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Join Dr. Kim Kutsch, the brilliant mind behind CariFree, as he explores the extraordinary lives of thought leaders in the dental industry, and beyond. Contrary to Ordinary explores further than dentistry - here we unravel the minds of change-makers, paradigm shifters, and world shakers.
Every two weeks, we dive into the stories of our remarkable guests—ordinary people who continually defy limits. Discover their tales of success, resilience, and self-awareness, and explore how they leverage these experiences not only to elevate dental practice and patient care but also to champion personal growth and entrepreneurship. Listen for captivating conversations with innovators who seamlessly blend art and technology, pursue curiosity, and create the truly extraordinary.
Contrary to Ordinary isn't your typical dentistry podcast—it's a vibrant community that's hit #1 in ‘Entrepreneurship,’ #3 in ‘Business,’ and #21 in ‘All Podcasts’ for a reason. We've had the pleasure of hosting inspiring guests like innovators, dental leaders, pioneering inventors, and artists, including Angus Walls, Machell Hudson, Dr. Simon McDonald, Dr. Bobby Birdi, Rella Christensen, Professor Phillip D. Marsh, Carmen Ohling, John Kois, Dr. Susan Maples, Doug Young, Colt Idol, Stephanie Staples, and many more who've graced our mic.
Each episode isn't just a listen; it's a lesson in living an extraordinary life authentically, embracing rebellion, and nurturing leadership. We dive into diverse topics, from mentoring, coaching, personal development, and work-life balance to self-awareness, emotional intelligence, leadership, storytelling, altruism, and motivation. And yes, we also cover dentistry—exploring natural dentists, dental health, dental laboratories, oral care, oral surgery, dental hygiene, caries disease, brushing teeth, and overall tooth care.
Tune in to Contrary to Ordinary for a unique blend of wisdom that goes beyond the ordinary and resonates with all aspects of life! This podcast aims to empower you to be extraordinary in your dental practice and improve not just your dental care but your overall life!
Do you have an extraordinary story you’d like to share with us? Or perhaps a question for Dr. Kutsch. Contact us on our Instagram, Facebook or Twitter today.
About Our Host:
Meet Dr. Kim Kutsch: a retired dentist with 40 years of experience, prolific writer, thought leader, inventor, and researcher in dental caries and minimally invasive dentistry, brings his insatiable curiosity to the forefront. Eager to learn from those breaking boundaries in dentistry, particularly in preventative and non-invasive dentistry approaches, Dr. Kutsch launched the Contrary to Ordinary podcast. As a keen creative and curious mind, Dr. Kutsch extends his podcast guest list to artists, entrepreneurs, and fascinating minds who have piqued his interest. He wants to learn from them and see how he can be inspired by their extraordinary ways of living and adapt his learnings into his own life and his business, CariFree.
About CariFree:
CariFree is the new model for oral health and cavity prevention. Dr. Kutsch is the CEO and founder of this business. They create cutting-edge technology and science-based solutions to common dental health concerns for the whole family, making it easy to banish cavities for good with preventive strategies over restorative procedures. Find out how dentists are using CariFree products to revolutionize their dental practices here: https://carifree.com/success-stories/.
Recording:
Extraordinary.
Leader.
Innovative.
Integrity.
Honest.
Courageous.
Curious.
Thoughtful.
Brave.
Unafraid.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
There is a place where technology and art meet, where work and play are one and the same. When the threads of curiosity are pulled in this place, the spark of innovation ripples across industries. Those who make this place their home are giants, titans, who pursue creative passion while leaving their mark.
Recording:
Creative.
Flexible.
Brilliant.
Clever.
Confident.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
They are courageous thought leaders set on changing the practice of dentistry and their corner of the world. More than the sum of their parts, we deconstruct the traits that bind these uncommon innovators.
Recording:
Humble.
Daring.
Discipline.
Playful.
Principled.
Spontaneous.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
To discover what makes them contrary to ordinary where we explore the extraordinary.
Hi there. I'm Dr. Kim Kutsch, Host and Founder at CariFree. I'm fascinated by what makes the paradigm shifters, world shakers and art makers tick. Let's embark on a journey. Extraordinary is a place where ordinary people choose to exist. Together we will track the peaks of possibility, illuminate the depths of resilience, and navigate the boundless landscape of innovation to discover how some of the most innovative dentists and thought leaders unlock their potential and became extraordinary. On this season of Contrary to Ordinary, we explore the motivation, lives and character of the innovators who see limitless potential around them. The people behind some of the largest paradigm shifts in the practice of dentistry.
Sometimes to forge the path ahead, you need to create the tools to do so from scratch. Having the courage to blaze a trail using your own resources and time is something that only truly extraordinary people will attempt. Today's guest, Rella Christensen has taken that risk and come out on the other side with fresh ideas and strategies to help the dental industry care for its practitioners and patients better. In 1976, Rella co-founded and directed the Clinical Research Associates Foundation, the only nonprofit dental products testing laboratory in the world. The CRA shares its findings with subscribers in 87 countries. Rella went on to become a team leader at Technologies and Restoratives and Caries Research otherwise known as TRAC research, a nonprofit institute dedicated to in-depth long-term clinical studies of restorative materials, preventive dentistry, and dental caries. As you'll hear from Rella, she took a particular interest in microbiology, which led her to some interesting areas of dentistry.
This is part one of Rella's interview and I'd like to begin this episode a little differently today with two stories that I really think give some insight into her very unique character. The first story happened in Baker City, Oregon about 20 some years ago, and I'd ask you to speak at a dental meeting that I was putting on. Dana and I started a meeting called the Randevu, and we're in Baker City, Oregon, which for our listeners here today, it's a small town in remote eastern Oregon. And Rella, true to her word, she shows up and she's going to present for the morning. She's the morning program. And I think you were going to talk on infection control and biofilms and water lines and all the things that you were studying at the time. And so I got up at six 30 in the morning that morning, and I'm in charge of the AV.
So I've got my Kodak projector, and I go to the room and I've got everything else set up. I turn the projector on and the bulb goes. And I'm like, not deterred. I go right to my briefcase, I've got a backup bulb, I put the bulb in, turn it on, and it goes. And now I'm in a situation of, I got a speaker starting in about an hour, and I have no projector. And we were all on slides in those days, Kodak carousels, right?
Rella Christensen:
Correct.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
So I had a contact in Baker City, people that I knew locally, so I called them in a panic, woke them up. It was before seven o'clock, and they said, "Well, the high school has one, and we can call the principal and get him out of bed." So they woke up the principal, well, they did have a projector, but they had lent it to the senior center.
And he said, "The local state police officer has a key to the senior center. I'm going to call him and have him go there and get this projector and bring it to the hotel that you're at." And I'm like, "Wow, this is great." So about 7:30, the police officer shows up with this projector, and it's not a Kodak, and I don't know if you remember this, but our carousel, so it was a unique off brand. And so we have to transfer all of Rella's slides from her Kodak carousels onto this, I don't even know what the brand was. And so we're sitting there, she and I, and for the viewers that are so used to PowerPoint and Keynote, those slides had to go in order and in the proper orientation. And it takes some time to do that. So Rella and I are kind of scrambling to do this, and I don't know what happened, but your carousel fell off the table there, landed on the floor, and all the slides went into a total disarrayed pile.
And my worst nightmare had just come true. And I'm standing there horrified, and I look at you and you started laughing, and you sat down on the floor in this midst of slides and you started laughing. And at that point in time, it was such a relief to see you laugh that I started laughing and you and I sat on the floor and laughed for probably five minutes, and you got up at eight o'clock and you gave a two-hour lecture without a single slide. It was riveting.
You had everybody on the edge of their seats and you knew your material so well that you were able to do your entire lecture without a single slide. And it's one of the most impressive things that I have seen. But it also, it gives me an insight, you're unflappable. One of the things that I admire about you, Rella, you're courageous and that happened and you laughed and the show went on. And you also told me, while we're getting ready for this, you said, "And Kim, I'll never forget this because this was my last presentation with slides." You were switching to PowerPoint for your next lecture. Do you remember that?
Rella Christensen:
I do remember. But PowerPoint was a painful shift, wasn't it?
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Oh, it was. But it was so nice not to have to lug those carousels around. And the fact that you just laughed, it was such a relief to me. And I think you have a great sense of humor. That's another thing that I admire about you. And you were just like, "Oh, well, here we go." And you went on and just provided a great program that morning. And that's something that just sticks out of my mind. The other story that I had, and you'll probably be able to tell me what year this was, but it's probably been 10 years or more. And I saw you at a Dental Caries meeting that we had gone to, and you were sitting and there was an empty chair. So I pulled up a chair next to you during this meeting and I said, "Rella, how you doing? What's new?" And you were telling me about you finally got Gordon to take some extended time off, and you guys had gone to Alaska for the summer.
Rella Christensen:
Oh, no, that would be about four days, perhaps during the summer.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
So that's extended time off for Gordon.
Rella Christensen:
That's extended for Gordon, more than two days.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Were you guys on a motorcycle then in Alaska?
Rella Christensen:
Actually, we were.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
That's what I thought. You told me you were on a motorcycle tour in Alaska, and I asked you, "So what was the most interesting thing that you learned in Alaska that summer?" Do you remember this Rella?
Rella Christensen:
Just vaguely.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
And you looked at me and you said, "Kim, did you know that sled dogs, when they get really old and they can't pull their weight anymore, it's so hard on them to see the team leave without them, that they have to put them down? And it's like they work, they're part of that team. They're a sled dog until they can't be a sled dog anymore, physically can't do it." And I looked at you and I said, "Oh my gosh, Rella you and me, we're like sled dogs." Do you remember that?
Rella Christensen:
I do remember that.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
So that's another thing that I appreciate.
Rella Christensen:
Now these were the old time, guys. I don't think they'd do that today, Kim.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
They probably don't today.
Rella Christensen:
But they would get the dogs out and the dog would go stand in his place where he would be in the harnesses and they couldn't get them out of the way so they could harness-
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
The new dog.
Rella Christensen:
... The new dog. And I guess it was just really annoying to the point where they would finally shoot him.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
But I think the other thing that really points out to me is you truly are a sled dog. You are still doing research. You have this research center. You're like the Energizer Bunny. You just keep going and going. And I think it's so amazing to see, and I wanted to compliment you on that.
Rella Christensen:
Well, thank you, Kim. Actually, I'm definitely slowing down. The Energizer bunny in the family is Gordon. And I'm lagging farther and farther behind these days. But I do love the basic science microbiology research in, right now we're doing the oral cavity and dental caries. And that has been so illuminating. All I can tell you is we've been on the wrong track for a long time.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
In our 30 years of friendship, I've collected countless stories that I could share about Rella. But I think these two show just how unique she is. But let's go back to the beginning. Rella was born in Pasadena, but grew up in Westwood, California.
Rella Christensen:
My father and his brother had purchased the top of a small hill. It wasn't anything like a mountain in Utah, just a small hill, only an acre and a half of land. And they built houses right next to each other and surrounded this whole thing with a six-foot chain link fence.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Wow.
Rella Christensen:
And you could see the city hall of Los Angeles when you looked in one direction and the ocean when you looked in the other direction. And the six-foot fence must have been my father's idea because they could just turn my brother and me out there. There was very little trouble you could actually get into. We were too young to figure out how to climb that fence for a long time. But I grew up with big dogs, German shepherds, and always have had a cat and just roamed this property.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Sounds magical actually.
Rella Christensen:
It was a great growing up time. And I've always been a loner and a nerd. And this just worked for me really well.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
So if I have the story correct, you have an uncle that's a dentist?
Rella Christensen:
My dad only had one brother and this was the dentist. And yes, we lived next door and he didn't have children. He was married, but never had a family. So it was just the two of us. And a farmer would come in that actually originally owned land, he owned many acres of land out there, and he grew corn and watermelon.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Oh, wow.
Rella Christensen:
And he would come in and he would grow the corn and watermelon on this land and then go down the way about a half mile where he would sell it at a stand. And he continued to do that, even though he'd sold the land off. And when it was really fun was every few years he would not grow the corn and watermelon, but he would instead grow hay that he would just plow under to loosen up the soil. Because it was Adobe, very dense soil. And that was so much fun because the hay would grow about waist high. And then you could crawl through that and nobody could see you because of...
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
The grass was taller.
Rella Christensen:
... The hay was a... And so you could hide from your mother or your dad or anybody you wanted to. And it was a great time, man. Used to take the dog or the cat with me all over the place. They hated it.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
So Rella, when did you first get interested in dentistry then? Was that an influence from your uncle?
Rella Christensen:
He needed help in his office one year, and I was about 15 years old at that time. By that time, we had moved out to actually San Marino, which was right next to Pasadena. And so I lived with him. He had a beautiful home in Palos Verdes, and his practice was in Redondo Beach.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Oh, wow.
Rella Christensen:
And I worked there doing operatory cleanup and instrument disinfections.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
All the grunt work.
Rella Christensen:
And he had a laboratory technician with a really nice lab right there in his office and I used to like to play around. In those days, they would dribble a little mercury into your hand and you could play with it.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Well, I remember squeeze class, and we didn't wear gloves in those days. And oh my goodness. You have to look back at some of the stuff and just go, it's a wonder we survived, right? Oh my goodness.
Rella Christensen:
My uncle was very much a mentor. He really wanted children and couldn't have them. And so he was very involved with both my brother and myself. He was an excellent dentist. He had excellent hand eye coordination, and he was a perfectionist.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
I was going to say. So excellence was important to him.
Rella Christensen:
That's a word that was important to dentistry in those days.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Oh, for sure.
Rella Christensen:
Very, very. And it's a word that has become less used today. I hate to say it's disappeared. Now, some of your mentors, like Dr. Cois, he would've heard that word a number of times.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
We judged our success and failure by how tight our restoration margins were.
Rella Christensen:
Well, this was the age of cast gold. And yes, they used silver amalgam. But my uncle went to USC, University of Southern Cal, and they prided themselves on gold work there, and he was a master with it.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Wow.
Rella Christensen:
And just really prided himself on his cases. That definitely rubbed off.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
So you went to USC as well?
Rella Christensen:
I did.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
And you got a hygiene degree?
Rella Christensen:
I did-
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
A hygiene.
Rella Christensen:
That particular profession was suggested by my uncle. Bear in mind, I graduated from high school in 1956 and in California at that time, they were just crying out for dental hygienists and the dentist in the state. So he really encouraged that. I wouldn't have known a thing about it had it not been for my uncle.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
So he nudged you in that direction?
Rella Christensen:
Once I knew that I couldn't be a medical illustrator, I was looking for something where I could use my hands and do something.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Maybe help people in the process?
Rella Christensen:
I really wanted to do that.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
We often take hope and inspiration from the people closest to us. And Rella's uncle really set her on a path from which she's never looked back. A name you'll be hearing a lot in this episode is Dr. Gordon J Christensen, Rella's husband, and a hugely accomplished dentist, speaker and co-founder of CRA. Rella and Gordon met at USC graduating in the same year. In the early days of their relationship, Gordon would pick Rella up on his motorcycle and take her out rifle shooting. Her father didn't approve.
Rella Christensen:
Oh, I remember one of the times we came roaring in and my dad had stopped at the place where Gordon was living, it was a little old house, and his parents had bought it. Gordon bumped over the curb and drove right up, and I was riding behind him, and my father was just floored, was like, "Are you kidding?"
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
I can picture that.
Rella Christensen:
I was jumping up and down. Isn't this cool, dad? And my dad took Gordon aside and he says, "It's either that motorcycle or my daughter, which will it be?" Fortunately, Gordon chose me.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Fortunately. Oh my goodness.
Rella Christensen:
But my dad made him sell that motorcycle.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Oh, wow. Oh, that's amazing.
Rella Christensen:
But I bought him another one when he was 50. Told him he was finally old enough to.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
And your dad was around to approve or not approve, or?
Rella Christensen:
My dad was around. Probably still didn't approve, but by that time I had learned to maybe not say as much.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
So you both ride those now then?
Rella Christensen:
We both ride.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Oh, wow. Oh fun. So you wear the black leather and the whole deal?
Rella Christensen:
Yes, we do.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
So what do your grandchildren think, seeing their grandmother dressed in full black leathers and riding a motorcycle? They must think you're probably the coolest grandma in the entire world.
Rella Christensen:
Well, they probably think I'm nuts, but actually it's a lot of fun. It's a very hot machine.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Oh, I would think so. It sounds like it.
Rella Christensen:
It is a very hot machine, and I love to drive it too fast.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Oh gosh. So Rella, then let's go back here for a second. So you graduated from hygiene school and then you practiced hygiene for how many years?
Rella Christensen:
Oh, well, if we take things in order, we'd have to say that after I graduated hygiene school, I actually started having babies. The director of our general hygiene program... You had to quit if you were pregnant, you could come back the next year. But they didn't want pregnant girls in the clinic. If you can imagine they'd get away with that today.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Oh my goodness.
Rella Christensen:
And when I graduated in June of 1960, I could just barely button the middle button. I was about three months pregnant. We'd been going to school that last year as a married couple. And so I had two babies, 11 months apart. One in January of 1961 and one in December of 1961.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Oh, wow. Oh my goodness. You were busy.
Rella Christensen:
During that time, I wasn't practicing hygiene, but once we got a little maturity on these babies, we were up in your neck of the woods at that time. Gordon did the military right after he graduated, and we were in Fort Lewis.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Oh, right. That's a beautiful area.
Rella Christensen:
And so both of those boys were born on Fort Lewis.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Oh, wow.
Rella Christensen:
And I actually started my dental hygiene then in 1962.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
So how many years did you practice hygiene then?
Rella Christensen:
About 20 years.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
And then you made a decision to go back to school?
Rella Christensen:
I felt, it was almost like a bolt out of heaven. I'd taken my little girl to junior high school which was just south of Brigham Young University. And as I was coming back, I had this little 1977 Land Cruiser with the big wheels. I'm bumping along. And I just had this almost like a voice said, "You will graduate from BYU." It scared me to death looking around, and I've pulled my car over next to the Marriott Center there. And you know what I said? I said, "God, is that you?" And essentially, I had no plans to go back to school. I had a bachelor's degree and I had a good career, and I was enjoying life as a mom of three kids.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
So now, were you working in Gordon's practice at the time as a hygienist?
Rella Christensen:
I was. And I would do pickup work for people that were going on vacation or whatever, but Gordon started a practice when we moved here to Utah. And we'd also just started what was called Clinical Research Associates. And that was put together with the legal papers in 1976 with the first, it was called a newsletter then. In January 1977. And-
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
So were you working on that and from the beginning as well then?
Rella Christensen:
Well, I was it.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Oh, you were it.
Rella Christensen:
I was it. Gordon needed a pansy that he didn't have to pay that was not smart enough to say, do it yourself. And basically it started in the dental hygiene operatory of his office.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
So that's how CRA started?
Rella Christensen:
Yes. Put a microscope there. And we had a project, a person I knew well, Jack O'Connell at Kerr wanted to know how to finish his resin based composite and asked if I'd figure that out for him. And so here we were with this project, and it just kind of went from there. And I started graduate school in 1980.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Deciding to go back to school at 42 is not something a lot of people would follow through with. But then again, Rella isn't like most people. Rella's PhD was in physiology with an emphasis on microbiology.
Rella Christensen:
I don't know what they do these days, but in those days, a group of professors would put together a curriculum that they felt that you needed. You would tell them what you wanted to do and then they would put together this program, and they felt it should be heavy in chemistry. So I had the physiology, the chemistry, and about half of my classes were microbiology, because I was very interested in that. We'd already done a hand wash study as part of CRA, and I worked with a microbiologist there. And it's very handsy, very precise work. I've always said, if you make a mistake in microbiology, it grows. If you make a mistake in chemistry, pour it down the drain and run the water.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Exactly. If it doesn't explode.
Rella Christensen:
Even if it does explode.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Oh my goodness. But that's quite a commitment at 42 to go back to get a degree in micro. So you had to have a lot of drive to do that.
Rella Christensen:
I felt it was something, almost like a mission, that I needed that background and the math and the science and the contexts in those areas, and I was still running CRA, I was directing it. We had 50 people on board just at CRA-
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Oh my goodness.
Rella Christensen:
... At that time. And Gordon was gone about halftime, speaking. He did a lot of talking then. Usually from Wednesday to Saturday, he would be gone and they would usually speak several locations in a time like that. And of course, by then I had kids that were in junior high and just starting high school. And it was a lot. Honestly, Kim, if I had to do it over, I'm not sure I could. You go into these things ignorant and you get to a certain point and there's only one direction forward. You're too far to-
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
To back to quit or give up and.
Rella Christensen:
And so you just keep going. But it was a huge commitment.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
That's a huge commitment. But when you're in your 40s, you have a lot. I look back in my own life and I had so much more energy than I have today. I look back then and I talk about it sometimes, I look back at what I did and I can't believe that I was able to operate and perform well at that. Just being so involved in so many things.
Rella Christensen:
I was so interested. And there was so much pushing, actually almost like a fear, can I really do this? I was only sleeping two hours a night. I would get up at three and try to study between three and seven. I needed that quiet time. When the family got up and then I would come to work, and then I would leave here and drive to BYU for classes during the day and then study at night. And I can't really tell you that it hurt me to do that until I'd done it for about four and a half years. That last six months, somehow I picked up a terrible case of mononucleosis. I'd never had it before.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
And no surprise, you were so run down.
Rella Christensen:
And I was around young people studying and working with them. They say it's not transmissible, but I think it is. And basically that affected the rest of my life. I definitely can only work to a certain point, but I've never needed a lot of sleep. That's been something that's allowed me to have the time to do the things that needed to be done. Because the real science in CRA was done from six until one in the morning.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
So that's a huge commitment, but it had to be driven by curiosity and passion. So you really focused on a purpose that grew out of that for your life?
Rella Christensen:
I had a bad experience with medicine and surgery and a bungled diagnosis and a very bungled surgery when I was young, not as a kid. This is when I was a mom, and I had a real feeling for the helplessness of a patient, especially in a surgical situation where you're under general anesthesia.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
You're putting your life in somebody's hands.
Rella Christensen:
And anything that I had done after my experience, we've always made an arrangement so Gordon could be in the operating room and watch, but that's very uncommon. And I doubt that he'd even be able to do that today, even though he's on the staff of the hospital. I doubt they would allow that today. But I could also see in dentistry, we had some of the same problems where things happen, you can't see inside your own oral cavity. You have no idea what's really going on in there. And intra oral cameras can be a wonderful help, but the clinician has to use it and some patients don't want to see, but some do and had a real sense that people needed an advocate and there's that word, excellence, that we needed to make sure patients were treated with the best and in the best way.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Personal trauma can, for many people, be a road to advocating for others. As dentists, we have a responsibility to give the highest standard of care and make sure that we have the trust of our patients. After years of developing CRA, Rella began to discover a new interest that she wanted to pursue.
Rella Christensen:
And I wanted to look at dental caries from a microbiologist's point of view. And so we started developing this technique. From my point of view, dental caries is a microbiology problem. What are we overlooking? How come in 2004 we still have dental caries? It's just been a major disease almost since the beginning of man.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
It's the number one disease in the world, in every demographic, in every country of the world.
Rella Christensen:
Even the early people had nectar and honey. People say, well, they didn't have anything sweet. It couldn't have been. Oh, let's talk about this.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Even fruit and dried fruit.
Rella Christensen:
Exactly.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
And so dental care, it is kind of ubiquitous. It's been with us for forever, but just as you're telling me that I'm reflecting back to when I graduated from dental school in 1979, they told us to make sure that whatever we wanted to accomplish in dentistry, that we did it in the next 20 years. Because in 20 years, there would be no dental caries because of fluoride. And you're probably not going to have a job. We closed-
Rella Christensen:
No, I lived through that era. Gordon was teaching through that era.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
... 10 dental schools in the early '80s because we just figured there wasn't going to be a demand for dentists. And here we are 40 years later, and there's more dental caries today. Particularly in our young children. It's inconceivable to me. If I could go back and talk to my 25-year-old self and describe what the future is like, I'd have a hard time believing that.
Rella Christensen:
I agree with you. I wanted to set up this lab, but it was going to take money. And Gordon volunteered our family money. He says, "Look..." He said, "Tell me what you need and we'll buy it." And that was a singular opportunity because even if you apply for grants, they're very pointed at certain things. You don't have as much freedom and option to spread out and change your mind and so on.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Well, and you can't follow the science where it leads.
Rella Christensen:
Well, that is often the case, depending on, and you do need to be able to... You're looking straight ahead, but the really interesting stuff may happened to the left or the right. And so we started setting it up. I gathered some of his old dental chairs and picked one out that was in pretty good shape and had it recovered and went out shopping for a operating microscope. And of course, I wanted his eyes. I wanted something that the patient didn't move, but I could focus. And I needed a couple of anaerobe chambers, not just one. I needed two, and I needed a scanning electron microscope. I've been using the one at BYU. I had keys. I could go in there anytime I wanted, but not when the students were there. So it meant that I had to spend the night. I'd go at nine and I'd have to clear out by seven, and I'd have to work all night. And that was okay when I was 40, but when I was getting up there to 60.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
It doesn't feel quite as good, does it?
Rella Christensen:
Yes. So we started picking these things off one by one. He bought me the scanning electron microscope for our 50th wedding anniversary. And instead of a diamond, he actually offered me a new diamond. I said, "Oh, I'd really like to have a scanning electron micro." So anyway, we got that in here.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Rella, that is so you. That is such a great story. Oh my goodness.
Rella Christensen:
And then when I really wanted to pull away from CRAs, he'd like to say thank you for that 27 years that you ran. He said, "I'm going to buy you a new car." And I said, "Honey, I don't really want a new car, but we really need a sequencing machine." And of course, it's many times the cost.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Oh yes.
Rella Christensen:
But at any rate, he bought that sequencing machine. Bless his heart. He didn't have any idea what we were into, but it sits in there. And that's the way we started. And pretty much had all that we needed to set up. And then started developing a technique where first thing we had to do was to create a sterile environment. And that's how we learned about air.
Dr. Kim Kutsch:
Thanks so much for listening to part one of Rella Christensen's amazing interview. Join us in the next episode where we'll dive into the groundbreaking research she's done around air abrasion, her approach to work-life balance and much more. Around here, we aim to inspire and create connections. We can't do it without you. If this conversation moved you, made you smile or scratch that little itch of curiosity today, please share it with the extraordinary people in your life. And if you do one thing today, let it be extraordinary.