Nobody taught us to connect our bleeding gums to chronic disease. But your mouth has been sending signals about what is happening inside your entire body and no one told you how to read them.

Gum disease is linked to diabetes, heart disease and Alzheimer’s. Stress and cortisol show up in your gums before they show up anywhere else. And oral health care was designed around the male body, which means Black women have been navigating a system that was never built for them.

Dr. Brigette White, Princeton and Penn-trained dentist and founder of Bright Whites Oral Care, joins us to change that. Your mouth is not separate from your health. It is the front door to it.