Ep. 62: Patient Interview - Bri from TikTok

Part 10:00

This is Beyond the Arches, where full-arch dentistry meets real talk. Let's get into it. Welcome to Beyond the Arches. I'm your host, Dr. Daniel Noorthoek. With me today, I have Lilia. Hello, Lilia. Hello. And we have Bree. Hello, Bree. Hello. I would go ahead and tell the story about Bree, but I think that's going to come out. And why don't we let you, Lilia, tell the story of how we ran into Bree and why she's on this podcast today?

Very random, I would say. I think I was scrolling on a magazine. I was scrolling somewhere online, and I saw People's Magazine article pop up. And it was about your TikTok dancing until you raise enough money to have dental implants. Very specifically, full-arch, I believe it was. So I think we were in a meeting in this very room. We were? And I showed Dr. Dan and Nick and Robert. I showed everybody, like, oh my gosh, let's reach out to her.

What do you guys think about reaching out to her? And I think... It kind of was... The rest was history. We reached out, I think, the same day. I think I told you to let her know. Talk to her right away, for sure. Yeah. And I just remember trying to explain to you, like, this is real. This is not, like, this is not fake. That's so cool. This is the first time I'm hearing about this. Yeah. Super cool. Yeah. I was in disbelief for quite some time there. I had some run-ins with, like, other clinics, and they weren't such great experiences.

Yeah. So, yeah, obviously a pando, and I'm here, and it all... Went well. Yeah. You were in a meeting, actually, and you walked out to make the phone call, right? I'm pretty sure. I think what we did was I passed the article around. Then we looked on your TikTok, which sounds kind of creepy. But we looked at the TikTok, and we saw, obviously, you know, your posts and what you were doing, and, you know, definitely wanted to help you out.

And I think maybe Robert reached out to you first and kind of, like, just explained what we do, who we are. And just so that he could then... Introduce you to me, and we could do, like, a Zoom console. And I think that's kind of how we started. Yeah. But, yeah, what... I guess my biggest question was, what made you first decide to start posting on TikTok? And was that always, like, number one goal? Like, start posting, see if I can, like, get some help with, like, raising money for dental implant work?

And had you done it before? Yeah. Had I done what before? Like, been on TikTok and... So, I don't know. It kind of just came to fruition. It came to fruition randomly. I had wrestled with the idea of even just creating a GoFundMe for many, many years, and I never felt like I deserved to, I guess. Because, I don't know, especially with healthcare, a lot of the time, people think that's something, like, you should purely be responsible for and shouldn't ask for help from other people.

So, I finally got encouragement from family and friends and felt brave enough to even make a GoFundMe and ask for help. And then, it was just kind of like, okay, well, now what? I need somebody to look at it. So, it was just kind of like, I have been a scroller on TikTok for many, many years. So, I just, like, I don't know. I thought about how I've seen people do similar things for, like, needing help raising money for surgery or finding someone that's, like, a kidney donor or whatever.

So, I was like, okay, might as well try. I never really, like, I posted here and there. I'm never too seriously or with a real goal or mission in mind before. So, this was completely new to me. And then, with that being said, I also had never really found any level of attention from viewers on TikTok or, like, had a following or anything. So, that was completely new to me as well. And it just kind of fell in my lap that people were interested in it.

And I just kind of went from there, tried to keep it going for as long as I could. Keep getting as many eyes on it as I could. And, yeah, the goal at first was really to try to just raise enough money, eventually get into the creator rewards program, start earning money from views on my videos. And it turned out that a perk was, like, you guys found me through it. So, that was awesome. And then the money I raised, I ended up being able to use that to actually get down here.

So, that ended up working out perfectly. Yeah, it's awesome. Did you, leading into it, like, have you still been posting at all or, yeah? Yep. ▶Yes, people are very, very interested in seeing the process of, like, just the surgery, the healing process. People have so many questions and assumptions that I like to clear up and answer their questions. And I have had a lot of people also tell me that just posting, me posting my experience in general, whether it be, like, showing my natural teeth or showing this process, like, it made them feel a lot better about their situation and it actually gave them the courage to start, like, reaching out to dental clinics.

I've had so many people say they've reached out to you guys because of it, you know? So, I think that's super cool. We had one just before coming in today. I was going to say, today, they booked, too. Oh, how cool. And I was like, okay, do not forget to tell Bree this today. But Dr. Laks was like, make sure you tell Bree that she was said, like, strictly she found us because of Bree and, like, felt encouraged and, like, all good positive thoughts.

That's so cool. Yeah. She was super sweet, but very grateful for you. So, it's great to see. That's why I just continue to do this is because people have enjoyed it and it's, you know, it seems to be doing good. So, why not keep going? Part of the done-in-one army. Yeah. Definitely. It grows fast. Sometimes I'm like, you know. Had you heard about us before you, we reached out? Not. So, I've heard the name. I've heard done-in-one, like, thrown around a little bit.

Not really in regards to the clinic, but just, like, the process, like, the done-in-one. Like, week or one day or whatever, like, where, like, Nubia is concerned, but not the clinic itself or any of your locations, so. Who had you gone to before this? So, like, lead us to this part of the journey. ▶You know, we don't need to know, you know, how many fillings you had when you were two, but what was the story involved? So, for years now, up until I was, up until I started looking into dental implant clinics, I had just been getting extractions done as needed.

Yeah. Because teeth were getting too infected and abscessed and decaying and, like, crumbling apart and to the point where I'm like, I don't even want to try to save these. There's no point in sinking my money into this. So, then I finally started, like, really taking seriously looking into clinics for dental implants. Let's see. I first went to my regular dentist, the one I'd seen for all of my extractions, asked him, all right, what, like, what are we looking at?

He quoted me, like, $1,800 per tooth. And then, like, for arches, it would equal out to whatever that was. So, out of the budget. And then I went to my local dentist, and they quoted me $50,000 for both arches. Oh, that's full arch. Oh, yeah, yeah. So, they also gave me several different treatment options. ▶You know, one is do nothing, treat problems as they arise. And I was like, well, I'm doing that anyways. And then the second is full arches.

And then the third, they wanted me to do, like, a snap. And then a denture, like, on the top. And then, like, a traditional on the bottom. Or just do snap and dentures in general. And for me, it was like, if I'm going to pay, like, $25,000, which is what they quoted me for snap-ins, like, why not just go all the way? Like, for me, it would have been just worth it to go all the way. So, I couldn't.

They weren't an option to me. So, then I started looking elsewhere. Elsewhere in the United States. I reached out to a well-known place. A nice place in Vegas, Bionic Smiles. So, I've heard good things about them. It just didn't pan out with the phone call that I had with them. I just didn't. The vibes weren't there for me personally. And then I just, I called so many dental clinics in the U.S. I actually started reaching out to dental schools and programs.

Ohio State University, those kinds of things. They told me. They actually ended up telling me that the cost, even for their students to do it, instead of, like, residents or whatever, would be, like, pretty much exactly what the regular dentist told me. I'm like, that's kind of crazy. That's crazy. And months and months and months and months. Yes. And, like, it would have been such a long process. And then also, like, no insurance would be involved, like, period.

And it was just, that didn't work out. So, then I started looking into, like, programs and courses where they use live patients to do these, like, implant trainings for, like, doctors and stuff that I'm sure you have experienced personally. So, but. They were like, yeah, we could use you for sure. And then never heard back. So, that didn't pan out. Yep. And then I started calling places abroad. So, I spoke to a couple clinics. And India was, yeah, I was prepared to go to India.

But they also quoted me, like, $16,000. Really? Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Is it 16? Yes. So, I was like, by the time I buy a passport, get over there, buy a hotel, why would I go abroad? So, then I called places in Mexico. Like, Rada. Right across the border. Like, Los Algodones or whatever. Well known for dental tourism. It was, like, the prices kept getting brought down, but it just wasn't making sense. People do this for a lot of different reasons.

So, and when you got to the point where you're like, I'm going to do all of this work, what point were you at? Was the motivation the, we'll say, the aesthetics, like, the hiding the smile? You were sick of that part? Or you were in pain? Pain or both? Like, where were you at at that point? It was a good mixture of both. But by that time, I had, like, learned to live with the aesthetic of my smile for the most part.

It was really, it was getting to the point where I could not sleep a single night without waking up every few hours in pain. Like, I was tired of it. I couldn't eat much anymore. Like, that was the driving factor. That was like, all right, it's time to lock in. I need to do something now. So, that was the driving factor for me. It was good time. It's very present. It had to have been very frustrating. Yeah, especially, like, I'm young now.

▶I knew that my chances are best now, especially if I wanted implants before I kept having to get more teeth extracted, losing bone down the line. And that's why I wanted to do implants anyways instead of dentures. If it came to it, I would have been fine removing everything, doing dentures, trying to save up for implants down the road. But I felt like if that were to happen, I just never would have reached that goal, just, like, realistically.

So, I just would have been stuck with one something. I didn't want, but two, something that, like, I feel like probably just would have caused me more issues down the road. And it's just not what I wanted. So, it's a very personal choice. And, you know, that wasn't my choice. Yeah. I have a question for, actually, both of you. So, I know I've seen some comments, like, you're so young. Like, why are you pulling your teeth out?

Oh, my gosh. I know. The healthy teeth, why are you pulling them out? Yeah. And I want to hear, like, your point of view on it. And then, like, I guess, like, your, Dr. Dan, your clinical point of view, like, you know, why this was, in your opinion, breezed, you know. You know, best option or, you know, not a great option for her. So, I guess, if you want to start, like. So, a lot of the reasons that my teeth had, like, decayed and deteriorated, especially so quickly and so young, is just, like, a lot of them were out of my control anyways.

I had chronic illnesses. I have a genetic connective tissue disorder that obviously affects things like your gums. And also affects, like, teeth. Just things like that. You can have enamel defects, like root abnormalities. One of the roots my dentist pulled out had, or the teeth my dentist pulled out, he said, had, like, five or six roots on it.

Part 212:08

Like, something crazy. I don't know how many of you are supposed to be on there. But, yeah. And then, I just had symptoms from those. And also from, like, medication. So, you got dry mouth. I was vomiting, like, every day for many, many years. And it's just, all of those things take a toll on you. And it's also something that I haven't gotten completely, totally figured out. And so, it's something where it's, like. I don't have a cure for this.

It's something that I, like. I can't just. I don't know. It's not a lack of care completely. And it's not just, like, okay. I can take care of my teeth now. I'm going to keep these healthy teeth healthy. It's out of my control. So, I see it down the line. If I kept my natural teeth, they're going to follow the same road the rest of my teeth went. And, again, at that point, if I'm spending thousands and thousands of dollars to try to fix the rest of my teeth.

Why would I say? Like, four of them. I don't know. It just didn't make sense to me. And I also just aesthetic wise, like, why not? You know, if I'm going to, might as well do all of it. So. Yeah. I'll cover more of the age thing because the teeth, especially in Bree's case, Bree's teeth were very fragile, which you can see with some sort of, you know, connective tissue could have been growing up with different water sources, nutrition.

It can be a lot of different things. So, we won't really. And you definitely had a lot of destruction that I would say was dry mouth related. But you get to a point, especially, say, in Bree's setup. But depending on, it doesn't even become a thing of age anymore. It's just, it needs to happen. There's only one option for it. It's dentures or partial denture. Because when you start to lose those. Those back teeth. Yeah, you could put some implants or two in the back.

But the other issue is what's going to happen to the front? And are you putting her in a worse state for the long run? And you had had a good amount of already teeth removed in the back, right? Yeah. And so, and also you had kind of lost a little bit of bone volume from there. So, age sort of, to me, I wipe that totally off the table when it becomes like there's only one. There's only one real option, which is full arch.

When I was in dental school, I had a 17-year-old full denture patient. 17. So, he wasn't even 18. And everyone wanted to, all the faculty wanted us to do something or find some reason to keep them. But there was no other option. There was nothing to build on, etc. It came to the point where age isn't really a factor. It's not a factor in this that we have to do something. Or you're going to be just kind of abandoning the patient into this weird, awkward gray zone.

So, you know, with Bree, we're able to put implants in. Hopefully, it maintains enough of that bone that if in the future she has any issues as that ages, then that's something that you take care of down the road. But there's a medical, we'll call it an emergency. There's sort of a medical emergency in getting those infected and bad teeth out. So. So, a lot of times when it is a younger patient, it is sort of the last only option.

And that's what they kind of come to us for, you know? Yeah. Yeah. I know it had gotten to a point where right before getting my implants done, I had been getting abscesses and infections literally monthly, like on the dot. Every single month, I would have to call up my dentist, be like, hey, can you squeeze me in, go to urgent care, shell out a copay, get antibiotics. And it was just, it was ridiculous. And I also want to add.

That I had been seen by multiple different dentists for consultations and quotes for dental implants and the procedure and everything. And every single one told me that a case could and probably should be made to get everything removed and replaced. So, it's not just something on a whim. ▶I was like, well, I don't like the way my teeth look. Let's just remove them all at 24 years old. No. Like, I think people have that assumption a lot.

But it was just like, it was, I don't know, in my eyes, medically necessary. Like, either now or later, might as well get on. Like, now, if I can, you know. You always, Dina and I, when we leave a surgery, we'll always kind of beforehand say something. You know, like, let's say it's a really young patient. We'll kind of go, well, boy, you know. And then we see, when we see the x-ray, we go, okay, that looks like it makes sense.

But every time when you go to take those teeth out, when that younger patient is sort of saying, like, I absolutely need this and want this. It's almost, it's kind of weird. It's almost like they know better than a lot of people do. But it absolutely gets confirmed in, like, removing it. You know, your teeth were very simple to take out because they were pretty much there. Yeah. They were ready. Yeah. And another thing, it just, it was kind of at a point where it was also, like, pain management at that point.

And safety. Yeah. Like, I had been taking way too much ibuprofen and Tylenol for many, many years where it didn't touch the pain anymore. Mm-hmm. So then you're. You also can't go anywhere because, like, personally, with teeth looking like that, you get assumptions made even by doctors. So they think you're drug-seeking. They won't give you pain management. So then it's like, what do you do? Where do you go? You know? Yeah. Other than, like, fixing the problem at its root.

So it just made the most sense.

Part 317:48

On that, I would imagine that in this process, you've received a lot of unsolicited opinions, maybe some hate. Yes. I'm sure you've received support as well. But I was curious to ask you if, since you weren't really somebody that was an influencer necessarily as a career before, and then you kind of became in this space of getting followers, like, was there anything that, what was, like, the most shocking? Was there anything that impressed or disappointed you about humanity in seeing the other side of the inbox, if you will?

Oh, it's definitely good. It goes both ways. But, so I actually had a lady, when I first started all of this, she told me, and I'll always remember this, like, she told me, like, if you're going to do this, it could turn out really, really good. You're going to have a lot of love and support from people. But keep in mind, it's going to go the other way, too. And just, like, ignore those. Let it fuel the engagement.

Let it get more eyes on your stuff. And I was like, okay, cool. She was very right. There is so much love and support. But, on the other hand, you get people. Like, calling you names, I get, oh, the people are so creative. Yeah. It's so sad. Yeah. Like, I got methany a lot. Oh, my gosh. People asked if I, yes. Yeah, that's a big one for some reason. Or just methan around. People asked me if I chewed gravel.

That was kind of funny. People are messed up. Or seethe, yeah. It has to be sort of, like, depressing. Yeah. I really don't read my comments very much anymore. There's, I know my good days. And my bad days when I can and cannot look at those things. So, I will kind of just let them pile up and not read them. But, I mean, yeah. People can be very, very cruel. There's actually this one guy who every single video comments something.

And it just progresses and progresses. And, like, he's like, I'm going to knock your teeth in or whatever. I'm like, okay. So, he does that to every, all the girls. And the dental community. It's very weird. I think, I don't know. But, I tell them to block him. And I haven't. Just because I'm like, all right. If you do this, I'm going to take legal action. So, guess who's building a case. I think, unfortunately, it's like your parents would always say, like, oh, they're just jealous.

They really are just jealous. Yeah. It's very weird, like, the, how the tables have turned whenever I got my teeth done. Because it's like, you cannot make anybody happy. No. It's what I've learned. It's like, people are, before I got my teeth done. Whenever they see my natural teeth, they're like, oh, my gosh. That's disgusting. Like, how could you let it get like that? And, like, that should be your top priority. You shouldn't be, like, you shouldn't have a phone.

You shouldn't, like, have a house. Whatever. Like, that should be your priority. And now that I got them done, I don't know. It's like, why would you do that? Those were healthy teeth. Like, you could, it's just, again, chatter on both sides. You know? Like, can't make people happy. No matter what. I'd stake everything I own on, in this planet. Not that it's that much. But. Yeah. I would stake everything that I own on your teeth needed to come out.

They were not healthy teeth. The thing I was going to point out, because when we do a case that's reduced fee or we're helping somebody out, we do a ton of them. ▶So, we do, I would say, almost a half million dollars a year in free or discounted work. Is that fair? Mm-hmm. And so, we're only really public about the ones that are random. Mm-hmm. That want to talk about it. So, it's only the tip of the iceberg.

I also wanted to point out that, you know, just what I'm saying is, we don't do this just for the love on the other side of the optics of it. Mm-hmm. But I also would point out that we have a very particular way on how we pick people. And, you know, we're looking at people's comments and what type of person they are. Mm-hmm. You know, if you're the jealous person. You're the jealous person that's on there making fun of you.

And we keep track of that. And if you come in a couple years and you have this sob story and you ask for it, that's a big thing we don't do. If you write us a letter and with this big sob story, that has been done tens of thousands of times. And that's not really what gets us to act. We more like to find people that didn't even know we existed and just kind of go, bing. Just like your case.

Right? Because it feels a little bit more altruistic. It feels like you're encouraging bad behavior when it's requested of you. That's fair. Yeah. And it then becomes this like sort of entitled thing where they've just sort of written to you and expected that it's going to come out of your pocket. No big deal. So our strategy has always been just sort of blessings from the sky. Yeah. That's how you get to people. Yes. Yeah. But yeah, I mean, it's been a big focus of ours.

It's something that we love to do. It's something that we partner with any implant company that we work with. One of the first things we say is, this is how many free cases or discounted cases we do. And you'll be providing those implants. So that's pretty cool. But it is a big focus of ours, but we don't try to make it too big in public. So it actually feels very uncomfortable. It feels very uncomfortable to be talking about it right now.

I know. I'm like watching him. I'm like, oh, no, he doesn't like this. I cannot stand it. That's awesome. That's actually what like I talk about it. I'm open about like I got I received it pro bono. I talk about that very often whenever people ask like, what do you have to do in exchange? I'm like, they just pick people like this isn't just a one off thing. Like, I know at least two other people in the dental community on TikTok that are scheduled to get their implants done.

But like, again, pro bono through you guys, and like, I just I always say it's amazing. And it shows that you guys actually care because one, Robert, one of the first things Robert told me is you do not have to say our name. You don't have to like you don't have to tell anybody you were here like that is our deal with you. Like, you're just getting the care you need. So I think that's awesome. I always say, like, I don't have to be promoting you guys or tagging you guys or saying your name at all.

But the reason I do is because you did it out of the kindness of God. Out of the kindness of your heart, you helped me, I'm going to help you guys and spread the word and spread the love to other people who also probably need that help. And they don't know where to go. Even if you know, they have their money saved up, they're like, I just don't know where to go. I need recommendations, like, here you go, like, you see the whole process I'm going through with you guys, you see the level of care that I'm getting.

It's just amazing. And you know, I always say I would recommend the clinic a million times over, like, even just because of that, like, there's no, there was no expectation. Or obligation or anything, and it just felt again, like you, you guys just care, you know, and that just feels great, especially in the world of like, corporate dentists and you know, like, just, yeah, I think we try to be like the polar opposite of that, or at least make it feel like, yeah, it feels very like, like a family business, you know, so.

And probably the that the pride of that comes from what where I'm proud of it is that we're able to. Offer it at a reasonably achievable cost and still accomplish pro bono cases, not put that expectation on anyone. And you know, occasionally you'll see patients will come in and they'll say it just maybe they didn't have something that went exactly their way. But whenever we have that happen, there's a, there's an army against them of like, no, I don't think you're talking about the right people.

And that feels really good because that's earned over time. That doesn't come for free. That doesn't that's, that's little actions that are just hiding, hiding in the shadow. And when those people come out and they're kind of like for fighting for you and like, that's why we really push that we're a good group of people that we're not looking to just take advantage of anybody, you know, we're, we're trying the best for everybody. Yeah, absolutely. So it's an interesting.

Yeah. Um, dynamic it's, it's, the world has changed so much. Um, as you were telling me about, um, just your experience with interacting with people and people asking you for your opinion on, did you like them? And that makes me feel good because I have a consult with them regardless of the clinic. Uh, it's a really, it's actually a really nice thing because to have somebody vouch for you and say, go there. Mm-hmm is great as a business, no matter who it is, even if it's not done in one.

Um, so that market has changed because it's all social media type influencer now. Yeah. And before we would just, we would, I was thinking as you were telling the story, how much used to go into creating a commercial and creating a script and like getting the patient locked down and they were X, Y, Z, and they knew they were going to be on TV. So they wanted an X, Y, Z amount of money. Yeah. So we had to have this particular film crew come in and a lot of hoopla for something that worked, it's just doesn't work anymore because w what's genuine about that.

Yes. They're the good people look the same as the bad people. Yeah. Um, so it's cool to have the advent of social media where that's the way that it gets spread. Yes. Yeah. I was going to ask you, this is like obviously side random, but I remember before your surgery, how nervous you were, which is very valid. I think I've heard that before. Yeah. Anybody is nervous before any appointment or procedure, but looking back now, what is something that you were super, super, super nervous about, scared about, and you're like, you know, tell us how you felt after, you know, good, bad, you can be honest, but is there anything that comes to mind that you're like, Oh, maybe that wasn't as bad as I thought like the surgery itself specifically, I guess anything.

So I feel like I have two examples. Um, one would be like the oral sedation. Everybody freaks out. Yeah. Including me. Like, what do you mean you're awake? I also, no memory of this, pulled out my phone and started recording. Like whenever you guys took a break after getting the tops done and people are like, you're crazy. What do you mean you went to a clinic that did not put you to sleep? And so I also felt the same way whenever you guys told me, um, and it ended up not being a thing at all.

Like I, you could have told me I was all the way under. I would have believed you. I was so loopy. Yes. Like I was out. I don't know if I fell asleep. I just don't remember anything. I was gone until I heard like, okay, we're done with the tops. Woke up out of a dead sleep, pulled out my phone. I was like, I want to see, I don't know who was behind me. They helped lift my lip.

They're like, hold on. And then right after put it back, went right back out. It was not as scary as you would think at all. Like I know it sounds like a nightmare, but it's really not, not a big deal. You don't feel anything. You really don't know what's going on. Um, and I would, I would choose not to. I would choose that option over being like, put it all the way under any day now that

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I know, because like, it's just, you know, there's peace of mind knowing that you're not us. Like, I don't know. You have some control of your body and everything, so it's, it's safer, it's smoother. There's less trauma. Yeah. I don't have to be doing near as much, not only just beating the patient up, but I, I don't need to be worried as much about the quality of it because I have somebody helping me. Yeah. You know, like you need that if you don't have that, you're doing two jobs that should only be one, which is good implants or good, whatever.

Mm-hmm. Yeah. So I would definitely do that. That one we hear a lot. Yes. That one, like in any consult, 90% of consults, I'm like, oh, you know, doctor, you know, one of the doctors will explain that and I'll reiterate it when I come in and they're like, I don't know. I don't think I can do it. And I'm like, I promise. I was the same way. It's like, I don't know how to like tell you that you could do it.

No, seriously. Seriously. I see it every day. I know you, I know it's not bad. Yeah. And that's what I tell people is it really isn't that bad. And they're like, are you sure? I feel like I would freak out. And I'm like, listen, I did freak out. I was in the chair. I'm used to having my little tiny dental office where I get my extractions done. I have my fiance in the room squeezing, holding my hand.

Like I'm just, it's a different place. It's a different process, like different people. Like it's, it can be nerve wracking. It's really, really scary sometimes, but, um, you know, they had to send my fiance and tell him to call me down. And, um, you know, once the meds start kicking in, I got laughing gas thrown on me, everything was fine. It was like fun, even, you know, like knowing at the end, like, oh my gosh, yeah, I'm going to come out of this so happy, you know?

So definitely worth it. And I would say like, don't, don't be too worried about it. Not at all. You know? Um, and then the other thing that I would say isn't as scary as I thought, um, just today, my 90 day appointment. I was so, so, so scared. I was so worried, like stressing out to the point where I didn't know if I wanted to come. Like I was like ready to give up, be done. I was like, I don't know.

Yeah. Seriously. ▶Like I'm taking my teeth and leaving. I'll never see you again. But I was, I was very nervous. I, I don't even know why, but you know, I just thought what ifs, what if they failed? What if there's an infection? What if like a whole arch failed then what, you know, it ended up being fine. Yeah. I think you just follow. And it's not to me. Maybe you can say otherwise. But the three months it's a soft diet, but it's not that rigorous.

So it's not like liquid diet, it's just water picking, but that's simple in itself. Like to me, there's not that much, you have a few things you have to do and a few things you have to avoid, but it's not like a big rigorous three month process of like healing. Yeah. And that's what I tell people too, especially the soft food diet, because that's another thing. People hear 90 days, no, like no hard foods, crunchy foods, like 90 day soft food diet.

And they're like, I can never do that. And I'm like, it's really not that bad. Like I. At the beginning, I thought it would be mashed potatoes, soups, protein shakes. And then Nadia's like, we've been watching your videos. You need to chew. Oh, okay. Um, so then I started chewing my food and you can really make almost anything work like meat. You can grind it, you can shred it. Like there's so many options, pasta, you can make it as soft as you want it.

Um, veggies, you can steam the heck out of them and make them really, really soft. Like there's not really many things that are totally, totally off limits. And if they are, then if you're getting implants, there's a good chance they were already off limits to you with your natural teeth anyway. So, you know, it's not, it's not that big of a deal. Sure.

Part 532:58

At the end of the 90 days, you might miss a salad or something, but it'll be all right. ▶It goes by so fast too. So This is kind of a weird thought, but I was just thinking about, you know, when, uh, um, somebody has a baby and they always tell you like a year, a year later that there's the moment. There's a moment when they had the baby and the hospital's been helping them all the way through the process and they put them in the car and they're like, see, I felt that way.

Yeah. I was going to ask you, did you feel like I did? I was like, I do not want to leave. What if something goes wrong? Also, these are my friends now. So how am I supposed to just say goodbye when we're like hugging, we're all like in the waiting room. And it was exactly what you were explaining to like, I'm like, okay, I don't have a babysitter anymore. Basically. Right. I don't have somewhere to run to like my team, like, sure I can go to a local dentist if like something tragic happens, but like, I don't know, it's like that little safety net just being here.

So that is something also to get used to, but it again turned out fine. It's funny you gave that analogy because I was just saying that, um, you know how like first time parents will also take their baby and, um, like the first time they give them peanut butter, put them in the parking lot of the hospital to do it. I was telling the team, I was like the first time I have something like an app or like a steak, I'm going to sit in the parking garage.

Perfect. Yeah. Perfect. Yes. So Brie obviously was cleared off her 90 day soft diet and so she can have crunchy foods again. And she was telling us when she first walked in, she's like, I had a disappointing like meal because I wanted this like crunchy salad with like chicken, crunchy chicken. And she's like, it was like totally not, it was like pretty soggy. It was wilted. It was not a good time. So Dr. Dan's like, why don't we get some crunchy food for you to eat?

I'm so excited. Well, in a world of doing thousands of arches, there's not a whole lot of firsts for anything. This will be the first time I'm in the presence of somebody eating something that was not on the list. And we went on a hunt. I went into our lab, uh, podcast area and I went and I walked in with all these chips and our COO was out there and he's like, are you stealing snacks? And I was like, Oh, just mind your business.

We're going to eat some snacks. I've been like, I'm really hungry. I missed lunch today. Which is a sight to behold. But no, he is always on top of that. He, he saw me, even when I asked for them to put them in the Boca office specifically and I approve it and I asked for it and I demand it, he still will give me a hard time about somebody asking for, yeah, he knows us. We're just girls.

But yeah. Um, take your pick. Have something crunchy. Oh gosh. I have to go with the fortune cookie. We've been hyping it up. I was saying how, um, like fortune cookies have always been a no for me because it's not. It's a no plus some experience, you know, I don't know if it will become this magical like taste wise. I didn't say they were good. I just said they were crunchy. This is like probably pure crunch. Yeah.

Part 635:59

Also shout out to our, um, Daniel and Denaldo, we also requested like other food just in case. And they got us McDonald's. Oh, listen, I'll have a nugget too. We were all like, I don't think this is really hard, but we're like, you know, we're all going to eat a chicken nugget. Oh, he got fries too. And they're cold now. I smelled them. Oh no. Soft. That's a soft diet. Oh, crunchy french fries would be a good one.

Oh, I had a lot of soggy fries on my diet. Like you can make anything work. I just smushed them in my finger. Carly hates us right now with this audio. To be fair, I think that nuggets really are on the soft diet. This is a soft approved meal. This soggy french fry I just ate was definitely a soft meal for me. It was so good. I was hungry. Yeah. No way. It's so good. Okay. No way.

Oh my God. This is. On the list, like the epitome, like the food on the pedestal for me would be like a caramel apple. It has everything I could never have before. And so that would be awesome. Apples. I'm so excited. I doubt we have any. Oh no. That would have been pretty good. We're not, we're good. We're not that good. All right. Here we go. I'm nervous. Don't be nervous. Are you going to bite into it?

Nervous for what? Things to go wrong. The fortune cookie says. The fortune cookie says. From here on out, your life sucks. You shouldn't have baked that cookie. Okay. And you're so sure that I can be doing this right now. Listen. It feels wrong. Well, you have to. Oh, you already broke it. Oh. Okay. Yeah. She was going to eat the paper. I was just going to. Didn't even think about it. All right. Fortune first. Approach Mondays with resilience and you'll overcome any obstacle.

I love it. I don't know what it means. Me neither. Did you have surgery on Monday? I did. Yes. Absolutely. Yeah. So what was it again? Now that we know. Approach Mondays with resilience and you'll overcome any obstacle. I was resilient. Yep. Thank you. That's the title of the episode. Yes. Fortune resilience. Okay. I also hope that that's not very old. I'm so nervous. Okay. Take your time. I'm going to do it. I didn't know I was so hungry.

I know. I'm so hungry. Real genuine done in one teeth. Yeah. How does it feel? It feels very weird. It feels like I shouldn't be doing this after 90 days of not doing this. It's approved. It's actually good though. I might like forks and cookies. Does it feel weird to eat crunchy food? It does. Uh-huh. So most patients tell me like they slowly like work because they're just like so not used to like eating hard foods again.

But I think the best way to do is do it. You know? Yeah. It's pretty good. It's very weird. It feels like I don't know. It's like because your normal teeth have like nerves and stuff in them, right? And your apples too. Oh my gosh. The apples. So it's like I don't know. It's just. It's hard to know how hard your mouth is. Yes. Yes. ▶And also it's very weird because I have teeth here now. So I have actually had to like retrain myself how to chew and eat my food.

Yeah. I had to watch my mom and my fiance like be like, can you chew something for me? No. Because they'll use their side teeth and I didn't have side teeth. So I had to watch my mom and my fiance like be like, can you chew something for me? Yeah. Oh, you've asked them to. Yeah. If you can watch them. Yeah. So that I could watch. Makes sense. And repeat and learn. And yep. So that's. I chew like them now.

Yeah. If you wonder. I can imagine. Even. I mean even myself. I feel like we kind of have our ways of like eating. Oh yeah. And chewing.

Part 739:32

And like just like a side that we like. Yeah. Favor and things like that. Yep. So I'm learning that all over again. Yeah. Erin, my friend. He has open bite in the front. So his teeth don't meet together very well. And. All the time. Yeah. He'll be at a restaurant eating or something. And he'll say something along the lines of like, that was like really hard to eat or you know. And I'll kind of look at him and I'll remember he eats totally different than me.

Mm-hmm. So he experiences his food different than me. Yep. I feel like there's so much. Like the teeth, mouth, the whole world. Oh yeah. Crazy. Crazy world in there. It is. Here you go. Apple time. Oh my gosh. Are you scared? I also don't like apples. Oh my gosh. I like how you're getting the crunch on the microphone. I bet Carly loves that. This is so perfect. It's like put me to sleep. Totally. Does it feel weird again?

It does. Yeah. Oh my gosh. This is so exciting. That's good. This is what you needed. I like that a lot. I like the crunch of that. This is your safety. Dr. Dan is here. Nothing will go wrong. Mm-hmm. This is my hospital parking lot. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mess with this. Yeah. Yeah. Heavy. That's good. I'm so excited for you. Now you're open. This is really good. Now you can just fly like a butterfly. Mm-hmm.

▶It's also very weird because as weird as it might sound and maybe gross, because of the way I had to eat with my natural teeth, I only really had front teeth, so I had to chew with my mouth open a lot, so it's really ... I'm also learning to chew with my mouth closed. Yeah. It's a process. These are all things that I feel like ... That's awesome. Mm-hmm. ... the average person may not realize that people are going through, or more people are going through it than we even know.

You know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah. The other thing is just like retraining myself how to talk, because I had a wicked lisp for a minute there, and I was very scared that it was permanent. It is not. Yeah. No. But I notice at night whenever I get really tired and lazy about my speech, it'll come out, so that's fun, but otherwise it never gives me an issue. Once you kind of teach yourself, it's all good. I've thought that your speech is pretty good, that I do listen to it any time we have a patient on, just because you can hear it so well, and I didn't think one thing ... I did hear it, and I was like, oh, she's speaking pretty well.

Mm-hmm. Yeah. Cool. I just had a random question that came out, or that I thought of when we were doing this. So let's say I eat an Oreo before bed or something, the food that gets stuck in the crevices of the teeth. You can kind of almost sense, when they're your own teeth, you can kind of sense it all the time, like that it's there. Not even when you're biting down, but you can kind of sense that it's there.

What is that like when you have hybrids? Can you sense at all that there's teeth stuck in the cracks, if you will, or does it stick in there? My mom actually just asked me this two hours ago. So it's very weird, because like you said, your teeth don't have that ... There's a P word. There's a P word. Proception. Proprioception. Yes. And so that's different when eating and chewing for first things first, and then also with things that are stuck.

So I can feel food that's stuck under the arches and my little gaps, and I cannot feel if food is sticking to my teeth. Like if you would have a piece of lettuce on your tooth, you might feel that, especially in your little gap. Does that happen? Yeah. I don't know if it's stuck on the top. Certain things I've noticed, like I had a little thing of Nutella before I got here, and it sticks to my teeth.

In between the embrasure space. Yes. Yeah. But nothing gets stuck because there's no cracks or gaps or anything. Yeah.

Part 843:30

But a quick swipe of the tongue, it's pretty much gone. I know patients get really nervous about the spacing underneath, and they're like, Dr. Dan and other doctors are like, we want some spacing so that you can clean it. but some patients are like very worried about like the three months and how that spacing is going to grow or you know gum tissue is going to shrink what do you think I mean we know that there's a fix for it but was that something you were worried about or do you notice wasn't a big deal now I didn't really worry too much about it um if I'm honest I didn't really know much about it until I started like talking online about like the process and the done in one process and everybody's asking like how like what happens with your gum shrinkage over time whenever your gums are healing wouldn't that create a gap and you're in your finals then what and so I actually reached out to Robert I was like hey I'm getting this question a lot can you like give me an answer so he gave me a long long answer like this is what scientifically what happens and everything and uh he's like at the end of it he's like long story short I'm like okay but um yeah so I relate the message basically he was saying like in a certain amount of patients that can happen where the shrinkage is enough to where the gap like bothers them but um for me I don't know personally I obviously had shrinkage my gums have healed and shrunk down a lot but um and there's some gapping but I don't mind it at all I think it's easier to like clean water pig um I use the super floss so that's especially easier to run through whenever I have that gap but it's not big enough to where it like drives me crazy or it's noticeable or like my tongue's running along all the time like obviously stuff gets stuck in there but I'd rather have the gap that I do than like have it tighter to where I if something comes in I don't know if it's coming out you know so I I actually prefer it I don't mind it at all at least at this stage yeah that's the biggest thing for me is it's made to be a big deal on the internet because it was this wild idea that you could go to a finished product I like the result of the finished product better because in 95 percent of patients the gum tissue ends up exactly where we want it because we've been the ones controlling it and we're not going to be able to do it again so I think it's going to be a big deal um but if you have a problem with your speech you still have a lisp yeah uh or if it drives you absolutely bananas then we fill in that space but as a preference thing I would much prefer that be a wide open space yeah um so when when you do get stuck like let's just say 10 full regular meals in the last 90 days that you've had be it breakfast doesn't of the 10 how often do you get stuff stuck in there that you're like oh I need to make a special point to go clean it out maybe like two out of 10 usually what I do um and I think this stuck with me from my natural teeth is like after I eat a meal I swish water anyways like throughout my teeth and that's usually enough I still like after I know I'm done eating I still like go clean my mouth just to like keep it healthy but I never have to like run to the bathroom and like floss real quick um certain things like rice will get stuck sometimes but like very rarely does it actually bother me enough and like it won't come out with a simple swish so not bad at all it's um fascinating I feel like I we've never really gotten to the point where we're asking these questions I know about me watching you guys like really like we should take advantage of the the openness we have here two out of ten is is cool interesting information to know and I'd actually say breakfast is the most common I don't know what it is usually probably because it's a lot of cereal soggy cereal gets stuck under the arches but um yeah dinner lunch doesn't really have an issue um except for rice every now and then so yeah I'm always amazed uh at how obvious it is when a person cleans or doesn't clean when they come in for their their three month or yearly cleaning there are some people that do not take care of it and it is immediately apparent and then there's the sort of middle group you know in the middle of the road where they're cleaning and then there's a kind of took care of it maybe did an extra special job three days before um but that's even that's like super obvious because gum tissue doesn't like to be angry and be invaded and so uh I'm just thinking of that because today I did a case where um we were adding an implant that had failed and when I took the when we took the hybrid off it was just the only way to describe it is raw just wasn't taken care of very well it was very inflamed and that makes a big difference to your results so keep up the good work cleaning I didn't get to see you I could just guess that you were like the best I hope so it's like you get a rating during your cleaning and I know everyone's like I got an A plus I'm like what rating am I Dr. Lex do you have one water pick a couple water picks what's your repertoire I have a couple armamentarium rather yeah I actually have one either in my purse or in the driver or passenger seat right now yeah it's a little portable one and it has like a UV sanitation light and everything so um I have a couple mainly because like brands send them to me and want me to make videos on them so I have like probably a gross amount of water flossers I'm like I want to get rid of these but I use them so I don't know now what um I still have the one that you guys gave me in the little package the water pick um that is actually what I use most at home I just use that I'm like they gave it to me and it works and everything um I will use the other ones every now and then especially my portable one but do you run anything through it like a mouth rinse or anything I actually saw um someone talking about running uh putting mouth wash in it so I put every now and then I'll put mouth wash in there more often than not and then um I'll also typically do the um it was a little powder you guys gave me it was like some kind of plaque remove or something like some kind of yes it's like a tartar control yeah so it had instructions on there to put it in the water pick so I was like okay cool I'll do that yeah but yeah I also like the mouth wash because it just leaves me extra minty feeling have you tried or have been sent any water pick that is one that plums in line with your shower whoa I don't know I was unaware of that I also don't do any of the like plumbing like the the stuff that like you put it in a glass of water or sink or anything I just use the reservoir I don't I that's all too much for me yeah fancy um all this time I've been doing consults and recommending that version just on the slide underneath you like behind your back if someone would have been like that thing that Dr. Dan said I would have been like oh wow he didn't say that yeah they have they have ones that um it's like a loop almost like a shower um the uh what do you call it when you have it on the the handle with the like the the tap detachable shower head okay yeah it's like that uh it's like a wand that comes out with the um has a hose attached to it and it just goes in line with your actual shower head so it doesn't do anything you just screw the unscrew your shower head but you screw that into the post that comes out of the wall and then the shower head back into it and um people like it because it's less mess or it's the same amount of mess but controlled yeah so and and I know it's um not terribly expensive because there's nothing electric or you know this doesn't plug in because it just runs off of the pressure that's pretty neat that makes so much more sense I know that we a lot of times and I always say like I know it sounds weird but like take your portable in the shower especially when you're first starting out because it's not now you know what to yeah man I need to get on it oh my gosh I don't know who I was texting I assume Lilia on the little donut text line um I have it as Lilia slash Carly because it's one of you guys so um I don't know who I was texting I assume Lilia on the little I was texting about water flossing when I finally could I'm like I don't know what I'm doing help me and so you sent me like a little YouTube video and also said to do it in the shower I was like that's really cool that's a great idea I still haven't done it because it's not like my shower doesn't line up with my dental routine times and so but I really want to try it it just seems like it'd be so much easier and like less mess and less stress you know you're not getting your clothes wet I get my hair wet a lot of the times it's all over I know I need to I'm gonna be looking at it I'm like still dumbfounded think of all the consults that we've done don't tell me that you've been saying that for this long at least 50% Lilia at least 50% I feel like I don't even know you I don't even know who you are I used to be able to say like I can say like I I could just go in there and and be Dr. Dan we didn't know we didn't know well now you have the missing piece yeah the shower I will say also I think patients like you said when you go home you feel like oh my gosh I don't know like I'm alone quote you know but I always say like especially when people are checking out like text us call us like we are here do you go over any questions because I know when you get back into your routine maybe it's a little bit more confusing yeah um and I think patients help take advantage of it you know they reach out like like you did I will send you videos I will send you I will them I will do whatever it takes for you to like you know feel comfortable with being home and home care it's very important I also I I sweat I I'm I'm anxious yeah I can't do it just try to be as like accessible as we can I know some patients that don't like to text and I'll call them vice versa you like to text I'll text you know whatever it is it's nice to have options for sure yeah well Brie this has been awesome um it's been good to uh observe you in your first crunchy foods and um we hope you have a wonderful dinner tonight whatever that may uh hold in store um I'm going to assume that you're open to questions and whatnot on your channel yes of course um do you want to plug that real quick sure my tiktok is at brie.over and my instagram is the same perfect you have anything else love no congratulations I'm so happy I feel like three months flew by and I remember like I said when I found your article I was so excited to talk to you so I'm really glad obviously everything worked out you had a great experience so we just want that for obviously everybody yeah thank you thanks for your time and uh everybody at home thanks for watching and listening and uh we'll see you next time