In this episode, Dr. Nammy Patel explains how holistic dentistry supports biohackers who want better energy, sleep, focus, and longevity. She says the mouth is deeply connected to the brain, heart, and gut, and that certain oral bacteria are linked to major diseases like heart attack, diabetes, cancer, and Alzheimer’s. Her practice tests the oral microbiome, genetics, airway, sleep quality, and even sinus structure to improve breathing and nitric oxide levels, which affect recovery and performance. She also shares daily tips like nasal breathing, staying hydrated, coconut oil on the gums, and leafy greens to “bio-optimize” from the inside out.
Holistic Dentistry for Biohackers (Podcast)
John Maher: Hi, I am John Maher and I’m here today with Dr. Nammy Patel, founder of Green Dentistry in San Francisco, California, helping patients recognize the vital connection between dental health and whole-body health. And author of the bestselling books, Age with Style Guide to a Youthful Smile and Healthy Living and Total Wellness: Understanding the Link Between Your Teeth and Your Health. Today, our topic is Holistic Dentistry for Biohackers. Welcome, Dr. Nammy.
Dr. Nammy: Thank you for having me, John. I’m delighted to be here.
How Does Oral Health Impact Body Optimization?
John: Yeah, thank you. So, Dr. Nammy, how does oral health play into whole body optimization for things like energy, sleep, and performance?
Dr. Nammy: Although that’s a great question, John. One of the things I have discovered in my 20 years of practice is that I have certain patients who are just thriving and doing really well, and when it comes to health, and also science has proven so many wonderful things, if you are somebody who’s interested in bio optimization or biohacking your body to avoid diseases as you get older, dentistry is crucial because it’s really important in two most important ways.
Of course, there are root canals, of course, brushing your teeth, all of those things are really a given. But the new information that’s really exciting is really looking at the microbiome and testing it. We can now test a specific bacteria that is in your mouth that causes heart attacks, diabetes, cancers, Alzheimer’s, arthritis, and many other diseases.
And on top of that, we can actually test your immune system, so your genetics. So, what we can see is what your gene marker is, what mom and dad gave you, which is are you at high risk for inflammation and disease or are you at low risk for inflammation and disease, or are you medium risk? When we have this information, number one with information about the bacteria plus how your immune system works, we can really focus on your environment and what you can do with confidence about how to help prevent heart attacks, diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer’s, arthritis in biohack yourself and bio optimize yourself.
Now, let’s take that a step further. We can look at your biomarkers through your saliva. That’s number one. The second is we can actually optimize you in the most amazing way through making sure that we can expand your 3D nasal volume.
That means expanding your sinuses and expanding your nose. Absolutely. And as do that, we create this molecule that is naturally created by our bodies. We increase your body’s capacity to increase more of it. The way we do that is there’s a product called nitric oxide. Your body actually makes it on its own when you breathe through the nose. So you can imagine that once we expand the 3D nasal volume structurally, it actually gives you an oxygen advantage.
It gives you a nitric oxide advantage. So what you’re actually able to do is give your body your own ingredients and put it structurally in the right place so that you can live long and you can bio optimize. What has happened in the last, throughout evolution actually, is our ancestors. When we were in the primate species, when we were gorillas and monkeys, our sinuses were really big. In fact, if you look at one, you’ll see that they have these really big nostrils, right?
The reason for that is because when we were closer to the ground, our sinuses were really big and our heads are smaller. But what has happened throughout evolution is that our sinus cavities have become smaller and our heads have become bigger, and that’s how we can create things like AI for people on the moon and just do these amazing things. So, what we want to do now is combine that, right? We want to keep our brains, we want to increase capacity. We also want to increase our sinus cavities and that functional airway and increase the amount of nitric oxide our bodies can naturally create through breathing.
About Mouth, Gut, And Brain Health
John: So tell me a little bit more about that mouth, gut, and brain connection and the role that it plays in biohacking longevity and vitality.
Dr. Nammy: Well, that’s another great question. And so earlier I mentioned to you, we now know the specific bacteria that can cause disease. We now know how your genetic system works. We can control your environment. And the beauty of that is as we do that, we talked about nitric oxide just a couple of minutes ago. We now know you can make nitric oxide a lot more if you expand your sinus cavities.
Now, the second way to increase nitric oxide in your system is by making sure you have the correct microbiome, this good bacteria in your mouth. And when you have the good bacteria, which is absence of the bacteria that cause heart attack, diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer, arthritis, you will actually have good bacteria that helps take the food that we eat, like the green smoothie or a salad. It’s going to help you break that down and convert into nitric oxide in your stomach.
Do you remember nitrogen fixation when we were children, we had to learn that whole cycle. So when it comes to our bodies, we actually have to break that nitrogen down into the molecule that actually is functional. That’s actually going to work. And the way we do that is take those food, it’s grown in the soil that soil gives it nitrogen, right?
And so, we have nitrate which goes into nitrite and we’ve got to turn into nitric. So the process of that that occurs is you put food in the mouth, there’s bacteria inside the mouth, help you break down the food, and you add the stomach acids to it, and then the food goes into your duodenum, where your intestine, where it’s actually absorbed. And in that area where it’s absorbed is really critical because that’s where the nitric oxide can be maximized so that again, you can bio optimize yourself, biohack yourself with food. We want to biohack you and bio optimize you with air. We also want to biohack and bio optimize you with food.
Recommended Dental Practices
John: What are some of the dental practices that you recommend that support all of this and support peak health?
Dr. Nammy: Some dental practices that I recommend is going to, number one, always make sure you’re hydrated in the mouth. So making sure you have a mouth that is not dry. So dry mouth tends to increase the bacteria that causes heart attack, diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer, arthritis. The other concern is sleep apnea, because that again is you’re not breathing through the nose, you’re breathing through the mouth. So nose breathing, highly recommended, making sure that you’re obviously brushing, flossing, keeping the microbiome clean is really also very, very, very important.
The other thing that always really helps in this I love to do is before you go to sleep, I would recommend that you floss first, brush your teeth, take some coconut oil, rub it on your gums, and then mouth tape vertically. Because as you rub the coconut oil on the gums, you’re making sure the mouth is not dry. When you’re putting the mouth tape, you’re ensuring that your nose breathing. So again, creating that second source of that nitric oxide,
Diagnostics Available At Holistic Dentistry Office
John: Are there some specific advanced diagnostics that you have available at your practice? Like maybe microbiome testing, 3D imaging, things like that, that might help to optimize oral health?
Dr. Nammy: Absolutely. We do both, actually. We do several things. Number one, we definitely always test a microbiome. We test the genetics to see how the body is responding and what we need to do with change you. And then we do a CBCT, a 3D scan of the nasal volume, not just here, but we look at is the sinus cavities. We look at the tongue position and also the windpipe to make sure that entire functional airway is in the proper shape.
And in addition to that, we actually like to look at your blood work. We also like to check your levels of vitamin D3 and B12 when vitamins D3 and B12 are in order. D3 is really great because it is a precursor to all your hormones, all the testosterone, the estrogen. In fact, D3 is just so important because it’s pretty much in every pathway we can find. So we really check vitamin D3. We also check vitamin B12 because when you have D3 and B12, it not only ensures that you have good microbiome in the mouth, but it also makes sure that you have good healthy microbiome in the gut. And that way we can prevent a leaky brain or a leaky gut and a leaky mouth.
Daily Routines for Oral Care
John: Are there some additional daily routines? You mentioned rubbing your gums with coconut oil. Are there some other things like that that biohackers can adopt to stay ahead of the curve in between visits to the dentist?
Dr. Nammy: Absolutely. The other thing I want to add is the one thing we can control is our environment. Genetics we don’t have much control over. So, when it comes to increasing the amount of nitric oxide, the most important thing to do is lots of leafy greens. So, my favorite thing to do is have lots of green smoothies. Green smoothies are great because they’re loaded with nitric oxide and fiber, and it really helps your mouth, your gut, and it works really well for all your cellular functions. It also helps pull out toxins because as your body is eating all this good food that doesn’t have a lot of chemicals and doesn’t need a lot to break down, your body has more reserved to function better.
It has more energy and time to be able to pull out toxins. It’s not busy breaking down food, it’s actually having time to regenerate and the green smoothies, green salads, seeds, nuts, all of these things have really great ingredients that your body actually needs in order to function better. So that way it can use ingredients properly and bio optimize you and biohack you.
John: Alright, well that’s all really great information, Dr. Nammy. Thanks again for speaking with me today.
Dr. Nammy: Absolutely.
John: And for more information about green dentistry, you can visit the website at sfgreendentist.com or call 415-433-0119.
