In this episode, Dr. Nami Patel of Green Dentistry explains concierge dentistry, a deeply personalized approach that connects dental care with total body health. Instead of just doing cleanings and fillings, her team runs advanced tests, studies sleep and airway health, checks genetics and oral bacteria, and coordinates with each patient’s doctors. This model is especially helpful for people with cancer, autoimmune issues, or chronic illness. Dr. Patel says the goal is to find root causes, prevent future disease, and create a long-term plan so patients live longer, feel better, and avoid crisis care — not just fix teeth.
Concierge Dentistry (Podcast)
John Maher: Hi, I am John Maher and I’m here today with Dr. Nami Patel, a 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 Concierge Dentistry. Welcome Dr. Nammy.
Dr. Nammy Patel: Thank you for having me, Joan.
Defining Concierge Dentistry
John: Sure. Dr. Nammy, how do you define concierge dentistry at green dentistry and what makes it different from a traditional dental practice, especially for holistic minded patients?
Dr. Nammy: Sure. That’s a great question. A concierge practice like mine, it does a deep dive into the patient starting with the medical history, starting to connecting with the medical doctors, naturopaths, sometimes even acupuncturists or even osteopaths, really doing a deep dive on what the patient’s problem is. Then what we do is we diagnose through testing, so we are not just taking x-rays and saying, you have a cavity and you need a cleaning.
What we actually do is deep dive into you. What we want to check is your genetics, your oral microbiome. We want to do sleep. We’re going to look at how is your sleep, what is your oxygen saturation like? What is your heart rate variability? What is your stress levels like? What are your nitric oxide levels like?
So we’re doing a deep dive into you and really figuring out where the problem could be. And once we discover the problems, what we’re doing is doing the treatment, triaging with your medical doctors, especially if you’re a patient who has cancer, if you have chronic illness or if you’re a bio optimizer, it’s really crucial that everything is laser dialed in on what you specifically need so that all the work that you may be doing with chronic illness or with cancer or bio optimizing with your medical doctors is done in a way that’s synergistic.
And what that does is that it actually allows two practitioners to come together to take better care of you. We can help you save time, effort, energy, money, and give you the one thing you want, which is total confidence in health. And that total confidence in health is the key because we as providers, a dentist, a medical doctor, osteopath, naturopath, connect and say, these are the findings that I’m seeing.
This is how it’s going to influence what you’re doing on this patient. So this is what you need to modify so that everything is linked together. There’s none of this…it’s all synergistic work that really gives you the best outcome while saving you time and money.
Typical Treatments in a Concierge Plan
John: So, what are some of the specific treatments that are typical in a concierge plan and how do you tailor those to the specific individual that you’re working with?
Dr. Nammy: So, it depends on the person and what they need. I would say that 80% of my patients are going to be somebody who’s been struggling with chronic illness, somebody who has cancer or autoimmune dysfunction. The other thing that we’re looking at is bio optimizers. People who want to biohack.
So, they’re the three main patients of my practice, and the first testing is standard. It’s going to be the medical history, right? We are going to get to know each person, figure out exactly what’s going on. Some of the patients have genetic predispositions, some of them, there’s no idea why they’re having the disease that they have. Then we start looking at the symptoms. “Okay, what are your symptoms? How can dentistry be related to that?” And let’s start with some diagnostic testing.
So that testing includes a 3D CBCT, so that we can look at you going down, going forward and really look at you in 3D from your sinus cavity, well, from your brain to your eyes, to your sinus cavities, to your tongue position, to your arches, to your airway, to your spinal column, and really making sure that everything is in place because we now know when C1 to C3 is in place, which is going to be your spinal column, everything else aligns much better.
All the cranial nerves are working properly. We’re really looking at, of course, any root canals, any amalgam fillings, any gum disease, any specific bacteria that would be problematic for each of the diseases. We’re also looking at sleep, the heart rate, heart variability, how many hours of sleep? What is your diet? What are you doing to recoup? Are there stressful moments? What’s your originating moment when the stress began?
Because stress induces cortisol and cortisol is just a bad, bad, bad thing for your body because it keeps it in constant fight or flight stage versus rest and digest. So, we really go deep down, figure all these things out, and as we do that, we’re working with the medical doctors to say, hey, these are the concerns. This is what I’m discovering. I’d like to know what you’re doing. So how can we work together so that we can make sure that this patient gets the best outcome?
Sometimes patients are on doing treatment like IV treatments for cancer patients. They’re going in getting their blood cleaned out, sometimes weekly, sometimes biweekly. If they’re stage four and they’re still living, these patients are still living because of all the work that we’re doing together. They’re doing that from a medical side, from the dental side, I’m making sure the microbiome is balanced and in proper position, I’m making sure they don’t have sleep variability. They’re sleeping much better, they’re optimizing much better, and they’re regenerating much better so that all the good stuff that they’re getting through IV therapy is now going to work much better because the body is going to be able to regenerate quicker, faster, more efficiently, and stay there.
What About Airway And Sleep Testing
John: Tell me a little bit more about the airway and sleep testing, especially for patients who might have sleep apnea and things like that. How does that play a role in their oral health and in this concierge model?
Dr. Nammy: Awesome, thank you for that question. That’s actually a really good question. So we are not just looking for sleep apnea, we’re actually looking for upper air resistance, which turns into sleep apnea within about five years or so.
So first, we’re looking at every stage of your life. There are certain things that happen at certain ages, fifties, sixties, seventies, eighties, nineties and so forth. Our goal is to help you make sure that you don’t get Alzheimer’s. You have your ability and mobility, and then also arthritis as well as cancer, and all these life-threatening conditions, which is cancer, heart attacks also, prevent all of those.
And the way we do that is we look at upper air resistance. We look at your 3D nasal volume, we look at your tongue position, we look at your windpipe and we test you. So the test is very easy. You wear a ring and it’s in the comfort of your own home. So the data is very accurate. You’re not sleeping in the lab, you’re in the comfort of your own home. You’re doing what you normally do before going to sleep and what you normally do when you wake up.
This gives us a lot of tangible information because now we know what your nightly routine is, like we know what you’re doing before bed. We know what’s happening during your sleep that is related. We also know how you’re waking up, and this is really important in so many different ways because we want sleep to be the most important thing you do. It’s going to be regenerative.
And even if you get four hours of sleep, we want that sleep to be good REM sleep, which is rapid eye movement, because that’s when your body focuses on healing. And that’s where my energy and focus is going to be to make sure that I can get you there, but I always have to know where I’m starting. So we do the testing and the comfort of your own home. We combine that with your medical history and your symptoms. Then we take that and add a CBCT to it. So 3D structure of what you look like. So is something structurally off? Is something chemically off, or is something off by hygiene, or is it just stress? So we can figure out and pinpoint exactly what the problem is and we can address it and we can fix it.
A Success Story
John: Can you share a story of a patient where concierge level coordination meaningfully changed their outcome?
Dr. Nammy: Absolutely. I’m going to share my patient, Cynthia, she’s a lovely 62-year-old female, and came to me because a medical doctor had referred her to my practice, and she’s been through cancer three times. So, she’s had cancer three times, and so they just couldn’t figure out why it keeps recurring. And so they sent her to me. We do our oral microbiome test. We discover this bacteria, we see her genetics. She is at high disposition for cancer as well as heart attack, diabetes and Alzheimer’s, and arthritis. She was also starting to have some symptoms of Alzheimer’s that were present. She was also very anxious and started developing tremors, was just really nervous. And also clinically, I mean, she had cancer.
She had cancer three times. And technically if you cure the cancer once, it usually stays away for a while as long as the diet and exercise and all those things are handled. But she was extremely phobic of going to the dentist. So she hadn’t been a dentist in 10 years. She came to me, coordinated with the doctor, and at that time she had liver cancer.
So, the liver is really important in all of our body functions. It detoxifies her body. So that was very important. We looked inside her mouth, we tested the microbiome, we tested her sleep. It turned out that she had braces when she was eight years old, and then she had braces again when she was 12 years old. And it turned out that she decided to do another round of Invisalign in her thirties. And so what that kept doing is shrinking her sinus cavities.
So we were able to see that on the scans. So, once we were able to see that on the scans, we were able to come up with a diagnosis and also a report for the medical doctor. So, as we gave this report to the medical doctor, they looked at, oh my gosh, I see what you’re saying. Let’s make sure we get this bacteria out of her system. Let’s make sure her toxic burden is lowered. Let’s make sure she has good rest. And that’s what I do, so that when they’re doing their IV therapies or when they’re giving her the chemo, it’s actually working better.
And I tell you so often I get doctors who call me and say, I only want to work with you. The reason being is I see that the results are better for my patients and the results are better when I coordinate with them because we triage and say, “Hey, how’s this patient doing? What can we do better?”
And what we find is that these patients are doing so much better for their services and they’re healing faster and staying healthier longer. And I’m proud to say that it’s been 12-years and her cancer is still gone. And it’s really wonderful to be able to see that because her recurrence before was every three years.
What Are The Costs & Benefits of Concierge Dental?
John: Wow. For patients that might be considering this type of concierge level dentistry, what are the real costs and benefits in terms of their improved health and reduced emergencies and long-term health gains and who’s right for the practice and who might not be?
Dr. Nammy: Sure. So I always say that if you want to add 10 years to your life, easily 10 years, and the insurance company values your life at $120,000 a year, so that would be a million dollars. I am not going to charge you that, obviously. So are there fees? Absolutely, because it takes time. There is so much testing, there’s so much information that we’re doing behind the scenes and especially getting to that root, especially when we’re getting to that root cause and that causative factor.
So, there’s a cause and an effect, right? When we get to that cause and we really need to fix it properly. Some things are easily done within a day or two. Sometimes things take a little bit longer and multiple visits. So, that will add, obviously healthcare is costly, right? So, it will add a cost to it. And especially when we’re looking at treatments that are 2, 3, 4, 5 years or so, there is an investment to it. So if you’re that kind of person, my practice is a right treatment for somebody who wants to get better and is willing to pay for it.
It doesn’t mean you have to have all the money up front. We have financing, we’re happy to help. But that right mindset and coachability has to be number one. If you don’t have the right mindset, if you just want to argue with me and argue with anybody or argue with any results or the data that it gives you, you’re probably not the right person for my practice.
If you’re a person that wants help but doesn’t want to pay for it and doesn’t want to respect my time or energy, you’re probably not the right fit for the practice. But if you’re somebody who knows, like, “hey, I understand what you’re doing. I want to get better, and I understand that it’s going to take more time and more energy than an average person, so it’s going to cost me a little bit more and it’s a fair price”, then you’re the right fit for me.
Because then we can come up with a customized, personalized game plan for you. We can phase treatment, but what we’re going to be doing is making you better. And instead of you going to the wrong place and getting sicker, what you’ll be doing with me is we’ll be making a comprehensive plan that fits within your budget and we’ll be making you better. We’ll be building trust. We’re going to make sure that you look good, you feel good, you live a long life. You keep your teeth and avoid pain. And so that’s what we’re going to be able to do together. And yes, there’s a price tag associated, but it’s not a million dollars. It’s not a hundred thousand dollars. There are some concierge practices that will charge that. We don’t charge that much. So, average cost in my practice for comprehensive care can be $5,000 to $10,000.
If it’s longer-term treatment, we’re looking at $20,000 or along those lines, just so people have a number to keep in mind. And everything that I do is data tested, results oriented. We’ll do tests before and test after, so that you can see that you’ve gotten the results that you were seeking. And we work really hard to really make sure that we’re helping our patients, and this is my life’s mission. And we’re also adding in so many different things with behind the scenes information, with coordinating with medical doctor’s offices, connecting with them, and merely the whole team is doing that.
There’s follow-up care. There’s so much that is involved in that. And there’s a clear distinction in a concierge dental practice as well as a, well, how different it is than a regular dental practice. A concierge practice is where you’re going to want to come. You’ll feel safe. Somebody’s on your side and somebody who’s your friend, but also somebody who knows her stuff and is going to give you results and it’s going to take you through the finish line.
Is This For Someone With A Chronic Illness?
John: And I really feel like for people that have maybe have a chronic illness, something that they’ve been dealing with for a long time, and maybe they’re just not getting the answers from their regular doctor, they’re trying this treatment and they’re trying that treatment, or the doctor’s just saying, “I can’t figure out what it is that’s going on”, for those people that are really frustrated by that and they really want to try to figure out what the root cause of their illness is, it really seems like talking to you and having you try to figure out what those root causes are and how to move forward is a really good idea. And like you said, that can be priceless for the right person.
Dr. Nammy: Absolutely. And what I will say is I will save you a million dollars. We will easily add 10 years to your life, which is going to be awesome. And that’s disease free so that you can enjoy with your loved ones and enjoy the beautiful gifts of life.
John: Alright, well that’s 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 sfgreendentist.com or call 415-433-0119.
