Ep. 17: Patient Interview - Chef Angela

Part 10:00

This is Beyond the Arches, where full-arch dentistry meets real talk. Let's get into it. Hello, welcome to Beyond the Arches. I'm your host, Dr. Daniel Noorthoek. And with us today, we have Angela. Hello, Angela. Hi, thanks for having me. Nice to see you. And we've got our good friend here, Erica. Hello. Welcome back, everybody. Sweet, Erica. And today, we'll be part of our sort of patient, getting to know the patient series, we'll say. And so today, we're going to go through, Angela, what has changed about your life, catch up on who you are, and what kind of makes you tick and all of that stuff. And so to start, why don't you tell us sort of your background, where you're from, how you ended up in South Florida, that kind of thing.

My pleasure. I am born and raised in South Florida. I'm raised in Staten Island, New York. The accent's probably going to come out periodically. I moved down here after I graduated from college. And I graduated from college with my bachelor's and associate's degree in culinary arts. So I am a chef. That is awesome. Yeah, yeah. Was it a passion? Was cooking a passion that came from your parents? It really was. I mean, growing up in a huge Italian family, my grandmother lived in the kitchen. And every time we would do anything, it was around cooking.

And food and alcohol. And we would just make a big to-do, grandiose meals my whole life. Very family-oriented, I would imagine. Very, very much so. Very, very blessed. Very much so. And when you went to culinary school, I would imagine most of your base was Italian food and that kind of thing. It definitely was. It definitely was. We lived in a really big Italian neighborhood, too. So it was just like you see in the movies, to be honest.

Yeah, it was just a traditional Italian food. And that was where my love of cooking kind of grew up, you know. What about it fascinates you and made you want to kind of create that, be your life, like make it into your life? I think I feel like people, to get to people's heart can be through their stomach, right? And a lot of people sit down, I'm on a table, and they get to know each other over food.

And there's nothing like sitting down with really great food and to share that community, to share that bond. And to be with people around good food is always a great time, you know. It's a great time. And I think you're actually potentially our first real chef. With no teeth at the time, mind you. That's for later. I think you are essentially our first real professional chef. Maybe second or third. But in terms of the story that you have, it's very fascinating.

Yeah. In terms of just that was your life. And that's the essence of what we're trying to give back to people is that sense of what you're talking about, that family, that community, that sort of bond that we all have through food and through gathering together. And so for you to be a person that offers that and us to be a group that offers teeth and you needed it, that's a... I wish we met years ago. So walk us through...

Walk us through how you ended up in South Florida. Okay. And then maybe kind of how your teeth ended up the way that they did to start. I'd love to. Well, my parents are, God bless them, they're married 65 years and they retired. Oh, congratulations. It's pretty amazing, right? Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. My dad's in his 80s, his late 80s. My mom just into her early 80s. So we moved down here. I moved down when my parents retired.

I'm an only child. I stayed in Staten Island, you know. I'm going to... You know, continue to live my life there. But, you know, when my parents left, I really didn't have anything else going on over there. And I would come and visit to them and it was like, it's paradise down here with all the palm trees and the beautiful blue water. It sure is. I couldn't... You couldn't remove me from Florida if you paid me now.

I feel the same way. And so I moved down here, you know. I had a little bit of hiccups with career-wise. I started bartending. I started working front of the house manager. I wasn't really leaning on my degree so much. So as years progressed, you know, I would like to say that I already had bad issues with my teeth from the very beginning. I'd like to say that they're somewhat hereditary. Since I was a kid, I just would have tons of cavities and I would get abscesses and my teeth would easily break.

So I always was getting crowns and root canals like 9th and 10th grade. I feel like that's crazy. But it was kind of the norm, always having to have some type of issue at the dentist. Brothers and sisters have the same problem? I am an only child. Only child. And to really sweeten the pot, I was adopted by my parents. So I really didn't have any more hereditary information on... I don't know if that really is a medical thing, but probably not.

It's a big, deep thing. Some of it can be, of course, your makeup of the bone and such. But a lot of it has to do with the bacteria of where you're raised and where you grow up. Well, Staten Island probably isn't the greatest area. But so I came down here. As years progressed, my teeth were deteriorating and I wasn't caring for them properly because I was like, why not? As years progressed, I'm 46 now, but we're talking like in my late 20s, early 30s, my mental health was deteriorating.

My career wasn't at a great spot. And happiness is an inside job, right? And I can honestly sit here and tell you that I just wasn't happy. I wasn't happy. I was seeking something that I couldn't find. And it kind of took... ▶Life took some ebbs and flows. And during all that time, I can't put this any more delicately, but my teeth rotted out of my mouth. And I was really young. My teeth looked like something out of a 90-year-old.

I really wasn't able to dive into my career. I couldn't eat steak. I couldn't eat... I was ashamed. Being in the front of the house and being in front of people. I love to spread sunshine. I love to spread joy. I will cheese smile in your face now until you can't help but to smile. But at that time, it was really, really difficult. I don't think your smile will offend anyone. I appreciate that. I appreciate that. But at that time, it was really difficult being in the hospitality industry.

And I can't begin to tell how it really did affect my mental health. And so when we met, you were back kind of in the career. I was. ▶I was in the back of the house. I leaned on my degree and I went back to the back of the house so I wouldn't be around people. Right? I was with other guys in the back of the kitchen that could have cared less. And I was in the back of the house.

And I was more accepting. I felt like this was my fate. Right? And I kind of took a little avenues. I went to a dentist with my health insurance covered. And I accepted the fate that I was going to be wearing dentures and smacking my gums for the rest of my life. Just to want to feel better. Right? And, you know, women sometimes, and men too, go through cosmetic to feel good about themselves. Well, I make a joke about it.

Like, I got boobs for my face. You know? But pulling the trigger was probably the easiest but most difficult thing to do because I knew that was my fate. You know? No one wants to be like, hey, I'm going to go rip all my teeth out and it's going to be great. But I knew that that was going to relieve me of the pain I was experiencing emotionally, how I felt about myself physically. I was still getting abscesses and the hot and cold.

It was a pain in the tuchus. Yeah. So I knew at some point. I knew at some point that I had to take the dive and just do it. Yeah. Teeth are really annoying in that if they don't cause you any problems or they're in a good, healthy spot, it's something you don't think about at all. But when you're in your position, whether you're in food or not, we all interact with humans and stuff. That affects probably almost every minute of every day.

100%. ▶And not only that, like the discomfort, you know, going to the emergency room because I had an abscess. I need intravenous. It was a normal thing. I would wake up and my face would be swollen. I'm like, all right, I got antibiotics in the kitchen. It was, again, it was something that I tried to just had to accept because my teeth were in a bad spot. And I just didn't think that there was going to be a light at the end of the tunnel.

Yeah. You know, just how I felt and obviously my health. So, you know, crossing paths with you guys obviously changed everything. What's really cool. So we'll move a little bit. So what's really cool about this is that you were relinquished. You know, you had given in to the fact that you were going to be back of house. Right. So no interaction. And I would never, ever have left my business card for anyone ever that would make me so embarrassed.

Even thinking about it is what was possessed me. But I'll tell my side of the story real quick. So we were staying, my wife and I were staying at a hotel and we had a fresh new puppy. She was pregnant. Probably three months, four months old. Oh, she was a little nugget. At the time. It was so great. She's been on here already. Yes. Twice. I'm her biggest fan. More than some people. So we had her for about three months and we brought her to the hotel because the hotel was able to accommodate her.

And Angela came out and asked. We had, I think they had already offered us a water bowl. But we had ordered food and Angela came out and said, Hey. Uh, I noticed you have a puppy and would you be okay with if I made her a chicken breast? And when she came out and said that, like it kind of threw me over. I, I don't know if I've ever had a restaurant come up to me and say, Hey, that dog, do you mind if we give her some food just randomly out of the blue?

Uh, and so that really hit me, but I noticed immediately that, uh, Angela didn't have, you know, any, uh, dentition on the top. Right. Um, really what you had them, but they were, they were just existing. They were mostly just roots. I would, I would love to just rewind a little bit. A lot of the time when my teeth were deteriorating, I was experiencing issues. Um, and sprinkle in the middle of that in 2007, I did get into a little bit of a car accident, um, which caused, uh, fractures in, in my teeth.

I got seven, two stitches in my face. Oh my God. Um, they did a great job by the way. So, but, um, I had lost, uh, my front teeth. Yeah. On this side. Um, and then after that, I was like, why even bother? There's nothing there. And it, and, and as years progressed, they just deteriorated more because I really wasn't caring for them at all because I felt like, why even bother? They get to the tipping point.

Yeah. Yeah. I've missed that whole part, but that was really what, what took it over the edge, um, where I lost a lot of the teeth on that whole top side. So I was, um, yeah, I was just dealing with that. And, and when you came, uh, over to our table, after you walked away, I leaned over to my wife and I was like, I can tell that she doesn't really have any teeth. Um, but I cannot believe that she just randomly out of the blue offered our dog food.

That's just crazy. And, um, was really impressed. And we tried to convince you to pet her, but you, of course you were working, so you couldn't. I couldn't. I wanted to hug her so bad. Um, but, uh, it was really through Sadie, um, that this happened. Uh, cause that wouldn't, we would have never met otherwise. ▶And, um, I kept telling my wife throughout the whole dinner, like, I don't know how to bring it up, but I've got to leave a card to like, at least see if she even knows that this type of procedure exists, you know, or, you know, who knows what kind of state that she's in.

Like, I have to let her know that this is something that happens, but I also don't want to say, Hey, I noticed you don't have any teeth. Like, that's a pretty embarrassing thing too. And, uh, she ended up random. I think. No, no. We used the, we went, I went to the hostess. Yes. The hostess ended up coming to me in the kitchen and she came over to me and she said, you know, that really sweet couple that had the dog.

You know, those weirdos. Yeah. She goes, they, they, they left you a card and he, and he wants you to call. And then I'm glad that you kind of said that because immediately my ego, you know, like, Oh my God, all he saw was that I had no teeth in my mouth, you know? Um, but I brought it home and I, and my future, it was my, my fiance at the time. And I told him. And I called, they were the just beautiful couple.

And then the sweetest dog. And he was just like, you just went to this other dental. And literally it was like two weeks before I had got the consultation. I was going to make the date and take off a work and kind of pull that trigger. And he was just like, get a second opinion. See what he says. And I was just like, ah, you know, I already got the other thing in play. Like, you know, let's just pull, let's just rip it off like a bandaid.

So he convinced me and I made the consultation. I made the appointment. And this is where it gets funny because it was a beautiful sunny day. And I was off that day. I do remember it was a gorgeous day. ▶And I wanted, I was going to cancel because I wanted to go paddleboard. I called my husband, you know what? I'm going to cancel. It's beautiful. Let's take the boards out. The water is so flat. And he was just like, are you nuts?

He was like, you have to go. And I was like, no, look how flat the water is. We live right on the beach. So we were able to see. And he was just like, I really think he's, we can always take the boards out after. Just go. Right. And I did. I got dressed and I went in and I met your angels at the, at the, at the place. And, and it was at that moment when I sat there with you and the rest of the girls.

And I was just like, you know what? Like, this is where, like all, where my change is going to happen. And I just felt internally that this was going to be a better experience than something I just had to do. Like, like I said. Like I said before, like women go to plastic surgery and they're really excited about the transformation. I felt that when I went into the office, I felt like this journey is going to be amazing as opposed to, oh my gosh, you know, this is my fate.

I'm going to, you know, I got to find glue for my dentures. And, and it was a completely different vibe. It was a completely different experience. And I was excited about it. I couldn't book it fast enough because I was just like, let's go. You know, it was really exciting. I knew when you showed up that we had you. Yeah. But I, but the chance that you were going to show up was low. Yeah. And like I said, it's so out of my realm.

I don't know that I've ever left a card or, or my office's number for anybody. I just felt like, um, Sadie really brought us together. I can't agree with you more. Sadie's, Sadie's connection. And, and, and. That's sort of the title of this, this one should be. Talking to Angela, Sadie's connection. It was, no, but you're, you and your wife, she's so beautiful, by the way. We had, it was just such a great conversation. And, and, um, you know, I, I, that's just me, you know, that's something that I just do.

And I, I took the chance and by meeting the girls and meeting you in the office, I was able to really explain to you, you know, how hard it's been and how you, you saw firsthand. ▶I never show anybody inside of my mouth ever. Um, and, and to be able to be. Comfortable enough to open my mouth and let you take a look in there and, and not have that negative reaction. Like, oh God, what happened? You know, like, you know, you have a lot of work to do.

It was more like, Angela, I'm going to get, I'm going to change. I think you looked at me and said, Angela, I'm going to change your life. Yeah. And it was just like, it was fantastic. It was, I get emotional when I, when I tell the story, it's just so great. Yeah. Yeah. And it's fun. You know, that's where the excitement comes. From like every staff member is we get to see the change and we get to, I always say, tell, tell people that the reason why I'm like full in full arch.

And the reason why I do this stuff all the time is because you have the ability to offer that and have the confidence that that will be what comes about, comes from it without having to do any judging. I do not care at all what your background or story is. Um, not in a callous. Way, but like, I don't have to judge. There's no, I don't have to look in and go, oh my God, you lost all your teeth.

I don't care. Um, because that's what I do. I hope you need your teeth replaced. Cause then I can actually help you, um, in a way, you know? Um, but the, I want to touch on something real quick. Your gut reaction of getting out the paddle boards is, is what we see. I was like, I'm going. Yeah. We, we see that all the time. You know? That's sort of the biggest problem with, with getting patients and keeping a full book is that's, that's, that's a normal, natural human reaction is find something easier, find, find a better solution for why I can excuse myself from not facing this head on because you feel like it's going to make you feel bad.

You feel like it's going to be this like dark cloud. And so, you know, we leave the bills on the table because, you know, oh, the dog has to pee. I have to go not look at the. Bill or, you know, we all do that in our day to day. We don't want to know about what's wrong and we don't want to know about how to fix it. Um, and so we see that very, very commonly. And we, we used to kind of, um, do a lot of our marketing stuff.

A lot of our commercials would wrap up with, um, you know, take this chance, like do yourself a favor and come in. And we try to come from a point of compassion and like, listen, like don't make the excuse that day, any other day. That's fine. But like make the excuse because that little investment in yourself, like we're not going to judge you. We're just going to fix you, um, is a big, is a big move. And that's a big, what you just touched on.

And it's funny because like the take home is leave your paddle boards home and come get your teeth fixed. I can't reiterate to you enough on a common years. I just push it under the rug and just push it under and accepting like, you know, look, this is, this, this is my mouth. This is who I is. And, and try to. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And be okay with it and walk with my head held high and be like, you know, Hey, listen, I just had a bad string of luck.

Dentally, I'm still an amazing woman and I'm a good person. And I try to project that, but you know, deep down it, you know, it's not great. I know I'm not feeling great about myself and, and, you know, being out in the world, like you can't help, but to see people's reactions, you know? I mean, we live in a really cynical world and, and very, and people judge and we're out there. They're on social media and everybody's using filters and all this glamorous and, you know, I, I tried everything in my power to, to make me feel comfortable with who I am as a woman and who I am as a, as a human and I do good to others and, and that makes me feel good.

But when I looked in the mirror, I would just was not happy. I just wasn't happy. And it was, I was something I knew that only I was going to be able to change. But now when I met you guys, of course you could change it, but I had to take that step and I had to. Yeah. Yeah. To go and push forward, push your side, my fear, because we had that underlying fear, which is what kept me out there for so long walking around like that.

Oh, absolutely. And, and to, to, to put aside the fear and put my faith and trust into you, especially you and your team, you know, um, you know, I, I knowing that you were going to be there ripping all my teeth out of my mouth. Whoa, whoa, whoa, ripping, ripping. You know, but as, as crazy as it sounds like. I couldn't wait to see you that day. I felt in my heart that I was going to be in good hands.

I was excited to document it because I knew that it was going to change my whole face. I knew it was going to change the way I looked, the structure of my face. And then I knew that the mental health side of it and the woman that I've always wanted to be, that like cheese grinning weirdo, that's me, I can do it without any qualms. Just to be free, it is the greatest feeling ever. And sitting in that office knowing that what was going to happen because you explained everything to me, what was going to happen, I knew the couple of days.

And to be 100%, it wasn't that bad because I knew that the end result was going to be way better than any of the discomfort. That I was feeling for those couple of days. I would have went in another three more days if I knew that this was going to be. But surrendering to the process, knowing that you putting my faith in you, that you have a solution to everything that I was mentally, physically feeling. I think the teeth are way better than boobs.

You have the nicest teeth in the room. Yeah, definitely. And that's like a big, deep part too. So we try not to just push, you know, done in one. We try very hard to tell everybody, no matter who you're going to go to, feel really comfortable with that person. Make sure that that person is right. I'm not right for everybody. For some people, I'm too. Don't worry about it. It'll be fine or whatever it may be. If you have a reason why the gut reaction is that I'm not the right guy, don't come here.

Go to the other guy. And so, you know, the recommendation is, is if you're going through this process and you're documenting, you know, just doing your research and such, and you get a bad feeling from that office, run. There's plenty of people that do this. And the reason why this procedure is so, part of the reason why it's so fun, but also the reason why it's so frustrating is it's such a deep experience for the patient to go through financially.

It's a huge commitment, right? You got to compromise your future to some degree, your wedding. Whatever it may be, you've got to compromise or change, come to grips with what you're embarrassed about. Even if it's a perfect solution, you have to come to grips with that. And you have to move on through the fact that you need help from somebody else. There's this deep psychological journey that happens. And then you also have to feel comfortable with the actual process and the people.

And so, end to end, this goes as deep as it goes as far and wide. As far and wide as you can extrapolate it. And I think that one of the biggest, deepest ones is the psychology behind it. Oh, 100%. And, you know, just those little acts of kindness of something that was so petrifying, you know. For others, I can understand, like my dad has a little bit of a dental issue too, and in his 80s, and he's just like, why bother now?

I'll be dead in 10 years, God forbid. But a lot of the times, the people don't do it because they're afraid, you know. And it's not a problem. It's a pleasant thing, you know. But I shifted my focus on the end game, right? And the end game was... Podcast with Dan. Right? Like, hey, Ma, I made it, you know. The end game was just a level of confidence that I have in myself that I'm able to present in the world.

And it was just, I don't want to sound crazy, but this was just like a snowball effect, you know. My amazing husband, David, you know, he loved me when I had no teeth, you know. And, you know, I was able to smile and take the most magnificent wedding pictures. I posted them on your site. Lisa! I was just, you know, it was spectacular. ▶And not only that, you know, my career has taken off. And it all stemmed from me being more confident with who I am and more confident in my career, more confident in the ability to help others, you know.

I'm able to put myself on the front lines and not feel like that I want to hide and to share my joy. I really, like, the sunshine is contagious. Joy is contagious. Smiling is contagious. And I want to do it in everybody's face now, you know. I really do. Happy to let you. Absolutely. Yeah, yeah. Walk us through those steps. So the surgery, obviously. Obviously, it's surgery. And you walk through that process. And we don't need to get into that because that's what the rest of the podcast is for.

It was worth it. But now you're done and everything. So walk us through, give us an update how things have changed. Oh, absolutely. You know, as moving forward, I was able to just to build more confidence in myself. I was able to, you know, just feel more beautiful internally. And that obviously shined outward. You know, I'm not afraid to talk. Maybe sometimes I talk too much. No, this is your platform here. And then, you know, I kind of went, I kind of shot for things that seemed like a long shot.

And I just wasn't afraid to go for it. You know, my husband and I started a business. And, you know, we put all our eggs in there and we dedicate our lives into helping others. And it has been a huge success. What is the business? What do you guys do? We own Sunshine Serenity House. It's a sober living facility that helps men and women that are coming out of treatment to recover from drugs and alcohol. Okay, wow.

That's a big undertaking. It's been very fulfilling. We have a really great group of guys right now that, you know, I help them get food stamps. ▶I help them, you know, get a job and build a resume and build their self-confidence. And we just love them until they love themselves. Wow. And I feel that I would not have been able to do that until I loved myself. Yeah. You know? And it has been terrifying in a little bit because we, you know, we purchased a house and… Business is terrifying.

It is. It is. It is. But, you know, the rewards have been overflowing where we're able to, you know, help these people and to give them the love and to give them the security of a safe place. And, again, I can't reiterate that enough, you know. I wouldn't have been able to do that if I wasn't internally okay, you know. And I did so much work on myself, you know, with meditation and prayer and connecting to my higher power and do all that.

And I got to tell you, and I don't want to sound vain, but the chompers were the ice on the cake. And it really catapulted me, you know, into a dimension of a life beyond myself. You know, my wildest dreams, so. Yeah, like you've done a good job characterizing it because it's not about what we see, right? And, of course, there's judgments that happen on all of that with any human being. And any room you go into, there's going to be some jerk or whatever.

But, ultimately, it comes down to, like, how you see you. And that's how you go forward. It's an inside job. It's an inside job. And for the longest time, I really didn't understand that. And, you know, but I'm happy, you know. I pray. And I do the right thing. I do the next right thing. But, you know, I'm a big advocate of doing whatever makes you feel sunshine on the inside, right? And to follow that and do that.

And, you know, I've come along. During my course of my life, I've come along people that, like, you guys don't know me from Adam, right? We're strangers. And you guys poured into me knowing that this was going to be, you know, this is it. This is going to be it. And. And trusting complete strangers is kind of what I'm doing today. I have these complete strangers that are trusting my husband and I. And that we're going to, you know, love them and give them the way.

And you guys knew a solution until, you know, more than just the physical part. You know, it was way deeper than that for me personally. I just made a random connection. So I had an uncle. And he would take the wildest trash you've ever seen. And to things that we would throw away. And he would either weld them or build things out of them. And, like, just as an example, he did. He used to take the two-liter bottles.

And he'd spray paint them and cut them with a hot knife and all of that. And turn them into those fish that hang in retirement mobile home kind of community, right? Turning kind of trash into whatever, glitter and all that stuff with eyes and all. And what you were just saying about pouring into. And what hit me and what I was thinking about as you were saying that is maybe one of the big reasons why we don't feel like we pass judgment is because we don't.

We see that two-liter looks like, already looks like a fish, right? You give me a green one, I already know what colors I'm using. Piece of wood, right? We'll say all the time that I like woodworking. Just because a piece of wood is not what you're going to turn into art does not mean that I can't already see it. I don't even care what it looks like. Broken crayons, still color. And I felt so broken. I just felt so broken visually and internally.

And it was just an incredible feeling to know that there was obviously a solution. But I had no idea that the solution was going to turn me into the woman that I am today. What was the solution? I forget, but what was the solution from the other dentist that you had talked about? What were you going to end up doing? We were going to rip the rest of the remnants that I had in out. And we were going to do… Please, stop using the term rip.

It's bad. Very aggressive. We were going to… Gently remove. Gently remove the rest that was left. And we were going to do dentures, top and bottoms. Okay. And, you know, I was already researching on the best, you know, glue. And I accepted my fate. And it was really just a matter of taking the leap, you know. And like you had mentioned before, I did not know anything about what you have created and what your organization does. And I knew nothing about it.

And it just seemed like, why isn't everybody doing this? Like it's just a better… Yeah. That's way better. I don't want to have to take them in and out and have to deal with that. And, you know… And the longevity changes because… I'll laugh so hard they'll come flying out. Like… Yes. Right. That's the problem. It's harder on the bone. Yeah. And it doesn't preserve anything. They kind of… You kind of whittle away to nothing. And so, this is a huge benefit and an alternative.

And we've talked about before, it's not out there in the public. Like… It needs to be. For us, it's a day-to-day, this is all we do. Right? But for us, our reality is this is the only thing that ever happens. But truth is that the public doesn't even know. I mean, I've said it before. I've played golf for a long time. And I meet random people. And they always ask me what I do. And I kind of give them a two-minute answer.

And they have no… At best, they may know the big name that is the number one sort of chain one out there at best. But don't even know what that really is. And it's pretty wild that that's the case. You know? We all know what a crown is. We all pretty much know what a dental implant is. That one last step is the world knowing that this is even an option. It seemed too good to be true.

You know? When I was sitting in the office and you delicately explained what we were going to be doing and what was going to happen, I was just like, oh, my gosh. Like, this is it. You know? And, you know, I'm not afraid. They're like, oh, my God. You're so… Your teeth are so great. And at the beginning, I was just like, oh, thank you. You know? I was owning them because they're mine now. Right? Yeah. But I'm just like, you got to meet the people that did my teeth.

They're fantastic. And I encourage you. You got all your teeth. Don't worry about it. These are better. You know? Just go. So, like, I try to be a billboard. And, you know, it's just an incredible, you know, you guys are doing God's work. It's really amazing. We thank you. It's what we do. It's just what we do. You know? It's not anything for us. It's just another day. But to watch you change and see your life transform has been really fun.

Walk us through, on the cooking side, you cook at home and such. I mean, obviously, you have the business, so that's probably going to take away a lot. Do you want to laugh? I'm not going to laugh when my husband hears this. So, I cook all day long at work. Yeah. If you're going to push it on him. Yeah. Yeah. I cook all day. And I do not go home and cook for my husband. I'll bring him home food.

But I don't, we don't do a lot of cooking at home. You know, during season, I'm there, like, 70 hours a week. It's a lot. But he's extremely supportive. But as far as, like, how things have changed for me and my creative, you know, aspect of it, just the ability to taste and try. All of the foods that I really wasn't able to process has been very cool. And even, like, the simple things, like almonds, you know.

The little tiny things that I have, it's been years since I was a child that I was able to eat. You know, renewing that. Being able to actually bite into a burger. Like, the littlest things, you know, that I wasn't able to do for so long. Which probably now will never happen. And never go wasted on you again. My dad makes fun of me when I'm sitting there chewing almonds. He's like, I hear you chewing those almonds over there.

He's smart, smart. You know, so he pokes fun, you know, that I'm able to, you know. That's amazing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's pretty incredible. Still paddleboard? All the time. My husband has a hard time balancing on the paddleboard. So we got kayaks instead. And we strap them up and we go up to Jupiter often. I mean, we live where people vacation. You guys live a little bit north of here? Or where do you live now? Well, currently we're on South Palm Beach.

We just actually are in the process of moving away from there and downsizing. So we can pour into the business some more and open up a woman's house. Where is that house? The house is located right off of 95th and 6th Avenue. It's right in the Lake Osborne area. Okay. Yeah, yeah. Wonderful. It's a freestanding, beautiful home. And we turned it into a loving house. And did you already have a site picked out when you guys went through this process of deciding?

We didn't. We just knew that we wanted to have a safe place for people that were obviously wanting to turn their life around and to be able to have a structured environment for them. So we basically built that. And it's been a success. The house is full right now. What is the underbelly? Sorry to cut you off. Okay. Not underbelly, but I think we all kind of have a good idea of what the front facing would sort of look like, right?

What does a day-to-day of a person that runs that look like? When you say 70 hours, what are your tasks? You wake up and obviously there's probably making sure that somebody's mowing the lawn and all of the day-to-day stuff. But what does Angela's day look like now? Well, it's got a mixture of a bunch of stuff. So my first thing is obviously the restaurant. I look at that because my executive chef texts me constantly about closing. I'm the closing chef there.

But during the day, I'm always in contact with the boys. And I always stay available to them. We encourage you to go to meetings or work a 12-step program. We encourage you to surround yourself with like-minded people that are healthy for you. And we just provide a structured environment. I have a house manager. I'm a business owner. I have a house manager that kind of does the day-to-day stuff for me in the house. And we just, the boys need anything like toiletries or I bring food over, anything that they need that they could just continue their focus on their recovery.

On a seven-day stretch, how many days will you end up there versus more like touch points of phone calls and stuff? Sure, sure. We have a house meeting. David and I are present at the house every Sunday morning. We have a house meeting with the whole crew. And we touch base with everybody individually, make sure they're okay, make sure if they need anything. And then we stay connected through a group chat. We're called the Mocktail Mafia. Okay.

So we just stay connected. Okay. So we're connected that way.

Part 237:48

And it's been really, really rewarding. And then sprinkle on top of that me managing a kitchen of grown individuals. So you're still in the business? Oh, yes. Oh, yes. I am the head sous chef over at a country club up north on Beach. Very cool. So I actually have golf day for you when I'm done. Okay. We'll talk. Okay. We'll take it. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. That's amazing. Yeah. That's cool. So you still cook on a daily basis?

Oh, yes. I manage the kitchen. We do ordering. I contact with the members and just make sure that the kitchen runs smoothly. It's a lot. Right now we're in summer, so it's been very gracious and very gentle. But come October, season's there, it's really difficult, but it's been rewarding. So... Random golf question. Have you noticed that this summer has been like a little bit slower than normal? Very. Yeah. Very. We see it in the restaurant very much so.

I feel that the weather up north was really beautiful and all of our snowbirds kind of went up there a little bit early. But as soon as it gets cold up there, they're all going to come down here by groves. For sure. The conditions have been much better on average this summer than normal, which I can only kind of attribute to there's been less people in the way so they can maintain it better, which is the point.

That's the good news about the summer season is they can kind of get all of the back house stuff done while everyone's gone. But that normally is kind of pinched in between the crowds, if you will. And this year I've noticed that very marked difference, like much better conditions, quicker and less people on the golf course for sure. This summer has been very oppressive. It's really hot. Yes. Very much so. Very much so. It's brutal out there.

Yeah. I don't normally call mercy, but we're getting close. I normally embrace it. You've got to go out in the water. You get out in that salt water. Again, nothing in the world is just like you. Nothing would ever wrench me away from Florida. But it's close to calling mercy in the middle of the summer. Awesome. The other question I was going to ask you was, so I know you had been engaged for a while. Yeah. Did you guys change your date at all because of the teeth or around anything?

Did you have to alter any of your plans? No. Okay. So when we got engaged after I got my surgery, and then we had made plans for November 11th, which is 11-11. Our anniversary is November 14th. Very cool. Very cool. We did 11-11. It was extremely small. ▶We walked right out on the beach. I got salt water and sand in my dress, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Perfect. It was wonderful. Yeah. Yeah. Perfect conclusion to New Jersey girl.

Right? Right. Yeah.

Part 340:48

The day after we got married, I surprised- New York. Staten Island. Yeah. New York. Yeah. New York. Yeah. The day after we got married, I surprised my husband with two tickets to Staten Island. We flew there, and I got to eat my way around the island with pizza. It was just overwhelmingly abundance of home food. Then my husband decides to tell me now he knows why I left here. He loves the food, but it's just so crowded up there.

It's so crowded. That was probably ... I guess you were probably just after your three-month mark. It was. It was. I think we did July. It was July 17th was when I did my surgery. It was a year. A year and a couple of months. Okay. A couple of months after. Okay. It was right after my first year exam that I went in, and everything was obviously peachy. Can I honestly tell you, I really wasn't afraid that something was going to go wrong.

From what I went through with my own teeth, that I was not even concerned about. Nothing could have been worse than an abscess and my teeth crinkling and cracking in my mouth when I'm eating. I was mentally prepared that if something was to go awry, it was going to be easily fixed by you, of course. Again, I put so much faith in you, Doc. It was just ... I appreciate it. Yeah. Yeah. I was ready. I have that conversation every day.

Erica has that conversation every day. It's not whether or not anything can happen to them, because of course they can. They live and survive in this universe like we all do. It's how it's handled afterwards and how we dissect the problem together that's the important thing. I want to keep as many black and white decisions on the table as we can have and eliminate all of that grayness, all of the, well, I think you need to have a root canal here, and then a crown, and then it fails, and then, well, now you need an implant.

People get so exhausted of that. Yeah. I was ready to rip them all. Yeah. I was ready to remove them all. Gently. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Ripping them all. That's New York in me. I was ready to just get rid of it. I was ready to be done, and I could not have rushed the process more. I was ready. That's awesome. It was brutal. Having all of that broken, I would bite the side of my cheek, and it was a mess in there.

It was a mess. I wouldn't describe it as that. Oh, come on. For the layperson. You're being delicate. No, no, no. Again, I ... You see stuff all the time. I get it. Yeah. I don't care. I know. I get it. At all. Yeah. Yeah. That's me, and that's how I felt about myself. Zero. I was scrolling through, because obviously I follow you guys all the time. My little, I guess you could say my little tidbit of a commercial came in, and it showed my mouth open, and I was like, oh no.

▶I was watching it. I was like, oh my gosh. I was like, everyone's going to see now, and my husband's like, who cares? Look at you now. Yeah. Well, yeah. That is ... It was a while ago, the first year that I did it, but that initial shame of what I felt all those years was triggering, and it took that one moment for me like, that's not you anymore. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Then to look in the mirror, and to see the end of the video.

That's not me anymore, and it was the greatest blessing ever. For us, it's never been you. Yeah. I appreciate that. I don't even remember a minute of it. I appreciate that.

Part 444:39

That's what, like I said, that's what made the decision so easy, that you guys do dozens of these a week, a day, whatever, and it was just ... You guys didn't make me feel like this is a special case. And that's a big problem with dentistry. I had that call with a ... I just had a consult where I had to follow up and answer some follow-up questions, and that convolution happens all the time, where there are a lot of dentists out there that really ... The reason why they went to school is so that they could strap on a white coat, and walk into a room, and show a person.

Show a person how fancy they are, and in their head, the sales pitch is how fancy they are, and that's going to draw you. How difficult the case is, is what is going to draw you to them, versus ... And they use it as a selling point. Well, that guy said it would be easy. No, this is hard, and you need me, right? They wake up waiting for that. That's what they live for, and that's a very frustrating uphill battle, because it does work on some people.

But not every case has to be hard. When it comes to Full Arch, with the protocol that we use, and really, honestly, any Full Arch, it's pretty straightforward. It works pretty well, and it doesn't need to be overcomplicated. Nobody needs to bring that into the mix, and that's a really frustrating uphill battle that we fight. I think the greatest thing that you said to me, after the x-rays, and I'm sitting here wondering, and you looked at me, and you were like, you are a perfect candidate for this.

I was like ... You were. I'm in. You were. Here I was, sitting in all my shame, and fear, and anxiety, and thinking that nobody can fix me, and I'm a disaster, and you were just like, you are a perfect case. This is going to be great, and I was like, how could you ... Of course, I'm in. What do I sign? You were a perfect case. Yeah, it was great. It was so great. You were a perfect case.

You've been a perfect patient, and I think you're, what, 25 months removed, basically. Yeah. Tomorrow, I go in for my two years. Yeah. There you go. I'm in at 8.30 in the morning. You're one of the good ones. Yeah. You show up, and get your teeth cleaned, because that is an important part. Oh, yeah. It's not a lot of maintenance. Of course, it is change. Would you agree, as we're to this point of talking about maintenance, I had a good friend of mine that has this, and I asked her one time, I said, listen, shoot it to me straight.

How much work really is this? Because I don't know. I don't have this. How much? How much more or less work is, I just want you to give it to me straight, and she said, she thought about it for maybe like five minutes, or not five minutes, 50 seconds, it's like, I'm struggling with how to describe it, and she said, the best way I can describe it is, it's not more work, and it's not less work, it's just different work.

Yeah. Would you feel that that's true? That's correct. That's correct, and I eat all day long. I'm in the kitchen, and I'm eating all day long, I have a little portable Waterpik I take with me. If it gets really a little bit uncomfortable, but it has been a pleasure, you know, like I- Would you agree it's like the same amount of work? It really wasn't, I, 100%. There's no like more tediousness, there's more, no more special care I put into it, you know, it, you guys made it really black and white, like use this Waterpik, come here on this day, and enjoy your life.

So it was really very simple. Yeah. Yeah. So I used my Waterpik. I showed up on my appointment. You know, and there was a couple of times I experienced a little bit of pain, like the first year, and I would text the girls, and they would respond right back, like, do you want to come in? And I was like, you know what, I just want to come in and have you guys, no problem, come on in. They would look at it, like you're fine, you're hallucinating, everything's great, and I would just keep going.

I don't think we ever said you were hallucinating. No, never. No, but I was, you know, so, but to have that available, so when like, you know, the first year was obviously a tiptoeing. Like, is everything going to be okay? I'm nervous, and, you know, and to, by the grace of God, not have absolutely any, I hit the ground running. So talking, my speech, you know, the only thing, you know, when I eat certain things, I hear it click in my head, and, you know, at the beginning, but all that, God, just went away, you know.

They are a part of me now, and, you know, I want to bite people, so I'm just kidding. They are your personality. Yeah. They fit you very well. Thank you. Thank you. So, Angela's, what's your favorite dish to make? What's your best dish that you make? And what's your own personal favorite dish to eat? They can be all the same, but what are the, in those three categories, what do you got? My favorite personal dish to eat is any kind of taco.

Okay. I love tacos. Preferably chorizo. Are you a flour tortilla, corn tortilla? Corn. Corn tortilla. Yes. You are to it? Absolutely. Erica. Absolutely. Crispy or soft? Crispy. Crispy here, too. I like crispy corn. Okay. I can go on that. I cannot do soft corn. I'm a soft flour guy. Yeah. I did it for so many years, and it was like a kind of a given. I had to have soft tacos, but now I can mix it up a little.

So, yeah. Yeah. That's actually my go-to food. Do you like the fancy version, or are you more like Taco Bell at home kind of? I'm a fancy girl. Really? Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. I'm a fancy girl. I make lime and cilantro, a little avocado aioli, and I can get a little bit crazy with the tacos. That sounds delicious. Yeah. I'm way more boring when it comes to tacos. I wouldn't take you as a boring taco person. Yeah. Tacos, I want it as cheap and down and dirty.

Yeah. And flour tortillas. I don't like fancy tacos necessarily. The fancier you make it, the less I'm interested. Okay. All right. All right.

Part 550:42

So then, what's your favorite to make? To make, I love an eggplant rollatini. I make the fried crispy eggplant rollatini with the fresh ricotta inside, make a really great matanata, and then bake it in the oven. That's one of my favorites. It's because it's my dad's favorite. So, I like to make that. My husband will eat absolutely anything. The process is probably somewhat spiritual for you in terms of- It is. It is. Cooking has been a labor.

It's like a dance, you know? I've gotten used to it. I've gotten better as my confidence has grown. I'm blessed to work under a really insane and talented chef. So, that's where I learned most of my good stuff. Sure. It's always just very similar to dentistry. There's a big art portion to it. So, you have to have the skills, but then they also have to have the art, and you have to blend them all properly, and you have to have the right tools.

And so, I'm sure it's very similar where you just, there isn't a point at which you say, well, I'm the best and that's over. Yeah. I'm the best and that's over with anything. I'm a good guide, and I'm sure, you know- Oh, I have plenty. Yeah. It's those people that come into your life that kind of help you blossom in different ways, you know? It's a blessing. Is that the same dish that you most like to make for people?

If you're going to come to my house, yes. That's your go-to? Yes. My restaurant is way more elevated. Sure. You know? But, yes. And to keep it like- I was looking for like, yeah, the real answer. Yeah. Yeah. That's the real answer. That's just- I wasn't looking for the special on the menu. I was looking for the like- I know. We did tomahawks yesterday. I was thinking about like, you know, biting into the tomahawk and stuff. But, no.

Yeah. I love just, you know, comfort, you know, something that, you know, reminds me of home, and I wanted to tell you about my home. Yeah. So, that's what I would do. Yeah. Yeah. What do you, do you bake at all? No. Yeah. I have a best friend. She is a pastry chef. Yeah. And I leave the baking up to her, you know. It's a wild, wild different world, right? Yeah. It is completely different. It is completely different.

I watch her. We work together for a couple of years, and it's, you know, measuring. I don't have the patience for that stuff. So, you know, I just throw stuff. I just go by my judge. We call it the Italian cooking, you know. Just throwing stuff together. Yeah. The measuring cup right here. Yeah. Yeah. That's it. That's it. That's it. Absolutely. That's awesome. Yeah. Yeah. My husband's favorite dish, I would have to say, he's a steak person.

So, I just did, I just brined a whole bunch of really thick pork chops. Yum. So, another thing I can eat now. Like the duroc? That, yes. Yeah. Yes. I brined it for like 24 hours, and then I bring it home, and he loves it, so. Amazing. Yeah. Yeah. That's great. I could talk about food for hours. Me too. I don't eat a lot on a day to day, but I enjoy the process of cooking. Yeah. And I enjoy the satisfaction of seeing it on the table, and the whole process.

Like you were talking about. Yeah. That's community. That's getting people together. It's Thanksgiving. It's the reason why we. It is. Gather and come together.

Part 653:47

It is. It's great. And to be able to not. I joked about it a couple days ago. Like the soft diet that we have. I was eating the soft diet way before I met you guys, and so I was really easy to transition, but all the foods that I always wanted. I wanted to eat, and I would just kind of shy away from it. Especially when we're doing tastings at the restaurant, and we're doing specials and stuff like that.

It was embarrassing, but everybody kind of knew, and no one ever said anything. They were being gracious and being kind, but now I'm pushing you out of the way to take the first taste and to try it. That's great. Yeah. Yeah. It's been really great. It is. It is. Part of it being so your conversation being so emphasized on food because of what you do is kind of cool because you kind of have it all where you got the look, but then also the additional taste and all of that.

One really cool thing about hybrid dentistry as well is that once you're done and you're finished, you generally, no matter what it was for, if it was for health because you had too many abscesses, if it was for looks, and you didn't want to go through braces, and your teeth were kind of battered from prior braces, or you just wanted to eat, the fallout is always, for the most part, another positive. So, if your intention, if you came to me as a patient and you said, I don't even care if these are brown, but I just want to eat and enjoy that part of life again, I'm sorry, but I have to bring the looks in.

It just is a fallout. And so, it can feel very uncomfortable for patients because this is what they need. Let's just say the patient that we were just talking about with the consult, she was a little bit younger and more focused on the looks and more focused on the fact that her teeth couldn't be fixed and she had gone through normal traditional dentistry that was failing. And so, I think that she hadn't even really considered the bite and the flavor and the taste and things that were going to come as a fallout, but that's going to come along.

Likewise, when you have, let's say that we looked at your dad and we ended up working on your dad, he may not care at all what it looks like. He wouldn't. But it just has to happen where he's going to get more self-confidence out of the aesthetic. So, you just kind of get this, the fallout is always a balance of this positive, but what I can tell you is, and Erica can add to that as well. But the consult, generally, you feel that person feel bad that they want to be able to say, well, I just want to be healthy and I want a good bite.

They don't want to admit that the aesthetics would be really cool if I could have whatever I wanted. You feel that tension. They feel guilty even saying that that's anything on the table. That was one of the things you actually said to me. You were like, do not be afraid to be picky. Tell them what you want. Tell them what kind of color. Tell them about, you get to pick your gums. And I was just like, I don't care.

You guys can give me anything. I don't care. I'll be thrilled. But to be able to take that minute and to be picky with picking out what you feel would be best. And obviously working with Nadia, am I saying her correctly? Working with Nadia, again, I was very gracious and I'm just like, what do you think? What do you think I should do? What do you think I should do? In your professional opinion, I must have said that to her a thousand times.

But at the end of the day. At the end, we all wanted, I'm not going to lie, I wanted it to be beautiful. I've come this far. Why not take the extra mile to look hot? Yeah. It was really cool. It was really cool. We're so used to something that is so big. Let's say that you're building a house. You're so used to, if I can't have this many bedrooms, then I'll take this. And if I can't have this pool here, then I can take this.

You're so used to the compromise that you're trying to give the priorities. And what's really fun about this is the compromises that you had to lose your teeth. But once you've accepted that, and you have to go through the surgery and the expense, but once you've made it through that hurdle, the world's your oyster. There is no compromise. Go get what you want. Get all the bedrooms. Yes. Get the pool where you want it. Go for it.

Get the big dock. Whatever you want. And that's also another thing. Life has took a turn of just like, why not? Should we? Why not? I just went on vacation with my best friend, and our vacation was called, Why Not? And a lot of the decisions were, you only live once. Again, do what sunshine feels on the inside. Do that. Do what brings you joy and makes you happy, because it's short-lived sometimes. And to ride that happiness wave as much as possible.

Amazing. Yeah. I try to spread it everywhere. Like wildfire. I love it. Yeah. You do. It's contagious. Thank you. I appreciate it. You are a wildfire. I love it. Erica, you have anything to add? Any questions or anything?

Part 759:06

I have one last question. If you could only use, well, not only use, but if you had to pick your one favorite ingredient to use while you're cooking, what would it be? That's a really great question. That's it. That's it. I would have to say curry. Oh. Curry. I do. I'm a woman that loves curry. Out of left field, ladies and gentlemen. It is. It is. It is out of left field. I love Indian food. And I love to sprinkle a little bit of curry or a little cumin in some things.

It's kind of like a spice that people don't really use often, because it's very prominent in the taste buds. But it can be very delicate, like me. That's amazing. Very in your face, but very delicate. Okay. That's a pretty good little analogy. Yeah. I like cumin. I'm a cumin person. I like cumin, too. Thank you. That was a great question. I like to be surprised by curry. Obviously, you order a curry, it's going to have that flavor, but I like it when it just hits you out of nowhere.

You didn't know it was going to be in there. I enjoy that. Yeah. For sure. Yeah. Well, Angela, I appreciate you taking the time out of your day. It's been such an honor. It is a beautiful day out. You could have chosen to go paddle boarding and kayaking today. I'm on my way to work from here, so I have a dinner service. We appreciate what you've done and taking time out of your day to ... I'm sure that this will help patients.

I hope so. The point of this is to not necessarily get rah-rah behind just Dun & One and such. It's to get people encouraged that everything's going to be fine, and they may be headed on a plane here right now as they're listening to it. Feel comfortable. It's going to be fine. It's going to be great. It's not going to be fun. It's going to be great. It's not going to be stuck in their basement because they had a career and they lost it and they have to deal with this, and this may be the first step that gets them to making a phone call, even to a local dentist or whatnot.

The point of this is to make people feel comfortable with there are people that care and there is an answer, and life on the other side can be the brightness and the happiness and the sunshine that you've shown in this interview and discussion today. In terms of talking to patients and getting the message out, that's the take-home for you. Be a Sadie. Become a Sadie. Absolutely. Become your inner Angela. Yes. Yes. Take the risk because we're not all scary out here.

You're worth it. Everybody's worth it. Yeah. It really is. To put yourself first and do something for yourself and pour into yourself, you are your greatest investment. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know if I could possibly fit in extra pets to Sadie, but if I can, I will give her one from you today. I'm sure my husband will appreciate that too. He loves her. He's met her at the dentist. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. She's a little celebrity and was what brought us together.

It's amazing. Yeah. She's a great little dog. Awesome. Little beautiful golden nugget. I'm happy she's doing well. Well, thank you again for your time. It was an honor. Thank you. We look forward to many, many years of working with you and appreciate all you've done for us.

Part 862:13

And for those listening, take the step, give a call. Come on in. We're not that scary. Go somewhere else. Do something that will benefit you in the long run. You don't have to feel bad about this. There is a brighter side, whether it be for chewing food or for smiling or both. There is resources and options out there. So like, subscribe. This is all opinion based. This is all our experience and just person to person, human to human.

Yeah. But we appreciate the time that you guys have given us and we'll see you again next time. Bye. Bye.