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A behind-the-scenes look at what makes wellness dentistry work, with certified biological dental assistant Maja Ani on technology, team growth, and daily energy. Every wellness dental office has a side patients never see, and in this episode I’m taking you behind the scenes with one of the people who makes ours work. Maja is a certified biological dental assistant who has been with me for two years. She runs the technology in our practice, trains dental teams across the country, coordinates our Digital Smile Design cases, and is our new patient expert. Maja’s path into wellness dentistry started with one question. A dentist she worked for asked his patients how they were sleeping, and she couldn’t figure out why a dentist would care. That curiosity sent her looking into the mouth-body connection, and a patient raving about my bonding work led her straight to our job posting. Before that, she applied to the UT Health dental hygiene program three times. She earned interviews and still didn’t get in, and today she calls it “rejection is God’s protection.” We talk about the technology behind your care at our office, including the Trios intraoral scanner, 3D CBCT imaging, SprintRay 3D printing, and the Modjaw system that adds jaw movement for 4D planning. Maya explains why she keeps going past how a machine works until she understands why it matters for the patient, and why that habit makes her such a strong trainer. If you’re a patient, this conversation shows you the people and the care behind every scan and every visit at a wellness dental office. If you’re a dental assistant who wants more from your career, Maja’s story and the three lessons I pull from it (be curious, go for it, follow your gut) are for you. And if you’re a dentist bringing wellness dentistry into your practice, you’ll hear why your team is the piece that makes it work, and what happens when you stop limiting what they can do. We close with Maja’s vision for the first training school for wellness dental assistants, plus the simple morning routine she uses to generate her own energy before she walks in the door. Follow Maja on Instagram: @thewellnessda Connect with Dr. Katie: 🌐 thewellnessdentist.com 📱 @drkatieto Work with Dr. Katie: If you're a patient who's ever felt like your dentist wasn't seeing the full picture, join Dr. Katie's free webinar to learn what a wellness-focused visit actually looks like: https://go.drkatieto.center/register   If you're a dentist ready to ask deeper questions in your own practice, explore CORE membership, Dr. Katie's protocol-trained AI and monthly live coaching built for exactly this kind of shift: wellnessdentistinstitute.com/core-membership Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner.  Before using any products mentioned or attempting methods discussed, please speak with a licensed healthcare provider.  This podcast disclaims responsibility from any possible adverse reactions associated with products or methods discussed.    Opinions from guests are their own, and this podcast does not condone or endorse opinions made by guests.  We do not provide guarantees about the guests' qualifications or credibility. This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

"Probably the same as last time." For years, that's what Dr. Kirstin Ramsay heard from patients as they settled into her chair. Bleeding gums, the same concerns, the same fixes. She could help them that day, and she still knew there had to be a better answer.  Dr. Kirstin has owned her practice in Frisco, Texas for 13 years, and many of her patients have been with her for more than a decade. Over the last several years, she and her team have shifted that practice into wellness dentistry, one step at a time. In this episode, recorded together in Miami, we talk about what it looked like to make that change without losing the patients who trusted her, and why she describes it this way: once you see it, you can't unsee it. This conversation is for the dentist who feels that pull toward whole-body care and wonders where to begin. It's also for the patient who has started to sense that their mouth is connected to how they feel every day, and wants a dentist who sees that too. What you'll learn: -Why patients who seemed perfectly healthy often couldn't remember their last blood work -How Dr. Kirstin brings up vitamin D, A1C, and blood pressure in a dental visit -Why snoring "only when I'm tired" still deserves a closer look -How ozone therapy gives her a gentle, non-invasive way to reduce bacteria and, in some cases, avoid a root canal -Why she has always favored composite bonding and protecting natural enamel -What it took to get comfortable creating educational content -Her top three daily wellness non-negotiables -The vitamin D range she considers optimal, and why we look for 50 or higher before surgery Key moments: The question that started it all. Seeing the same patients year after year with the same issues led Dr. Kirstin to want to understand the why, and to turn care into a partnership. Patients who see their dentist more than their doctor. Coming from a family of physicians, Dr. Kirstin shares her dad's surprise when she told him many of her patients see her more often than they see their physicians, which means dentists can notice changes early. The last 10 years of life. A speaker at the event asked how today's dentistry will affect someone in their final decade. Dr. Kirstin connects that to both minimally invasive care and the wellness conversations she's having now. A team that lives it. Her team didn't just learn wellness dentistry for patients. They began taking better care of themselves, and patients notice. Starting where you are. Dr. Kirstin is open that she hasn't implemented everything in her vision yet, and that bringing patients along at their own pace is part of the work. Dr. Katie's perspective: So many dentists ask me how to bring wellness into their practice, and my answer is always the same. Wellness starts with you. It isn't only about the next product or procedure, it's about how you show up in the morning and what you're willing to share from your own life. Kirstin is a beautiful example of that. She walks the talk, her team walks it with her, and her patients feel the difference. And for patients listening, remember this. We've been trained as a profession to wait until people are sick. Healthcare should be about prevention, education, and helping you feel your best for a long time, and your mouth is one of the clearest places to start. Connect with Dr. Katie: 🌐 thewellnessdentist.com 📱 @drkatieto Work with Dr. Katie: If you're a patient who's ever felt like your dentist wasn't seeing the full picture, join Dr. Katie's free webinar to learn what a wellness-focused visit actually looks like: https://go.drkatieto.center/register   If you're a dentist ready to ask deeper questions in your own practice, explore CORE membership, Dr. Katie's protocol-trained AI and monthly live coaching built for exactly this kind of shift: wellnessdentistinstitute.com/core-membership Connect with Dr. Kirstin: Preston Ridge Dental: www.prestonridgedental.com Dr. Kirstin Ramsey on Instagram and Facebook: @drkirstenramsay Preston Ridge Dental on Instagram and Facebook: @prestonridgedental   About Dr. Kirstin Ramsay: Dr. Kirstin Ramsay DDS is a wellness dentist and the owner of Preston Ridge Dental in Frisco, Texas, where she has cared for many of the same families for more than a decade. Her practice has always leaned toward minimally invasive dentistry, with a special love for composite bonding, and over the last several years she and her team have embraced wellness dentistry, including blood work and saliva screening, airway awareness, and ozone therapy. She shares practical wellness and dental education on social media and is happy to answer questions by DM. Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner.  Before using any products mentioned or attempting methods discussed, please speak with a licensed healthcare provider.  This podcast disclaims responsibility from any possible adverse reactions associated with products or methods discussed.    Opinions from guests are their own, and this podcast does not condone or endorse opinions made by guests.  We do not provide guarantees about the guests' qualifications or credibility. This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

Most dentists build a successful practice by doing everything themselves, from the clinical work to the hiring, the follow-up, and the accounts receivable nobody taught us in dental school. That approach works beautifully for a while, until the day it becomes the very thing holding the practice back. Recorded live in Miami, Dr. Katie sits down with Jose Manuel Bermejo, business and leadership coach, founder of The CEO Advantage, and Growth Director at Digital Smile Design, who joined all the way from Madrid. Jose's thesis is one every practice owner should sit with for a minute: your business can't outgrow you. When a practice hits a revenue ceiling, or you can't find time for your own life, the answer usually lives in how the person leading it makes decisions. They talk about the identity choice every growing practice eventually forces, whether you stay in the chair and hire someone to run the business or step into the CEO role and bring in an associate for the chair. Jose explains how he finds clarity with clients by looking at where their calendar and money actually go, why the gap between what we say matters and what we do is the first thing to close, and how he uses HRV data from an Oura ring or WHOOP to show leaders when a dysregulated nervous system is clouding their judgment, in the boardroom and chairside. He also opens up about running 120 kilometers across the Pyrenees, what his biomarkers revealed about the real cost of peak performance, and the three daily habits he protects in this season of life: deep sleep, a 15 hour fast, and moving his body every day. If growing your practice has ever felt like it meant giving up your health or your family, this conversation is a grounded reminder that it doesn't have to. Take Jose's CEO Advantage assessment: ceoadvantage.josembermejo.com Connect with Jose: [email protected]  LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/josberco/ Connect with Dr. Katie: 🌐 thewellnessdentist.com 📱 @drkatieto Work with Dr. Katie: If you're a patient who's ever felt like your dentist wasn't seeing the full picture, join Dr. Katie's free webinar to learn what a wellness-focused visit actually looks like: https://go.drkatieto.center/register   If you're a dentist ready to ask deeper questions in your own practice, explore CORE membership, Dr. Katie's protocol-trained AI and monthly live coaching built for exactly this kind of shift: wellnessdentistinstitute.com/core-membership Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner.  Before using any products mentioned or attempting methods discussed, please speak with a licensed healthcare provider.  This podcast disclaims responsibility from any possible adverse reactions associated with products or methods discussed.    Opinions from guests are their own, and this podcast does not condone or endorse opinions made by guests.  We do not provide guarantees about the guests' qualifications or credibility. This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

It started with a photo on a Facebook group. Not even her own patient, just someone's mouth that looked exactly like the mouths Dr. Tammy Holliday saw every single day in her chair. Episode overview: Dr. Katie sits down with her longtime friend and fellow biological dentist, Dr. Tammy Holiday of Holiday Dental Wellness in the Seattle area, for a conversation that moves from Tammy's own health transformation straight into the day she flew to Miami to become Dr. Katie's patient. After 20 years as a vegetarian and years of doctors telling her everything was normal, Tammy found the piece nobody had looked at. Then she went one step further than most dentists ever will, and had her own cavitation surgery done so she could understand, firsthand, exactly what she was asking her patients to consider. What you will learn: Why a single Facebook post about a patient's mouth changed the entire direction of Tammy's careerWhat functional nutrition revealed about her own chronic fatigue after two decades as a vegetarianHow Tammy built airway screening, a wellness periodontal program, and biological surgery protocols into her own practiceWhat actually happens during a cavitation surgery, and what came out of a site that had been sitting in her jaw since her wisdom teeth were removedHow her bloodwork and inflammation markers changed after the procedureKey themes: Feeling unheard by conventional medicine, and what it takes to finally listen to your own bodyThe gap between "normal" lab results and actually optimal healthWalking the talk, becoming the patient before asking patients to trust the processDr. Katie's perspective: Dr. Katie has known Tammy since the early days of their wellness dentistry training together, and this conversation carries that history. She reflects on what it means to treat a fellow provider, and why Tammy's willingness to travel across the country for her own surgery matters so much for patients who are still on the fence about hidden infections being real. Guest bio: Dr. Tammy Holliday, DDS, is a biological dentist and owner of Holiday Dental Wellness in the Pacific Northwest. Her practice focuses on airway health, functional nutrition, biological surgery, and a wellness periodontal program built around helping patients see and understand what's actually happening in their own mouths. Links: www.hollidaydentalwellness.com@drtammyholliday Connect with Dr. Katie: 🌐 thewellnessdentist.com 📱 @drkatieto Work with Dr. Katie: If you're a patient who's ever felt like your dentist wasn't seeing the full picture, join Dr. Katie's free webinar to learn what a wellness-focused visit actually looks like: https://go.drkatieto.center/register   If you're a dentist ready to ask deeper questions in your own practice, explore CORE membership, Dr. Katie's protocol-trained AI and monthly live coaching built for exactly this kind of shift: wellnessdentistinstitute.com/core-membership Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner.  Before using any products mentioned or attempting methods discussed, please speak with a licensed healthcare provider.  This podcast disclaims responsibility from any possible adverse reactions associated with products or methods discussed.    Opinions from guests are their own, and this podcast does not condone or endorse opinions made by guests.  We do not provide guarantees about the guests' qualifications or credibility. This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

A patient came in wearing Invisalign trays that hadn't been changed in months. Something felt off in her mouth. When Dr. Saba finally got her into the chair, she found a fungal infection growing on the tray itself. One rinse with ozone water and the patient felt relief she'd never felt from anything over the counter. That's the moment Dr. Saba knew there was more to dentistry than what she'd been taught in school. Episode overview: Dr. Katie sits down with Dr. Saba Rizvi, a wellness dentist with over 28 years of experience at My Dentist For Life in Plantation, Florida, to talk about what happens when a dental practice decides to look at the whole body instead of just the teeth. Dr. Saba's shift started during COVID, when her office needed new protocols to reduce viral risk, and it opened a door she never closed. Today her new patient visits include a live microscope look at saliva and plaque, pH and nitric oxide testing, and 3D CBCT airway scans, and her practice uses a laser called the Fotona for biological extractions and a snoring treatment called NightLase. What you will learn: Why Dr. Saba checks a patient's pH and what it has to do with enamel wearing awayHow ozone therapy is being used for both infection and gum diseaseWhat a CBCT scan can show about airway health that a regular X-ray can'tWhy Dr. Saba doesn't just place implants, she looks at vitamin D, A1C, and nutrition before and afterWhat changed in one patient's face the day after a full mouth reconstructionKey themes: The mouth as a diagnostic window into whole-body healthBuilding a team that gets curious about wellness alongside youWorking alongside her daughter, Dr. Lena, and what that partnership has taught herDr. Katie's perspective: Dr. Katie calls Dr. Saba a "super dentist" for good reason. Full mouth reconstructions, biological extractions, all-on-X implant cases, this is surgery most general dentists refer out, and Dr. Saba is doing it while layering in ozone, laser therapy, and lab work most patients never even know to ask about. It's a real look at what's possible when a dentist decides the mouth and the body were never separate to begin with. Want to understand what a wellness dental visit should actually check for? Join Dr. Katie's free patient webinar to learn what to ask your own dentist.  🔗 https://go.drkatieto.center/register Links: Dr. Saba's practice: mydentistforlife.comInstagram: @dr.sabarizviFacebook: My Dentist For LifeGuest bio: Dr. Saba Rizvi has practiced dentistry for over 28 years and leads a four-doctor wellness practice in Plantation, Florida, where she and her daughter, Dr. Lena, work alongside a team trained in ozone therapy, biological extractions, and full mouth reconstruction. She and Dr. Lena also co-host their own podcast, My Dentist For Life. Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner.  Before using any products mentioned or attempting methods discussed, please speak with a licensed healthcare provider.  This podcast disclaims responsibility from any possible adverse reactions associated with products or methods discussed.    Opinions from guests are their own, and this podcast does not condone or endorse opinions made by guests.  We do not provide guarantees about the guests' qualifications or credibility. This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

Most parents already know they should be drinking more water, getting outside, and taking better care of themselves. Knowing that and actually doing it are two very different things, and that gap is exactly where this conversation lives. Dr. Katie sits down with Dr. Liz Garcia, a dentist and mom of three who took over her father's practice, Arbor Falls Dental and Wellness in Jackson, Michigan, five years ago. Dr. Liz has spent the past few years building wellness into both her practice and her home, and she's honest about how messy that process actually was. This isn't a conversation about doing everything right. It's a conversation about doing one thing, then the next thing, and letting that be enough. They talk through the small daily habits Dr. Liz leans on with her own kids: a morning glass of water with Celtic salt and lemon, sunlight in the eyes before the day gets going, no blue light once the sun goes down, and protein first thing in the morning to keep blood sugar steady. She shares why she tests instead of guesses with her own children's health, how she navigated the right timing for her son's tongue tie release instead of rushing it, and why she believes taking care of yourself as a parent isn't selfish, it's the whole model your kids are watching. If you've ever felt like wellness advice is too overwhelming to actually start, this episode is the reminder that baby steps, done consistently, are the whole strategy. Connect with Dr. Liz: 🌐 arborfallsdentalandwellness.com 📱 @drlizgarcia Connect with Dr. Katie: 🌐 thewellnessdentist.com 📱 @drkatieto Work with Dr. Katie:   If you're a patient who's ever felt like your dentist wasn't seeing the full picture, join Dr. Katie's free webinar to learn what a wellness-focused visit actually looks like: https://go.drkatieto.center/register   If you're a dentist ready to ask deeper questions in your own practice, explore CORE membership, Dr. Katie's protocol-trained AI and monthly live coaching built for exactly this kind of shift: wellnessdentistinstitute.com/core-membership Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner.  Before using any products mentioned or attempting methods discussed, please speak with a licensed healthcare provider.  This podcast disclaims responsibility from any possible adverse reactions associated with products or methods discussed.    Opinions from guests are their own, and this podcast does not condone or endorse opinions made by guests.  We do not provide guarantees about the guests' qualifications or credibility. This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

You're wearing a ring or a watch that tracks your heart rate variability, and you have no idea what the number actually means. Most people don't. They just know a higher score feels like winning and a lower one feels like something went wrong. Dr. Katie sat down with Salim, known online as That HRV Guy, live from the new space at the Center for Wellness Dentistry, and the conversation went somewhere most HRV content never goes. It started with what HRV actually measures, the gap between each heartbeat and what that gap says about your nervous system, and it ended in a place that will change how you think about your mouth. Salim's path into this work started young. He lost his father to cancer at seven and never really processed it, and then his grandmother's breast cancer diagnosis years later sent him searching for answers about what was actually driving disease. That search led him to cellular inflammation, and from there to the realization that chronic stress, not stress itself, is the number one driver behind it. He built a framework around that discovery, ART of the Heart, Awareness, Regulation, Transformation, and five pathways for raising HRV over time: sleep, hormetic stress, reframing, intentionality, and community. He also shares the story behind his own HRV crash from 170 to 30, a bike accident that dislocated his shoulder right after he'd asked the universe for less doing and more being, and how a single reframe with his coach tripled his HRV back to 97 in 24 hours. It's a real look at how directly the mind and the nervous system talk to the body. What you'll learn in this episode: What HRV actually measures and why chasing a higher number misses the point entirelyThe five pathways to raising your HRV baseline, and how each one worksWhy chronic stress is the root driver of cellular inflammationHow nervous system stress shows up directly in saliva production, gum health, and nutrient absorptionWhy the mouth has been missing from the biohacking conversation, and what that's costing peopleKey moments: Salim's origin story and how grief led him into HRV researchThe five pathways framework, explained one by oneThe bike accident, the shoulder injury, and the 24-hour HRV shiftThe nervous system's connection to saliva, digestion, and oral healthSalim's top three daily non-negotiables for nervous system healthDr. Katie's perspective: This conversation confirmed something Dr. Katie has said for years, the mouth is never separate from the rest of the body. Salim's work gave language to a connection she sees in her chair every day, patients whose stress levels show up in their gum health long before they show up anywhere else. Connect with Salim: Instagram: @thathrvguy Website: thathrvguy.com Course and integration journals available at his website For patients: Join Dr. Katie's free patient webinar to learn more about whole-body dentistry: https://go.drkatieto.center/register Connect with Dr. Katie: 🌐 thewellnessdentist.com 📱 @drkatieto Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner.  Before using any products mentioned or attempting methods discussed, please speak with a licensed healthcare provider.  This podcast disclaims responsibility from any possible adverse reactions associated with products or methods discussed.    Opinions from guests are their own, and this podcast does not condone or endorse opinions made by guests.  We do not provide guarantees about the guests' qualifications or credibility. This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

Most people assume that if you're a professional athlete, your health is already dialed in. Cold plunges, red light therapy, personalized nutrition, elite sleep tracking. But there's one thing almost nobody on the team was looking at, and it turns out it might matter more than anyone realized. Dr. Chad Kasperowski has been the team dentist for the Washington Commanders for 17 seasons. He's treated hundreds of professional athletes, and what he found when he started paying closer attention to oral inflammation changed the way his entire team thinks about recovery. Why This Episode Matters Chad ran his own informal study, comparing clinical data from his players against how quickly they recovered from injury. What he found was striking. Players with signs of oral inflammation, things like gum disease or partially impacted wisdom teeth, were consistently the ones taking longer to get back on the field. Nobody had connected those dots before. Not the athletic trainers, not the team physicians, not even Chad himself until he looked. That's the story at the center of this conversation, but it opens up something bigger. Most dentistry is reactive. You wait until something hurts, then you fix it. Chad is part of a small but growing group of dentists thinking proactively instead, using tools most people have never heard of to catch problems long before they become painful, or in this case, before they start showing up in an athlete's performance. What You'll Learn Why oral inflammation can quietly affect recovery time, even in people who otherwise do everything right for their healthWhat diagnostic tools like salivary testing, phase contrast microscopy, and CBCT imaging actually reveal that a standard cleaning and X-ray won'tWhy Chad believes most professional athletes and their families are missing a piece of the wellness puzzle they didn't even know existedThe truth about mouth guards, why custom-fit matters far more than most parents and coaches realize, and why compliance, not protection, is the real problemKey Moments Chad's exploratory study on oral inflammation and injury recovery, and what the data actually showedWhy the average NFL career lasts about three years, and what that means for long-term health planningHow airway and sleep issues show up in professional athletes, and what dentists are uniquely positioned to catchChad's honest take on custom mouth guards versus the boil-and-bite versions from the sporting goods storeDr. Katie's Take What stands out most in this conversation is how simple the underlying idea is. If oral inflammation affects the rest of the body, and we already know it does, then it makes complete sense that it would affect performance and recovery too. Nobody had bothered to check. Chad checked, and what he found should change how every parent, coach, and dentist thinks about the mouth's role in overall health, not just for elite athletes, but for anyone trying to feel and perform at their best. Connect with Dr. Chad:  Champions for Oral Health, Dr. Chad's practice in Northern Virginia championsfororalhealth.comFollow Dr. Chad on Instagram: @DrChadKasperowskiConnect with Dr. Katie: 🌐 thewellnessdentist.com 📱 @drkatieto Work with Dr. Katie: If you're a patient who's ever felt like your dentist wasn't seeing the full picture, join Dr. Katie's free webinar to learn what a wellness-focused visit actually looks like: https://go.drkatieto.center/register If you're a dentist ready to ask deeper questions in your own practice, explore CORE membership, Dr. Katie's protocol-trained AI and monthly live coaching built for exactly this kind of shift. wellnessdentistinstitute.com/core-membership Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner.  Before using any products mentioned or attempting methods discussed, please speak with a licensed healthcare provider.  This podcast disclaims responsibility from any possible adverse reactions associated with products or methods discussed.    Opinions from guests are their own, and this podcast does not condone or endorse opinions made by guests.  We do not provide guarantees about the guests' qualifications or credibility. This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

Dr. Katie recorded this one live at the Beyond Biohacking Conference, and she almost didn't get through her own introduction without gushing. She'd just spent three days in Scottsdale with her guest before this conversation even happened, and it showed. Sports chiropractor Dr. Sean Drake works with elite athletes and high performing executives, the kind of clients who fly across the country for three, four, five days at a time. What he's found after years of doing this work is that the body almost never breaks first. The nervous system does. And once that happens, everything else, sleep, relationships, performance, starts to unravel with it. Why this episode matters Dr. Katie has said for years that working on the teeth alone isn't enough. Dr. Drake says something similar about the body. He's built his entire practice, Modern-E Athlete, around a distinction he makes early in this conversation: a provider treats the symptom in front of them, and a healer treats the whole person. That difference shapes everything else he shares here, including why he sometimes sends new clients home on day one if they aren't ready to do the work. What listeners will learn Why nervous system safety, not physical strength, determines how far someone can go in their body, their career, or their healingThe four pillars Dr. Drake uses with every client, physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual, and why skipping even one keeps healing from holdingWhy breathwork, something that costs nothing, ends up being the hardest modality for people to stay consistent withHow Dr. Drake helped one client go from a Whoop score in the 40s to the 90s, sleeping through the night for the first time in yearsKey moments and themes Dr. Drake opens up about his own path into this work, including a car accident, an addiction, and a divorce that pushed him into what he calls the worst depression of his life. He's honest that none of what he teaches now came from a textbook. It came from having to find his own way out first. He also talks about why he built breathwork into his own daily practice, twice a day, every day, and why he believes most people avoid it for one simple reason. Feeling your emotions is uncomfortable, and breathwork doesn't let you skip that part. Work with Dr. Drake:  🌐 moderneathlete.com 📱 @drseandrake Dr. Katie's perspective Dr. Katie connects Dr. Drake's work back to something she talks about constantly with her own patients. Breath doesn't exist in isolation. It moves through the airway, it shapes the nervous system, and it touches the same whole-body systems she looks at every day in her own practice. This conversation reminded her why she started asking these bigger questions in the first place, and why healing anyone, whether it's a tooth or a nervous system, takes more than fixing what's on the surface. Connect with Dr. Katie: 🌐 thewellnessdentist.com 📱 @drkatieto Work with Dr. Katie: If you're a patient who's ever felt like your dentist wasn't seeing the full picture, join Dr. Katie's free webinar to learn what a wellness-focused visit actually looks like: https://go.drkatieto.center/register If you're a dentist ready to ask deeper questions in your own practice, explore CORE membership, Dr. Katie's protocol-trained AI and monthly live coaching built for exactly this kind of shift. wellnessdentistinstitute.com/core-membership Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner.  Before using any products mentioned or attempting methods discussed, please speak with a licensed healthcare provider.  This podcast disclaims responsibility from any possible adverse reactions associated with products or methods discussed.    Opinions from guests are their own, and this podcast does not condone or endorse opinions made by guests.  We do not provide guarantees about the guests' qualifications or credibility. This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

At 24, Dr. Linty was told she had a 30% chance of surviving. A priest came to give her last rites. She said not today, and meant it. Episode overview: Dr. Linty is tell the story underneath everything she does in practice. What started as a childhood full of unexplained illness turned into a malaria diagnosis that spiraled into acute respiratory distress syndrome at 24 years old. The doctors ran out of options. She didn't die. And that experience became the reason she now asks patients questions most dentists never think to ask. What you will learn: Why Dr. Linty starts every new patient conversation by asking about their birth, their childhood, and old injuries they've long forgottenHow her father's 55 years living with diabetes, and her own family's decision to avoid it, changed how she talks to patients about genetics and epigeneticsWhy a patient can have picture-perfect teeth and still be dealing with an airway issue or gum recession they've never noticedThe difference between practicing as a dentist and stepping into the role of a healer, and why that shift changes everything about how you treat peopleHow she decides who's the right patient fit, and why letting the wrong ones go is sometimes the most caring thing she can doKey themes: Survival, faith, and the moment that becomes the turning point of a lifeGenetics is not destiny, epigenetics gives you more control than you thinkThe mouth holds a record of your history, if someone knows how to read itDr. Katie's perspective: This episode was recorded live at Beyond Biohacking in Austin, and you can feel that energy in it. Dr. Linty's story is proof that the dentists doing the deepest work usually got there through something personal, not a new piece of technology. It's a reminder that wellness dentistry isn't the next CE course or the next toy in the office. It's a way of seeing people that has to be lived first before it can be taught. Guest bio: Dr. Linty practices at Ohio Holistic Dental Center, where she treats patients through a wellness-focused lens that looks at the whole body, not just the mouth. She's a returning guest of the show and previously joined Dr. Katie to talk about building a wellness-minded dental team. Work with Dr. Linty: Dr. Linty's website: ohioholisticdentalcenter.com/Dr. Linty on Instagram: @Dr.LintyWork with Dr. Katie: If you're a patient who's ever felt like your dentist wasn't seeing the full picture, join Dr. Katie's free webinar to learn what a wellness-focused visit actually looks like: https://go.drkatieto.center/register If you're a dentist ready to ask deeper questions in your own practice, explore CORE membership, Dr. Katie's protocol-trained AI and monthly live coaching built for exactly this kind of shift. wellnessdentistinstitute.com/core-membership Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner.  Before using any products mentioned or attempting methods discussed, please speak with a licensed healthcare provider.  This podcast disclaims responsibility from any possible adverse reactions associated with products or methods discussed.    Opinions from guests are their own, and this podcast does not condone or endorse opinions made by guests.  We do not provide guarantees about the guests' qualifications or credibility. This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

Dr. Jennifer Wu thought she was doing everything right. She was working out, training for half marathons, eating what she thought was a healthy diet, and going to her yearly wellness exams like clockwork. Then, in her third trimester, she walked out of an appointment with a preeclampsia diagnosis and blood pressure so high she was put on bed rest immediately. The delivery went fine. The blood pressure never went back down. Her doctor put her on blood pressure medication and told her to expect it for the rest of her life. No explanation, just a prescription and a shrug. She was in her late 30s, feeling good otherwise, and confused about why her body seemed broken with no real reason given. It took 15 years, and a friend's referral to a functional nutritionist, before anyone looked past the blood pressure number itself. Within one conversation, the nutritionist flagged her blood sugar as the likely driver. For the first time in a decade and a half, someone had an actual answer instead of a shrug. Why This Episode Matters This isn't just a patient story, it's the story of a dentist who lived the exact frustration her own patients feel every day. Dr. Jen realized she couldn't keep practicing dentistry the way she'd been trained once she understood the mouth-body connection Dr. Katie teaches. She went back to her own practice, Sunnyvale Wellness Dentistry, and started asking different questions. What Listeners Will Learn Why 15 years passed before anyone connected Dr. Jen's blood pressure to her blood sugarHow she brought whole-body health into her new patient exams, including pH, nitric oxide, vitamin D, and airway evaluationWhat she says to existing patients who notice the exam looking different than it did a year agoHow she got her team, hygienists included, bought into a wellness-based approach without losing trustWhy she calls herself a former "tooth technician" and what changed thatHer three non-negotiable daily wellness practices, from strength training to protecting quiet morning timeKey Moments Dr. Jen describes what it felt like to be a patient whose doctors "gave up" and told her high blood pressure was just normal. She talks candidly about the shift in her own practice once she started reviewing patients' blood work and asking about sleep and airway health, questions dentists were never trained to ask. She and Dr. Katie also talk about why public trust in dentistry has eroded, when patients keep coming back with the same cavities and nobody asks why. Guest: Dr. Jennifer Wu, DDS Sunnyvale Wellness Dentistry, drjenniferwu.com 📱 @drjenwu Dr. Katie's Perspective Recorded live at the Beyond Biohacking conference, this conversation is a reminder that root cause thinking doesn't stay in one lane. If it's true for a patient's health, it's true for how a whole practice should be run. Knowledge shared with a team isn't optional, it's the gift that builds trust between the front desk, the hygienist, and the patient in the chair. For Patients: Join Dr. Katie's free wellness webinar: https://go.drkatieto.center/register For Dentists: Explore CORE membership, protocol-trained AI and monthly live coaching built for practice transformation like Dr. Jen's. www.wellnessdentistinstitute.com/core-membership Connect with Dr. Katie: 🌐 thewellnessdentist.com 📱 @drkatieto Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner.  Before using any products mentioned or attempting methods discussed, please speak with a licensed healthcare provider.  This podcast disclaims responsibility from any possible adverse reactions associated with products or methods discussed.    Opinions from guests are their own, and this podcast does not condone or endorse opinions made by guests.  We do not provide guarantees about the guests' qualifications or credibility. This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

Two of the most costly words you can say might just be "I forgot." That's what memory expert Jim Kwik tells Dr. Katie To in this episode, and once you hear why, you won't think about your brain the same way again. Jim Kwik has spent 14 years speaking at biohacking conferences around the world, and in this conversation with Dr. Katie, he lays out exactly what he teaches on stage: 10 practical, science-backed pillars for building a sharper, more resilient brain. Dr. Katie brings her own clinical lens into the conversation too, connecting what Jim teaches about brain health to what she sees firsthand under the phase contrast microscope, including early markers of cognitive decline that show up in the mouth years before a diagnosis ever does. What you will learn: Why your brain doesn't come with an instruction manual, and what to do about itThe 10 pillars Jim uses to build and protect a "limitless brain," from brain foods to sleep inertia to stress managementWhat digital dementia is and how outsourcing your memory to your phone might be weakening itHow oral inflammation and the mouth-brain connection show up clinically, long before symptoms appearKey themes: Treating the brain like a muscle instead of a mysteryThe difference between knowledge and applied knowledge, and why most people stall out between the twoSelf-talk as a program your brain runs, whether you meant to write it or notWhy community and purpose matter as much as diet and exercise for long-term brain healthGuest bio: Jim Kwik is a memory and brain performance expert, keynote speaker, and host of a podcast with hundreds of millions of downloads. He's spoken at biohacking conferences for over a decade and is the author of the new book Limitless Daily. Links for Jim: Jim Kwik: jimkwik.comLimitless Daily book and 366 challenge: limitlessdaily.comDr. Katie's perspective: What struck me most in this conversation is how much overlap there is between what Jim teaches for brain longevity and what I see clinically every day. We look at patients' saliva under the microscope and we can actually see spirochetes present in people who are already deep into Alzheimer's. We wish we could catch that 20 or 30 years earlier. That's exactly why conversations like this matter so much to me, because the brain and the mouth are never as separate as people think. For Dentists If you're building or renovating a practice with a wellness-first patient experience in mind, this conversation gives you a real framework for getting the workflow and sensory design right from the start. Explore CORE membership to build the full system around it: wellnessdentistinstitute.com/core-membership For Patients Curious what a truly whole-body dental experience feels like, not just looks like? Join Dr. Katie's free webinar: https://go.drkatieto.center/register Connect with Dr. Katie: 🌐 thewellnessdentist.com 📱 @drkatieto Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner.  Before using any products mentioned or attempting methods discussed, please speak with a licensed healthcare provider.  This podcast disclaims responsibility from any possible adverse reactions associated with products or methods discussed.    Opinions from guests are their own, and this podcast does not condone or endorse opinions made by guests.  We do not provide guarantees about the guests' qualifications or credibility. This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

For years, activated charcoal has been the default recommendation for anyone going through amalgam removal or heavy metal detox. It works, but it doesn't discriminate. It pulls out the good with the bad, leaving people dehydrated and depleted of the electrolytes their body actually needs. Dr. Katie's practice ran on activated charcoal for decades, until she found a cleaner way. Episode overview: In this episode, Dr. Katie sits down with Dr. Catharine Arnston, founder and CEO of Energybits, to talk about the real story behind spirulina and chlorella and why they've become part of Dr. Katie's safe mercury removal protocol. Dr. Catharine's path into algae started 17 years ago when her sister was diagnosed with breast cancer and told to eat an alkaline diet with no real guidance on what that meant. Her research led her to spirulina and chlorella, two of the most studied and nutrient-dense foods on earth, and she's spent the years since building a company around sourcing them the right way. What you will learn: Why chlorella pulls out heavy metals, glyphosate, and mold without stripping the minerals activated charcoal takes with itHow algae farming actually works, and why where and how it's dried changes everything about its nutritional valueThe specific protocol Dr. Katie's practice uses before and after amalgam removal, and why timing it around sleep mattersKey themes: Real food versus supplements, and why bioavailability changes the entire conversationWhat clean sourcing actually looks like when a product absorbs everything in the water it grows inDetox support that goes beyond the mouth, including gut health, sleep, and energyDr. Katie's perspective: We used activated charcoal in this practice for years because it was the only trusted option we had. But watching patients get dehydrated from something that was supposed to be helping them never sat right. Once we found a source of chlorella clean enough to actually trust, the shift was immediate. This is the kind of thing I want every biological dentist to know exists, because our patients deserve better than a workaround. Links: energybits.comWatch for Dr. Catharine Arnston's upcoming book, Love Your Health to Bits (October 2026, Amazon and Audible)IG 📱  @energybitsGuest bio: Dr. Catharine Arnston is the founder and CEO of Energybits, a company built around medical-grade spirulina and chlorella grown and dried without high heat to preserve their nutrient profile. She started the company 17 years ago after researching alkaline nutrition for her sister during breast cancer treatment, and has since worked with physicians, cardiologists, and biological dentists to bring algae-based detox protocols into clinical practice. For Dentists If you're building or renovating a practice with a wellness-first patient experience in mind, this conversation gives you a real framework for getting the workflow and sensory design right from the start. Explore CORE membership to build the full system around it: wellnessdentistinstitute.com/core-membership For Patients Curious what a truly whole-body dental experience feels like, not just looks like? Join Dr. Katie's free webinar: https://go.drkatieto.center/register Connect with Dr. Katie: 🌐 thewellnessdentist.com 📱 @drkatieto Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner.  Before using any products mentioned or attempting methods discussed, please speak with a licensed healthcare provider.  This podcast disclaims responsibility from any possible adverse reactions associated with products or methods discussed.    Opinions from guests are their own, and this podcast does not condone or endorse opinions made by guests.  We do not provide guarantees about the guests' qualifications or credibility. This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

Most dentists design their office once and live with it for years, without ever asking why certain rooms feel tense, why patients seem anxious the second they sit down, or why the team feels drained by 3pm even on a normal day. In this episode, Dr. Katie To sits down with Julia Kappler, CEO of Kappler Group and fourth-generation leader of an 80-year family design and millwork company, live at the Beyond Biohacking Conference, to talk about what's really happening underneath dental office design. Why This Episode Matters Julia's company has spent decades inside healthcare spaces, and her perspective goes far beyond paint colors and cabinetry. She and Dr. Katie get into how a space affects the nervous system before a patient ever opens their mouth, and why so many practices are still built around workflows nobody has questioned in decades. What You'll Learn Why design is about more than what you see, and how sound, smell, and visual experience shape how safe or anxious a patient feelsThe real story behind why instrument washers "fail" in most dental offices, and the overlooked fix that has nothing to do with the equipment itselfHow to protect your vision when building or renovating a practice, so cost-cutting and outside opinions don't quietly erode what you set out to buildWhy workflow inefficiency doesn't just slow a practice down, it accumulates in the body of every team member who works thereThe three daily wellness practices Julia relies on to stay grounded while running a global design companyKey Moments Julia shares her personal path into healthcare design, shaped by growing up in a family business and a lifelong fascination with psychology and the brain. She and Dr. Katie talk through the real differences she's observed moving from Germany to the U.S., particularly around regulation and water quality standards most American practices have never questioned. The conversation moves into a story about her instrument washer, an example that says everything about how dentistry tends to remove a problem instead of asking what's actually causing it. Dr. Katie's Perspective Dr. Katie connects Julia's design philosophy directly to her own experience building a wellness-based practice, pointing out that a beautiful space means nothing if the person running it isn't practicing what they preach, and that patients can feel that the moment they walk in. For Dentists If you're building or renovating a practice with a wellness-first patient experience in mind, this conversation gives you a real framework for getting the workflow and sensory design right from the start. Explore CORE membership to build the full system around it: wellnessdentistinstitute.com/core-membership For Patients Curious what a truly whole-body dental experience feels like, not just looks like? Join Dr. Katie's free webinar: https://go.drkatieto.center/register Connect with Dr. Katie: 🌐 thewellnessdentist.com 📱 @drkatieto Connect with Julia Kappler: 🌐 kapplergroup.com 📱 @kapplergroup Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner.  Before using any products mentioned or attempting methods discussed, please speak with a licensed healthcare provider.  This podcast disclaims responsibility from any possible adverse reactions associated with products or methods discussed.    Opinions from guests are their own, and this podcast does not condone or endorse opinions made by guests.  We do not provide guarantees about the guests' qualifications or credibility. This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

Most patients leave the dental chair after amalgam removal and expect to feel better quickly. What they don't expect is two months of flu-like symptoms, fatigue, and a body that seems to be working harder than it did before the fillings came out. Nobody prepared them for that, and in most cases, nobody warned them it was coming. This episode is that conversation. Dr. Katie sits down with Dr. Atousa, a biological dentist, founder of Airway First Approach, and the Colorado Dental Wellness Center, who had her own mercury amalgam fillings safely removed right in Katy, Texas. She came back to share what happened after, and it's one of the most honest, grounded accounts of post-amalgam recovery you'll hear from a clinician who became her own patient. Why this episode matters The safe removal conversation, protocols like SMART, biological materials, proper PPE, has grown considerably over the past few years. But the detox conversation that follows hasn't kept pace. Patients are going through removal without a roadmap for what their body will do next. Dr. Atousa's story gives that roadmap a human face, and her perspective as both a dentist and a patient makes it land differently than anything you'll read in a clinical guide. What you'll learn in this episode Dr. Atousa walks through her full journey, from preparing with a naturopath before the procedure to working through Dr. Daniel Pompa's multi-phase cellular detox program. She explains why she struggled to sweat at first, what that revealed about her detox pathways, and how two weeks off over the holidays became the reset her body needed to open things up. She shares the daily practices that made the biggest difference, weekly bone broth, sauna, red light therapy, BEAMER sessions, breathwork, hiking, and why cutting seed oils was the move that showed up on her liver scan four years later as a complete reversal of her fatty liver diagnosis. She also talks about what she now notices in her own patients going through the same process, why some feel nothing at all and others feel like they have the flu for weeks, and why rushing the detox timeline does more harm than going slowly through each phase. Key moments in this conversation The "bucket" analogy Dr. Atousa uses to describe what it felt like when her body finally had more room to process, and why that image captures something no clinical explanation quite does. The moment she realized she had never really sweated, and what her detox coach told her about what that meant for her lymph and detox pathways. A fatty liver diagnosis four years ago, despite never drinking and eating what she thought was a clean diet, and how seed oil elimination changed her next liver scan entirely. Why Dr. Atousa says her compassion for patients went to a completely different level after going through removal herself, and how that changed the way she practices. Her vision for Colorado Dental Wellness Center, designed from the ground up to include airway screening, whole-body intake, and recovery modalities right inside the practice. About Dr. Atousa Dr. Atousa is a biological dentist, founder of Airway First Approach, and owner of Colorado Dental Wellness Center in Colorado. She is an IABDM and IAOMT-aligned practitioner whose approach to patient care starts with airway screening before diving into traditional dental assessment. She designed her new facility specifically to support the whole-body healing process her patients go through before, during, and after biological dental treatment. Follow Dr. Atousa on Instagram: @dratousa.s Follow Colorado Dental Wellness Center: @coloradodentalwellnesscenter Resources mentioned in this episode IABDM: iabdm.org  IAOMT: iaomt.org Connect with Dr. Katie Join Dr. Katie's free patient webinar and take the first step toward whole-body dental wellness:  👉 drkatieto.center/register 🌐 thewellnessdentist.com  📱 @drkatieto Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner.  Before using any products mentioned or attempting methods discussed, please speak with a licensed healthcare provider.  This podcast disclaims responsibility from any possible adverse reactions associated with products or methods discussed.    Opinions from guests are their own, and this podcast does not condone or endorse opinions made by guests.  We do not provide guarantees about the guests' qualifications or credibility. This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.