Dr. Kimberly Meyer (2:09)

Thank you for inviting me.

Podcast Host (2:11)

So let's start from the top. What do you do? You know, I said life changer. That's the big statement. So tell everyone about it.

Dr. Kimberly Meyer (2:17)

So my journey started with my own life changing. I was born in a tumultuous time, 1965, to high school sweethearts. My father asked my mother to marry him through the mail and he had enlisted in the military. And as soon as they got married, two weeks later they were pregnant. I was born and he was shipped off to Vietnam. So I grew up in a life of many changes. And those changes actually created who I am and made me understand later in life Why I do the things I do.

Podcast Host (2:54)

What about the transition into your career? What do you do?

Dr. Kimberly Meyer (2:57)

Present day so present day I am a dentist and I own a TMJ sleep therapy center. When I was 2, I broke my nose and I ground my teeth so bad that every six months I had 12 fillings that needed to be replaced. And I had a dentist at the age of six that took out a tooth with no Novocaine. So I wanted to ensure that no child would be hurt by that same way.

Podcast Host (3:25)

Well, and I started off saying that, you know, you started fixing teeth, now you do a lot more than that. Right. You're not just a dentist. So can we talk about that?

Dr. Kimberly Meyer (3:33)

So my biggest impact I think I can make is on growing healthy airways in children. And the impact that I make is I can screen, treat and expand and grow the airway. Children when they go to school are checked for hearing, sight and scoliosis. Yeah, they don't check them for breathing or sleep.

Podcast Host (3:54)

Well and I was going to say there's been a big shift in the health, you know, the health industry around breathing in the last 10 years. Right. And I know dentists are understanding of it because there's a lot of links to bacteria and dental problems from bad breathing, but it's kind of not, you know, I was a sports scientist so I've learned all this, you know, 15 years ago, but still I don't think the general world understand the connection between breathing teeth. Can you explain that?

Dr. Kimberly Meyer (4:21)

The mouth and the teeth are a window to the health of the body and we have eight years to grow, expand the airway and if we're mouth breathing, we have poor development of our face and our airway. So what we do in the first six years of life can make a life impacting change and we won't be as sick. My father right now is suffering from Parkinson's and that is due to decades of poor sleep and breathing. So think about all the things that we can promote vet.

Podcast Host (4:52)

Well, we're in a bit of, you know, obviously everyone knows we're in a kind of health epidemic the last 10, 15 years, 20 years. And I think breathing too because a lot of it's linked to obesity and health. You know, I came luckily from a family of athletes and I grew up, you know, in sport. So I've always had good breathing, lung capacity, etc and I, I, you know, my breathing's healthy but most people, they don't even know their mouth breathe. Right. And generally if the unhealthy you are, the worse it is. And it causes bad sleep and all these problems. So can you talk about the connection to, you know, obesity and all that as well?

Dr. Kimberly Meyer (5:26)

Oh, absolutely. Number one, if we don't heal our. If we don't sleep well, then we're not getting to a deep stage of sleep where we can produce growth hormone. And when we're blowing off too much oxygen, we're not binding the CO2 that we need to release the oxygen from our red blood cells. So our deep stages of sleep and our REM sleep clear the brain. And it affects our leptin and ghrelin when we're not sleeping properly, creates more type 2 diabetes. And a lot of people are like, oh, well, I've always slept fine. Well, do you sleep in one position? Do you flip and flop? Do you fall asleep easily? Do you stay asleep? Do you wake well rested? And now we have Covid on top of all of that, which just complicates the issues we're dealing with.

Podcast Host (6:16)

Well, actually, Covid, I mean, a lot of people, people that died, it was linked to bad breathing, lung capacity, lung health. You know, athletes actually were shown to have a much higher survival rate than people that were unhealthy. So it's kind of fascinating. I think that was one of the reasons that people actually started to become more aware of this stuff.

Dr. Kimberly Meyer (6:34)

And in additional, I've gone down the realm of functional medicine. So your vitamin D levels are critical if you don't. They actually had studies proving that if your vitamin D levels were 21, you died. And 30 to 100 is what they state as normal. But that's normal of the people we test, the sick people. Right. So closer to 60 to 80 is good for sleep.

Podcast Host (6:58)

I'm lucky. I took, you know, vitamin D3 for 10 years now. You know, so I've always. You've been what, been taking vitamin D3 for 10 years now because I learned, you know, as a sports scientist, one of the best supplements. So. So if everyone's listening, you know, we. We've talked a little about sleep and the breathing side. If someone's like listening and kind of going, oh, maybe that is me. I don't sleep well, or my breathing isn't great, what do they do? Do they see a dentist? Do they?

Dr. Kimberly Meyer (7:28)

Well, you have to go to a dentist or a doctor that is well versed and it's most on. And no, most, most doctors aren't. However, one of my colleagues just put out there that the first year of dental school in one of the schools that her associate or one of her assistants that wants to be a den dentist is going to. They actually gave them a article, a recent evidence based study on the effects of a little bit of Ozempic on the sleep. So we're all tied together. We're not cut in pieces like the medical profession has created for us. We're one organism. So as a dentist, I'm looking at blood testing, I'm looking at sleep, I'm looking at. Do they have crowded teeth? Do you, do they have a fissured tongue? Do they have a coated tongue? Do your children wet their bed?

Podcast Host (8:20)

But is that rare as a dentist to be looking at that stuff or.

Dr. Kimberly Meyer (8:25)

No need to look at these things. But they're starting just now to educate the young dentist. But it's our responsibility as a dentist or a medical doctor to go further, to learn more and ask the whys.

Podcast Host (8:39)

Well, and the reason you've done that though is that's the entrepreneur in you. Right. There's a, kind of a lot, don't have a lot of professional development, they do the minimum. But I think because you're more entrepreneurial, you've kind of always wanted to grow and progress. And that's a trait we have as entrepreneurs, is to better ourselves. Right. So what inspired you to kind of cross dentistry with entrepreneurship?

Dr. Kimberly Meyer (9:00)

I think it was my own story with my own children and my patients. I've had to deal with children with migraines, headaches, bedwetting. I also my father with Parkinson's. I've had to, I've provided a safe space for my patients to know they can share anything with me. I've had to talk people off the edge when they wanted to kill themselves or they've shared with me that they've had such struggles in their personal life that they wanted to, they were raped or whatever. And these are things when you're building an intimate relationship with a patient, a friend, a client, it's that trust, seeing them, valuing them, putting them in a safe space, space where they can learn from you and trust you enough to share. And then it's your job to be able to then get them the help they need and not turn your cheek. You know, you want to be able to share your knowledge and get them the help they need.

Podcast Host (9:58)

Yeah. And you know, I mean, it's already apparent from all the stuff we've discussed. But what's, you know, is what separates your practice from all the regular practices. Is it everything we've been discussing all these, you know, actually you're kind of like looking beyond the two. Right. Almost right.

Dr. Kimberly Meyer (10:15)

I mean, I think that oftentimes people get caught up in the school system. They're teaching people right now with corporate takeovers, it's all about the money. And it's not all about the money. It's about the connection. Making that connection with your client, with your patient. And they see the value and together you can elevate each other. You provide them with, okay, this is what you need, but what can I help you with? And they have to be, you're basically the quarterback and you have to make the connections for them, but they also have to take the responsibility. It's not simply take a pill. They've got to take the action that you help them with.

Podcast Host (10:56)

So, you know, you're clearly passionate about people's not only, you know, dental health, but overall health, even mental health. Right. What is your, you know, what do you feel your long term purpose or legacy is?

Dr. Kimberly Meyer (11:09)

So my long term purpose and legacy is to come from peace, joy and love and share my knowledge with my patients, my clients and leave behind a legacy of tools that can help create a healthier person, a human being, and create those connections right from birth on. And the most impact we can make is in that first eight years of life.

Podcast Host (11:33)

Love that. And I know we were chatting a bit earlier and there's this number, right, 108 years from now. Where do you see your legacy?

Dr. Kimberly Meyer (11:42)

My legacy is to be the lighthouse, not just the flashlight. I want to leave behind me skills, talents and the ability for people to question the why and continue to learn and grow.

Podcast Host (11:58)

I love that. And one thing you said there, you said the lighthouse, not the flashlight. Can you explain that? Just if people don't catch it.

Dr. Kimberly Meyer (12:05)

Yes. I want to make a bigger impact. I don't want to just impact the small community that I'm in. I want to be able to connect with other people and through your program. And I thank Rudy for being part of the legacy makers. I've got to meet people from all over the place, all over the world. And the other programs. I've then chosen without fear to put myself out there. I just came back from a Joe Dispenza seven day deep meditation. There were 2,100 people there from 85 countries. It was so amazing. I think I met two Americans and the rest were from all over the world. So being able to know doesn't matter who you are. I was the first one in my family with a high school up with more than a college education. Nobody had ever gone to college. And, and people told me you can't do It I was pregnant and had my baby the last day of classes. And then my senior of dental school, I actually got pregnant with baby number two. I had him two weeks after I opened my practice. I didn't take a day off, I just did it. And I nursed all of my children. So it's a mindset you have to know. And I think when people tell you you can't do something, that provides the fuel and the fire to ignite that passion to do something.

Podcast Host (13:26)

Well, it does for you and it does for me, but not for everyone. I've learned because people take things differently, right? So some people are motivated, whereas some people actually, they start to believe what other people say about them or things. So let me just ask you a last kind of question on the mindset side, you know, maybe younger dentists, that's just starting out, or a young entrepreneur just starting out. How do you build that belief in yourself and get to a point like you, where you're not just working on your clinic, you're trying to, you know,

Dr. Kimberly Meyer (13:55)

impact the world so all you can do is control you and your environment. The world is full of chaos. And you can live in this moment in time and you can make the choices to start your day with gratitude, with love, taking a deep breath in and centering yourself and saying, where am I now? What am I grateful for and what can I become? Because you can't change everybody. You have to start with yourself first and having the belief in you. We were all born the same. We were all born with the same time. Time is the most valuable asset we have and what we choose to do with that time. You can have two people with cancer and one can say, I'm going to die, and the other one can say, no way in hell I'm going to live. And they'll have two different outcomes and they may have the same diagnosis.

Podcast Host (14:43)

A good example of that is, you know, I'm friends and what done a lot of business with Les Brown, a famous motivational speaker, and he got told when he got diagnosed with stage four cancer, he got told it was in seven places. And he said, oh, that's great news. And the doctor said, what do you mean, it's very bad? He goes, well, no, seven's my lucky number. And he fought cancer and, you know, beat it. And he's still alive today.

Dr. Kimberly Meyer (15:05)

Yeah. And I got the opportunity to work with Les Brown as well. And I haven't taken action completely on what he told me. He's helping me create my book, Better Yourself, Create a life you're proud of using the five foundational messages that my mother has given me. She's still alive, thankfully. But he was a great motivation. And when I was going through the COVID time when I was told I was non essential as a dentist and closed down, I would listen to his motivational speeches in the morning and it would give me that motivation and that energy to go forward. And I actually got to meet him inadvertently after I signed up for a Lisa Nichols program. And I don't, I didn't have any, I didn't have much money. I just took the opportunity to have the faith that the universe was behind me and saying, okay, I'm going to do this no matter what.

Podcast Host (15:59)

Love that. Good last question then. People are listening, they're fascinated by, you know, everything you're covering, the breathing side. Where do they learn more about you, you know, and maybe work with you?

Dr. Kimberly Meyer (16:10)

So I have created a platform that's going live, Dr. Kimberly Ann, where I have products that I am going to be an affiliate for speaking opportunities. I have a new program for 2 to 5 year olds that I'm going to pitch soon. So when that comes out, it's going to change the world.

Podcast Host (16:30)

Love that. And Instagram, social media website. What's the best way to find you

Dr. Kimberly Meyer (16:34)

Instagram or my website? Dr. Kimberly My website is meyerfamilydentistry.com and tmjcenter of new hampshire.com and Dr. Kimberly Ann is my Instagram.

Podcast Host (16:47)

Love it. Well, it's pleasure to finally have you on here and such fun talking about all these things that I'm sure have really helped educate people and some great motivation to inspire people too. So guys, go check out, check out the website, social media, all of that good stuff and as always, keep working hard and build a legacy. I'll see you soon. Take care.