Rooting Within Health
Rooting Within Health explores the powerful connections between oral health and overall systemic wellness, while addressing critical issues in the dental industry that often go unspoken. Hosted by Kimberly W. Williamson, a registered dental hygienist, integrative health coach, and registered yoga teacher. This podcast goes beyond the surface to examine how oral health impacts our entire body, mind, and quality of life.
Through a hybrid approach of solo episodes and conversations with healthcare professionals, wellness experts, and individuals navigating their own health journeys, we'll dive into topics that matter. From oral-systemic health connections, workplace wellness and culture in healthcare settings, to behavior modifications for sustainable health to the urgent need for advocacy and reform within the dental industry - no topic is off limits.
Whether you're a dental professional seeking community and validation, a healthcare worker facing workplace challenges, or someone interested in holistic approaches to health, this podcast creates space for honest conversations and meaningful change. We're here to educate, empower, and build community around the issues that matter most - because true health starts from within, and change begins when we're willing to speak up.
Episodes
15 episodes
Episode 15: Why Health Coaches Are the Missing Link to Our Healthcare System: A Conversation with Elyse Wagner
What if the missing piece in our healthcare system isn't another prescription, but a person trained to actually guide you toward the change you already know you need to make?In this episode, Kimberly sits down with Elyse Wagner, founder ...
Episode 14: YOGA + Oral Health + Neuroplasticity: What You Need to Know
In this solo episode, Kimberly Williamson explores the fascinating and often overlooked connection between yoga, oral health, and the brain. She breaks down the science behind chronic stress and its direct impact on periodontal dise...
Episode 13: "Don't Do It:" Is The Language We Use Hurting Our Profession?
A student posted a TikTok asking for guidance, comparing dental hygiene to respiratory therapy, standing at a crossroads and looking for clarity. What they found in the comment section was a chorus of other people's unresolved pain. Dental hygi...
Episode 12: You Were Made for More: Leadership and Life Beyond Clinical Practice
What happens when a dental hygienist stops asking "what can I do in this operatory" and starts asking "what can I do in this world?"In this episode Kimberly sits down with Deborah Daniel, RDH, MHSc, PMP, CHE and DrPH Candidate at the Uni...
Episode 11: Beyond the Operatory: From Associate's to Doctorate & Why Dental Hygiene Advocates Deserve a Seat at the Table
Deanna Joy Gilmore, RDH, BSDH, MHA, CH-OSE, has spent over 25 years in dental hygiene — but her journey didn't stop at the chair. In this episode, Deanna shares how she went from clinical practice to research, advocacy, and academia. We talk ab...
Episode 10: The Maternity Leave Crisis: How a Female-Dominated Profession Fails Women
The United States is the only high-income country without national paid family leave. And if you work in dental hygiene — a profession that is over 94% female — you feel that gap more than most. In this episode, Kimberly breaks down...
Episode 9: The History They Didn't Teach Us: Black Dental Hygienists and the Fight for Representation
February is Black History Month, and in this episode, host Kimberly Williamson explores something that doesn't get nearly enough attention in the dental profession: the history and lived experience of Black dental hygienists—and the racial disp...
Episode 8: The Missed Opportunity: Why Dental Hygienists Are the Original Health Coaches
What if dental hygienists could expand on the foundation they already have? What if they could coach patients through the barriers that actually prevent better health—and get reimbursed for it?This episode explores why hygienists are...
Episode 7: When Getting Out of Bed is Hard: The Connection Between Mental Health and Oral Health
January is Mental Wellness Month — and very few in dentistry are talking about the connection between mental health and oral health.In this episode, Kimberly Williamson explores why depression makes brushing feel imp...
Episode 6: Mental Health in Dentistry: The Data We're Not Collecting
You've probably heard that dentists have the highest suicide rate of any profession. That's a myth. But here's what isn't: dental professionals experience alarmingly high rates of depression, anxiety, burnout, and suicidal thoughts.In Au...
Episode 5: North of the Border: What Canada Gets Right About Dental Hygiene
What if dental hygienists in every state could open their own practices, set their own hours, and bill patients directly - without a dentist signing off on every decision?That’s not a fantasy. It’s Canada. And they’ve been doing it for d...
Episode 4: The OPA Problem: Why 120 Hours Can't Replace Years of Science
It's legal in Arizona. Missouri is running a pilot program. And more states are considering it: the Oral Preventive Assistant (OPA) model allows dental assistants with just 120 hours of training to perform "dental cleanings."In this epis...
Episode 3: Diabetes + Oral Health: Navigating Care in a Failing, Archaic Structure
In honor of National Diabetes Awareness Month, this episode goes beyond the typical "brush and floss more" advice to explore the real, lived experience of managing diabetes, whether type 1, type 2, or gestational, and the systemic barriers that...
Episode 2: Profit Over Prevention: Why Your Dental Hygienist Can't Give You the Care You Deserve
What happens when an entire healthcare profession is designed to extract maximum profit rather than deliver optimal care? In this episode, we pull back the curtain on the modern dental practice model—both corporate chains and private practices—...