Dr Andrew Greenland: 0:03

Welcome back to Voices in Health and Wellness. This is the podcast where we feature practitioners and clinic leaders who are challenging the norm, adapting to a rapidly changing environment and delivering results in powerful new ways. Today's guest is one of those rare clinicians who not only delivers incredible patient outcomes, but also educates, advocates and leads by example. So I'm really delighted today to be joined by Dr Kelly Blodgett, a pioneer in the field of biological and integrative dentistry. He's the founder of Blodgett Dental Care in Portland, oregon, where the focus isn't just on fixing teeth but understanding on how oral health impacts the entire body and mind. He's known globally for his transparency in clinical care, deep patient trust and an educational approach that's redefining what dental wellness can look like. So, kelly, thank you very much for your time and joining us on the show this afternoon.

Dr Kelly Blodgett: 0:51

Thank you, Andrew. I appreciate it. This will be a lot of fun.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 0:54

I hope so. So maybe we can kick off and we can start from the top. Could you tell us a little bit about your role, your clinic and how it's sort of come to be?

Dr Kelly Blodgett: 1:04

Yeah, absolutely. So I actually bought the practice back in 2001 from a guy I'd known for years, just the timing was right, you know, so I bought it. It was a very traditional practice, you know solid, foundational dentistry, and part of my life story is that I was called to reverse the negative stereotype of dentistry, kind of through my own spiritual journey. And so after I bought the practice, I started looking for ways to shift how people experience their dental care, and that really started off with a lot of technological stuff which meant, from a business perspective, you know, how do you shift how people experience their dental care? And that really started off with a lot of technological stuff which meant, from a business perspective, you know, how do you, how do you invest in these things? For me that meant more debt because you know I didn't have the cash laying around to buy it. So I had to develop a business plan in terms of how do I implement these strategies, these, these new clinical protocols so probably about 15,.

Dr Kelly Blodgett: 2:08

My first 15 years in practice was really stepping into the field of dental technology lasers, single visit, crowns, things like that, making patient care more efficient and more comfortable, arguably, if somebody only has to get numb once instead of twice for a procedure. That's kind of nice. And then the past decade I've spent more time and energy focusing on the biological side of dentistry, which went more investment in education and technologies, things like that. So I've been practicing now 26 years and I got to say I mean I'm having more fun and seeing significantly healthier patients because of all the technologies and biology practices that we're now implementing, which is super exciting and fun. It's neat to see people finally, you know, having extremely positive experiences in an oral healthcare setting.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 3:09

Amazing. So was there a turning point that pushed you towards biological dentistry specifically?

Dr Kelly Blodgett: 3:15

Yeah, there were two patients specifically. One was a woman who called my office and her story was you know, I have two root canals and ever since I had these root canals done, my health has gotten worse. And I am positive that they are negatively impacting my health. And I've seen five other dentists and nobody's going to nobody will take them out. Would you guys be open to taking out my root canals? And I was like, well gosh, nobody had ever asked me that before.

Dr Kelly Blodgett: 3:51

And after we met with her and talked about the pros and cons advantages, disadvantages she decided to have them taken out. And it was probably the post-surgery visit two weeks later where it really hit me, and it hit my team, that we had done something that was massively helpful for her health. I mean, when she first came in, she just looked unhealthy. I mean, her coloring was horrible, she had no energy. She came back two weeks later and was, just, you know, exploding with energy and she felt so great and she even said, you know, it was the moment that the last root came out. She could tell a shift in her energy immediately. And it was one of those things that somebody says where I'm like, wow, you know how many times have I maybe heard somebody say you know, I felt different since I had this dental procedure and I really didn't understand what their body was trying to tell me. So that was kind of a pivotal shifting point.

Dr Kelly Blodgett: 4:52

And the second scenario was that my own father had four root canal treated teeth and he had been seeing my brother for a number of years and when my brother moved out of state he started seeing me. And when I did his 3D cone beam scan I noticed all four of his left-sided molars that were root canal were all abscessed. And I'm like geez, you know, even from a traditional dental standpoint this doesn't look very good. And he kind of hemmed and hawed and said well, you know, let me think about taking them out. I'm kind of concerned that I wouldn't be able to chew. I mean, that's a practical concern.

Dr Kelly Blodgett: 5:29

Well, within six months he developed non-hodgkin's lymphoma of the left cervical chain of his neck, which is what drains that space of his head. So I'm like this is not good, dad you know. So I asked him if I could go with him to his oncologist visit, took the cone beam with me, shared it with the oncologist and the oncologist was like those teeth have to come out. That's most likely the cause of why he has this cancer, and it was at that point that I'm like man. It's time for me to reinvest, relearn, keep growing and that's been probably a decade ago now and it's I just keep learning. I mean, every month I'm off somewhere else learning. Right now I'm in a biological bone grafting residency out of Tufts University in Boston and it's exciting. I mean it's just exciting as more and more people are becoming aware of the connectedness of health and, go figure, they're starting to actually think and realize their mouth is connected to their body. So it's an exciting time to be focusing on this.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 6:38

Amazing. So how do you explain your model of care to a patient who's only ever experienced traditional dental care?

Dr Kelly Blodgett: 6:45

model of care to a patient who's only ever experienced traditional dental care. Yeah, I try to put it very simply. I would say that most healthcare and this would be inclusive of traditional dentistry is very symptoms driven. We're looking at oh there's a hole in the tooth, let's drill it and fill it. You know there's some inflammation in the gums, you know we'll just scrape away the tartar and call it good. And rarely are we asking questions about like tell me about your stress levels, tell me about your diet, tell me about your family history, things like this. Um so, in comparison, instead of being symptomatically driven, I would say that biological and holistic approaches to oral health is more systems driven, looking at whole health. You know, like your gastrointestinal system, your nervous system, even your mindset. You know what you tell yourself about your own health and your body's ability to be healthy. That's the primary differentiator, in my opinion, and most people who want to pursue optimal health really understand that perspective.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 7:51

Got it? And what shifts are you seeing in the dental field in general? I mean, especially as I guess more patients are seeking out the more wellness-orientated care? What are you noticing?

Dr Kelly Blodgett: 8:03

Yeah, good question. I would say that I think, like dental materials and root canals are becoming something that you know, thankfully, there's a lot of mainstream, big social media people who are, you know, finally saying gosh, maybe these root canals aren't so great, you know, and it's not to say that every root canal is the worst thing in the world. I mean, there are appropriate times for it, of course, but you can't kill a tooth and leave a dead, infected organ sitting in living bone and not have your body respond to it. So I think the word through social media, through podcasts, like what you're doing which I applaud that you, that you're doing this is so helpful to spread the word. People are becoming aware and they're starting to think more critically.

Dr Kelly Blodgett: 9:00

I think, you know, going through the COVID experience as a global experience was a great time for people to start thinking about how can I optimize my own body health and energetic health so that I'm best prepared when things like you know, scary viruses and stuff like that come around. Um, yeah, the word's just getting out, uh, and there are more things to come. I mean, as I mentioned, I'm doing this, doing this bone health and bone grafting continuum right now. That's something that which really has not yet hit the main social media stage, but it will be. Certainly it's going to be a big part of my social media communication over the next year. But yeah, people are becoming more aware, which is it's great. I mean, people come to me and they're like I want help and it's like that's so much easier to help somebody who is ready for it and prepared for it emotionally and physically than when we see something and say, hey, I see a problem, but they're not yet aware.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 10:02

So so are people coming to? I guess people are coming to you more informed, or are they more confused than before, because with all the information and have you out there.

Dr Kelly Blodgett: 10:14

Definitely more informed Part of what has.

Dr Kelly Blodgett: 10:18

From a business standpoint, one of the most valuable changes I made in my practice seven and a half years ago is I hired a woman named Heidi who is an excellent communicator, and I created a position which I call my new patient coordinator. So her primary role is to communicate via phone and email with people who are seeking our practice and, honestly, I mean we probably give more people the names of other practices that can be helpful because they're calling from around the world, you know. So if they're in the UK, you know, I know probably three good practices there where I can say well, we've had people go to these practices and had great experiences. Most of the people who come through my front door as a new patient, they've already listened to, you know, a dozen podcasts I've been on, they've read through my website. They've, you know, just gathered so much information and they've allowed themselves to acknowledge that what they feel intuitively has value for them. So, yeah, I mean people who are, generally speaking, people who come to us are ready to move forward with getting healthier.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 11:39

Very cool. You sound like you're very technologically focused. You've talked about a lot of kit that you have. How is it sort of changing the way that you diagnose and educate patients with the kit that you have?

Dr Kelly Blodgett: 11:51

Yeah, well, I would say I mean gosh. The extent of technological integration done over the last 25 years is crazy. Last 25 years is crazy. What it what it allows for us to do, both from a patient communication and education side and a treatment side. It allows for much greater what's the word I'm looking for Like integration of the patient, so like to take a step back.

Dr Kelly Blodgett: 12:23

One of the things we changed five years ago was we stopped doing all clinical care one day a week and we made it exclusively a day for new patients. So every Monday in my practice is a new patient day. That's all we do on Mondays, and we extended the amount of time of each one of those experiences to two hours so that we have plenty of time. There's no compressed time around having that initial conversation, of learning their story. What is it that they've experienced, what are their goals, what do they hope to feel like in a year or two years or five years or whatever and as it relates to gathering clinical data three-dimensional cone beam, ct scans, full patient photography with, you know, dslr cameras, so that they can see exactly what I see we're kind of erasing the experience of mystery that most people experience when they go to a dentist, you know, a dentist tells them oh, you got a cavity and a crack in a tooth and you need a filling and a crown. And they have no context for it, they can't see it, they don't understand it, they're just going by trusting the dentist, whereas we, we integrate the patient into the experience. They become knowledgeable and informed. So those kinds of technologies that make things more visible, I think, have really helped patients feel comfortable with what they're saying yes to doing On the treatment side.

Dr Kelly Blodgett: 14:05

Because of the fact that I can print teeth, I can mill teeth, I can, you know, use surgical guides, so I'm not guessing where I'm putting implants when I'm replacing teeth. I can, you know, really rejuvenate a mouth in one visit, you know, with a patient who's working with a dental anesthesiologist. They can take a nap, they can wake up, their oral health is revived. And it's pretty magical when we actually take control of not doing just a tooth or two but removing all sources of infection and energetic disruption. We see people who like, literally, they might be coming in in a wheelchair because they can't walk, you know their, their body's so fatigued and the next day they walk in on their own two feet for their post-op visit. Um, it's pretty magical, but that's admittedly it has taken a ridiculous amount of time and energy and money, um, to stick with it. You know I'm pretty geeky about this stuff, I guess, but it's a ton of fun.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 15:11

Sounds amazing. What do you think, what do you wish more of your peers could understand about patient education? Perhaps you know those in the traditional dental sector because obviously you're more enlightened, you have a much more integrated, holistic approach. But what do you, what would you wish more of your peers could understand?

Dr Kelly Blodgett: 15:27

I think. Thank you, that is a great question. I wish that they understood the difference between telling somebody something and asking them something. So what that looks like. In the communication style that I built in my practices, we start with the question you know, what are your goals for your dental health, your oral health and your whole body health? What would you like to see be different in the future than it is today? And so when somebody can clarify for us these are the things that I want to experience and these are the dental things I'd like done, then we are merely facilitating the solutions to the issues they're already saying they want to change.

Dr Kelly Blodgett: 16:20

The reality is that most healthcare practices they address communication from the perspective of we are the experts, you are not. I'm going to tell you what you need, which I can't stand that phrase because you know I got to tell you. I mean people will argue with me on this, but people don't need teeth, you know. I mean I have patients with dentures and they're really nice people and they live a good life. So I mean you can. You can function in life without a set of teeth. Obviously it's ideal to keep them, you know, if you can.

Dr Kelly Blodgett: 16:56

But the difference between telling and asking is so the energetic difference of that is so different. So what we are trying to embody at my practice is being on an even level with our patients. My brand promise for our practice is human beings, helping human beings. We are no different than any other person coming in here. We have obviously some very unique and specified knowledge and experience in dental health that's biologically based, but I'm not an expert in that human being. They're the expert in themselves, and so I wish that healthcare providers overall could appreciate the value of asking for the goals that somebody wants to achieve and then helping them achieve that, rather than being forceful.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 17:48

That's a good answer. What's the most misunderstood part of your work in biological dentistry? Do you think?

Dr Kelly Blodgett: 18:03

do you think, oh man, well, mostly it's from. It's from, uh, other dental providers who have yet to understand that all that stuff they learned their first two years of dental school biology, biochemistry, microbiology, physics that that all of that actually matters. You know, um, when we leave infected teeth and living jawbone, your immune system will understand that and it will have an impact on a person's health. To think otherwise is, in my opinion, just crazy. But you know, there are recognized um, there are recognized expert bodies. You know American Dental Association, the American Association of Endodontists, where they're still clinging to the idea that putting mercury in a person's mouth can be healthy or that leaving infected teeth in a person's head is safe, and they'll use the phrasing that is like well, the people who say that root canals aren't healthy. You know that science has been discredited. They're not saying that, it's not true, they're just saying that we, as the authority is saying that we don't lend, we don't give credence to that, and I think it's unfortunate. But I think that over time, when we look at how change occurs, we understand that, due to the psycho-emotional issues of all human beings, most people want to resist change until so many people have gotten moving that then we go. Oh well, of course we already knew that, you know. So I don't.

Dr Kelly Blodgett: 19:46

I wish I could say that in the next five to 10 years, a more biologically minded approach to oral health would really, you know, everybody get on board. Sadly, I don't imagine it'll happen in my in my professional career, but I I'm hopeful that, um, I I've seen today, compared to 10 years ago when I started on this journey, more and more dentists starting to show up, more and more dentists pingingists, pinging me on my social media accounts to say, hey, I see what you're doing there. I'm kind of curious, where could I start reading books and learning about this? So I mean, I think that's hopeful. I mean, the day that dental schools start actually recognizing how important a biologically-minded approach to oral health care is important, I think that'll be really cool. And a couple of well, at least Tufts University in Boston is starting to offer some biologically-based classes. So I mean that's forward progress.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 20:52

It's forward progress, but I guess there is still a block. What do you think the block is? Why are they so behind? Why is there such reluctance to introduce this into education?

Dr Kelly Blodgett: 21:01

Well, my belief is and, keeping in mind my educational background was in psychology I originally thought I wanted to be a psychologist, so I spent a lot of time learning about communication and how the mind works and how our personality styles impact our thinking. I think that and I remember this 20 plus years ago, when I was first out doing lectures about lasers and why technologies could be an advantage to clinical care what I would run into is dentists who would say well, if I bring in something new, aren't some of my patients going to feel like, well, I wasn't doing it right before then? And I'm like, well, no, I mean, I think this is my belief. You know I'm not basing this on anything else except for my belief.

Dr Kelly Blodgett: 21:53

My belief is that most human beings who come to healthcare providers, they trust that you are in a continuous state of growth and progress and they understand that next year you might do something a little differently than you did this year because you're growing and learning. That's what I think people perceive about healthcare providers. But most dentists I mean, that's my arena, right? Most dentists share a common personality trait they're introverted. They like to have a very set you know, strict set of rules. They want to be an expert and recognized as an expert in that set of rules. So when you change the rules, that can be quite disruptive to how they feel about and perceive themselves professionally. So it's it's. It's hard when the people that are being admitted into these dental programs are already hardwired to be resistant to change. That makes change challenging. So if that's why progress is so slow, I understand.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 23:03

So what's going really well for you in your practice right now? Is there anything you're particularly proud of lately?

Dr Kelly Blodgett: 23:09

Oh man, yeah, I would say the first thing I'm most excited about is the extent of health shifts that we are observing for people I was, you know, using the example earlier of a woman who was in a wheelchair, I actually just saw her yesterday for her three-week post-surgery visit. They live down in Houston, texas, so it's a, you know, a couple thousand mile flight to get back here to see us. She could not walk from her front door to her mailbox and back. That's how sick she was. The day after her surgery she went out and walked for three hours in a mall setting with her family and when I saw her yesterday she's like I still can't believe it, like I don't use a walker, I'm not in a wheelchair, so it's these health shifts that are almost instantaneous that is so exciting.

Dr Kelly Blodgett: 24:08

The other thing I'm so excited about right now is this maxi residency program that I've been in for the past six months. That's been based out of Frankfurt, germany, with Professor Sharam Ghanati and he's been doing most of his teaching at Tufts University in Boston. I've been learning with about 30 other dentists from around the world. We've gotten together four times in the past six months and we're looking at the science of bone health, bone around root canal, treated teeth and the bone quality in areas where people have had their teeth extracted, particularly wisdom teeth, and we're looking at how well, first of all, how unhealthy the bone is in these areas and how much disease it's causing systemically and how we're able to help those people to heal and hopefully, you know, in the future avoid so many systemic health illnesses. I'm really excited about where that's going across the profession. So those couple of things I think are top of mind.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 25:17

Brilliant. On the flip side, what's been frustrating or challenges that you're trying to navigate at the moment in your practice?

Dr Kelly Blodgett: 25:26

Oh man, probably trying to find an associate dentist who wants to come in and partner with me. Admittedly, you know, I'm doing this stuff 24-7. I don't stop. I mean, it's how I'm wired. You know, I've only been home, I think, three weekends this year so far, because I'm always out at classes and you know, teaching classes and taking classes and whatever, and I'd love to have a partner you know like, bring in an associate who I can grow and they can become part of it so that we can help more people, because when I'm gone the practice stops right.

Dr Kelly Blodgett: 26:14

So that's probably my I would dare say not necessarily a frustration, it's more of a hope that, sooner than my, I would dare say, not necessarily a frustration, it's more of a hope, uh, that sooner than later, I'll find somebody who's really inspired to join me in what we're doing here at Blodgett Dental Care. Um, yeah, that's that's probably my thought on that, you know. Moreover, the profession and what we're doing, it's I'm really inspired. I have probably one of the best teams in the world. My team is just amazing. They're so committed. They'll stay here as many hours as it takes to get a person healed. It's super cool.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 26:51

What's the challenge in finding this person, then what's the block?

Dr Kelly Blodgett: 26:58

Good question One the perception of Portland, oregon, during COVID. I don't know if this stuff reached the UK, but our city was on the news all the time. It's kind of a polarizing city. It's very left wing and my practice isn't about one wing all the time. It's kind of a polarizing city. It's very left wing, you know, and my practice isn't about one wing or the other. We're just about health and love and wellness.

Dr Kelly Blodgett: 27:27

But a lot of people who are truth seekers, you know they have a negative perception of the city. I've had a number of dentists come and they shadow me for a couple days or for a whole week and they love it, but they're like I just don't know if I could see living in Portland. The other thing is just what I'm observing actually is a lot of young people, college students, dental students. They're really inspired by what I'm doing. So maybe in three to five years there'll be a crop of people who are coming out of school understanding they're saddled with crazy amounts of debt. My goal would be to help them come into a space where they can have the best of both worlds. They can make a good living, they can pay off their debts, they can also be doing the very highest level of biologically based dental care and still make a great living. It's absolutely possible.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 28:26

Got it. Are there any challenges from the operational side of your practice that you kind of battle with?

Dr Kelly Blodgett: 28:33

Well, not anymore. So for the first 20 years of my practice, you know I was kind of wearing a lot of hats. You know I would come in on one Sunday a month and I'd pay all the bills and you know I was the team manager and just wearing all these hats. My wife came into my practice a little over four years ago and she has an incredible skill set that is so different than mine. She is very operationally driven. So in the past four years she's helped our business really get set on checklists and protocols so that my team members can step in they know what's expected. They literally will have a checklist and and and. So we've objectified a lot more so that systems run more smoothly and, frankly, like I'm then left to get to do the things I love doing, which is patient care. So I'd say, systems wise. Now that's pretty much the thing.

Dr Kelly Blodgett: 29:39

The other challenge I would say and this is a very real thing right now is that because the phrases biological dentistry, holistic dentistry have become at this point it's almost meaningless, because so many dentists they see it oh, there's this opportunity to start using a phrase that somebody else is using and they start calling themselves biological or holistic or whatever, yet they don't really change anything about their practice style, but they're using it for their google seo. Yeah, that's probably a frustration because you know people oftentimes they take the information they glean for me and then they go to dr joe blow's practice who says they're biological and they're like still recommending root canals. So that's kind of a challenge. Um, because there's so many practices using these phrases right now.

Dr Kelly Blodgett: 30:33

I will say this on an upside. You know I'm an eternal optimist so I can't help but see the upsides of things that you know there are people like Domei Nischwitz out of Germany who's doing a lot of work right now trying to create a global standard for biological dentistry, and you know I love that guy, he's a good friend and I really applaud and support what he's doing. You know there are many of us who are helping him do that. So I think there's some promise there. But yeah, currently that's kind of a frustration because you know I used to be the only guy people would find when they were searching for a biological or holistic dentist in my area, and now you know dozens of dentists are using those phrases. So that's, that's a little tricky.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 31:19

I understand. Are there any metrics that you track in your business to kind of get a sense or a gauge of how things are going that you particularly focus on? Or your wife, obviously with the operational hat on?

Dr Kelly Blodgett: 31:32

Yeah, she absolutely, julie does. Yeah, I just got my email from her yesterday. She always pings me and she pings our CFO and she pings our practice manager about the metrics. So, like, how many new patients did we see this month, which for us is almost consistent because we, you know, every month we see seven new patients every Monday. It's like clockwork. And then the question is how many of those people said yes to care? And then, from a business standpoint, like what was our total production and collections on the month, things like that I'm happy to say. You know, may of this year was better than May of 2024 and 24 was better than 23. And we have a smaller team than we've ever had. You know. It's like those are great metrics to track. I'm not inspired to track that stuff myself, so I'm grateful that my wife is. She's hardwired to look at those things, which has helped us be more, more profitable, frankly, yeah, it's. It's cool that that she's on the team helping us track those things.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 32:40

Right, and where would you like the practice to go in the next six to 12 months? I know you're on a sort of long term quest to find an associate, but do you have any other sort of goals for the practice in general?

Dr Kelly Blodgett: 32:51

associate, but do you have any other sort of goals for the practice in general? Yeah, right now I would say we've kind of ramped up to a level where I have this one. In my opinion, it's the perfect balance of I'm doing the exact kind of clinical care that I love doing and that I know is beneficial to people's health, and I have the flexibility to travel and go, do talks and take classes. So what we're really focusing on right now in terms of continuing to grow over the next 12 months is those single visit care days. So my ideal Tuesdays and Wednesdays, which are my major clinical care days my favorite day is I just see one patient we work with an anesthesiologist, they take a nap, they wake up, it's done and they start healing. So probably to do.

Dr Kelly Blodgett: 33:47

Usually I'm doing one of those a week. I think in the next 12 months, if I can get to where I'm doing, that's the only thing I do Tuesday and Wednesday For me, even though it's incredibly intense and takes many hours to do like, I'm wired for that and I find it relaxing. I literally make a checklist for everything that I'm doing the night before so we know exactly what we're doing. It just feels like listening to a symphony. It's all just beautifully orchestrated. I've got the right people on the team. So doing more of that and watching people's lives change for the better is what we want to continue growing.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 34:26

Brilliant. And if you could remove one bottleneck or solve one challenge instantly, what would that be?

Dr Kelly Blodgett: 34:34

Oh man, that's a great question. If we could make an eight-day week, that'd be great. Golly, that's a great question. Um, well, I think the one bottleneck that I have right now, um, is that I'm, I'm, I'm five weeks away from completing my first book. I'm currently in a three and a half month revisions phase. So, like outside of all the social media writing that I do, outside of all the clinical care that I do, outside of all the lecturing I do, I've been writing a book for the past year, um, which, like I haven't had a day off just to relax in a long time. So that's probably the one bottleneck that I'm looking forward to having completed. Uh, because it has. I mean, I've loved it. It's been a real learning experience, but you can imagine it takes so much time. So I'm looking forward to to kind of having that one past me and having a little more open time for my wife and family.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 35:51

Do you want to give it a free plug on here? I mean, you never know, there might be somebody on here that would be interested. What's it going to be called?

Dr Kelly Blodgett: 35:56

Yeah, thank you. The book is called Feel Whole Again and the focus of the book is looking at the subjective side of healthcare experiences. Looking at the subjective side of healthcare experiences what I mean by that is how people feel and what their intuitive senses are sharing with us as healthcare providers, and why there's value in listening to what people feel and what they think about their own health. So it deep dives into both negative emotions and positive emotions and why it's important to recognize each of those emotions. So the book will be out in print in probably late September.

Dr Kelly Blodgett: 36:45

I plan to do a book launch event here in Portland Saturday October 25th and I'm really excited to get it in the hands of people. It's my experience in healthcare is that people come in and they say I feel like and whatever. You know. They fill in the blank, which is what I tell my team. You better write down every word that they say, because there's so much value in what they feel like. But most people just go okay, well, that's nice, but what I'm seeing here is this and that and the other thing, like when somebody says I feel like my root canal is impacting my health negatively. Yeah, well, I don't see anything on the x-ray, it's probably fine. There's a massive disconnect in our being able to serve that human being well when we disregard what their intuition and feelings are telling us. So that's what I hope is that it becomes a roadmap for patients and healthcare providers alike to recognize the value of what our emotions are telling us.

Dr Andrew Greenland: 37:46

Kelly, this has been fantastic. Thank you so much for being so open and insightful. I know our audience will take away a lot from your perspective, your philosophy, your work ethic. Thank you so much for being so open and insightful. I know our audience will take away a lot from your perspective, your philosophy, your work ethic. Thank you so much for your time this afternoon. I really appreciate it. Thank you, Andrew. Thank you.