The Dr. Melissa Show

Dr. Melissa is a holistic minded dentist and the owner of Honey Dental. She discusses the importance of the safety involved with handling mercury in a dental office. During the necessary removal of old defective mercury fillings due to fractures, decay, or broken teeth, Dr. Santilli is very passionate about protecting her patients from mercury particulates and debris. She invites some of her patients to discuss their personal experiences with mercury fillings and the dental care they received in a holistic dental office.

Dr. Melissa discusses the science behind addiction and how processed food with high sugar, fat and salt hijacks our pleasure reward center to control our behavior. The group tried to cut processed food out of their diet for a week and discussed how difficult it was to navigate current food options without exposure to processed food. Dr Santilli reviews the consequences to our health such as heart disease and cancer from an unhealthy diet shared in a talk by Dr. Peeke, who also looks into the studies of epigenetics and how behavior can modify gene expression. They discuss an example of Betty Lou Sweeny who lost 115lbs at the age of 73 and held the Guinness world record for the longest abdominal plank at 36 minutes. Sweeny achieved this by overcoming addictions to food and making her life healthier. Hopefully this topic inspires you to realize, you are what you eat and the real wealth is health.

Psychologist Dr. Arthur Aron came up with 36 questions that help to promote mental intimacy. The questions are designed to be personal and break down barriers to foster closeness. Dr. Melissa is trying a social experiment by inviting different couples on the show in various stages of their relationship to see if these questions are effective to help improve communication, compassion, and love. The first couple is Karen and Bob, who are newly married. Dr. Melissa hopes others can use this set of questions in their own relationships because being open, honest, and vulnerable with each other can lead to more intimacy and understanding.

Dr. Melissa discusses the science behind addiction. Modern addiction comes in many forms including the use of smart phones. Dr. Melissa and her team tried a digital fasting for 24 hours to see how their lives are influenced by being constantly on their cell phones for many aspects of their lives. They discuss some studies and personal realizations related to addiction to their smart phones. They also review tips on how to avoid letting that addiction cause harm such as texting and driving, reduction of happiness, or positive and meaningful interactions with family.

Dr. Melissa is the owner of Honey Dental and has seen over 100 babies for the laser frenectomy procedure. A frenectomy is a procedure needed for babies with lip and tongue ties that interfere with the breast feeding process. Dr. Melissa is passionate about this issue because she experienced painful nursing with her first baby and wants to help other moms out there know that they are not alone. This issue is not widely known but is a real struggle for many moms who have painful nursing experience. Dr. Melissa sites a study that helps to shed light on this issue with imperative evidence. She invites parents, Chris, Cathy and Victoria who have experienced this struggle with their newborns to share their experiences with painful nursing and frenectomy before and after to help educate and bring awareness to this concern.

Dr. George W Crane MD PHD from Northwestern University developed a marriage test from 1930s for husband and wife to be rated as a good fair or poor spouse. Dr. Melissa and her team pick out some of the interesting test samples to discuss relevance with today’s marriage expectations and culture. Some rating points are assigned fairly; some are out of date and humorous. Even with new emergence of technology, some of the good old fashioned marriage values are still relevant today and applicable in modern marriages.

Sherry Argov wrote the book “From Doormat to Dreamgirl” back in 2002 before the dating scene completely changed with more digital platforms for dating on cell phones and apps such as facebook, tinder, snapchat, Instagram to help connect people. We are no longer waiting to hear by phone but rather checking various apps for updates, likes, and managing multiple social media accounts. Dr. Melissa and her team discuss from their personal experiences some dating concepts introduced in the book and their relevance to today’s dating culture. Some guidance of interaction with dating and making initial impressions still hold true today but some are out of date between two new people getting to know each other.

Using business ideas from Dave Ramsay and Navy Captain Abrashoff, Dr Melissa discusses business strategy of unifying the team in a working environment by having an approachable and understanding leader.

On her inaugural episode, Dr. Melissa invites a few key members of her staff into the studio to talk about manufactured feeling and the illusion of happiness.