Most people in the biohacking world are doing everything right. They're tracking their labs, testing their sleep, optimizing their supplements, and building morning routines that would make most people's heads spin. And yet something keeps not landing the way it should. The energy isn't quite there. The inflammation markers won't budge. The cognitive clarity they're chasing stays just out of reach.

Nobody told them to look at their mouth.

Dr. Katie recorded this conversation live at Beyond Biohacking 2026 in Austin, Texas, right after holding the first-ever dental room at the conference. Dr. Ratna Indah, biological dentist and founder of California Dental Wellness, was one of the very few dentists in the building. That's part of the problem they came to talk about.

What you'll learn in this episode:

The mouth has been systematically separated from medicine, and patients are the ones paying the price. Dr. Katie and Dr. Ratna talk about what that separation looks like in practice, what it costs patients who never connect the dots, and what both of them are building to change that.

You'll hear why a room full of committed biohackers went quiet when they saw phase contrast microscopy images of what was living underneath crowns they thought were fine. You'll hear about P. gingivalis, the organism already linked to Alzheimer's disease, and why telling patients not to floss to protect their heart may be one of the most well-meaning but harmful pieces of advice in modern medicine. You'll hear Dr. Ratna's personal story of watching her mother's memory decline rapidly, then reverse, through a deeply intentional wellness protocol that started with asking better questions.

And you'll hear what it looks like to leave a group practice, start from scratch in California, and build the dental wellness center model that medicine has been quietly asking dentists to create for years.

Key moments in this episode:

Why the biohacking world keeps missing the mouth, and what changes when it's finally in the room

How silent oral infections drive systemic inflammation for years without causing a single symptom

The cardiologist advice about flossing that Dr. Ratna believes is doing real harm, and what the research actually says

Why "dental insurance" is a language problem, and what happens when you stop using that phrase in your practice

How Dr. Ratna's mother reversed significant memory loss, and the role that light therapy and biological thinking played in getting her there

What a future dental wellness center looks like, and why functional medicine doctors are already asking for it

Dr. Katie's perspective:

"When we're asking them to raise their hand, who had their wisdom teeth extracted, almost the full room, who had root canals in the mouth, majority of them. And then you show them what's growing underneath their crowns, and they realize the mouth has been upstream this whole time, dumping toxicity and inflammation into the system, and nobody ever told them to look there."

The demand for this conversation is real. The packed room in Austin proved it. Dentistry is showing up, and it's bringing the research with it.

About Dr. Ratna Indah

Dr. Ratna Indah is a biological dentist and founder of California Dental Wellness, a practice she built from the ground up after leaving group dentistry to create the whole-body dental center model she believes is the future of the profession. Her background in journalism before dental school shapes the way she thinks about language, patient trust, and how word choice drives health decisions. She has been practicing for over 20 years.

Follow Dr. Ratna:
 Instagram: @drratnaindah
 Practice: californiadentalwellness.com

For Patients

If this episode made you wonder what your own mouth might be telling the rest of your body, Dr. Katie's free patient webinar is the best place to start.

Join here: drkatieto.center/register

For Dentists

If Dr. Ratna's story of building a values-aligned wellness practice from scratch sounds like the direction you've been trying to name, the CORE membership is where that conversation continues.

Learn more at wellnessdentistinstitute.com

Connect with Dr. Katie:
🌐 thewellnessdentist.com
📱 @drkatieto

Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner.  Before using any products mentioned or attempting methods discussed, please speak with a licensed healthcare provider.  This podcast disclaims responsibility from any possible adverse reactions associated with products or methods discussed.    Opinions from guests are their own, and this podcast does not condone or endorse opinions made by guests.  We do not provide guarantees about the guests' qualifications or credibility. This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.