Hi, and welcome to Beyond the Arches. My name is Erica. Today I am joined by the wonderful Dr. Daniel Northook and Carrie Norris.

Thank you. I’m happy to be here and to discuss. Hello, hello.

Welcome, welcome. So, do you have any questions? Why don’t we start with the usual—who Carrie is and…

Yeah, yeah. So Carrie, why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself? Kind of how you got yourself down to Boca Raton, Florida, how you heard about us, and what was the most enticing thing that made you want to come down?

All right. Well, my name is Carrie Norris. I’m from New York City, Queens, New York. I came across you guys from The Shabby Guys YouTube.

Yeah, YouTube. Yeah.

Do you do a lot of furniture restoring at all?

No, not at all. Shout out to that Shabby Guy.

That Shabby Guy. Well, to backtrack, I was researching All-on-Fours because I was getting to a point where I thought my teeth needed work. At one time, when I was a lot younger, I actually had great teeth. I never had cavities, and I used to go to the dentist and get them checked out—not every six months, but around then.

Around 30 to 35 years old, I started having my teeth just break. I could be eating chicken wings or just random food, and my molars started breaking off in half, and then on the other side too.

So it was weird. I just ended up having brittle teeth. And I guess from there, I kind of just thought, “Who cares anymore?” My teeth are broken—what does it matter? So I guess the rest of it, like the gums and the decay…

Do you think you were seeing a dentist at the time, or did it get to a point where you just said, “You know what, I’ll figure it out later”?

Probably, yeah. It got overwhelming, and I was like, “Oh wow, I’ve got to fix this, I’ve got to fix that,” and it’s probably going to cost a ton of money. So I just let it go, and by that time it just went downhill from there.

What was the precipitating factor that made you get online and research it? Did you go to a dentist and get an opinion first? Did you kind of know it was out there and have it in the back of your head? How did you make that decision?

I kind of had it in the back of my head, and then the straw that broke the camel’s back was when one of my front teeth suddenly became loose. I could tell the gums were receding, and that’s when I thought, “Okay, I need to do something.” That’s your front teeth—you can hide broken molars in the back, but I didn’t want to go around losing my front teeth. Now I’ve really got an issue.

So I did some research about dentures, and I didn’t even know this procedure existed. I just figured I was probably going to end up with dentures or maybe a bridge. I know somebody that has a bridge, but I didn’t really know how it works.

We’ve talked about it a bunch—that’s actually one of the biggest problems with doing this procedure, bringing to light that it even exists. I’ve said it a couple of times: when I meet random people who don’t necessarily know what I do, I try to explain it quickly, and I don’t know that many of them really understand what we actually do. Which is kind of crazy, thinking about all the people I’ve met and talked to.

So just as an aside, it’s very normal to not even know that this exists.

Right. I’d heard of implants, but at the time I was thinking every tooth had to be implanted. I didn’t want to have 23 implants in my mouth.

You don’t want that.

No. So when I came across this technology, I thought, “Oh, this is interesting.” It’s basically like a full bridge for your mouth, on both sides. So I ended up going to a dentist because I thought, “I’m not a dentist, I don’t know anything—let me find out. Maybe it’s savable.”

Maybe they could do something, even if we start in baby steps and eventually get it back to where it’s functioning.

Absolutely.

So I could chew into a steak or a burger without worrying if my tooth is going to be left in the bun. So I went to a dentist near my house and got a consultation, and the dentist was basically like, “Yeah, you’re done. There’s nothing we can really do.”

And in a way, it felt like I was being chastised. Like, yeah, I get it—I messed up. But okay, what can we do about it?

Then she brought up the All-on-Four procedure that I had read about. So I was like, “Okay.” I never knew how much it cost—I knew it wasn’t cheap—but I figured, all right, let me see what I can do.

You work in New York City, so was this dentist in New York City as well?

Yeah, right near my house. Classic tiny little office.

Yeah, for my neighborhood, she was known. People went to her, so I was like, I’ll go to her.

So when she said, “You’re basically done. I think this procedure would be good for you,” I was like, “Oh, okay—that’s what I read about.”

Then I asked how much it cost, and that’s when I was like, “Wow.” She gave me a quote for top and bottom—around $65,000 to $70,000—and I was like, “Uh… wow.” That’s a lot of money. I was thinking, “That’s like two cars.”

And then as I’m leaving the dental office, it kind of felt like I was trying to run out of a timeshare meeting. Like, “Please, come on…” You know, they’re offering me a $100 Visa gift card.

I’m like, okay, let me think about it. It’s not like I can just whip out $70,000, and maybe there’s a guy down the block that’s cheaper. Like, take it easy.

So that just turned me off right then and there.

Now that I had a number in my head about how much it cost, I started doing deeper research. I found that some places offer temporary teeth for like six months, and then I found places where they do it in a day.

So I was trying to figure out—what’s the real difference? Is it six months, nine months, or one day? And the prices varied.

Then I came across The Shabby Guy while doing my research. He seemed like a real guy who actually got the procedure done. And that was another thing—it was hard to find people talking about it without some kind of agenda. Not like, “Oh yeah, I got my teeth done, look at me.”

When I started watching his videos, he seemed like a legitimate guy. He wasn’t really advertising you—he was just saying, “This is what I got done, this is where.”

So I kept watching, and he had a follow-up video about what happens after. I was like, “Oh, I wonder where he got that done,” and that’s how I came across you guys.

I looked at the website and thought, “Hmm, this is interesting.” The first thing that stood out to me was that there were no hidden details. The cost was upfront.

With other websites, you try to find the price and it’s always like, “Well, we have to examine you, everybody’s different…” But yours was clear—this is the price, this is what you get.

And when I compared your price to what the dentist quoted me, I was like…

“Well, that’s for the whole mouth?”

Did that concern you at all? Because something that kind of frustrates me is that at some point, if the price is too good to be true, people think it must not be right. That’s a consumer instinct. So was that ever a concern for you?

At one point, yes. I thought maybe it seemed a little on the cheaper side. But then I also saw websites promoting things for like $10,000, so it was hard to get a clear range.

I wanted to know—what’s the real range here? Is it $10,000 or $100,000? Where’s the midpoint?

It just felt like because you’re in need of something, people can charge whatever they want.

I also came across things about going overseas, and I was like, “I’m not doing that.” If I’m going to get this done, I’ll pay extra to stay in the States. Not that they don’t do great work, but I wasn’t flying to Turkey and then wondering about follow-up.

Like, what happens if something goes wrong? Do I have to go back to Turkey? Will they help me?

So I did like that your website was clear. The pricing was there. I didn’t have to put in my email or connect my Facebook—it was just straightforward. This is what we offer.

And you laid it out step by step.

Then with The Shabby Guy, he said he got his teeth in a week. So I was like, okay—there’s six months, there’s 24 hours… a week sounds good.

It’s like, okay, we’ll get the procedure done, and there’s still some time to adjust if needed.

At that point, I went away overseas after that dental appointment. That was in November of last year.

Vacation?

Yeah, I went on vacation with my girls.

Where did you go?

Guatemala.

Oh, cool.

Yeah, it’s a great, very underrated place.

Any family ties there, or what brought you to Guatemala?

No, my girlfriend’s from Guatemala. That was my second time there. It’s definitely underrated—when you think of places to visit, it’s not usually on your radar.

But going with her made it easier because I basically had a local tour guide.

Yeah, if you like nature, they have the most volcanoes in the world. I didn’t know that. When I met her, we climbed a volcano, and there are beaches and all that.

So when I came back, my front tooth was getting worse. It got to the point where I felt like I could pull it out myself. I got tired of chewing on one side and constantly worrying about what I ordered to eat because I was scared.

At that point, I was like, this is going to get really bad. So I decided, you know what, I’ve got nothing to lose.

I gave you guys a call and spoke to Alex. Alex was the first person I got in touch with.

And after that, she said, “Yeah, you can come down for a consultation.” I don’t think I had to, but I wanted to be there in person. I know you’re in Florida, but I come to Florida a lot, so it wasn’t a big deal. It’s only about a two-and-a-half-hour flight.

She also gave me a link to the Facebook page, and that’s where my interest really peaked. It’s one thing to see stories on a website, but you never really know. They could be curated.

And that’s actually one of the intentions of doing this podcast—we don’t want this to just be an advertisement. Of course, we’re biased because it’s our protocol and system, and we try to do everything as best as possible.

But getting real, genuine stories out there matters. We haven’t put Carrie up for anything, and financially—honestly, I haven’t even bought you a beer.

No, not at all.

And that’s the intention—to present authentic conversations and real experiences. That’s very different from just putting testimonials on a website.

Yeah. So when I went on the Facebook page for Done in One and saw all the former patients and how much they loved it, I thought, you can’t fake that.

There were a couple hundred people on that page, and a lot of them had the work done. I rarely saw any long-term issues. I didn’t even realize you guys had been in business for a few years at that point.

I remember commenting on one guy’s post—he had his work done maybe five years ago. So I thought, okay, there’s history here too, with regular people who’ve had it done.

That made it seem legit.

Starting that Facebook page was probably the most nerve-wracking career move I’ve ever made, because we don’t control it. Anything could go out there.

But it’s actually been great—it kind of regulates itself. If somebody has a problem, it stays on there, but other people will jump in to help and also point them in our direction so we can step in quickly.

It’s really become a strong community, but starting it was definitely nerve-wracking.

Yeah, because imagine if the first five people joined and three of them had problems.

Exactly.

So when I joined the Facebook page, I went back through years of posts. I just kept reading, and it was like, okay—you can’t fake this.

Every now and then, someone would say something negative, but overall it was very positive. So I decided to come down for a consultation.

That was last December. I came down right after work—I went to JFK, flew down for a day, stayed the night, and flew back.

I remember that. You’re probably one of maybe five or six people who have come in from out of state for an in-person consultation before committing.

And I think you were already pretty set on moving forward with us at that point, because I believe you booked your procedure like a week or two later.

Yeah, it was right away.

And the other thing—I remember you gave me the consultation, but I don’t think you were originally supposed to. I was at the hotel, and I was supposed to come in at like 9:30. I think Nadia had a migraine, or something happened.

Probably Dr. Lax.

Oh, Lax—okay. Yeah, someone had an issue, and they said, “The surgeon is actually here and can do your consultation if you come in a little later.”

I was like, “Wait, you mean the guy from the website? The actual surgeon is going to see me?” Not just someone else?

They were like, “Yes.”

So I said, sure—whatever time, I’ll come in.

Talking to you during that consultation, doing the X-ray, and hearing that everything looked pretty straightforward—that was huge.

I was also worried about bone loss since I had some missing teeth. But you told me it should be fine. Obviously, nothing is guaranteed, but you said it looked like a straightforward case.

So I felt good about that. 

Let’s move on to your actual experience. Did you go with a travel package or on your own?

No, I went on my own. I have friends down here.

Did you stay with them, or did you come with someone?

I came with my girlfriend. She came down with me. We stayed in Deerfield Beach for the surgery and the first two try-ins, and then I stayed with my friends in West Palm for the first few days.

Describe your pain level—0 to 10.

I’d say it was about a 3 or 4 that first day.

You can be honest.

No, really—it was about a 3 or 4. The most pain was actually leaving the office and getting into the car right after surgery. There was a little burning sensation, but a couple of hours later, once I took the pain relievers, it wasn’t too bad.

The next day wasn’t bad at all. I was like, “Oh my God, this is a lot better.” The first hour was the worst, but it was manageable, at least for me.

The pain actually subsided a lot when I got the first try-ins. It felt like a compression sock on a sprained ankle.

Yep.

So it kind of compressed everything and helped calm the pain. Once I got the first try-ins, it got a lot better. So really, it was just that first day.

That’s a great perspective, because a lot of people don’t realize that when those first teeth go in—whether they’re made in a lab or chairside—they act as a protector. It’s like an umbrella or a bandage.

It’s basically a dressing that looks like teeth. Your mouth is finally in a protected state instead of being exposed, and for a lot of people, that actually makes it feel better, not worse.

Yeah, it’s kind of the reverse of what you expect. You think, “If someone touches my gums, it’s going to hurt,” but instead it feels soothing.

Like a massage.

Exactly—soothing. You almost think, “Why didn’t you put these in yesterday?”

Did you do anything fun while you were here?

Yeah, I went to the beach. Where I was staying in Deerfield, I was literally right across the street from the beach. We hung out there.

It was a little chilly since it was January when I had the procedure, but I mostly just took it easy.

Eating options were limited because of the soft food diet, and I was honestly scared to eat anything. I stuck to soup, water, and I think Huel—the liquid meal replacement.

I went super soft, even softer than recommended. I was eating things like mashed potatoes the whole time.

I ask every patient this—what was your favorite go-to during the soft food phase?

My mom makes really good meatloaf, so I ate a lot of that. Mashed potatoes, depending on the recipe, were great. Oatmeal was a big one—I was going through boxes of oatmeal every couple of days.

And I like corned beef hash. I know it’s not as popular for breakfast anymore, but give me scrambled eggs and corned beef hash, and I’ll eat that all day.

It’s a great breakfast.

And a great dinner too—breakfast works anytime.

Exactly. Breakfast is perfect at any time of day. I don’t care.

I don’t trust people who disagree with that.

What about afterward—what was your favorite once you were back to normal?

Oh, definitely steak. Steak was great. And a common one—chicken wings, like buffalo wings.

When my front tooth got bad, you need your front teeth for that first bite, so I used to have to peel the meat off instead of biting into it like everyone else.

And here I am all dainty, picking at it.

That’s how I eat mine.

Okay, well… I need to bite into it.

So that was a big “wow” moment. And also a nice, juicy sub—like a Jersey Mike’s sub.

Because they’re very thick—they really pack the meat in. After my soft diet was over, even then I was still nervous for about a month.

But I finally went for it and was able to bite right through a Jersey Mike’s Italian sub. That was the best.

Did it take you a while to get comfortable eating again after the 90 days, when you were cleared?

Yeah, because even after the 90 days, when you guys said I was good to go, I still had that apprehension. I was like, “Am I really good to go?” I wanted to eat that Jersey Mike’s sub, but I was hesitant.

I think another interesting thing you bring up is that most patients, when they think about the soft food diet, only think about the limitations during those first three months.

But one of the biggest surprises isn’t just getting foods back—it’s realizing that even before the procedure, they couldn’t eat the things they enjoyed. So getting back foods you haven’t had in one, two, or even five years can be really exciting.

It can also be fattening. I was just inhaling food like it was going to disappear tomorrow.

By the way, if you like a packed sub, here in Boca we have a really awesome deli. It’s been around since the ’80s—V&S Deli. It’s right off Federal. Everything is made to order, and it’s got that real New York feel.

Okay.

It’s top-tier.

V and S, like the letter V and then S?

Yeah.

I’ll check it out.

It’s one of my favorites.

I’m a big sub fan myself. I actually worked at Subway in college as a sandwich artist—that’s how I fed myself. Every four hours we got a six-inch sub, and if we worked longer, we got a footlong or a salad.

So for a long time, it was all subs. And honestly, it didn’t ruin them for me—I still love sandwiches.

Yeah, same here. A good sub is always solid.

But your standards are high—you’re from New York. New Yorkers have high food standards.

Yeah, I appreciate that.

And that was another tough part about having bad teeth in New York—I couldn’t bite into things like great bagels. I’d have to pick at them instead of just biting in.

It was frustrating because there’s all this amazing food around, and I was always thinking, “What can I eat on this menu? What can’t I eat?”

Even before my front tooth got loose, I had lost a lot of molars because they broke off. So even something like steak—if I cut it up, I still had to chew it, and it was hard without molars.

Did your bite improve significantly after the procedure, even compared to when your teeth were okay?

Yes, I do feel like it improved. It’s different, though.

One thing I didn’t realize is that your natural teeth have sensation when you bite. So when I started eating solid food again, I noticed that I could taste everything, but I couldn’t really feel it the same way.

Like with a chicken wing—you can usually feel the bone and everything. I couldn’t really tell at first.

I explain it like this: it’s like when your hand goes numb and you try to grab a pen. You know it’s there, but the feeling is different.

It took my brain a couple of months to adjust to that new sensation.

Being a year out now, how normal does it feel?

Honestly, I can’t remember how my real teeth felt anymore.

Do you feel like you can sense pressure now, similar to before?

Not exactly the same, but close—maybe like 90% back. There are still certain foods where it feels a little different.

I’m trying to think—maybe things like noodles, where they’re not super soft but not hard either.

But for the most part, like I said, I don’t even remember what it used to feel like.

That’s one of the most variable aspects—the timeline and the end result.

It’s not like some people feel nothing and others feel everything. Almost everyone regains some sense of pressure, but it can take anywhere from days to years.

So it’s always interesting to hear. You’re about a year out, which is pretty typical for getting most of that sensation back.

That’s also an interesting insight—that you can’t even remember what it was like before. That tells me you’re feeling pretty comfortable now.

Oh, 100%. I literally can’t remember. If you had asked me that nine months ago, I probably could have answered, but now my brain has totally accepted them.

Absolutely.

They fit so well, at least for me, that I forget I don’t have real teeth. I forget they’re not natural. I mean, everybody’s different, but for me, the fit and my brain’s acceptance—it all worked out. It’s awesome.

Let’s step away from teeth for a second, because there’s a person behind the teeth here.

Absolutely.

So where did you grow up? Was it New York?

Yeah, I grew up in Queens, New York.

And how did you end up working in Manhattan? What do you do?

I still live in Queens. I work in telecommunications—fiber optics. I’m based in Midtown Manhattan, and I’ve been doing it for about 29 years now. Actually, when I had the surgery, it was my 28th work anniversary.

When you first started, were you working with coax cables and T1 lines?

No, we were working with copper lines. I started with New York Telephone, which later became Verizon. That was when landlines were everything.

In Manhattan, everything is underground—there are no poles—so we had to go into manholes to fix things. If the lines got wet, they would short out. Back then, before cell phones were common, a single cable issue could knock out an entire block.

Now technology has changed. Everyone has cell phones, but people forget that those still rely on fiber optic connections to the towers. Those connections are still hardwired underground, and we maintain a lot of that.

Do you run into many problems? I saw a video recently where a construction crew cut a major fiber optic line—one of those bundles with tons of strands. They said it’s a huge issue because it’s not always easily repairable.

Yeah, we deal with that all the time. If it’s cut in a way where there’s no slack—like if it’s really tight—it can’t always be repaired easily.

We also deal with manhole fires. The electrical systems are underground too, so sometimes they overheat and catch fire, and that affects our cables.

Are there ways to fix those, or do you have to replace everything?

It depends. If there’s enough slack and it’s a clean cut, we can sometimes pull it in and repair it. But in other cases, especially with fire damage, we have to run new cable.

Some of the infrastructure in Manhattan is really old. Fiber optics are relatively newer—maybe 30 or 40 years old—but a lot of the older systems are still in place.

And because it’s New York, the stakes are high. You cut one fiber cable and you could knock out parts of Wall Street or major institutions like the UN.

Sometimes it’s emergency repairs, and sometimes it’s just regular installation work.

There’s definitely a difference between running fiber in general and running it in critical areas.

Exactly.

I was going to say, that would ruin my day—but probably not as much as taking down Wall Street.

Yeah. They do have redundancies, so if one cable goes down, traffic can reroute. But if a construction crew digs in the wrong spot and hits something major, it can still cause big problems.

So how do you commute to work—subway?

Yeah, I take the subway.

That’s fascinating to us, because we don’t really have that here.

I know. The subway gets a bad reputation sometimes, but it’s still the fastest and cheapest way to get around New York.

It’s a great system.

Yeah. As long as you keep your head down, don’t look like a tourist, and don’t stand there staring at a map, you’ll be fine.

It’s also a great place for viral moments if you catch them.

Definitely.

I guarantee you could find some moments and put them on TikTok.

So let’s talk about your hobbies. We were just talking before this about baseball. You’re into baseball—how did you get into it? Did you grow up playing? What position?

Oh yeah, I started playing when I was young—Little League, even softball with older guys. I just enjoyed it. When I was younger, people thought I was pretty decent. They’d say, “Come back, come play.”

I’m 50 now, so I’ve been playing for about 40 years, fairly competitively. I didn’t go the college or high school route trying to get drafted or anything. After high school, I got into softball, and then maybe about 15 years ago, a friend said, “Hey, you should come play baseball with us.”

I was like, “Wait—you guys still play baseball?” I thought you had to go back in time for that.

But I got back into it. I had always been playing softball, but getting back into baseball felt like reconnecting with what I missed growing up. I’m just happy that people still want me on their team.

Knock on wood, I haven’t gotten injured yet, and I’m still in pretty decent shape.

Describe what that looks like for an adult league. What position do you play?

I play outfield.

Any specific spot?

Center field and right field, mostly. I’ll play wherever the team needs me.

We have a season that starts around April, kind of like regular baseball. There’s usually a weekend schedule and a weeknight schedule, so a lot of us play after work.

Most of our games are out on Long Island—that’s where the league is. Probably because the fields are more accessible and better maintained.

Right, Long Island does have nicer fields. And for me, living in Queens, I’m right on the border of Nassau County, so it’s not a bad commute. It would be tougher coming from somewhere like the Bronx.

We have different age divisions—18+, 25+, 35+, and so on. I play in both the 35+ and 45+ leagues.

A lot of the guys are older and have more experience than me. Some of them actually played professionally.

I can believe that. We played in a tournament a couple of weeks ago down here in West Palm, where the Astros and Nationals play spring training.

Yeah, I think that’s Roger Dean Stadium.

Right. And some of the guys there had played at that level. One guy used to play for the Atlanta Braves.

So it gets competitive. There are guys out there who can still really play. People might not believe it, but you’d be surprised—some of these guys are better than me.

That’s awesome. How much of a time commitment is it, and how big are the teams?

Games are about three hours—we play full nine innings on weekends.

How many days a week are you playing?

For me, usually two or three times a week during the summer. It keeps me busy.

I love it—not just because I love the sport, but because it gives me something to do. I don’t want to just sit at home waiting for the next Netflix show to drop.

It gives me something to look forward to. There’s the camaraderie with teammates, hanging out, having a couple of beers after the game, and then going back to regular life.

How big is your team?

About 15 guys, give or take.

Is it hard to get everyone together, especially with people having families and responsibilities?

Yeah, definitely. Once you’re in any league over 25, everyone has responsibilities—family, work, all that.

Most guys just play when they can. I play on two teams, sometimes three, depending on availability.

My daughter is grown—she’s 27—so I don’t have little kids at home anymore. But a lot of guys do, so they might drop off for a while and come back later after life settles down.

It’s always kind of rotating.

So in the older league—like the 45+—how many teams are there?

So you’re playing maybe one or two games per week for each league. How many teams are in each league?

I’d say you’d be surprised—the older divisions probably have the most teams.

That makes sense.

Yeah, because there are a lot of guys still playing, and they’re even grandparents now—which you are too, right?

Yeah, congratulations.

Thank you, I appreciate that. Shoutout to my grandson, Royal—if you’re listening to this 30 years from now, I hope you remember this.

Only if the fiber optic cables are still working.

That’s out of my hands—I’ll be retired by then.

Sorry, what was the question again?

How many teams are in a league, roughly?

I’d say around 10 to 15 teams. The 35+ and 45+ divisions probably have the most teams. I think nowadays guys just stay in better shape longer than they used to.

Not that baseball wasn’t demanding before, but people just keep that competitive itch and continue playing.

I’m asking because I grew up playing baseball too—I was a catcher my whole life. So I might be asking some leading questions here… testing the waters.

I get it. And catcher is one of the toughest positions, especially in the older leagues. It’s demanding.

Yeah.

So hey, if you’ve still got it, come down and bring your catcher’s mitt.

I still have it. I even oil it every once in a while.

You’d be surprised—might have to dust it off.

Tell me about the travel aspect. When you come down here to play at Roger Dean, is that your whole team traveling, or is it more of a mixed group?

It’s a tournament. We have a core group from our team that comes down, but our coach also brings in players from other places, like the West Coast.

So it’s competitive. There are teams from Venezuela, the Dominican Republic—it’s not like a casual fantasy camp. These guys are there to win.

That’s really cool.

Yeah, and they have tournaments all over—Vegas, Arizona—and they usually play at spring training facilities for MLB teams.

Those stadiums aren’t used all the time, so it works out.

What are the tournaments like? How many teams usually participate?

On average, maybe around 12 teams.

And for your division—like 45+—what does that look like?

Yeah, we were in the 45+ division, but they also have 18+ and even 70+ divisions.

70+?

Yeah. And you’d be surprised—those guys can still play. You might wonder who’s pitching or catching, but they’re out there doing it.

That’s amazing.

It really is. It’s competitive too. Maybe they’re not throwing 90 miles an hour anymore, but they’re still playing at a high level.

It’s a fascinating niche hobby. As people get older, fewer people play, but there’s still a strong community.

And what’s cool is that it not only keeps you active locally, but it also gives you opportunities to travel.

Right—and that was part of why coming here made sense for you. You’re already used to traveling for baseball, so coming to Florida wasn’t a big stretch.

Exactly. Florida is kind of like my second home. I have a lot of friends here, and I come down even when I’m not playing baseball.

So for me, it wasn’t a big deal—I could use my points, fly down, and head back.

But if you ever want to come up to the Northeast…

You’ve got plenty of people waiting for you.

I haven’t played in a long time, but maybe I’ll have to dust it off.

Maybe you will.

I was going to ask—how long is a tournament like that?

It’s about a week.

And how many games do you play?

Usually five or six. There’s a round-robin format, kind of like the World Cup, and then the top teams move on to playoffs while the others go home.

Is it really expensive?

Not too bad. There’s usually a fee per team. For example, if it’s around $2,000 per team and you’ve got 20 players, it comes out to about $100 each, plus airfare.

A lot of guys will split a big Airbnb, so everyone stays together.

Some of my teammates used to play for FDNY teams, which are really competitive. When you stay with them, it’s got that firehouse mentality—everyone chips in, someone buys food, and you cook big meals together.

It’s a great experience.

Yeah, it’s like a mix of college life and being a pro athlete for a few days.

Exactly—you feel like a major leaguer for a little while.

So, Erica, what team is Carrie a fan of?

The New York… Yankees? Giants?

Well, only one of those makes sense here—and neither is quite right.

I’m a New York Giants fan for football, but for baseball, I’m a die-hard New York Mets fan.

The Giants are in San Francisco now, so yeah…

How did you get into the Mets?

Just growing up. When I got into baseball, the Mets were the team—they had just won the World Series, and players like Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry were huge.

Plus, I’m from Queens, and the stadium—Shea Stadium back then, now Citi Field—is right there.

I was such a big fan that I had to stop getting tickets because I was spending too much money. I used to have a weekend plan for Mets games, and we’d go with a group of friends.

There was even a bar across the street, so we’d hang out before games. But when COVID hit and everything shut down, I realized how much money I was saving.

Honestly, that probably paid for my teeth.

I was spending $200–$400 a day. So, thank you Mets—and thank you COVID.

Well, I can get behind the Mets—their colors match mine as a Florida Gators fan.

Yeah, I like that.

Alonso is your guy, right?

Yeah, but we might lose him. I hope not.

What about football—you mentioned the Giants. They still share a stadium with the Jets, right?

Yeah, MetLife Stadium. Same stadium.

I went to a Jets vs. Dolphins game there years ago. What’s really cool is how they switch everything out depending on the team playing.

All the branding, the locker rooms—even the lighting changes from blue to green.

It’s pretty incredible.

When you’re there, you’d never know it’s shared. But then you think—how do they flip it all for the next game? It’s impressive.

Yeah, it makes sense though. No reason for a stadium to sit unused half the time.

True. Although Giants and Jets fans do get some grief from Bills fans, because technically the Buffalo Bills are the only team that actually plays in New York State—MetLife is in New Jersey.

So we hear about that a lot.

Yeah, MetLife feels kind of far out.

It’s not too far from Manhattan, but yeah—it’s in Jersey.

It felt far when I went, probably because I had to rush back to JFK after the game and hit traffic.

Yeah, that’s far out. Getting from there to JFK is a trek.

My wife, God bless her, almost lost her mind—but we made it.

New York will do that to you. It can be a very frustrating place to live sometimes.

So let’s talk about where you are now. You’re a year out from surgery, playing baseball, doing great.

But something came up, which does happen sometimes. This is a good chance to talk about the lifetime warranty and why it matters, because not everyone heals perfectly—even if they do everything right.

You came in for your cleaning, right?

Yeah. I was due for my one-year cleaning in January, but about two weeks ago I started feeling something weird in the back molar area.

It felt like a clicking or looseness, and my first thought was, “Oh my God, my implants are failing.”

So I reached out to Erica and sent her a text. I said, “Hey, I’m feeling this—maybe a screw came loose?”

She was right on the money. She said, “That sounds like it could be a break in the bottom arch.”

When she said that, I realized I could actually feel a crack on the underside of my teeth. So I figured I should come in earlier than January and get it checked out as soon as possible.

I ended up driving down. I had dropped my daughter off in North Carolina to visit her mom and see the new grandbaby, so I broke the trip up over a couple of days.

When I got here, Nadia did the exam, and right away—boom—the lower arch was in two pieces.

So you were correct, Erica. Right on the money.

I thought maybe it was just a loose screw, but then I heard, “We need to talk,” and I was like, “Oh no, what’s going on?”

Then another issue came up that I had no idea about. One of my implants on the upper right—kind of in the middle—had actually failed.

I had no pain, no bleeding, nothing. My upper arch felt completely solid. Nadia just found it during the cleaning.

So what I thought was going to be a quick in-and-out visit for a cleaning turned into discovering a couple of issues.

Right—and it just happened to be very close to your scheduled one-year visit anyway, so we caught it a little early.

Yeah, and honestly, it worked out. When I came down in November for a tournament, I had thought about scheduling my cleaning then since I was already here.

But I decided not to because I didn’t want to extend my trip—I just wanted to get back to New York.

In hindsight, it was probably a good thing, because I would’ve had to come back anyway for the break.

Right, although we might have caught the implant issue earlier.

True.

And this is actually why we approach things the way we do. It’s not ideal—it’s inconvenient—but it’s part of being human. Even when everything is done right, things can still happen.

That’s why we spend so much time during consultations—so patients understand that from the beginning.

And honestly, one of the best parts of this job is getting to know patients. We see people from all walks of life—baseball players, authors, cooks—there’s so much variety, especially now with so many people traveling in.

But more importantly, we make sure people know upfront: things can happen. Screws can loosen, materials can break—just like in your job with fiber optics, unexpected things happen.

We can’t always prevent it, but we can stand behind our work, fix it, and support you through it.

What’s really different about how we do things is that in the past, when issues came up, it could feel like a conflict—like someone had to deliver bad news, and the patient wasn’t prepared for it.

And if you’re not told ahead of time that something could go wrong, that’s when people understandably get upset.

That’s where things can become a tension point—because now you’ve spent a lot of money and feel like you’re stuck.

But with our current process, which is streamlined—customized, but still very efficient—we don’t run into that same tension. We just replace what needs to be replaced.

We replaced your implant right away, and aside from the inconvenience—which of course we’d rather avoid—it didn’t turn into this huge, drawn-out situation with dozens of visits, restarting from scratch, or arguments about who’s paying.

That’s what I love about it. You’re still here, we’re still having a conversation, and everything is good. That comes from being very intentional about how we built the protocol and the lifetime warranty.

It didn’t cost you anything beyond the extra time.

Right. And going back to when I first found you guys on the website, that was something that stood out—the warranty.

At the time, I think it was a five-year warranty.

Yeah, it was five years back then.

And I thought, okay—that shows transparency. It shows this is a practice that’s willing to stand behind their work and help if something goes wrong.

Because at the end of the day, this is medical. Nothing in life is 100%.

If you come into something like this thinking it’s going to be perfect with zero issues, that might not be realistic. You might need an extra day or two—you have to be prepared for that.

And I’m living proof of that. I came down here thinking I just had a small issue that would be fixed quickly.

Instead, I had a broken arch and a failed implant.

Dr. Dan comes in while I’m sitting in the chair, and I’m thinking, “I might have to come back tomorrow.”

He says, “Give me five minutes—I’ll put a new one in.” He numbed me up and replaced it right there.

I was like, okay—that’s great. I didn’t have to wait a week or schedule another trip. I really appreciated that.

And again, the transparency of the warranty on your website—it’s legit. I’m proof of that.

That’s why I appreciate it. It gives you peace of mind.

It’s very intentional. It gives you peace of mind, and it’s structured in a way that makes sense.

Most people don’t have these issues, so in a way it functions almost like an insurance model. Everyone contributes, and if something happens, you’re covered.

And what’s nice is there’s freedom on both sides.

From our side, we can just take care of it—no problem.

From your side, you know that even if something goes wrong, you’re covered. You’ve got someone to take care of it.

Right. Your investment is protected.

Even though your pricing is reasonable, it’s still a significant expense—it’s like buying a car. Not two cars, but one.

Like a new Nissan Altima.

And that’s how I rationalized it. It’s not just about how it looks—it’s about function. Being able to eat, live normally.

I’ve spent $30,000 on cars I don’t even own anymore. This is an investment in myself.

So that’s how I justified the cost of the surgery.

And now I’m here getting something fixed that didn’t go as planned—and I’m still here on the podcast.

Seven implants worked, and one didn’t. That’s just how it goes sometimes.

And that’s why I love having this system in place. Without it, it turns into finger-pointing and stress for everyone involved.

Instead, we can just say, “Got it. No big deal,” and move forward.

You’ll end up with the same final result—your final set of teeth—without having to start over from scratch.

It really just amounts to a couple of extra visits, especially since we place temporaries in the meantime.

Versus restarting everything and dealing with frustration, confusion, or blame.

I like removing all of that from the equation and just focusing on fixing the problem.

Plus, everything’s in-house. Like yesterday, you placed the implant right then and there.

If I had gone somewhere else, there might be a dentist and a separate surgeon, and I’d have to wait for one, then the other. But here, everything is handled in one place.

That was something that stood out to me from the beginning—this is what you do. You specialize in it.

It’s like if I want my car painted, I go to someone who paints cars—not a mechanic.

So I liked that this is your focus.

Trust me, you don’t want me anywhere near fiber optic cables or electricity. I have a lot of respect for people who do that kind of work.

I like working with my hands, but the kind of work you do—routing, pulling cables, labeling—it involves a level of precision and abstract thinking that I really respect.

Well, I can say the same thing in reverse. Yesterday I’m sitting in the chair, and you’re like, “Give me five minutes,” and I’m thinking—you’re about to drill into my jawbone.

And you’re just like, “Yeah, five minutes.”

I can’t wrap my head around that either. That’s why we each stick to our own specialties.

Anything else you want to add or ask?

I’m just glad we were able to get you down here prepared for the week. We thought it was one issue, and it turned out to be two, but both were straightforward fixes.

And you even said it yesterday—you were like, “Good thing I have that warranty.”

Yeah, definitely. It’s worth it.

I pay monthly, but honestly, it feels like what I’d be paying annually for regular dental visits anyway. So to me, it evens out.

You caught everything in time before the weekend, and if you look at it that way, you might even spend more at a regular dentist—especially if your teeth aren’t in great shape.

So the warranty really gives peace of mind.

The industry standard is often to do the high-cost procedures and then leave maintenance and problems to someone else.

But we know patients are attached to their treatment, so the goal of switching to a lifetime warranty—even though it ruffled some feathers—was to reward responsible patients.

People who come in regularly, take care of their teeth, and stay on top of things.

Because in the past, with a five-year warranty, some people wouldn’t come in for years and then show up expecting everything to be covered.

That creates a difficult situation.

So now it helps distinguish between people who maintain their care and those who don’t.

That makes sense. I hadn’t thought about it that way.

If you’re investing in this, why wouldn’t you take care of it?

I’m fortunate to have dental insurance through my job, but a lot of people don’t. Even my daughter doesn’t have it anymore.

So if you get this procedure and pay for the yearly warranty, it’s probably cheaper than having dental insurance—or at least comparable.

And dental insurance doesn’t always cover much anyway.

It’s tough. Like a lot of things, there’s no perfect solution.

Right—there are solutions, just not perfect ones.

Well, we really appreciate you coming on, sharing your experience, and being open about everything.

You’re actually one of the first patients we’ve had to fully use the warranty with.

And while fractures can happen, implant failure—especially a year out—is pretty rare.

No problem. What happens more often is mechanical failure, because there are a lot of variables.

It could be something with the material—like a seam in the zirconia—or something that no one could have predicted. It might have been slightly over-processed, or even something like a minor fall you didn’t realize affected it.

There are a lot of possibilities.

So mechanical issues are more common, but implant failure itself is very rare. And when it does happen, we try to make the fix as simple and minimal as possible.

But yeah, we really appreciate it. Keep playing your baseball—that’s awesome. Hats off to you.

Thank you. Thank you for having me, and thank you for taking care of everything. I appreciate being here, and I’ll definitely be back.

We’ll see you next year, right?

Yeah, definitely.

Awesome. We appreciate you, Carrie. We’ll see you next year.

All right. Thank you. Thanks for having me. Thanks, everybody. Bye.