Dr. Nammy Patel, founder of Green Dentistry in San Francisco, California, discusses no shot dentistry. She is the author of the best selling book, Age With Style: Guide to a Youthful Smile and Healthy Living.
John Maher: Hi, I’m John Maher. 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 best selling book, Age With Style: Guide to a Youthful Smile and Healthy Living. Today our topic is no shot dentistry. Welcome Dr. Nammy.
Dr. Nammy Patel: Hi, John. Pleasure to be here.
What Is No Shots Dentistry?
John: Sure. Dr. Nammy, what is no shots dentistry? That sounds great to me.
Dr. Nammy: It is. It literally means no shots.
John: Nobody likes getting themselves pricked with a with a needle, right?
Dr. Nammy: No. One of the things I hear from a majority of the patients is really, they’re really scared of that shot. It’s really that fear. It’s really the unknown of how it’s going to feel afterwards and just feeling vulnerable.
John: What types of patients typically respond really well to no shot dentistry? Obviously, if you’re afraid of getting shots, that person is going to respond well to this.
Dr. Nammy: To be honest, John, everyone responds very well to no shots dentistry. If they had a choice, anytime we can avoid a shot, we’re willing to do that, whether it bothers us or not. Patients who are really scared of the dentist respond really well, which is really nice, but we actually do it for all of our patients. It’s our go-to, it’s our gold standard. It’s the way we would want ourselves to be treated, so we go to no shot dentistry as much as we can.
John: Right. Obviously, if you’re afraid of needles, there’s a big benefit in this, but nobody likes to have that pain, so avoiding that is great for anybody. Is it safe for children? Is it really good for children to have no shot dentistry?
Dr. Nammy: Absolutely. Anytime we can avoid shots for children, for adults, because remember when we’re taking that shot, it’s, you’re numb for hours on end. When you’re numb for hours on end, you can bite your cheek and then break your lip. Especially for children, it’s very common that they bite their lip a lot, and it ends up bleeding. It ends up causing more problems than we could have just avoided the shot to begin with.
John: Right. Your tongue can swell up and then cause more problems, et cetera. Children have even less control over themselves than adults might, so yeah, that’s important.
Dr. Nammy: Absolutely.
Cost of No Shot Dentistry
John: Does it cost more to get no shot dentistry and is it covered by dental insurance?
Dr. Nammy: Typically, in our practice we don’t charge additional for doing good quality work. We offer the same service to all of our patients. I don’t know what other practices do, but my understanding is that with insurance they actually pay for the procedure, not the method. I feel like it should be covered, but I can only speak from my practice. In my practice, it’s the same fee whether you do the shot or no shot. We’d prefer you to have no shot because it’s better for your body and it’s also better for you long-term. It’s just better quality service in general.
John: All right, that’s great information, Dr. Nammy. Thanks again for speaking with me today.
Dr. Nammy: My pleasure.
John: For more information about Green Dentistry, visit the website at sfgreendentist.com or call (415) 578-9347.
