Contact Point Podcast

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.

The whole point of our career should be to stop a patient from having a full mouth rehab. It's actually a reflection of a failure. Dr Tif Qureshi has been in the same practice for 33 years. He's watched teeth move, veneers fail, and patients come back with the same crowding he straightened two decades ago. In this conversation with Simon, he unpacks what that teaches you about consent, retention, and why new patients might be your biggest risk. They go deep on why photography is the foundation of everything, how Little's study should change the way we treatment plan, and why every patient with misaligned teeth should be told they'll need a retainer for life whether they have braces or veneers. Tiff explains his tooth sat nav concept, why he tests vitamin D and HbA1c on every patient, and how the Dahl principle can stop someone needing a full mouth rehab if you catch it early enough. They also cover Weston Price, K2 deficiency and jaw development, why crowding might be nutritional, the insulin problem no one talks about, selling to a corporate and saying no make me, and why formal rehab is a reflection of failure not success. Chapters 00:00:00 Introduction: The Failure Reflection & Career Philosophy 00:11:00 The Power of Photography: Foundation of Modern Dentistry 00:23:00 New Patient Obsession vs Existing Patient Value 00:35:00 Little Study & Teeth Movement: The Hidden Truth 00:45:00 Early Intervention & The Dahl Principle 00:56:00 Retention Forever: The Consent Crisis in Cosmetic Dentistry 01:10:00 Weston Price, Nutrition & Jaw Development 01:20:00 Vitamin D & HbA1c: Blood Testing in Dental Practice 01:30:00 The Diet Revolution: Tif's Personal Health Journey 01:40:00 Composite vs Porcelain: The Pendulum Swings 01:51:00 The Dahl Effect: Underutilized Game Changer 02:00:00 Selling to Corporate: Life After Practice Ownership 02:10:00 Orthodontic Assessment: The Indefensible Records Problem ▬▬ ABOUT THE GUEST ▬▬ Dr Tiff Qureshi is a cosmetic and restorative dentist based in Kent and founder of IAS Academy, a leading provider of postgraduate training in minimally invasive aesthetic and orthodontic dentistry. He has been in the same practice for 33 years and is known for his work in progressive smile design, the Dahl principle, and integrating minor orthodontics with 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.

"I can easily say I made mistakes more than the total number of veneers that a young generation dentist placed in the mouth." Dr Galip Gürel wrote the book on porcelain veneers, and he has been refining how they're done for more than 40 years. In this episode he tells Simon how modern veneer dentistry came together. He learned "the kitchen" by sitting in on dental technician classes, borrowed wax rims from complete dentures to design smiles, and came up with prepping through the mock-up after watching farmers plough a field. Then we get the first proper look at Lupin, the automated veneer-prep robot he co-founded with Stefan Koubi. He covers how it preps to 100-micron accuracy, why the veneers can be made before the teeth are touched, and why he thinks it will open veneer work to every GP. We also cover: – Why no-prep veneers suit about 1% of patients – What enamel-only preps did to his debond and success rates – Why he has no social media, and paid a PR agent to keep him out of the press – Why he keeps "zero dentistry" outside the office Chapters 00:00:00 Introduction: The Knowledge Thief & 42 Years of Veneer Innovation 00:02:38 From Kentucky to Istanbul: Learning Both Sides of the Kitchen 00:04:15 The Birth of Bonded Veneers: When Aesthetics Wasn't Dentistry 00:07:31 The Mock-Up Revolution: From Complete Denture Wax Rims to Composite 00:19:25 The APT Technique: Prepping Through the Mock-Up Like Plowing Fields 00:29:57 First Principles Thinking: Blocking Out Inputs to Innovate 00:30:21 Reverse PR & Word of Mouth: The Anti-Social Media Practice 00:36:42 Material Evolution: From Feldspathic Elegance to Zirconia Veneers 00:44:10 No Prep Veneers: The 1% Indication & Why Feldspathic is the Only Choice 00:49:36 The Rosé Moment: How Lupin Robotics Was Born in Marseille 00:52:28 COVID Catalyst: From Idea to 50 Engineers in Montpellier 00:54:44 Bootstrapped to Big Money: The Funding Journey & Invus Investment 00:58:17 Veneers Before Preps: The Revolutionary Workflow Flip 00:59:41 Fully Automated vs Hand-Guided: The 100 Micron Precision Difference 01:07:17 From Mannequins to Humans: The India Launch & 100 Cases 01:15:18 The 45-Minute Prep: Landing Like an Airplane & Future Speed Improvements 01:17:24 The Mock-Up Test Drive: Two Appointments Before Robot Prep Day 01:21:08 Zirconia Solves the Thickness Problem: Glass Coating & APT Bonding 01:26:50 The Business Model: 30% Revenue Share Instead of Selling Robots 01:34:02 Democratizing Veneers: Philippines, UK & The Future of Aesthetic Dentistry 01:42:07 Stealing Knowledge: The Gentle Thief Named After Arsène Lupin ▬▬ ABOUT THE GUEST ▬▬ Dr Galip Gürel is a dentist based in Istanbul and one of the most influential names in aesthetic dentistry. He graduated from the University of Istanbul, completed two years at the University of Kentucky, and has been in practice for more than four decades. He is the author of the Quintessence textbook on porcelain laminate veneers, and co-founder, with Dr Stefan Koubi, of Lupin, a company developing automated robotic veneer preparation. ▬▬ 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. Listen, or watch on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube. Full us on socials @contactpointpodcast