Ep. 18: Horsepower & Toothpower: Meet Beth & Sadie, the First Ladies of Full-Arch

Part 10:00

This is Podpopuli, podcast for the people. Welcome to another episode of Beyond the Arches. I'm your host, Dr. Daniel Noorthoek. And today we have two very special guests, the ladies of my life of our home. I've got our dog, Sadie, a golden retriever, two and a half years old. Correct. And also I have my lovely wife, Beth. Welcome, Beth. Hello. How are you today? Super. Thank you for having me. Thank you for having us. Yeah.

Well, Sadie's welcome every time. You're welcome every time. So today we're going to talk, Beth is interested in horses. And so today we're going to title today, Horse Power and Tooth Power or something along those lines. So we'll just kind of, the intention of today is just get to know you, get some stories, get some background, some feedback, that kind of thing. And I hope people get to know you better through it too. Probably. I mean, yeah.

Probably will happen. Absolutely. So why don't we start with maybe like your story? So kind of like where you grew up and I already mentioned that you're into horses. So how did you get into them, that story? Yeah. Well, so I guess the pretty story. Standard answer to that question is I'm from Kentucky. So I started riding when I was four. Actually sort of got into it in a funny way. My family took my sister and I on a vacation and we went horseback riding.

It was one of like the activities at this place we went to in Virginia, the Greenbrier, very well-known Southern resort vacation spot. My father was going there for a medical meeting. We tagged along, went on this horse trail ride. I apparently just fell in love. I do absolutely remember it. I was maybe three and a half, four. The horse's name was Red because he was a little chestnut pony. And it came time, the trail ride finished and I apparently would not get off.

I don't remember this part. I remember riding the horse. I remember the horse. I remember having a horse. I remember having my picture taken, all of that thing, all of that, but I don't remember refusing to get off, but I apparently refused to get off. So the way my mom got me off was that when we returned home to Kentucky, she would sign me up for horseback riding lessons. So apparently the story goes that like the second we pulled in the driveway, I was like, okay, we're here.

When's my first horseback riding lesson. I think all along the, my riding career. Which I think is what you ask every time we stopped the car in general anyway. Yeah. It might be much to your, you know, but yes, um, definitely horse obsessed. And I think much probably like you growing up, my parents sort of always made the comment that they like went along with it, hoping it was a phase and it just never, yeah, yeah. It was never a phase.

Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's a thing. So, um, I struggle with this a lot as well. So can you maybe, um, describe for the viewers, well, first what, in your words, the discipline that you do specifically and the best way to sort of describe that to people that don't, um, don't know what, what that is. And then, um, on top of that, describe to us what it does for you in terms of the feedback and what you enjoy about it.

Cause you know, when I look at it, I know that I've heard you say before, when I close my eyes when, or somebody said to you or something like that, but when I close my eyes, I'm on a horse or when, when a person closes their eyes there, that's where they go to. And when I close my eyes, I go to sleep. So what inspires you there? Like what is your emotional connection to it? Like what, why do you think you're drawn to it?

Like for people that don't understand that. Yeah. Help us understand. Okay. Um, well, so the, to answer the first part of that question, I ride, um, the discipline of dressage, which, um, most people, a lot of people think they haven't ever heard of it, but you probably have seen it. It's the most formal of all the equestrian disciplines. Um, it's also the most technical of all the equestrian disciplines. You know, there's Western riding and then under the English umbrella, there's several different, and the two most common are hunter jumper and dressage.

And the best way to describe dressage to the lay person is that it's, uh, like dancing with your horse. So we do, um, three different gates, but walk, trot, canter, but within those gates, um, there are many different trots. There's the collected trot, the medium trot, the extended trot, the P off and the passage. And then we move those gates sideways. And we at the canter, we pirouette. And we do flying changes. Um, so it's, um, it's a very difficult technical sport ridden on warm bloods, which are primarily warm bloods and, um, that, which is a very big, strong athletic course.

That's, you know, sort of, um, it's, it's very physical for the horse and the rider. So, um, they're, they're very well suited to perform those movements. Um, they're absolutely stunning. They're absolutely beautiful. ▶It takes years and years to develop a horse all the way up through the levels of dressage, which there are many. Um, And one thing that I didn't understand and now have learned an appreciation for, I think when you say horse dancing or something of that sort, it kind of makes everyone think, well, it's, it's learned a routine and the person's just along for the ride, but it's really a partnership and it's really, you are controlling essentially what happens.

And so it really, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's very demanding. It is very demanding. It is very cognitive because there's a set series of things that you're supposed to do within a, within a certain test they call them. But that was something that I learned. That was the most, probably this, one of the biggest things that I learned as far along as you could possibly can imagine.

I think I learned that after you got Viennese. And so, I mean, I was probably 35 years old when I found that out, you know, and already, own part into a horse. So I think that that's hard for people to understand that it is a very physically demanding, cognitively demanding, you're doing something. It's not just a horse dancing around. Yeah, that's very accurate. So when you're competing specifically, you are writing a test from memory. They're typically about six and a half minutes long and they become more and more technical. They start at training level, first, second, third, fourth, pre-St.

George, intermediary, intermediary to Grand Prix. And there's a few things in between and there's a few, that's just kind of the basic rundown. So at Grand Prix, that test is, it's just move after move after move. The rider is for sure driving, but the horse, especially a really good horse that has done it a lot. And is competing like, I don't want to say for a living literally, but there are horses and rider pairs that basically this is their career. The horse very well likely knows the test. He likely knows exactly what's coming up next and may help a rider out. Or get in the way. Exactly. Or get in the way or anticipate. Exactly. You're, you're, you're spot on. So yes, but you're riding, you're looking from memory and you are managing so many things at once. You're managing the pattern. You're managing the fact that you're being watched maybe by sometimes hundreds or thousands of people. While you're doing this, you're in there by yourself. It's a very formal sport. You're wearing tall boots and a tailcoat and white britches and white gloves. The horse is braided and dressed to the nine. The whole thing has taken hours to prepare for just to get in down the center line. As we say, every test begins where you enter down the center line of the arena, you halt and salute to the drudge. So it's very formal sport. And the judge salutes back to you. And then you proceed on. You may not speak at all to your horse or make any noise.

It's how we run our house. Exactly. Competitors, spectators may also not speak during the ride and have to be more than 10 meters away. Like there's just, it's very, lots of rules to it. And then it's hard. It is very tight lines, very, very limited ability to, to infer what you want. Very different than like, if you're watching like barrel racing or, you know, cause they're like cutting loose. And of course they definitely have a lot of technical aspects to their sport too. But like, you know, our, our sport is just much more formal than I would say fun. It is fun to those of us that love it. But, um, uh, I think it's very hard for a lot of people to watch it if they don't understand what's going on because of how technical it is. It is. It's taken me a long time to kind of understand what's going on and what's good and what's bad. Yeah. And so, um, going back to what makes it a draw for you is a person, does a person, do you think they're born a horse person or is that learned?

Like to give us some insight. I mean, I feel like I was probably born one, but even, even still there is so much to learn. You don't just, you know, horses are, they're gorgeous and there's something about them. I think I've read before where like, um, people who spend time around horses and me and, and dogs, I've read it about dogs too. Like their, their heart rates are slower just because that, um, there's just something about being around them that is just, so I don't know. It's, I, I, I almost can't even describe it, but I was definitely instantly in love, but horses also absolutely have to be respected because I mean, they're 12, 1300 pound animals and, um, they can get super spicy and fresh. They can also be super naughty. Um, and you can get really hurt, um, if you don't know what you're doing. So they, you know, but, um, and that's a little bit of a, similarity to where when I go to work or working on a patient, they could be very naughty or they could be very well behaved. Um, but it's less, it's, it's less of an unknown when I'm around a horse. One of the reasons why I feel very uneasy around them, one, I'm not very trained for it, obviously, but I also sort of feel uneasy around them because they're such a large force. That's so uncontrollable and that unpredictable.

Ability is what makes me shy away from it. So there is a similarity where you can't control the horse a hundred percent and you can't control a patient a hundred percent. But to me, it's a higher degree when it comes to a horse. And that's what really freaks me out about them. That's, that's, that's why I'm not a horse person. I would, I would say it's, that's very true because they're, you know, horses, um, just like people have very, there's a lot of personality types and horses, and there's also a lot of different, um, intelligence levels and from, from horse to horse. Um, um, my coach has a horse that, um, they joke that he can read and write cause he's so smart. And, and I, and I, I believe that my, my, our competition horse, Salvador is also very bright. He knows exactly what he's doing.

Like at all times, he's, um, he's very cheeky. He, he, he knows exactly what's going on. Um, but they're not all that. And, um, and, and, um, even though my horse and my coach's horse can be very smart, they can also be very unpredictable. They're in at the end of the day, they're animals. So, um, you have to be ready for anything there, you know, especially when you're off property, you know, they're typically a lot of horses are usually Off property for everyone. It means that you have taken your horse to a competition or taken them to another farm. So they're not in their comfortable area.

Correct. Correct. So, Um, but they can even be spicy at home too. It doesn't, you know, usually that's going to be their place where they're most relaxed and they're going to be the most predictable. Um, but, but yeah, um, um, our competition horse, Salvador loves to go to shows and he, I always have joked that if he was a person, he would be pit bull because he thinks he's the sexiest man in the room. He thinks he's the fanciest man in the room. I'm never going to tell him.

But he comes off the trailer and he's like, is everyone watching? Um, should I turn around and reenter again? Like look alive people I'm here. Um, which just cracks me up about him. But, um, Sadie is the sexiest lady in the room. She is. Um, she is always, yes, very much so. Um, and also very much the best barn farm horse dog I could have ever dreamed of. Um, why don't you tell everyone that the story of when, when he got Sadie and how, and when we first got her home?

Oh my goodness. So, um, one of my other passions, um, outside of horses is rescuing dogs. And I am involved in the largest dog rescue, um, in the United States, big dog ranch rescue. And our own home is the second largest. You would love to think that I, and I wish it were true. But we are probably not too far off, but anyway, I've been involved with a big dog ranch rescue for, I don't know, maybe five years now. And, um, um, like I said, we are the largest when I began, when I started with them, we were the largest no kill shelter in the Southeast. We are now the largest no kill shelter in, in North America. And we have, um, at our Loxahatchee location, we can have up to 800 dogs at a time. We now have multiple campuses and my role with them is I help out with them. Um, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and I help with our charity events. I help, um, I help just bring attention to them to help sell tickets. I help, um, get items for our silent auction. I help go set up for the events. I help with planning. You know, we have meetings throughout, um, leading up to the events. So I'm, I'm participating in those meetings. So you and I were at one of these events. Um, it was April two years ago. So, yep. Yep. And it was called it's called, it's actually here, very close to here. We're, we're, we're talking to you from Boca Raton, but it was in Delray beach and it was called celebrity chefs. Um, really cool event.

And we were actually at the time getting ready to buy our horse farm. And so we were, we were spent, I was like, you know, I wasn't bidding on any of thing at the silent auction, you know, cause we were getting ready to make the down payment on our horse farm and out in Wellington. So, you know, like just, you know, we had the purse strings kind of drawn, um, you know, rightfully so that was a big, big purchase for us coming. And so the, one of the things that we do is we pick, you know, three or four dogs during our, we have a silent auction and a live auction at pretty much every charity event at the, um, at our big dog ranch, um, events. And we bring in an auctioneer and one of the last items always is the pick of the litter dog.

And so we have a lot of, I think, we have a lot of, um, every dog dealers are going to give us a lot of money. And so it's like, we just, we, we try to, we, you know, we try to match up with all the kinds of cases. And so we had one that was scheduled for us that we're going to do it Um, you know, puppies that she thinks people would really just love to take home. And Sadie was one of them that year. And you saw her the minute we walked into the event. Cause they'll have the dogs sort of like walking around with volunteers. And of course she was like, you know, the size of a shoe box at the time she was sick, maybe six or seven weeks. So she wasn't eight weeks. I remember.

She was just almost eight. Oh, was she? Okay. I thought she was six. She was born on like February 13th. Eight, 19th is her birthday. Yeah, you're right. It was, she was, and then this was like in the 20, the end of April. So, okay. She was like maybe seven weeks old. So you saw her right away and you kept like, Beth, oh my God, babe, look at that dog. Oh my God, babe, look at that golden retriever puppy.

Like you and I, and I was just like trying to say hi to friends. And I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah. She's cute. Like, okay, you know, we've got two at home. Like I wasn't on my radar really at all. But then when it came to the part where they did the live auction, they put her face up on the big screen. And I remember looking at it thinking, oh my God, that dog is to die for.

Like she is so cute. Well, I was taken by how she was able to be transferred. Like she was passed between attendee to attendee. And it was loud. And it was no. No, nothing off her back. DJ, like people. Yeah. Like I was enamored by her demeanor. Yeah. She just was taking it all in like MBD.

Part 218:27

Yeah. So once the bidding started, I sort of half jokingly, you were sort of sitting behind me at the time because we had all shifted our chairs to like watch this. And so I, um, I glanced over my shoulder and I said, joking, half joking, I said, can I bid on her? And I, I was very shocked when you said yes. Yeah. Well, it was, that was the only dog in the world where you could, we would have brought home.

And I think you sort of just hoped I would bid like once or twice and then like we'd stop and someone else would take her. But I think I bid on her once or twice and no one outbid us. So we legitimately, sorry, people of the world, we stole the best dog of all time. Um, we got her for next to nothing. Which was unbelievable. But, um, she's literally a, a, a 12 out of 10 and dogs, but tell them the story of, of when she first got home.

Yeah. So then we go home and we introduce her to our other two dogs and we take them outside. So they're, so they're sort of a neutral territory. And I think I had cooked. So I was in the kitchen. I was cleaning up some stuff. And I guess I should also mention, cause we've been, we'd been to this event. So we're literally dressed to the nine. Yeah. I'm in this. I'm in this like strapless pink pencil dress.

Um, and you were in a blazer and, and nice leather, leather loafers and nice pants. So we were really dressed up. I'm in like full makeup. And so I'm basically out back introducing, you know, the, our, our two other dogs, Cole and Boone to Sadie. And we live on a canal. Um, and he spoke. We might've been home for like two weeks. Two minutes. Yeah. At this point. If that. You're doing something in the kitchen and I'm, and she's like kind of following the boys around and like, it's going well, but it's dark outside.

And next thing I know, she walks over kind of towards the edge of the canal, but I'm literally standing right there next to her. I'm not really sure exactly how, how it happened. Too much wine was potentially involved, but she fell into the canal. Yeah. Within two and a half minutes of being home and meeting her brothers. And I had an, I had an absolute come apart. Like I'm like screaming for you. I'm like taking my heels off, unzipping my dress.

I'm literally going to go in the canal after her. And out of the corner of my eye, I see you in full, in your full outfit. I had taken my jacket off. Full speed running going. I got her. And you ran and jumped in the canal in the dark and fished her out. And that was how, that was how life with Sadie started. That was the only, that's a, I guess I've been in the canal twice now.

One was accidental and I was pressure washing the deck. And the second time was for Sadie, which was worth it. But I did ruin those shoes. There was a ton of barnacles on the edge as I was trying to get her up to you. But, um, that was pretty. ▶Pretty wild when we got her home and I finally heard you screaming my name and you're like stripping down. I knew we had to jump into action immediately, you know, so I ran out there and I just see you were definitely on it.

I remember this little, like you said, she was the size of maybe a shoe box, probably less, probably less with her head. She was a little fluff ball. Her hair was like just this white blonde. She's a, she's a platinum blonde retriever too. Which just makes her even, I don't know, I don't know, to me, it makes her that much more delicious, but she was this fluff. We called her a fluff nugget. For those watching the video on YouTube, we'll make sure that we put an excessive amount of photos, photos and videos of her and what's cool.

Part 322:34

The reason why, well, there's many reasons why I had you bring her in, but she is sort of the unofficial mascot of done in one. She came in many times to hang out in the office. And greet people and hang out with patients occasionally. If I have the day off or I don't have a lot of stuff going on, I'll come in and check in and bring her around the employees and everybody love her. So Yeah, she could easily be, she is a professionally trained dog.

She is service trained, but she could also easily be like, she could get therapy certifications because of the, her temperament, her temperament is just, it, it's just, it still blows my mind. She lives more of our life combined than we do because she goes to the barn with you. She comes to the dental office with me. She's kind of got it. She's the all around girl. She's the one we should be interviewing. Probably. And she probably loved nothing more if we could get her to not be so chill and she's a, she's full on napping here now, so.

▶So I'm looking back on the, you've been around for all of the changes of done in one, including all the early mornings to Jacksonville in the very beginning. Yeah. Back from Jacksonville. Um, but you have a little bit of a background as well in dentistry and, uh, we met because of dentistry. Yeah. So why don't you say a couple of things about sort of what you used to do in dentistry and sort of how you've seen done in one change and evolve over the last, I mean the biggest evolvement evolve evolution, sorry, has happened over the last two or three years.

But the previous seven to 10 before that was even crazier. So why don't you say a couple words on just how you've seen things change and how you were involved in dentistry? Well, going back to your first questions, we, we, like I mentioned, we met from, um, we met because of dentistry. So, um, I, I had a career prior to horses, um, as a, um, pharmaceutical and then medical device rep. And, um, the majority of my time and as a medical device rep was in, was in the dental industry, it was in the dental space.

So, um, when we met, I had been with a dental comp, another dental company, but was, um, getting ready to, um, start working for another one that I, and I was so excited about working for that company. They're like family owned, um, and just like really nice people and like really cool products. And it wasn't like just one thing I had my, my, um, my, um, former job, I had only sold biologics. So for people who don't know that like bone grafting material, um, um, collagen membranes, like materials that are used during surgery, um, like for grafting, um, and space maintenance, things of that nature.

So I had had, um, a lot of, I had a lot of background in that and was super excited about this. And I was so excited about this because they sold, um, everything, um, you know, sutures and, uh, instrumentation and, um, equipment and you name it. It was this giant, like 200 page catalog. Like you could basically stock your entire dental office, just only buying from this company. And I just, I loved how much that, you know, it was so appealing to me that I was going to get to learn all like just from soup to nuts, um, with them.

And they're just really nice people and they have great reputation in the industry. Yeah. So, um, I was working my very first meeting, you know, dentists, nobody loves a meeting more than, um, a dentist except me, except you. This is so true. Um, there are these meetings that go on like all weekend long, all across the country. And part of the way that these meetings are put on is they invite companies to sponsor them and the companies come and their, their representatives attend and they have tables.

Displaying their products and during breaks that the dentists can come out and, um, sort of shop, so to speak, or like learn what is new and like, you know, visit with their reps and, and so forth. And it is a really great time to like, get to know your, um, customer base a little bit better because obviously when you're visiting them in their offices, you know, they're working. So it can be tricky trying to like, you know, um, so you were actually attending this meeting as a resident, a second year resident, and I was new in the job and was kind of like really trying to, um, you know, put my best foot forward and you sort of kept coming over to our booth trying to talk to me, but I was sort of like, you know, okay, go away.

I'm, I'm working here, you know, like I was working too, but, um, later on we, um, we connected at this, um, whole. In the wall hotel bar, I was with a bunch of other reps and a few other doctors and you were with, um, uh, the implant company that you were working with at the time. And you guys had been to, um, medieval times. Yes. So yeah, yeah.

Part 427:57

My knight in shining armor came in with the paper crown on his head and, um, a beer Stein in his hand and came over and was talking to me. And, um, and I remember. A lot of things about that night. But one thing was the new iPhone was getting ready to come out, which would always launch like in the middle of the night. And we started talking about like, if we were going to, it was going to come out that night.

We both were like, are you going to get up at like two o'clock in the morning and order the new iPhone? And we were both like, oh, hell yeah, that's happening. And then we sort of exchanged numbers. And then that, like, you just never stopped texting me from that day on. I don't know about all that, but. Hey now. But I, you know, it's been a good ride. It's been a good ride. I went to a lot of those meetings and I always describe it to people because I, a lot of these you have to pay for.

And I was a poor resident and so I couldn't afford to go in them, but I had to be around with you or in order to spend time with you, I had to be around you. And so I always describe it like, um, I was the kid that the parent, you know, gets off a little bit early from school, but then ends up at work with the parent waiting for the parent to get done with, with work.

I was like. That kid for a long time, just kind of aimlessly hanging out with the other reps, kind of in my space, kind of in dentistry. Yeah. And it was actually fun because I didn't have any obligation to go to the course and hadn't spent anything to do it, but got to see sort of play with the new toys when everyone else was in, was in the auditorium, say getting their lecture, I could go around and play with the machinery and think up new ideas and kind of get that.

So that was really fun. It was really fun for. A long time. I, I mean, I, I don't know, I don't want to speak for you and say for both of us, but I think it was cool because we sort of like helped each other for a while. Like I would introduce you to people and you would introduce me to some of your friends that began, ended up buying from me, you know, and did for years, you know, but, and then you would also help me like, um, some of the instrumentation obviously can be really technical and I would a lot of times get questions.

Um, from doctors wanting like more detail than I was always ever able to give, um, especially if something was really new, like, um, you would always remember one time when you called me and you said this, this doctor is using this and this and this all combined. And it's the first time it doesn't seem like that's going to work. Will that work? Do you remember this story? I don't, I don't know. And I remember being so shocked at all the 18 things that he combined.

Where you like run out of that office now, just drop everything. And get out. Yeah. No, he should not do that. Yeah. Um, but, uh, it was fun. We had a lot of, we had a mutual connection with it and it wasn't too tight. You know, it wasn't like we worked together. It was very chill. Like, um, we were both very careful with it, but we also had fun with it. Like just sort of introducing around and, and you would always help me understand things that were new where I, when I was trying to learn a new product.

So it was, it was, it was fun. It was really fun for, for me. For a good long time. Yeah, it was. And I will, I will be transparent and say, I only manipulated my, uh, position being that I was getting married to the rep. ▶My, the only time I manipulated my power, if you will, was when there was a, there was a hurricane and nobody could get sterile saline for running through the implant motor and everyone was having to cancel.

Yeah. So I had to have surgical patients because this hurricane had wiped out the sterile saline. And so pallets would come in and I will say very forwardly that I did manipulate my position to get as many of those bags as I could as they came in because else it meant no production. So I did use it one time. Well, you rightfully so. And I think the, that company very much, um, recognized, um, like what an asset you were to have us in your corner.

And you were really good to them and, and, you know, um, and bringing people to the table. So what I also enjoyed about you having that particular job is there wasn't any, the things that you per that you would purchase as a surgeon from your company was all, I'm not going to say commoditized, but there was a lot of commodity value to it, meaning it could be gotten anywhere else. Yeah. So I, I had to do the surgery, what the surgery was.

Right.

Part 532:40

▶And so my decisions for my own patients never had to feel manipulated because you sold XYZ implant and I sold that or used that just because you were, um, my wife. And so it was kind of nice from that perspective is because I was able to sort of main remain altruistic to the brands that I was loyal to being the quality that I wanted and what I wanted for performance. That's very true. That's very true. You actually used the main bone product that I was selling.

You used it already. And still do to this day. Prior to meeting me, you were, you were already using that. So it wasn't, and it was just a really solid product. Um, yeah. Uh, it, it sells itself and it just kind of comes down to price for a lot of dentists. Yeah. The bone bank for, for people, I'm going to jump in and say that cause we haven't talked much about bone grafting, but the bone banks is people see these documentaries.

Come out on HBO and such. We watched that show, the mortician, which wasn't about that necessarily, but there's lots of grave robber stories and, and many of the tissue banks either have a very gray background or they've gotten actually in trouble and somehow recovered from it. And so the company that we've always used for our bone graft is one that I've toured and has a pretty Sterling reputation and a great staff and, and is very well known.

They. I've purchased it in many, many different ways, forms and fashions, because it sort of comes from the source and then gets relabeled as say an implant company, um, selling it. ▶But that particular tissue bank has been one that I've always really held onto and followed because to me, they've done sort of one of the best jobs out in the industry in an industry that can be very shady and sort of not forthcoming where they're sourcing things and such.

This one. This one is just Sterling as can be in the, in the staff there. And I w I was lucky enough when I went to Virginia to go on a tour of that particular bone tissue bank and was so impressed by it. And then happened to me, you who sold it and then met the, was he vice president, um, I forget his name, but, uh, vice president of that company, I believe at the time. And so that just sort of helps solidify it.

And. And so to this day, I, I still seek it out. I still purchase it to my, our implant manufacturer essentially relabels that brand, um, for themselves. So we've stuck with, I've always, I used it before you, I used it during when I was, um, when you had that job and then also since as well, that's, to me, that's important. That's something that you don't, when you're messing with biologics and people's money and their investment, it's always been a high priority that.

Not that we spend the most and get the quote unquote highest quality, but maybe the most ethical or where I would, what I would put in myself for is something that I believe in more than, more than just the bottom dollar. You know, one of the biggest stories I can think of as that relates is one time when I was in school, still, I was working, um, uh, moonlighting, they call it on a Wednesday evening.

Part 635:58

And I had an owner of a practice handed me. I needed some bone graft material. So I asked them to get it and the owner came back and handed me a sterilized pouch of what amounts to bone powder inside of this sterilized pouch. And I looked at him and said, well, what do you want me to do here? There's no documentation. It's not fresh. It's you ran it through an autoclave. Like that's not how you clean bone.

Anyway, I was so turned off by that. I, I, you see that a lot in the industry where they're okay. Okay. Practitioners are okay with sort of splitting bottles. So they'll, they'll get, they'll open too much or they'll buy at bulk, which is cheaper. And then they'll separate it under a clean environment. And one thing I've not shorted ever, ever, ever is I never split bone graft materials. That's when I send you, when, when we open it, that patient, I paid for it to go in that patient.

Like that's it. ▶Speaker 2 And you also always, um, always order a, you ordered enough that you guys were never having an oh shit moment in your office. I can't tell you as a rep, how many times I was robbing Peter to pay Paul going to one office to another cause people were always just buying, yeah, under ordering, buying only for what was on the schedule and that like, lo and behold, um, a surgical tech would overlook a surgery or somebody would get added on last minute, but they didn't have the products.

And I w it was always so stressful. Trying to like, um, help offices like that out. And it's just so much easier when I, one thing I always appreciated about you as a customer is you just, you always just bulk ordered. It was just, you know, you were always going to have your shelf stock. So no matter what, if you were in the middle of a surgery and you needed more, it wasn't, um, it wasn't going to be a problem.

Or if you know, there was an emergency surgery, you had the materials, it was never going to be some stressful scenario. So for you and your staff, yeah, um, I've always, I've been forced, very, very fortunate in the jobs that I've had and the positions that I've had and the patient base that I've started with to be able to always be in that position to order enough. And it's not lost on me. You did it though when you really weren't, I mean, you always, that's sort of, I don't even know where you got that from, but even when you came out and didn't, we weren't making that much.

Like you did it then. I mean, yeah. You kind of, I mean, I guess that back then we had a partner in Jacksonville, so that definitely made things, I've always believed in the volume model. I've always believed you have to have a bunch and it has to be good and you provide that value to the patient. And if you're good at it and you're efficient at it, then you'll see enough numbers to cover everything. And a lot of dentists look at the volume model and scoff at it, you know, Oh, you're not charging enough, or you do, you clearly don't value yourself enough.

Look, this is a very expensive procedure. The cost of a brand new fully loaded Camry or a we'll say low end Lexus, even this is, this is very expensive, no matter how you break it apart and to be able to offer a really high quality product. With some efficiency. The efficiency has always been an intention of mine. I don't want to do two or three clear out my whole schedule and risk not ordering enough or not having enough experience to go through things.

To me, it never made any sense to not be at a volume model, especially when it comes to this type of procedure, but it is looked down upon as a, you know, socially I'm a pariah of dentistry because I don't see things the same. I want to make some money. I don't need to take makeup, make a ton and I'll make it up through volume and I won't compromise my quality to do it. Right. That's always been a big belief of mine.

Yeah. ▶So, um, how have you seen me change through the years? Um, wow. Um, like what's, what's the biggest difference Dan today versus Dan we'll say seven years ago in terms of mindset life. Gosh, that is amazing. Um, a big question and I might need a whole nother podcast just to address it. Goodness. That's not a good sign. No. In all the right ways. You, um, you very quickly, um, identified this as something that you are going to be good at and that you are going to find a way to make more efficient and more, um, predictable along the way.

And you just dove head first into finding ways to make this procedure, um, um, better and better at every turn. Um, so I've watched you dial down literally every aspect of this surgery from your team to the equipment that you use to, um, your, the lab. We now own our own lab, which is a big part of that to having the right designers to just, I mean, getting really into it involved, um, digitally, um, like you have just literally perfected every aspect of the surgery, um, to where now you, you know, when you first started, you could maybe do one or two a day.

And, um, now I don't really know that I want to be obnoxious and say how many you can do in a day, because it's probably more than what a lot of people even do in a month. Um, but you're able to get in and get out. We'll conservatively peg it at eight because I'm lazy now. Yeah. But, um, and that, and also a lot of dentists would hear eight and they say, well, he's cutting his corners and he's not doing.

Oh, that's voodoo dentistry. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You know, um, yeah, I've heard that. Yeah. It's great for the patients too, because the, you know, first of all, you're so skilled at it, but you're also getting in and out so much quicker. So it's so much less atraumatic for them. You know, they're not just dying on a vine and, um, someone's chair all day long bleeding that whole time while you have them open, you know, you are, and you have figured out exactly where everything needs to be to accommodate for, you know, this amount of swelling and blood.

I mean, you've got, you guys have just done thousands and thousands of these cases to where. I mean, you and, and your team, literally, I I've just, it's, it's just been really fascinating to watch, but I think too, one thing that is, um, really interesting about you, um,

Part 743:10

historically dentists are not known for being, um, business savvy and you have really, um, taken a huge, uh, interest in the business side of. Running your practice and you are, I don't want to say shockingly, like it's a dis, but you, you are, you are impressively, I guess is better to say you were, you were impressively very good at the business side, as well as being a surgeon. And that's, that's not at all the norm. Um, most dentists don't know how to do, um, you know, anything business wise, business management.

And they really struggle. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Um, I have the same, um, the same thinking, um, I know when I, when I, when I was brand line usually even know, um, and I, and many, um, many, many people that trusted me for one, 40 years yeah. Um, and when I was known, um, yeah, or, you know, for a little more than a year, um, it all worked out really good then. Yeah. Um, andusi, uh, so we're definitely some practice owners, but you actually excel, um, in both um, there's no better team than the, than the done in one team. And that's because of the, to the, the, um, the tone that you set with them, the, the, um, I don't even want to say like the standard that you set, cause that's not how you run it. You run it. Like we're all in this together.

Like we are, we like, this is done in one is ours. You don't roll in there. Like I'm Dr. Dan. And I've said the X, Y, Z, like done, done in one is all of yours. And it, and it is where it is because of each of their roles in it. And I don't, I hope I'm not sounding cheesy explaining this, but it's, it's, it's fascinating. I've learned to not shy away from the pride that comes with, I'm very clear. And I've said it before, but I'm very clear with probably my best skill, even better.

Than dentistry is building a team and building a team my way. I mean, I'm not going to go into, you know, lids.com and go revamp them and build them their team, but building the culture, getting the buy-ins, showing the, the employees, the value of the extra time with the patient and the extra simplicity and the straightforwardness, you know, the more of these we do, the easier it gets, the easier it gets forever. Every employee, the more predictable it gets for every employee. And that isn't just a great thing for patients. It's also gets your buy-in with your staff as well. And they see me changing over chairs and doing things just like they would. And so it's fun to have a business that really feels like it's not always, always completely on my shoulders. It's, it can be given over to, I can trust my employees with running it. I mean, I could, For sure.

If you're tomorrow and I'm have no doubt that Dun & One would run just as efficiently once the surgery was all taken care of. And that's very rewarding as a, as a person that's put my heart and soul into it for sure. And you're very young. So last thing we'll talk about before we go, is there anything that you would be unexpected about me outside of dentistry? Like something that people wouldn't know? Yes. I like skiing. It's on our website.

So like dogs, she's here with one of us, but like, what is something that your average person doesn't know that I love or that you love about me outside of teeth and Dun & One? This is so easy to answer. And it's why I do very much believe that you are the skilled surgeon that you are. It's actually kind of got two parts, but one thing that people might not know, is that you are insanely talented with your hands and your dad, you grew up with your dad and your grandfather, like woodworking, carpentry projects, working on cars.

You can essentially fix anything. You've fixed jewelry for me. You've fixed horse equipment for me that you don't know anything about. You've fixed my laptop before you've repaired my car. We had problems with our driver the other day. And you very quickly, we brought two companies out that really were giving us a hard time about getting it fixed, but you got the job done. So I think part of why you're very... Like your eye hand, what do they call it in dental school?

Hand eye coordination. It's a hand eye coordination. Your hand skills, even outside of the surgical chair are insane. And I think it's you, you look at a CT. I've seen you do it. One of the great parts about having been a medical device rep was I actually got to be in the operatory with you on many occasions. So I've seen you do this procedure multiple times. But that really like carries over, I think, for you and your dentistry. You've actually converted one of our garages in our home to basically a manufacturing plant where he has a CNC router.

He has multiple 3D printers. He has a handsaw. Like you are constantly like making.

Part 849:07

If there's something you want, but you can't find it, you just make it. Same with our friends and our family. If somebody's telling you about something, they need a solution to something, they can't find it. You'll just print it and make it. You're helping our best friend. And he's an optometrist. He is one of the biggest. Dr. Aaron Evans here in Boca Raton. I'm sure at some point we'll have him on. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. I'd like to come for that one.

Cause he's a riot, but you're helping him with like something with his, um, his registers, right? It's, is it for their like expo? He's doing a new project and it needs a tablet holder and the tablet holder at the bare minimum on top of the tablet was going to cost about $180 per unit. And it was very ugly unit. And so he asked me if I could design it. And so I've been working on 3D designing and prototyping and manufacturing.

Um, well getting him the specs to, to get the equipment so that his people can do it as well. But I've been working on prototyping that. So yeah, one of my, I'm, I love working with my hands is something that was taught to me from, I can remember as long as, as early as we'll say five, I would always be nailing a nail into a board or using a saw or was stuck working with my dad to work on the house.

Doing great jobs. But I think that maybe one of the biggest differences, my hand skills came out of passion and craft making. My mom always had me in crafts. I knew how to sew when I was six or seven. I've always been with a very art, artisanal, like crafty kind of bunch. And, you know, so some of my normal, a normal Thanksgiving for me was finding an aunt or uncle's door that was squeaking and then get, you know, I was like, oh, I'm going to do this.

Three family members and we would be fixing it for half of the day. Right. That was a normal Thanksgiving. And so my hand, we'll call them hand skills, but my, my working with my hands came first dentistry and love for science kind of came second. And so bringing it in that direction has been a big benefit to me. But what's really fun is now that we've gotten up to speed and we have better staff. And I don't have to be at the office as much anymore.

I can now go in reverse. Now I get to use my hands as a benefit from dentistry and get to use these new pieces of equipment and stuff. ▶And it's been really fun, too, because in the last year or two, I've really sunk my teeth into designing to 3D print or designing to CNC on my own computer. And I'm not good at it. There's guys that do it for a living. I couldn't manage. I couldn't make enough to buy a ham sandwich with it, but I can, I have enough knowledge that it also, not only is it fun for me to create and make at home on my own time, something that I think is really fun, but I also can extrapolate that because we design on the computer and we manufacture at the lab.

And so now I've got sort of a better basis to help and insert myself into what we're doing at the lab for the teeth and stuff. So it's very cyclical. What I do on my free time is sort of what I do for my profession, but it's kind of fun now because the cycle, now I'm able to do my more fun stuff as a result of the work, which is cool. For sure. Well, Beth, I appreciate you coming in and bringing Sadie.

She hasn't been too much of a personality today. We'll have to talk with her when we get home about being a little more entertaining. So behave, but I appreciate you coming and giving us some insight and I'm sure I'll see you again soon. Well, I, I should hope so. And as I like to call myself the first lady of full arch, I'm always at your service for these podcast events. This was a ton of fun. Well, everyone, we appreciate you as always.

This is all opinions. It's by no means meant to be anything that is followed strictly or be professional. This is not medical advice necessarily. This is for you to get to know myself personally, what done in one is, what is the full arch procedure, all of that. ▶And so I think that the more that we can get people in here that are involved in the crew, the life, the backgrounds, that's the intention of this podcast. So we appreciate you listening, Beth.

Again, we appreciate you coming in. Like, subscribe, all that stuff. We'll see you again soon.