Contact Point Podcast

From the student least likely to succeed to highest honours. From ADHD diagnosis at 50 to building one of the most advanced multidisciplinary clinics in the world. Dr Howie Gluckman is a periodontist, implant surgeon, and one of the leading voices in partial extraction therapy and socket shield technique. He runs the Enamel Clinic in Cape Town, South Africa, a multidisciplinary practice with specialists across perio, endo, ortho, and restorative working under one roof. In this conversation with Simon, he unpacks what 30 years in practice has taught him about biology, failure, technology, and why passion is the only thing that gets you through. They talk about why Howie was never a student at school, how rugby kept him going, and why he only found his focus when he discovered perio. He explains how his ADHD diagnosis two years ago changed everything, why the first week on medication left him in tears, and how he now uses systems, reminders and Apple products to manage a brain that jumps between eight things in 10 minutes. He covers why he studied from 8pm to midnight for four years, why he passed his specialty cum laude and his PhD summa cum laude, and why hyperfocus is a superpower if you find your passion. They go deep on socket shield technique, why it's been his go to for 14 years, why volumetric studies show virtually no collapse, and why he believes it's reducing peri implantitis rates. He explains why the technique is biologically forgiving, why even failures leave you with bone and bundle bone intact, why predictability and reproducibility are the two words he repeats at every conference, and why guided workflows have made the technique more accessible. He covers why bone grafting is misunderstood, why soft tissue and bone are symbiotic, why people quote the exception not the rule, and why you can't just slap bone and membrane and expect success. They also talk about why failure is the most powerful tool you have, why he starts every lecture with his mistakes, why photography is non negotiable, why flapless surgery is a bugbear, why minimally invasive should be optimally invasive, dynamic navigation versus static versus robotics, why Yomi has precision issues but the Chinese are coming, why Heidi and Claude have changed his workflow, why Notebook LM is a revelation for research, why augmented reality with Marcus Engelschenk is the next level, why virtual reality surgical training with haptic gloves is already here, why root canals aren't the problem but untreated pathology is, why conspiracy theories are creeping into biological dentistry, and why the mouth is a mirror to the rest of the body. Chapters 00:00:00 Introduction: From Least Likely to Succeed to Summa Cum Laude 00:09:12 The ADHD Revelation: Diagnosis, Medication & Understanding Your Brain 00:32:07 Failure as Your Greatest Teacher: Why You Must Photograph Everything 00:37:09 Socket Shield Technique: 14 Years of Predictable Bundle Bone Preservation 00:38:44 The Biology Problem: Why Most Bone Grafts Fail 00:42:38 Storytelling Over Parroting: The Christian Coachman Lecture Philosophy 00:43:09 AI Revolution: Claude, Heidi, Diagnocat & The Research Transformation 00:59:00 Dynamic Navigation, Robotics & The Yomi Precision Study 01:00:51 Minimally vs Optimally Invasive: The Flapless Surgery Controversy 01:02:09 Augmented Reality & Virtual Training: The Future of Surgical Education 01:04:06 Biological Dentistry: Mouth-Body Connection vs Conspiracy Theories 01:09:05 The Root Canal Debate: Clinical Pathology vs Dead Body Part Myth 01:15:26 The Future: Technology, Precision & Anti-Aging for More Dentistry ▬▬ ABOUT THE GUEST ▬▬ Dr Howie Gluckman is a periodontist and implant surgeon based in Cape Town, South Africa. He completed his specialty in periodontology at the University of Stellenbosch and holds a PhD from Goethe University. He is a leading researcher and educator in partial extraction therapy and socket shield technique, and runs the Enamel Clinic, a multidisciplinary practice integrating perio, endo, ortho and restorative care. ▬▬ ABOUT THE HOST ▬▬ Dr Simon Chard is Past President of the British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, co founder of PÄRLA, and principal of Rothley Lodge Dental Practice. ▬▬ FOLLOW CONTACT POINT ▬▬ YouTube: @contactpointpodcast Instagram: @contactpointpodcast Listen on Apple, Spotify and all podcast apps.

You can only treat what you see. But you can only see what you know. And you only know what you understand. Dr Christian Leonhardt is a dentist based in Augsburg, Germany, with a Master's in Orthodontics, postgraduate training in prosthodontics and periodontology, and a mentor role at the Kois Center in Seattle. He runs a multidisciplinary clinic with a team of around 30, and has spent the last decade building systems that bring the different disciplines of dentistry together into one joined-up treatment philosophy. He explains how AI is helping him do that faster, more safely, and with more time left for what actually matters. They talk about why dentistry still works in silos and the blind spots that creates, the three ways AI is used across his practice, and why time is the greatest thing you can give a patient. Christian explains how AI analysis turns radiographs and CBCTs around in minutes, why audio transcription saves time and helps protect you medico-legally, and how intraoral scanners can now flag plaque, map recession and support perio charting. He covers why he uses CBCT to plan bigger cases, why stable interproximal bone is the real marker of periodontal stability, and how patients are increasingly arriving with their own AI-informed questions before they walk through the door. They also talk about airway as the fifth pillar of dentistry, why mouth breathing matters in both children and adults, the links between disrupted sleep and overall health, the signs to look for in kids and why they don't grow out of airway problems, and how to start with AI in practice: scans, X-rays and one chair. Chapters 00:00:00 Introduction: Time as the Greatest Gift & The Triple Specialist Journey 00:02:48 The Silo Problem: Why Dentistry Needs to Think Multidisciplinary 00:07:48 You Can Only Treat What You See: The Assessment Foundation 00:10:34 Three Ways AI Transforms Your Practice: Protocols, Diagnosis & Documentation 00:12:08 Diagnocat & Radiographic AI: Objectivity, Bone Loss & Quality Control 00:15:58 Audio Transcription: The Medical-Legal Shield & Time Saver 00:24:52 Intraoral Scanners & AI: Plaque Detection, Recession Mapping & Perio Charting 00:27:24 CBCT, Risk Management & The Interproximal Bone Stability Rule 00:34:29 The Patient AI Revolution: When Patients Diagnose Themselves 00:42:45 Airway: The Fifth Pillar of Dentistry & The Mouth Breathing Crisis 00:48:05 Sleep Apnea, Insulin & The Circle of Death: Understanding Obstructive Airway 00:50:05 Silent Reflux, Erosions & Bruxism: The Airway Signs You're Missing 00:54:37 Kids & Airway: Don't Wait, They Don't Outgrow It 00:56:47 Implementation: Start With Scans, X-rays & One Chair ▬▬ ABOUT THE GUEST ▬▬ Dr Christian Leonhardt is a dentist in Augsburg, Germany. He holds a Master's in Orthodontics from Danube University, trained in prosthodontics at the Kois Center in Seattle, where he is now a mentor, and completed further training in periodontology. He co-founded Open Airway, speaks at the Vienna Airway Congress, and lectures internationally on multidisciplinary treatment planning, airway and AI-assisted diagnosis. ▬▬ ABOUT THE HOST ▬▬ Dr Simon Chard is Past President of the British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, co-founder of PÄRLA, and principal of Rothley Lodge Dental Practice. ▬▬ FOLLOW CONTACT POINT ▬▬ YouTube: @contactpointpodcast Instagram: @contactpointpodcast Listen on Apple, Spotify and all podcast apps.

Told she could never practise dentistry again, she found another way — and now leads the International Academy of Biological Dentistry and Medicine. Dr Katie To is a wellness dentist, educator and president of the IABDM, running a biological dental practice in Texas built around saliva testing, genetic insight and close collaboration with medical doctors. In this conversation with Simon, she shares what her own journey as a patient taught her about personalised care, inflammation, and why the patient has to be the hero of their own health story. They talk about the moment Katie was told she could no longer practise dentistry, how discovering biological dentistry saved her career, and how six months of changes to food, sleep and stress turned her health around without medication. She explains why genetic testing only needs to be done once and can guide care for life, and why "normal" blood work isn't the same as optimal. She covers why root canals aren't good or bad but patient-dependent, why she monitors inflammatory markers when a patient chooses to keep a root-treated tooth, why she offers pathology testing on extracted teeth, and why she calls cavitation surgery an open bone biopsy. They also talk about what patients see under a phase-contrast microscope, why sinus opacity on a CBCT should prompt an ENT referral, why she won't take on a patient who doesn't have a medical doctor, how sweat, hydration and bowel health get overlooked, and why wellness dentistry isn't a specialty but a philosophy every dentist can adopt. Chapters 00:00:00 Introduction: From Medical Failure to Biological Dentistry 00:05:30 Heavy Metal Toxicity: The Diagnosis That Changed Everything 00:07:12 The Six-Month Recovery: Food, Sleep & Nervous System Regulation 00:19:30 Genetic Testing: Why Personalized Medicine Matters 00:36:21 Building a Wellness Practice: Philosophy, Team & Patient Partnership 00:49:20 The Root Canal Debate: Who Are You Treating? 00:55:38 Sinus Health & Dental Origins: The Upstream-Downstream Model 01:06:48 Testing Everything: Teeth, Bone & Pathology 01:15:55 Cavitations Explained: From Skeptic to Believer 01:33:41 Wellness Dentistry: The Mission to Unite the Profession ▬▬ ABOUT THE GUEST ▬▬ Dr Katie To is a wellness dentist based in Texas and president of the International Academy of Biological Dentistry and Medicine. Her practice combines restorative, periodontal and airway care with medical collaboration and personalised treatment planning, and she trains dentists on the connection between oral and systemic health. ▬▬ ABOUT THE HOST ▬▬ Dr Simon Chard is Past President of the British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, co-founder of PÄRLA, and principal of Rothley Lodge Dental Practice. ▬▬ FOLLOW CONTACT POINT ▬▬ YouTube: @contactpointpodcast Instagram: @contactpointpodcast Listen on Apple, Spotify and all podcast apps.

From 1,500 employees and 120 pediatric dentists to building one of the most talked about AI platforms in global dentistry. Dr Alex Sanders is the founder and CEO of Diagnocat, a dental AI company that processes millions of radiographs and CBCTs across Europe, the US, and beyond. He's also the owner of one of Russia's largest dental groups, a practice he bootstrapped from a $120,000 loan into a multi-site healthcare organisation that now runs without him. In this conversation with Simon, he unpacks what that journey teaches you about management, mistakes, and why the next revolution in dentistry might not be another gadget. They go deep on why AI was controversial when Diagnocat launched, how CBCT analysis became the entry point, and why treatment acceptance sits at 15% across most practices globally. Alex explains why he started with 3D instead of 2D, why the software now processes a scan in under three minutes, and why he thinks agentic AI will be the thing that finally closes the gap between diagnosed disease and treated disease. He covers the role of transcription in improving communication, why doctors miss what they don't know, the airway tumour one user found by accident, and why he believes autonomous agents will manage patient populations proactively within two years. They also talk about why he spent millions bootstrapping instead of raising venture capital, the Harvard professor whose book changed how he manages teams, why robots are getting affordable but still can't work autonomously, the Chinese humanoid he bought for experimentation, why attention is the real competition, and why learning what you want is now more important than knowing how to get it. Chapters 00:00:00 Introduction: From USSR Dentist to Global AI Founder 00:03:51 Building a 1500-Employee Dental Empire in Russia 00:08:58 The Secret to Exiting Operations: Management as a Profession 00:11:08 The Diagnocat Origin Story: Seeing What Doctors Miss 00:13:27 Meeting the Technical Co-Founder & Silicon Valley Rejection 00:18:28 Bootstrapping Millions: Why No Investors Means Full Control 00:21:55 From 3D CBCT to 2D: Building the First AI Dental Platform 00:29:06 The Business Case for AI: Trust, Acceptance Rates & Communication 00:36:07 ChatGPT Changed Everything: The Generative AI Pivot 00:38:23 Transcriptor: Recording Consultations & Evaluating Communication 00:45:31 Agentic AI: The Future of Autonomous Dental Assistants 00:53:33 The 15% Problem: Why 85% of Diagnosed Disease Goes Untreated 00:57:41 Treatment Planning: The Philosophy Problem AI Can't Solve Yet 00:59:13 Diagnocat 360: Learning Your Practice's Treatment Philosophy 01:05:12 Airways, Tumors & Incidental Findings: The Power of Full-Volume CBCT 01:07:20 Radiation Regulations & the Ontario Problem: CBCT Barriers 01:09:53 Scanner Quality: Operator Error Beats Brand Every Time 01:11:23 The AI Consultancy Model: Competing for Attention, Not Just Market Share 01:18:18 Claude, QA & Engineering: 60% of Testing Now Done by AI 01:21:14 The Revolution Cycle: Why Dentistry Has Been Flat for a Decade 01:25:08 Robots, Humanoids & the Next Innovation Wave 01:32:50 Learning to Think with AI: What to Want, How to Ask, How to Understand 01:36:21 Social Media, Attention & the Meta Competition ▬▬ ABOUT THE GUEST ▬▬ Dr Alex Sanders is the founder and CEO of Diagnocat, a global dental AI platform specializing in radiographic analysis, CBCT interpretation, and clinical workflow automation. He is also the owner of one of the largest dental groups in Russia, with over 1,500 employees and more than 120 pediatric dentists. He studied at Moscow Dental University and completed executive education at Harvard Business School. ▬▬ ABOUT THE HOST ▬▬ Dr Simon Chard is Past President of the British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, co founder of PÄRLA, and principal of Rothley Lodge Dental Practice. ▬▬ FOLLOW CONTACT POINT ▬▬ YouTube: @contactpointpodcast Instagram: @contactpointpodcast Listen on Apple, Spotify and all podcast apps.

You don't need all the tools, all the gadgets to be good. You need the right tools for the treatment you are offering. Dr Alessandro De Viggo has been using CEREC for over 30 years. He was the second patient ever to receive CEREC inlays in 1986, opened his practice in 1990 with two CEREC 1 machines, and has placed more than 30,000 chairside restorations. In this conversation with Simon, he unpacks what that teaches you about materials, protocol, and why simplicity beats complexity every time. They go deep on why CEREC was controversial when it launched, how the island of ceramic in a sea of composite actually taught us how adhesion works, and why enamic is still the only truly minimally invasive CAD CAM material. Alessandro explains why he works alone 90% of the time without an assistant, why moving around the patient changes everything, and why he lifts both hands when he preps to protect his back. He covers the role of 3D printing versus milling, why long term temporaries are not the same as permanent restorations, and why opacity and post processing are still issues with printed crowns. They also talk about why prevention should be monetizable, why dentists are bad communicators, the psychology student versus dental student wellbeing study, why the profession is becoming female, dental tourism and Turkish teeth, DSOs pushing dentists to drill more, scientific misinformation flooding the internet to block AI development, and why his AI telephone assistant has more empathy than most receptionists. Chapters 00:00:00 Introduction: 40 Years of CEREC & The Dentist-Patient-Machine Vision 00:06:57 The Birth of Adhesive Dentistry & The Sea of Composite Philosophy 00:11:55 Prevention Should Be Obsolete: The 1960s Vision That Failed 00:15:02 The Patient Paradox: Why Doing Nothing Costs More Than Treatment 00:18:46 I Am The Best Dentist: According To My Patients 00:21:09 The Dental Student Mental Health Crisis: Focus vs. Well-Being 00:24:09 Why Dentistry Is Becoming Female & The Salary Problem 00:28:32 Positive Stress vs. Negative Stress: The Alessandro Work Model 00:35:33 Controlled Failure: The Minimal Intervention Philosophy 00:40:07 The Enamic Advantage: The Only True Minimal Invasive CAD-CAM Material 00:43:52 The Dental Industry Problem: Creating Problems That Don't Exist 00:48:02 Turkish Teeth & Dental Tourism: The Real Story Behind The Headlines 01:25:57 DSOs & The Money Problem: When Healthcare Becomes Investment 01:42:35 3D Printing vs. Milling: The Honest Comparison After 30,000 CEREC Restorations 01:48:47 Working Alone: The Ambidextrous Dentist & The Two-Hand Back Saver 01:56:40 Staying Curious: The Secret to 40 Years of Passion in Dentistry 02:03:02 AI in Dentistry: The Telephone Assistant & The Future of Call Centers ▬▬ ABOUT THE GUEST ▬▬ Dr Alessandro De Viggo is a dentist based in Switzerland and one of the earliest adopters of chairside CAD CAM dentistry. He was the second patient to receive CEREC restorations in 1986, opened his practice in 1990, and has been working predominantly with digital workflows for over three decades. He was formerly editor in chief of the International Journal of Aesthetic Dentistry and is a regular contributor to the dental literature on digital dentistry, photography, and minimally invasive techniques. ▬▬ ABOUT THE HOST ▬▬ Dr Simon Chard is Past President of the British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, co founder of PÄRLA, and principal of Rothley Lodge Dental Practice. ▬▬ FOLLOW CONTACT POINT ▬▬ YouTube: @contactpointpodcast Instagram: @contactpointpodcast Listen on Apple, Spotify and all podcast apps.