In this video, Dr. Nammy Patel shares the case of Christina, a nurse who initially visited with dental phobia and unexplained fatigue. During her checkup, Dr. Patel discovered that her childhood braces had led to a crowded tongue and a constricted airway, contributing to poor sleep and exhaustion. By expanding her airway—from 30 to 32.8 millimeters—Christina’s sleep improved dramatically from 5 hours to nearly 9 hours, leading to better rest, weight loss, and increased energy. This case underscores the value of holistic dentistry as a vital investment in overall health and well-being.
Dr. Nammy Patel: Hi, there. Today, I want to share with you a wonderful case with one of my patients. Her name is Christina. A lovely patient, a nurse in the health industry. And came to me. It’s like, “I’m really phobic of the dentist. I don’t really like them. So, I’m here for a general checkup.” And then as we talked, got around to talking, I’ve noticed that there was really big bags underneath her eyes. And she was like, “I’m always tired. I feel like I’m burning out a little bit, because I’ve been in the industry. COVID’s happened. We’re always giving. There’s a shortage of nurses. And I’m really exhausted all the time and I can’t get myself to have more energy or do other things.”
And I said, “Okay. Well, let’s take a look around. You’re in the right place.”
Evaluating Her Oral Health
So, first and foremost, we really looked at her gums, making sure everything was okay there. And frankly, it was, so that was really great. The second place we went to, which was really interesting, is because she had some braces as a child. So, I asked her a couple more questions. And she was like, “My tongue feels like it’s really big for my mouth. Sometimes I get this chokey feeling in the back of my throat.” And I said, “That’s really interesting. Let’s take a look around and see what we find.”
So, I’m going to go ahead and share with you what we found and what we did with her, so here we go. So, this is Christina. So, when I first met her, you can see that she doesn’t really have a wind pipe. Her tongue is super fat. You can’t really get in there. And she was right on point. She knew exactly what she was talking about, while she was feeling exhausted and stuff. And so, this is when we started with her. This is when we finished with her. You can see how there’s a massive open windpipe. We can see her uvula completely, and she has a big, big, big windpipe that’s open, which is really nice to see.
Enlarging the Wind Pipe
We also did some scanning. And let’s see if I can blow this up for you a little bit. But it shows that she was at 30 millimeters and we took her to 32.8 millimeters by widening her up, which is really awesome. And you’re probably wondering, what does this have to do with anything? In all honesty, a lot of patients suffer from this, where they feel like the tongue is too big for their mouth. They almost feeling like they’re chokey. And the symptoms usually is, is that they’re really just tired. They don’t sleep as much as they should. And this is for a sleep study, which we looked at.
Oral Treatments Leading to Improved Sleep
She was sleeping on average about five hours before we started working with her. And then now, you can see her results later. She’s sleeping about eight hours and 40 minutes, which is great. She’s well-rested. She’s actually lost 10 pounds, which has been phenomenal. Has taken up dancing and has far more energy. And the most interesting thing is also, because of us being able to expand her airway and get her breathing really well, stopped snoring, she’s actually able to even just get out and do more things, increase her capacity to do more work, which is really awesome.
Here she goes, a couple of months ago, writes us a really nice review. Says she found me because she was looking for a dentist who can deal with anxiety, but she felt really comfortable. Her appointment just worked out. We were able to get a sleep study. But she was really happy to start improving her health.
And she didn’t expect the journey to start with a dentist. Everyone’s done a great job. She really feels well taken care of. And the whole lesson is not all treatments are covered by insurance, as they’re not, but best, very worthy of my investment for health. That is a big thing coming from a healthcare provider who is working with sick patients all day long, again in ICUs and in different departments.
Holistic Dentistry Is an Investment in Your Health
For her to say, “Hey, this is the best investment, dentistry and holistic dentistry is the best investment in your health,” is pretty phenomenal. So, it’s really awesome to be able to look at a patient holistically. Not just, “Hey, if there’s a hole, let me plug it.” But really look at microbiome, really look at the airway, really look at the lifestyle and see what we can optimize for you so that you can have a long, healthy life. But yes, I hope for you to have the same experience as Christina did, and have a wonderful time. Call upon us if you need anything and we’ll go from there.
