Hello there, all you functional health fanatics, sourdough makers, and rebel homesteaders! If I just called your name in that last sentence, go ahead and make yourself comfortable- you’ll probably feel at home around these parts.

Let’s get one thing straight right from the get-go: this blog, along with all of the content I post on social media and in my weekly newsletter, is all about you. I’m here to help you find solutions to your oral health dilemmas, show you how to eliminate unhealthy habits, and prove to you that there is so much joy and wellness to be found in a slowed-down, no-fuss life.

So unlike some other blogs out there, I’m not here to talk about myself (because honestly, snooze), but rather to be an invaluable resource on your journey toward simple, healthy living.

But in the spirit of being friends, I’ll properly introduce myself.

I’m an unlikely dentist. I thought that by going to dental school, I would learn to be a physician of the mouth. But the instruction was more like mechanical engineering for teeth, and it bored me to tears (so, so many tears). I stuck it out, became a dentist, repaired teeth for many years, and dreamed of the day I could hang up my drill and do something else.

I’ve learned that God is full of surprises if you have enough faith, and it took me nearly a decade to become the physician of the mouth I set out to be thirteen years ago, but the sweetest things in my life have had to ripen on the vine the longest.

So here I am today, practicing functional dentistry for those of you who, like me, question the long-standing “truths” in medicine and health care. While I haven’t hung up my drill for good yet, I’m getting closer! Most days you’ll find me using a state-of-the-art CO2 laser to perform infant frenectomies or prescribing a very smart night-time appliance to help kids breathe, sleep, and live better. I spend more time talking and educating about deep, impactful nutrition and sleep than I do lecturing about the importance of flossing (but ok, still do that please!).

Functional is the future for dentistry, I’m sure of it. I love that practicing from a functional perspective has helped me simplify my work and my life outside of dentistry- and with four kids under the age of seven, I’m always looking for ways to simplify.

When I’m not practicing, you’ll probably find me attempting to keep my garden alive, testing another bread recipe, digging for treasures at a thrift shop, or starting a DIY home project that will most likely never get finished. I’m attempting to live in a way that would make my great-grandmothers proud: making heart-warming meals from scratch, reading Little Women to my kids instead of turning on the television, and awing at life’s most simple pleasures. I hope this blog is a place you can turn to for inspiration for a life filled with better, fewer things and better, more simple health.