one chronic disease in the US. It's one of the top reasons that children go under general anesthetic in every developed country. It's because it is an issue and actually it's completely preventable and it's preventable in quite an easy way. It's completely preventable and it's preventable in a quite an easy way. And so for me, I feel like I want more oral care companies to talk about cavities and how we prevent disease and how we can manage our family's oral health in a way that nobody in the family gets a cavity. And that's, that's just, that's the new norm. And sometimes, when I see big, those bigger companies, you know that the ads are, you know, bright, white, smile, minty, fresh. I mean that's just to me, as a dentist, that's nonsense, pure nonsense, you know. And I think we need to get back to having a real conversation about healthcare, a real conversation about how we can really change the course of our oral health.
Dr. Lisa:
And the issue with oral care, which is actually probably one of the few situations in healthcare, is it's largely unrecoverable. So if you lose bony support, you get gum disease and the amount of bone resorbs around your teeth, it doesn't grow back. Okay, you're managing, you identify, you treat it, but you can't grow it back. You don't grow new teeth. You know, your skin rejuvenates, your cells turn over, but your teeth don't turn over. So, and evolutionary wise, we're probably designed to live till we're 40 from a teeth point of view, and now we're living to a hundred. And so we do really have to be super proactive about our teeth, because there's no more coming, you know. So we have to take care of them.
Audra:
Yeah, you get what you get two sets your baby teeth and your adult teeth and you you're absolutely correct If you don't take care of them, you lose them, which is devastating to be faced with that. And when you and I met before, you had mentioned something that you've just alluded to about how the oral care industry as a whole has to evolve, and you mentioned that part of the importance is that it needs to be based in healthcare. I mean, we've done a lot as a society. We've done a really good job and probably not in a great way of compartmentalizing all of our health and different, separate issues. We separate mental health from physical health, from dental health from eye health, and I realize that they're all different studies, but they're all part of the same organism.
Dr. Lisa:
Totally, and I think that I think it's just so important to take that approach. I mean, when I look at the oral care industry and I mean I'm still just about in my 30s, but I look at okay, I look at my parents and the food that they ate when they were my age and how we grew up, the skincare my mother used when she was my age, the lifestyle choices that people made a generation ago are actually very different to how we live for the most part Now. I feel like there's a lot of. I feel like you have a. There's more processed food, but you are a lot more educated in terms of the importance of eating well.
Dr. Lisa:
The skincare we use now, the beauty products we use now, the emphasis on clean beauty. Also the emphasis on individual, the knowledge that we are individuals and we all have individual needs in healthcare, in skincare, in every aspect of our lives. You see how much skincare and beauty has changed over 30 or 40 years and the food choices we have are totally different than 30 or 40 years. The rise of better for you products in food, healthcare, beauty, wellness. And then you look at oral care. It's the same products that were there 50 years ago. They're packaged the same way. They still have the same active ingredients that you would never find in beauty and skincare. Because the consumer, when it goes into that aisle, is a lot more educated, knows what to look for, is highly educated and aware in terms of what ingredients are good and bad Parabens, propylene glycol, dea, sulfates when you see in oral care, it's everywhere. They're still testing on animals, they still contain animal byproducts, they don't use recyclable packaging and 99% of sales are going to those big three companies Colgate, crescent, zidane. Yes, you see other challenger brands, but they don't come close to impacting their sales. And so when you look at that industry for a product that we're buying and using twice a day for our whole lives and consuming in an insane way, I mean I think there's like over a billion toothpaste tubes end up in landfill every year in the US. We use recyclable tubes. I'm not saying we're perfect, but if we can do it as a small brand, so can those companies. But the consumer doesn't know, and there's actually really a lot of you just Google, you know any one of those companies and Amnesty International, it's all there child slave labor, deforestation, and I really I get, I get annoyed about that because, actually, what a lot of that messaging is.
Dr. Lisa:
Nine out of 10 dentists recommend this. You know, it's the brand most trusted by dentists. It's just, it's. It's kind of garbage, you know, and it's.
Dr. Lisa:
We need to do better.
Dr. Lisa:
We need to do better product formulation, we need to have cleaner products, we need to have products that actually work, and so when I look at the oral care industry, I see huge players that do have active ingredients, but that also contain sulfates, parabens, dea, propylene glycol.
Dr. Lisa:
Honestly, up until recently they had a ton of microplastics in their toothpaste, but until there was so much microplastic and they're going into our marine life that in the EU they brought out a directive to say stop putting microplastics in your toothpaste because it's actually getting into our fish. And then people are ingesting it. But you're already ingesting it the first time around. And also, remembering, the lining of your mouth is 50 times more absorbent than your skin. So if you care about what goes on in your shampoo, what lotions we're using, this is a product you're using twice a day for your whole life and it's being directly absorbed, not like, yes, you swallow it, but actually swallowing. There's more protective processes when you swallow something, when something gets directly absorbed through the lining of your mouth because it's so unnecessary. It does add up, you know. So for me, that formulation point in particular was something we were super passionate about.
Audra:
So, as consumers since, as we stated at the top of the hour, there isn't a lot of education out there Please educate us. What should we be looking for and what should we be looking to avoid? Because you made some very powerful points that what we're putting in our mouth is going directly into our bloodstream, which scares me to death, because I am very careful about what I eat and I'm not but I, until I met you, I had zero education as to what I was using for the products in my mouth. I thought I was doing a good job, but I didn't know. So, please, please, educate us and let us know how we can do this better.
Dr. Lisa:
I think I think the main thing is understanding the importance of your at-home routine. So when we're looking at, it's like going, you know, when you go to the dentist you go to go to the dentist to diagnose any active issues. So if you have a cavity or if you have a layer of inflammation or you're having your teeth cleaned, you're going to diagnose any active disease, treat that active disease and then you're seeing. You're seeing again in six months. It's like going to the gym every six months and expecting to be fit and healthy. Oral health is achieved every day at home through your diet and lifestyle. So what are the products you're using? What are the diet and lifestyle factors? So my biggest tips really come down to the products that you use and lifestyle factors. So obviously, going to see your dentist very regularly is very important. So every six months or every three months, whatever your dentist recommends for you. A lot of issues don't show up, don't give any symptoms until they're too late. So when you go to your dentist and you're like, oh, I have actually pain in my tooth before I'm even looking in your mouth, I'm thinking, okay, we could be looking at a root canal here, you know, or have to take that tooth out. So going proactively is super important, but when it comes to your at-home routine, what I would recommend is using products that meet your needs as an individual.
Dr. Lisa:
So if you're trying to prevent a cavity, you have to use fluoride. Yes, it's amazing if you combine that with hydroxyapatite. So there are amazing new ingredients that are coming out. We have one of our products has hydroxyapatite and that's what your tooth is actually made from, so it's actually incorporating enamel crystals in your toothpaste that work to rebuild and work really well with fluoride. But fluoride is one of those key ingredients.
Dr. Lisa:
I know sometimes people are nervous about it, but I think if you surveyed dentists, 99% of dentists will recommend fluoride because it is one of the only active ingredients that has been clinically proven to prevent cavities. It can actually reverse an early cavity. It helps protect against gum disease. But there are other active ingredients like potassium nitrate is amazing for desensitizing teeth. Like I said, hydroxyapatite is amazing for rebuilding enamel. So, looking for active ingredients fluoride plus additional ingredients that are really going to work harder, and that's what you want. You want a toothpaste that's actually going to work harder and that's what you want. You want a toothpaste is actually going to really work hard for you, but a lot of it is actually around how you brush your teeth. So, for example, if you're brushing your teeth, don't rinse your mouth out after brushing your teeth.
Audra:
So you just said something crazy, yeah, so everybody's going.
Dr. Lisa:
What I know and when I even see ads, I'm don't rinse, so brush your teeth with your toothpaste and then just leave the excess in your in your mouth. Don't rinse and you can spit out sorry, spit out the excess, but then leave the rest in your mouth. Don't rinse and swish and all of that stuff, cause what you're doing is the toothpaste will actually absorb onto the surface of the tooth and you'll get longer lasting effects from your toothpaste. So if you start rinsing, you're just actually rinsing all the goodness away and water is nowhere near as remineralizing as your toothpaste, so you just leave it in your mouth. And that's why we also recommend don't use mouthwash. A lot of times people brush their teeth and then they use mouthwash and it's like that isn't. That's not what we recommend, because you're just rinsing away the toothpaste, which is going to work harder. So using products that have active ingredients, but using products that are cleanly formulated. So one of honestly I think a lot of dentists feel like this using products that are free from SLS. So sodium lauryl sulfate is in almost every toothpaste. It's a foaming agent. It does not clean your teeth, it does not prevent cavities, it doesn't do anything health-wise, it just makes your toothpaste foam. So if your toothpaste is foaming, it probably has SLS in it, and SLS is not a good ingredient. It's an inflammatory ingredient that pins the lining up your mouth, which is already quite thin. So it pins the lining up your mouth, which is already quite thin. So it thins the lining up your mouth, making your mouth more susceptible to absorbing different ingredients, and it actually inflames the lining of your mouth. If you get any sort of ulcers or any irritated, sometimes you will have burning mouth or they get ulcers from time to time. We strongly strongly recommend you don't use products with SLS. It's a really inflammatory ingredient and what I always say is when you go to the dentist, have your teeth cleaned, there's no foam. We don't need foam. Foam is for your dishwasher, foam is for your soap, foam is for other things. It's not for your toothpaste. So if your toothpaste foams, you could have an issue. So active ingredients, cleanly formulated.
Dr. Lisa:
Another thing I would look at is and this is what dentists look at, we look at is this is what dentists look at. We look at the RDA of your toothpaste. So it's the relative dentine abrasivity. So how abrasive is your toothpaste? It should not be abrasive. We are not. This is not sandpaper, because you're ruining your enamel.
Dr. Lisa:
What makes your teeth look young and bright is how much enamel you have on your teeth. So if you are using anything with an abrasive dare I mention charcoal, baking soda anything like that is really bad for your teeth. Not only is it not going to whiten your teeth, it's actually going to make your teeth darker over time. It feels great, it feels like you're getting such a good scrub and a clean, but actually it's going to make your teeth darker over time and more worn and enamel doesn't grow back. So when someone says, oh, I want to whiten my teeth, but I've actually lost a lot of my enamel, I'm like you can't. Whitening products won't work on, it only works on enamel and is the brightest part of your tooth and it's what protects your teeth from sensitivity. So active ingredients, clean formulation, low abrasivity so no grit, no, it shouldn't feel rough at all and then using additional.
Dr. Lisa:
So if you are somebody who has gotten cavities in the past or has had gum disease, start introducing a lunchtime routine which may take 30 seconds. Use a mouthwash in the middle of the day, a fluoride mouthwash that is non-alcohol based, because, again, alcohol is extremely drying and it ruins all your amazing healthy microbiota in your mouth. So an alcohol-free mouthwash and use it at lunchtime, and that what that does is you get a hit of fluoride in the morning, hit of fluoride in the evening and then a little bit in the lunchtime, and that remineralizes your teeth. And then one key thing I say if you never, ever, want to get a cavity again, I would say don't snack on on anything. So it's not what you eat that causes cavity cavities. It's not soda, it's not like candy, it's not what you eat at all, it's how often you eat. So if you, all you're doing is eating fruit and veg all day long, but you're eating it too frequently, you'll get cavities.
Dr. Lisa:
So every time you eat one mouthful of food, the sugar, it takes 45 minutes for your sugar to neutralize. It's like if you, if you're like having grapes, and you have a couple of grapes and an hour later a couple more grapes and an hour later a couple more grapes, from a dental point of view it's like holding, it's like eating candy all day long. So it takes 45 minutes to completely neutralize those sugars. And what causes cavities is how much time they're being exposed to those sugars. So eat whatever you want, you know. Have a meal, have a bigger meal, have dessert, have, have it all, but have it all in one go. Do not pick, don't snack, don't graze, don't juice. Just eat it at mealtime and then you will. You will drastically, drastically reduce your risk of getting a cavity is that true also for our kids?
Audra:
I mean, kids are kids. Are these snack monsters?
Dr. Lisa:
it is, and I think kids' oral care is. There's differences there and I also think that I mean I'm talking about adults when I talk about kids. You know some people like I have four kids and one of my kids, you know, sometimes I'm like I don't know how she's alive because she doesn't like to eat, like she eats anything. That's just beige, you know, and I'm like really into trying to get her to eat healthy. But she's just that willful child and she. So I'm happy if she's eating anything and I think with kids it is always a balance. It is always a balance. Some kids are on medication and they need, they need to take certain medication. So, again, I would always suggest trying to get sugar-free options for medication. So I think with kids it is a balance, recognizing that children are individuals. We I mean we have a kid's range of products that we launched in Target and I would say our huge focus was making great products for sure. But actually I know, as a dentist who talked to, I don't know, thousands of parents over the years of working as a dentist and also being a mother, the biggest issue with kids oral health is kids don't want to brush their teeth. It's a battle and it's kids attitude to, to oral health and there's a ton of psychology about how much we own our routines. And so, yes, we wanted to make great products, but we wanted to make super fun, engaging kind of wacky products too. That would draw a child in. That would say okay, my kid actually and that's what I hear is, my kid actually wants to use your toothpaste, my kid wants to use your toothbrush. When kids take ownership over even a small part of their routines, it makes a huge difference clinically. They brush for longer, they're more engaged when they go to the dentist, they have a higher sense of kind of pride and ownership and responsibility, and those are the factors that actually set down routines and habits for lifetime. So getting your kids into good habits early is really important and I think you know it's like I learned a lot in college, but then I learned 10 times more.
Dr. Lisa:
As a mother, I think my advice is do not put pressure on your children. Try and establish routines so you're doing it the same time, morning and evening. So if it's after they've had their breakfast, okay, straight into brush their teeth. If the first time all your child does is chew on the toothbrush, that's fine. And if they do that for a month, that's fine, and then we get a little bit of toothpaste, like a smidge of toothpaste. That's fine and eventually. So the less pressure and focus you attribute to it, the more they are inclined to want to do it more, to be more engaged to.
Dr. Lisa:
So sometimes I think like parents feel super pressured OK, they've got two minutes and they've got to. You know, it's like all the quadrants and the and I'm like, yes, that's where we want to end up. But really, understanding the kids are different. Their mouths are more sensitive, they have smaller mouths, their taste buds are way more sensitive than adults. So when we give them their adult toothpaste and they're saying it's spicy, it really is spicy, it really is, and so they taste it because they can taste more than we can. So, understanding that they are different they are different physically and also, what really contributes to long-term great oral health is their attitude and how positive they regard their oral health and how proud they are and how engaged they are in their own routine. That is what a lot of times determines how good their oral health is.
Audra:
And my children are adults now young adults but I do remember it wasn't that long ago where it was a fight. It was stressful to get them to brush their teeth. I hated it, but I mean it had to be done. The one thing that we did instill in them, as I had shared with you before, is that we took them to a pediatrist. So going to the dentist wouldn't be scary, it would be fun, because at the end there's a there's a toy chest that you go get prizes from. Why wouldn't you do that? But the actual act of brushing was so stressful. No wonder they hated it, because it was sensitive, it was forced and they didn't own it.
Dr. Lisa:
Yeah, and kids don't respond. They just don't respond to that dynamic as well. And then when they go to the dentist, you have another person telling them what to do and doing things in their mouth that they don't know what's happening out. Kids like we send it to the kids and we send them like a membership card. It's kind of like an old school membership card and there's like a funny little pledge. We send them stickers of the characters on our products and every couple of months we'll send them something fun. And it's for the kids, it's just to make it fun. It's. It's just to make it interesting and engaging for them. Like a lot of of times it has nothing to do with your oral health, it's just so they okay oh yeah, I remember that shark, I remember Slosh. Oh yeah, I'm going to do that.
Audra:
And it's just more gentle and I think that proves to be more successful Parenting is stressful enough as it is, especially if you have very strong-willed children, which I bred both of them. They're both very strong-willed and I know that I did not corner the market on strong-willed children. I know that there's plenty of them out there, but you have been very thoughtful in creating your business. So I want to hear more about Made for Dentists. Why did you create it? And you've talked a little bit about it, but what's behind it that's what I want to get to the heart of is what is behind it. And and you've talked a little bit about it but what? What's behind it? That's what I want to get to the heart of is what is behind it, because it was definitely a very strong motivation as to why you created this entire endeavor, because you could have been a dentist forever if you wanted to a practicing dentist but you took it one step further.
Dr. Lisa:
Yeah, I think I mean really the ethos behind made by Dentist was and really the reason it's even called Made by Dentist is we want to really take it back to what would your dentist say to you? What would your dentist advise you on how to use products, on what to use, on what to avoid? Like, everything we do in our dental practices is based on science and research and experience. It is not based on the latest trend, on TikTok. It is not based on what my friend told me last week and everything we say we have to give you our best advice, we have to warn you of okay, this might work, this might not work. We have to be really upfront. We take an oath. Take an oath like a doctor to to you know, to do no harm and to be honest and open and truthful about your oral health.
Dr. Lisa:
And I think that when I see the oral care industry, I don't know that the patient is at the center right now. I don't know that companies are making products to actually improve the oral health, the education and the wellbeing of their customers. And so when I look at our customers, I look at them like patients, like I want to make products that I want my patients to use and to stand over, and it really is to create a brand, a message, products, education, awareness. From a dentist and a dental professional point of view, that is kind of no nonsense and a lot of the marketing we put out there has nothing to do with our products. It's like okay, why don't? Why, how do you? How, how do you eat candy like a dentist? Why do you actually need to floss? How to get your kids to brush their teeth? How do you get your kids to want to brush their teeth? Because that's what, that's what we know as dentists. That's how we can really help you is to give you that practical advice, but it's also to give you the advice that we don't really have time to give you when we're seeing you as as a patient.
Dr. Lisa:
So, yeah, I had a quite a. You know, I had my practice for 10 years. I was settled. It was, you know, it was run of the mill, but I knew I wanted to do something more with my sister and I think being able to bring real, credible, valuable information to a wider audience is really the passion that we have behind Made by Dentist. I'm calling it Made by Dentist because it's literally made by dentists. That's who we are. That's our only motive is to create great products that are affordable, accessible and that are going to really improve your oral health and also improve your overall health, and just that transparency is very important to us.
Audra:
So you created a product, basically that if, in a perfect world, that you could sit down with your client, with your patient, and if you had time, you could educate them properly. So that was what you created the entire business for is if I, if I had the time. This is what I'd want to tell you.
Dr. Lisa:
These are products that I would, that I would want my family to use, that my kids use, that I want to use. It's for for a dentist, it's from a dentist, so it's what we recommend to our patients, it's what we recommend to our family, to our friends, and it is that ethos of okay, this is going to work for you, this is, you know, this is how to use this product. This is why to use this product. Maybe that's why you shouldn't use that product. This isn't going to work for you. This is what you should do, and it is to create that kind of connection between your dentist and when you're going every six months to, okay, I'm supposed to do what again at home, you supposed to do what again At home, you know, and to give people a support and the information that they need to really truly set themselves up for success.
Audra:
So you had mentioned that you are available in Target. Is it just the kids line, or can you get the adult products as well?
Dr. Lisa:
Yeah, so we have our adult products, some of our adult products and all of our kids products in all stores Target, so they're in nationwide available in store and on targetcom.
Audra:
And yours are different, as you'd mentioned, from all of the big names, because you'd mentioned it doesn't? You're not testing on animals, recyclable materials and all the stuff that you don't want in it is missing all the stuff that you don't want in it is missing Exactly.
Dr. Lisa:
So we're like insane about keeping our products as cleanly formulated. All of our ingredients are as naturally sourced as possible. Again, a lot of those ingredients are less and less bad for you, but it's also like associated with palm oil industry and deforestation. That's where we get it, that's where it's gotten from, so we use a different like alternative. That's where we get it, that's where it's it's gotten from, so we use a different like alternative that's not inflammatory to you and it's not associated with chopping down the rainforest. And and you know it's like I make light and I don't want to be overly negative about it. But you know, we do need to make better choices. We do need to buy products, support brands and people that we're trying to make a better change. And if we that's the thing if we and there's other brands out there that are doing a great job Like I, like native, I love Tom's of Maine there's product or brands out there that are doing great things, but we need to sell more products to impact the bigger players so they change, because they're the ones that are, you know, on a scale. You know have huge impact and you see it, all the time it is the smaller brands that make those kind of impactful changes because they force the bigger players. Okay, we better catch up. We better, you know, not put plastic in everybody's toothpaste anymore. Better, not, you know, put little bits of this on anymore. Better, not, you know, put little bits of just some guinea pigs. You know it's unnecessary. It's unnecessary and it's honestly only to make products cheaper, like the types of tubes that they use.
Dr. Lisa:
Um, like, I was blown away when I went and we were like talking to our manufacturers and our packaging partners and you're saying, okay, I want to put that in that and it's, it is difficult because it's an active product and you have to obviously stability, test everything and make sure everything is stable. But you know, when we figured it out and we worked through it and we did stability and we, you know, make sure everything was super safe and healthy and stable. You know we can do it and I'm like, why aren't people? You know why aren't? Why isn't everybody using these tubes? And really the response is well, the other tubes are tubes. Are, you know, three cents cheaper? I'm like, oh, my God, like three, like that's. That's what it comes down to. What's the cheapest foaming agent you can use, what's the cheapest tube you can use? What's the cheapest filler you can use? And they're typically not the best ingredients for you and we do.
Dr. Lisa:
We do also try and keep our products like as cheap as and are as affordable as possible. So, like our kids toothpaste are like $5 and they're even our kids toothbrushes. They're the first rechargeable toothbrush for kids to go into Target. Everything else was batteries and spin brushes and those kinds of things. It was the first rechargeable option, which we're very proud of. You know. I think it's making all those little changes. You know it's you can do it and we should do it and we need to do it. So it's something that we and we're not perfect, you know what I mean. Every time you sell something, there's packaging, so we're very conscious. I'm not trying to say we're perfect, but we do a lot to make sure we're doing everything we can.
Audra:
Well, I have found in my experiences that it's typically the individuals, the little guys, that force the change, because that message starts to make sense and then more voices are added to that change and then eventually that change becomes more widespread. You just happen to pick it in your industry of dentistry, which is the time that I have spent with you has been so informational and educational. I had no idea that any of this stuff was in my toothpaste, that it was tested no clue, no idea, and I thought that I was doing everything right and being a proactive consumer. But I find out that I am not. I'm being led through because of lack of access to information, whereas I find out now that the information's out there, I just didn't know where to look.
Dr. Lisa:
Exactly, and I mean you're not alone and you know we're all learning and trying and sometimes it's so overwhelming I mean we're making you have to make, how many choices we have to make even in the supermarket, when we're there. And yes, I feel like it is the smaller brands that always push this prerogative, but it's also a brand's responsibility, like I don't think we're doing this thinking, aren't we great, it's just what. It's just that it should be the norm. It's our responsibility. I think if you're buying from a brand, it should be.
Dr. Lisa:
You know, we should be getting to a point that it's like it's taken for granted that okay, okay, they do their best for the environment. You know, ethically, that they're not testing on animals, that they, you know that they are vegan friendly. You know when, when it's possible, let's, let's do that, you know. And so it's overwhelming. I mean, I'm a mom and take trying to take care of four kids and it's the endless choices and the pressure on parents and people to be super educated and everything. Some of that has to come back to companies and we have to be responsible. We have to do the work so that when a person comes and buys a product that we're not letting them down on any level, and so I do feel that responsibility. If you're going to have a brand, you're going to produce products. You should be adding something good to the world.
Audra:
Not to be additive and not a consumer in the worst possible way. Exactly.
Dr. Lisa:
Exactly.
Audra:
I'm watching the time because I know that you are very busy. I want to give you a moment because this is my favorite. Favorite part of the entire show is that when I get to step back and give you an opportunity to have an intimate moment directly with the audience, to just leave them with something thoughtful and lasting for them to take during the day.
Dr. Lisa:
So the mic is yours, I'll speak as a dentist and I think I love my career, I love what I do, I love people and I love helping people and I think that following your passion, following what truly motivates you, what gets you going, what gets you passionate, what gets your energy up, is just so key in life. I feel super grateful that I get to do that at work and make great products and talk to a ton of people and, you know, really get to know our customers. Finding that that path is is has been a great thing for me and I'm so excited to kind of continue on that journey and be maybe a pain in someone's but when it comes to making the world a better place, but I feel like super passionate about it, super happy that I get the opportunity to do it, to talk to you, to get to know your listeners and to have like an overall positive impact. So that's that's. I'm excited about that.
Audra:
It is not a mistake that most world changers are female and it starts out of frustration and a desire and need to do things better. So in that regards, I appreciate you and your sister being rebels and being a pain in someone's butt.
Dr. Lisa:
You got to be a pain in someone's butt. You're not living your life unless you're kind of rubbing someone up the wrong way. You know, I totally agree with you Absolutely.
Audra:
I don't know if it's a well-known fact, but the entire reason that this show exists is because I wanted to be a pain in someone's butt, because I wanted to help change the world. And this is the way that I get to do it, and you get to do it through putting better things out there, better choices and education for us to help create a better building block for our entire health. So thank you to you and your sister for doing this. Lisa, please tell us again where we can access your products.
Dr. Lisa:
So you can learn more about Made by Dentist on our website, madebydentistcom, on Instagram, TikTok, and then all of our products are available nationwide in all Target stores and on targetcom.
Audra:
Well, and I will also tell you that she mans the customer service email. So if you have questions, if you have any sort of comments that you need to make, even advice, she's the one answering, because this is how she and I got connected, through that actual email and being connected by a consumer of hers and a friend of mine. So, jessica, thank you for connecting us and, like I said, there's real people behind this brand, so please reach out to her.
Dr. Lisa:
Yes, I'm insane about customer service and I honestly I miss my patients because I don't practice anymore, so I love getting to know people. So, yeah, if you have any questions, you can just email me info made by dentists and it will be me that answers.
Audra:
So there you go. You want direct access to a dentist that will tell you exactly how it is. Reach out to Lisa. Lisa, thank you so much for spending some time with me today educating us and letting us know that there's a better way and, like I said before, for being a rebel and creating a better life for all of us. Thank you so much.
Audra:
I've so loved chatting with you. I've loved chatting with you and I've loved getting to know you, and thank you again for making such beautiful products that don't make our kids scream. So thank you for that. Love it and thank you to all of you for listening and we'll see you again next time.
