The Smartest Doctor in the Room

Jaw pain, clicking, locking, and limited opening affect millions of people, and most patients are told to reduce stress, wear a night guard, or wait it out, without ever learning why the problem started. Dr. Donald Tanenbaum, a specialist in orofacial pain and a Diplomate of the American Board of Orofacial Pain, joins Dr. Dean Mitchell to explain what TMJ actually means (it's a body part, not a diagnosis) and why he treats jaw disorders as orthopedic problems, no different from a hip or a knee.Dr. Tanenbaum walks through the three pathways that drive most jaw problems: physical trauma, chronic stress and the mind-body connection, and underlying medical conditions like thyroid disease, GI dysfunction, and connective tissue disorders. He explains why the neck is one of the most overlooked contributors to jaw pain, why sleep bruxism is driven by the brain rather than a bad habit, and why most people who grind their teeth never develop a problem at all. The conversation also covers the three distinct types of pain (somatic, neuropathic, and nociplastic), why women make up roughly 70 percent of TMD patients, where Botox does and doesn't belong in treatment, and several memorable cases where an "alleged TMD problem" turned out to be something else entirely, including one patient whose jaw pain was actually a heart attack.Dr. Tanenbaum's new book, "Lockjaw: A Human Problem: What You Need to Know to Start Feeling Better," releases in early September 2026.Guest ContactDonald R. Tanenbaum, DDS, MPHDiplomate, American Board of Orofacial Pain | Fellow, American Academy of Orofacial PainPractice: New York TMJ and Oral Facial PainNYC office: 630 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1857, New York, NY 10111 — (212) 265-0110Long Island office: 812 Wheeler Road, Hauppauge, NY 11788Contact Dr. Mitchell:Email: care@mitchellmedicalgroup.comWebsiteInstagramYouTubeFacebookLinkedInBook: Conquering CandidaImmunoLytics - code SmartestDoc, 5% offApollo Neuro - code SMARTMD

Johann Ilgenfritz was a fashion photographer with no background in healthcare when he was first diagnosed with melanoma in 2011. After two rounds of radiotherapy appeared to clear it, a follow up screening in 2012 found the cancer had metastasized to his eye, lungs, and spleen, and he was given roughly 12 months to live. Ilgenfritz, now the founder of UK Health Radio, joins Dr. Dean Mitchell to share how he approached that second diagnosis differently, starting his own research the same day he got the news.Seven months in, a single sentence from German biochemist Otto Warburg, that cancer cannot survive in an oxygenated, alkaline cellular environment, changed his outlook overnight. Ilgenfritz explains how he became a vegan within weeks, adopted an alkaline diet built around potatoes, leafy greens, and Himalayan salt, added intermittent fasting, and began daily meditation and long distance running, in part because movement is the only way the body's lymphatic system detoxes without a pump. He and Dr. Mitchell also discuss the pH science behind the alkaline approach, why he avoided extreme raw food and juicing protocols in favor of real meals, and how his energy and later his scans began to turn around within months.The conversation closes with how Ilgenfritz's own healing journey led him to found UK Health Radio in 2012, now reaching 1.7 million listeners, and his advice for anyone newly facing a cancer diagnosis: stay open to every tool available, and use them alongside, not instead of, the treatment you and your doctor agree on.Guest ContactPlatform: UK Health Radio (founded by Johann Ilgenfritz)Book: Reversing CancerUK Health Radio (UKHR) website: https://ukhealthradio.com/UKHR Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UKHealthRadio/UKHR X: https://x.com/ukhealthradioUKHR Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ukhealthradio/UKHR YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/ukhealthradioAlkaline Collective Mastermind website: https://alkaline-collective.com/Contact Dr. Mitchell:Email: care@mitchellmedicalgroup.comWebsiteInstagramYouTubeFacebookLinkedInBook: Conquering CandidaImmunoLytics - code SmartestDoc, 5% offApollo Neuro - code SMARTMD

Cardiologist Dr. Alexis Cutchins joins Dr. Dean Mitchell to break down POTS, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, a condition defined by a heart rate increase of more than 30 beats per minute when moving from lying down to standing, without a drop in blood pressure. Dr. Cutchins explains that POTS is not a single diagnosis but one symptom within a larger picture that frequently overlaps with mast cell activation syndrome, hypermobility, and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.The conversation covers what may be driving the condition, including an autoimmune component, small fiber neuropathy, and vascular compression syndromes such as jugular vein compression and pelvic venous congestion. Dr. Cutchins shares findings from her own published research showing that 83% of her POTS patients had iliac vein compression on imaging, and that stenting the iliac vein helped 70% of patients with orthostatic intolerance. She and Dr. Mitchell also discuss why COVID-19 and long COVID have driven a sharp rise in cases, alongside other triggers like viral infections, Lyme disease, bariatric surgery, and major life stressors.Dr. Cutchins walks through how she evaluates patients, including holter monitoring, echocardiograms, and a 10 minute stand test rather than the tilt table test, which she says can worsen symptoms. She outlines her treatment approach, starting with antihistamines, salt, fluids, and compression, then medications like nadolol, propranolol, ivabradine, calcium channel blockers, fludrocortisone, desmopressin, midodrine, and droxidopa depending on the patient. She also covers which forms of exercise, like swimming, recumbent biking, and strength training, tend to be best tolerated.Guest ContactSocial Media:LinkedInX (Twitter)InstagramWebsite:Cutchins Cardiovascular MedicineContact Dr. Mitchell:Email: care@mitchellmedicalgroup.comWebsiteInstagramYouTubeFacebookLinkedInBook: Conquering CandidaImmunoLytics - code SmartestDoc, 5% offApollo Neuro - code SMARTMD

Psychiatrist and neuroscientist Dr. Dave Rabin returns to the podcast to discuss his new book, A Simple Guide to Being Alive, and why he believes healing from chronic stress and illness is simpler than most people are taught. Dr. Rabin explains that the autonomic nervous system, specifically the balance between the fight or flight sympathetic response and the rest and digest vagus nerve system, sits at the core of how the body handles stress, illness, and recovery, and that most patients are never taught the basics of how these systems work.Dr. Rabin and Dr. Mitchell talk through why techniques like deep breathing, meditation, and mindfulness work, tracing the idea back to teachings from Jon Kabat-Zinn. Dr. Rabin describes how breathing at five to seven breaths per minute helps the body access a calm, present state, and how his company Apollo Neuroscience developed a wearable device that uses touch based vibration, rather than sound, to raise heart rate variability and vagal tone within two to three minutes, based on research conducted at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.The conversation turns to why Gen Z is showing declines on standardized cognitive testing, and how chronic nervous system stress, screen time, and a lack of in person mentorship may be contributing factors. Dr. Rabin also shares his approach to helping children work through tantrums and difficult emotions, why parents model stress responses for their kids whether they realize it or not, and why physical touch and safe human connection remain central to healing, even as modern medicine has grown more cautious about it.Guest ContactFacebookTwitter/XInstagramLinkedInWebsites:Book: asimpleguidetobeingalive.comPersonal/Clinic: drdave.ioApollo Neuroscience: apolloneuro.comThe Board of Medicine: boardofmedicine.orgContact Dr. Mitchell:Email: care@mitchellmedicalgroup.comWebsiteInstagramYouTubeFacebookLinkedInBook: Conquering CandidaImmunoLytics - code SmartestDoc, 5% offApollo Neuro - code SMARTMD

Simple daily breathwork can meaningfully calm your stress response, Dr. Dean Mitchell explains in this week's tip. A few minutes of slow, deep abdominal breathing tops the list, since most of us breathe shallowly under stress in ways that quietly affect the heart, lungs, and oxygen levels. One striking example: just five minutes a day of basic breathing exercises, easily learned from free videos online, can have a profound effect on overall health. The key is making it a daily habit rather than a one-off fix, then noticing how much steadier you feel handling everyday stress. You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.For the full conversation, listen to Ep. 238 with Dr. Dave Rabin on The Smartest Doctor in the Room.Contact Dr. Mitchell:Email: care@mitchellmedicalgroup.comWebsiteInstagramYouTubeFacebookLinkedInBook: Conquering CandidaImmunoLytics - code SmartestDoc, 5% offApollo Neuro - code SMARTMD