Risky Benefits

Tiny Teeth of Tally - Risky Benefits Podcast

• Kyla Heap • Season 5 • Episode 17

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In this episode of Risky Benefits, the team is joined by Dr. Astrid Gonzalez to discuss the transformative approach of minimally invasive dentistry at Tiny Teeth of Tally. The podcast delves into Dr. Gonzalez's journey from a traditional dental practice to embracing a root-cause-first, patient-centered method for managing dental decay. Dr. Gonzalez shares her passion for pediatric dentistry, discussing how her new approach helps treat dental issues non-invasively, catering to individual needs and maintaining oral health with preventive care. The conversation covers the importance of managing the oral microbiome, utilizing specialized products, and the broader implications for insurance structures and overall healthcare. Dr. Gonzalez emphasizes the need for education, personalized care, and the potential for industry-wide change towards a more holistic approach to dental health. Listen to learn how minimally invasive techniques are revolutionizing pediatric dentistry and bringing about happier, healthier smiles.

To listen in and subscribe to more episodes, visit our website: fbmc.com/podcast.

Hey, thank you for listening in to Risky Benefits, a podcast that informs you on all things benefits. We've got a saying around here, benefits isn't your main business. It's ours.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Hey everyone. Thank you for listening to Risky Benefits, the podcast where we celebrate those bold enough to do things differently. And guess what? Today we're talking about teeth, tiny ones, Meat, tiny teeth of tally, where pediatric dentistry isn't just kid friendly, it's root cause First minimally invasive and game changing. So today, without further ado, we have Dr. Astrid Gonzalez with us, and, looking forward to meeting you. I'm looking forward to the conversation. So yeah, Kyla, let's get into it. We'll start with the first question. Astrid, you ready? Yeah, I'm ready. All right, cool. She's ready. Alright, so welcome Astrid. Thanks for coming on and, and just generally when we start, I think the most important thing we want to do is just get, get to know you a little bit. So why don't you just tell us a little bit about yourself. Oh, thank you so much. I'm really excited to be here. I'm a dentist. I've.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

I've Been,

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

I never thought I was gonna be a dentist, but I ended up here. I really just liked robotics as a little kid. I really liked being in the machine shop and playing with tools and so, I ended up being a dentist and, because of the tools, that's really the truth. I, it was a reasonable progression. However, after really finding that I love children and I mean, I was, I've been treating children for. 15 years or so, something like that. And so in the last couple of years I've, especially after I became a mom, it just became so apparent that the dentistry that I absolutely had at one point had enjoyed doing

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

it

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

it, started to feel really differently doing it. And I started thinking about, I'm also an economics buff. Okay, so I also love economics and I really started realizing that there was some shift here that things weren't working right. What I, what I had been doing, which is what I knew every other dentist to do, um, in managing dental decay, was, was frankly not working. My, my wait lists were forever to get an appointment and my patients weren't healthy, So that transition started about like two years ago, and since then I have really embraced my, my real passion and I'm just so excited to move into the next stage of my career helping treat and manage dental decay, like the disease that it is instead of the way that we've been doing it. So it's interesting, like I, I have a lot of questions, many of which aren't on the list, and you've asked, feel free to ask away. So the first question I'm gonna ask is, did you enjoy going to the dentist as a kid? Wow. Great question. You know, like I do, I think that there's so many dental questions.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

I,

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Yeah. I'm like a real, like honest to goodness through and through goody two shoes. So I always liked to go and they always treat you pretty poorly, right? So they're always like, you're not doing this enough and you're not doing that enough. And that for me, as a child that did speak to me, that is not for everybody. Right? Most people, now that I'm a dentist, I can say most people don't like being spoken to that way. But as for me as a child, I loved going to a place that they just told you rules and then I could go home and just follow all these rules. Okay. And I, it gave me some guidance as to like. Yeah. As a child, I liked it. Yes. Okay. Second warmup question. Yeah.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

What

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

of toothpaste did you pick when, like when you were a kid? Bubblegum, what are we talking? I'm really glad that, yeah, that was mint. A big question. When the hygienist would ask me which flavors I could have, I definitely always went for like a bubble gum or if they had like a tropical punch. Okay. But sweet. I have a sweet tooth. Okay. Yeah, so I definitely was excited about. The sweet toothpaste. Absolutely. A sweet fluoride. Absolutely. All the way and a personal one here. How many cavities do you have?

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

have?

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Question. Oh my God. You wanna get really into it? Yes. So. One of the big things that drove me to this new style of dentistry is the fact that I have always been a high caries risk person. Okay. I have cavities and fillings all over this mouth, and I can also tell you that I

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

I

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

a phenomenal student in dental school

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

and

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

and nobody taught me how to stop the disease. Interesting, huh. Okay.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Yeah.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Yeah. All right. There's, there's more. More there. Okay. We're gonna

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

evolve

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

We're gonna unpack it. Yes. We're gonna unpack it. Yes. Trying to think of like.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

like,

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

You know, but how many cavities am I actively right now healing in my mouth? We just took x-rays last week, and there's three cavities that have shown radiographic hardening, which is amazing. So in essence, you've reversed it. I'm reversing three cavities of my own at this moment. Yeah. Okay. But I am a,

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

a,

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

first one to tell you that I abuse my teeth all day, so, so I'm constantly trying to heal my mouth. What I hear is like, you're a flosser. Oh, you wanna know about what it's like to not floss? I mean, I know what it's like to not floss. You wanna know how I, how I feel about how I can help someone who refuses to floss. Yeah. That's just part of it, right?

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

So like,

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Really the, this style of treating people. Right.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

And

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

the wrong way of saying it. That's just, that's, that's not, I can do better. Um, when patients come to me and they want, they, they'll tell me what their picture of oral health is. Mm-hmm.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Mm.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

And for you it might be, how do, I don't wanna floss, I don't like to floss, I hate to floss and I'm not gonna do it. Help. Sure. All right. Let's do it. I want to be able to offer my patients whatever it is that they need for them to achieve their definition of oral health. But the model that I grew up in was I will, when you as a patient go to the dentist, the doctor is telling you what your goals are and what your health should be, and what your health outcomes mm-hmm. Are supposed to be. Mm-hmm. And that just doesn't. Makes sense in today's world anymore. I have, I'm dealing with so many different families, so many different individuals, and people have different ideas about what they want for themselves, and I am here to help them achieve their goals. Okay, cool. And people don't like to be told what to do? No.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

So

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

wanna make it, you wanna make it their idea.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

like,

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Yes. Yeah. That's also come to me a lot through just experience, right? Mm-hmm. So when you're serving people, you really start to realize, it takes a while to realize. For me, it took me a while to realize that they were all different. Yeah. Interesting. Well, I'm sorry. Those are all just randoms. I like your question. That's

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

great. That's great.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Kind get us wrong. So, okay. So, and you kind of alluded to this, but most interests go into drill, fill, repeat mode. Um, but you at and your colleagues at Tally teeth are doing things differently. You're flipping the script and I would like to know what sparked this mission and to treat the root problem and heal rather than just fix it. Yes, absolutely. So I'll correct you'cause it's, our office is tiny teeth of tally. Tiny, tiny,

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

of tally. Tiny, not

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

tiny teeth. Tiny. Um, But that's good

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

though. But that's good

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

for the listeners. Where is that located? It's

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

on.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Mahan and Riggs. So it is really close to TMH. So it's a central location. Okay. What did I call it? Tally teeth? Yes. Okay. So tiny teeth of tally. There was a place, something like that,

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

that.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

but no tiny teeth of tally. Okay. Tiny of got itally. Got it.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Got it. Yes.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Thank you. But so your question about what sparked this, um, a lot of, you know, all of us evolved through our lives. For me personally, there was a, and I think very most, like most women or most people, when you have children, your heart grows. And as your heart grows and you start to realize how beautiful and how much you love children, and my job up until a couple of years ago, you have to think my job is to take power tools to children's heads, right? So people might think that that is joyful for a provider, but it sucks. Okay? So to have a beautiful, gorgeous, gentle, innocent child screaming. While you're holding them, it's

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

it's

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

fun. Like, that's not what anybody in my position wakes up in the morning saying, this is what I wanna do today, right? Mm-hmm.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Mm-hmm.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

But you look around the room and you realize there's no one else and there's no other way. And then, it only takes, I guess for me, it took about like 12 years to figure out there has to be another way. Come on, they, we've done so much. Why are, why haven't we figured this out? So in that, I started reading, it became a.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

a,

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Uh, real, I guess I spent the last two years freaking out every night after my kids go to bed, just reading and reading and reading and not even believing what I'm reading. What, um, my number one resource was obviously the American Dental Association. So if you go on to the American Dental Association and you type in Carrie's management, I gotta back up. You

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

have

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

have to, I have to talk about. The fact that carrie's cavities is just not something that we've looked at. In the 97% of humans are at high risk for developing decay, depending on what, you know, uh, literature you're looking at. So talk to us. Nobody knows. Yeah, go ahead. Like what is that? Like why, so I'll give you an example. Okay. Go. So, three kids. I've never had a cavity in my life. I could tell by your muscles. But listen, my kids though. Like they are cavity mongers. Yeah. They eat too many carbs. So, and in my head I'm like, you what? You don't need carbs. How many grams of protein are you eating a day? Like over 200. The fact that you know how many grams of protein you're eating a day. I could tell when I saw you.'cause I can see your muscles. Okay. Someone who's eating that much protein is just not creating a hospitable environment for the floor of their mouth. Interesting. Yeah, so so, I can tell like when I, when Yeah, that's okay. So it's more of a holistic approach to gen your, the greater health of an individual. Isn't that what people want? It is, I think it's what people don't like. We have a lot of cases or clients and I'm not going to name names or anything like that, where when you look across their dental insurance as an example, It's really more an aspect of their wellness program when you start to think about their dental program, because it's an indication, which you well know of health. I'm sure that there's an indication in gum health with, with, Plaque and how that impacts your, like, obviously, right? Like obviously, right. So. You're, I'm assuming you're a health conscious person. Mm-hmm. You just told me you had 200 grams of person a day. So this is probably gonna be really exciting for you to hear, right? Yeah.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Okay.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Um, what happens is, can I talk about plaque? Can I talk about biofilm? Exactly. Let's go, let's, I love talking about plaque, right? So,

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

So,

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Okay, so I, so plaque, what it is, is everybody grows plaque. Okay? Everybody grows plaque. Plaque is biofilm. We've been, and it's, and what is in your plaque? What's in your biofilm has to do with your microbiome.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Okay?

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Okay? Your flora is this.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

this.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

I, mean, I, we, yeah, we're on, we're on the same page. Right? So the mouth is second only in diversity of, to your gut, bacteria to your gut. Makes sense. But what it is, is there's a bunch of stuff in there. Okay. Yeah. And it's growing constantly. So I like to equate plaque to being something more like the weeds in your yard.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Okay.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

So the everybody grows weeds in their yard. Yeah. And we all have a different way of managing it. You might. Um, and we all have different, okay. Some things happening in yard. Someone might have a shady yard, someone has a sunny yard, someone might spray. Someone might just mow constantly. Somebody else might be out there with the, with the screwdriver digging em out. Everybody grows weeds. Same in the mouth. The mouth grows plaque, that's what it does. There's a ton of bacteria in there. So that plaque is gonna grow and then it, guess what? Like depending on what you feed it is how that plaque is going to evolve. If you feel it at carb rich diet, the. Bad bacteria. And I did air quotes for our listeners. Yeah.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Yeah, but

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

The bad bacteria is going to create acid. So bad bacteria eats any carp. We always say sugar in our industry of dentistry, but let's just say fermentable carbohydrates. Okay? Mm-hmm. So the

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Okay? Mm-hmm. So the

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

bad bacteria eats fermentable carbohydrates, and they make lactic acid. So now the plaque, which is genetically engineered.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

adhere

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

the tooth surface over billions and billions of years. This bacteria knows how to do one thing. It knows how to stick to teeth, right? Mm-hmm.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Mm-hmm.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

So once it's stuck to your tooth and now it's so sticky, right? Like, um, I equate that adhesion to

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

pine

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

pollen, Mm-hmm. You know how it like adheres to your car. Yeah. And it doesn't matter if you're driving 80,

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

It's still there.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

it's still there. It's still there. But you just wipe it. You just walk too close to your carbs, it's gone. So that's plaque, right? So that's how plaque is sticking to the surface of your teeth. So now that super duper sticky stuff, you add carbs into it, it will grow and, and within it you'll have, depending on what you feed it, MR. 200 grams of protein, you're feeding the good

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

bacteria. Okay.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Okay, when it comes to caries, but still really, I think I could say like maintaining the pH of the mouth is important, but still. So when you take fermentable carbohydrates, you feed that plaque, the plaque will now create acid. You have acid adhered to the tooth. We've all known forever to.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

decay

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Acid is what is demineralizing? The tooth

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

demineralization

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

the same thing as the tooth losing density for our osteoporosis people. Okay? Okay.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Okay.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

So why is the tooth losing density? Because there's acid adhered to it. But if the same patient, same person, just eats more protein, then now the good bacteria. And I put that in air quotes too, because there's no such thing as good or bad bacteria, but like the, the less cariogenic bacteria will take for, um, protein and they will create, They make, they make ammonia. So they make ammonia, which is super basic. So now somebody who, so somebody who eats a lot of protein, they only, they have their mouth in am more

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

alconan

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

so.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

So typically

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

who has more protein might be more at risk for, for developing calculus. Calculus is stuff you have to scrape off the teeth. Yeah. Yeah. That's where 200 grams of protein get the party sprayed

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

sounds

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

nails on a chalk, I think cd and they're like, this guy's gonna be fun. Yeah. So scraping of the, so that stuff that's calcifying on the two surface. That's, I mean, that's plaque just being calcified. Okay. Okay. Yeah. But anyway, so managing the acid in someone's mouth, and the reason that I'm really, really, you have to think decay is a disease of childhood because of the childhood diet, right? Mm-hmm. And then once you get into adulthood, I'm just not as familiar with all of those disease patterns because that's not what I've been seeing, right? I only really spend my, my career looking at children, which is. Primarily virgin teeth. Mm-hmm. Teeth that haven't been cut. Once your teeth have been cut once the tooth crystal has been cut, you're down. Like, like the answer is, there's no more healing. It let your dentist patch it up. Like that's what we have to do. But, um, tooth structure can be hardened

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

and I

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

really just like to tell people, I, I'd rather be looked at like a dermatologist. Okay. Who is going to recommend the right cream? To heal the ulcer mm-hmm. In your heart tissue. Right. But so that's a, the important thing that con that at what resonates in my head, like it's constant is the fact that I, I, was not. Taught this in dental school. Hmm. Interesting. I mean, it goes, so, I mean, it goes back, if you think about Kyla's question was more about getting away from drill fill, repeat mode and then flipping the script, you know, and the mission to kind of treat the root of the problem. So there you have it. I mean, that's, it's about the bacteria. There you go. That's the tie back. So it really is about the bacteria in your mouth and what you're feeding it and how you're feeding it. Okay. But I mean, you have patients with, uh,

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

uh, sorry,

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

sorry. I'll keep going forever. Keep going to the next question. No,

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

No, I,

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

it's interesting. I mean, it's interesting. So it, you're giving me, you're painting a picture with a broad brush in my mind of like, okay, I go in to, um, tiny teeth of Tallahassee tally, tiny teeth of tally.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Shoot.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

We're gonna get it. by the end.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

egg.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

T three. T three. Um, so you, all right, so I go in into tiny teeth of tally. And it, the experience is like, yes, we're gonna clean your teeth, but we're gonna have a conversation. It sounds almost like more of an educational experience, and that probably ties back to why you're saying, Hey. I like to have more of like a, it, it sounds almost more like a coaching session on, Hey, here's how everything impacts you here, just based on the decisions you do or don't make. And so this is how this impacts the biome in your mouth. This is how it impacts whether you're creating greater levels of density for your teeth or whether you're decaying those teeth and so on and so forth.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

You're

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

it's more preventative. Coach. Yes.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Yes.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Thank you. Thank you. That speaks to my heart. Thank you. So I, I guess it does stand to reason that you could say you're going against decades of common sense. Dental thinking could be considered a risky thing, or meaning if everybody believes this and you go against that, the whole community could be like, what are you doing? That's the belief is an interesting thing. It's not the belief. That's, that's holding dentists back from adopting this model. It's our current pay structure, obviously. So, we are highly incentivized to do perform surgery. Yeah. Okay. And that's where, when you're talking to colleagues. It's not like you go into dentistry thinking, I want my patients to be unhealthy so that I make money. That's not our goal. It's just the, the shift is happening now and the money is always the, In our country, it's what drives change, right? So the fact is, is that as we move towards a more medical. Management of Carrie's approach, the one of the driving force is always gonna be economics. So whether it's a patient coming in saying, I'm gonna insist on this type of care and I'm willing to pay for it. Um, but the other side of it is the insurance companies are the number one backers of this. Because they see the, they, what they call it is value-based care. So the insurance companies have already been backing this style of dentistry for a while

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

and promoting

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

and, and, and how would you say funding a lot of this, right? And what They're out, what they're wanting to do is to pay patients value-based care models where they pay. The doctor to keep the patient healthy. Healthy. Mm-hmm. Okay. So I have Exactly. So paying for prevention. Exactly. So I get, me personally, I get yearly bonuses for the patients that I have decreased their caries risk or the patients that I'm keeping at low caries risk. So I get a bonus check.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

check.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Once a year from the, from one insurance company. That is a nice bonus check. But that's the way I, I mean, I, the way I believe it should be. I mean,'cause on our side on that, once it gets to the healthcare side, you're talking about catastrophic claims or you're talking about hypertension, hyperlipidemia, you're talking about, you know, high blood, pre, all the things that are chronic diseases that then lead to catastrophic. Claims. So how do I reduce claims? How do I increase presenteeism? Make sure people can be at work. And then you look at the Mississippi Heart study, which is where they started in Mississippi, looking at humans from birth all the way through to death. Their, and they studied their hearts all the way through to better understand how what you eat as a child and how growing up in a community where fried foods and so on and so forth, like what is the actual impact on a child by the time they're nine.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

nine,

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

What's the actual impact on a child by the time they're 15? What's the actual impact on that individual by the time they're 25 and now for a through a span of their life, they have a control group where they can look at that versus somebody who's not been eating that way and basically say, okay, now we understand how the decisions we're making when we're young are truly crippling us by the time we're 30. And that's, in essence like what you're saying. You're, you know, The healthcare Insurance world knows that they understand that. Now,

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Yeah,

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

there's a whole world of, of, of, of issues there. Like 60% of somebody's medical spend is actually in prescriptions in a given year. But those prescriptions are for chronic diseases. Caries is a chronic disease. So there you have it. Right. And so I like, and so I think what we're starting to see is, is like we've had clients basically say tie the wellness program to dental. So we have, we send a bus out, a wellness bus that offers dental, checks. And then we'll do a wellness check at the same time so that we can help on the medical side and they'll pay for it. And so it's there, you know, outside of outcomes, there's, it sounds like multidisciplinary collaboration. Right. I'm getting so excited. So yeah, we're starting to see some of that, and we're starting to push for some of that on our end. So it's very interesting conversation. It's not a conversation I've had with a dentist. So this is, yeah. Super cool.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Are,

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Are, are, are any of the Local dentists, parents or local community, how are they responding to it? Are you kidding me? Parents are basically like, this is great for my kid, but what about me? But what about me? So I, we've had to create like, openings. Now I'm seeing adults, because adults want real preventative care. They, people want to keep their body parts.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Yeah. They

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Yeah. They don't want you to drill them away. Keeps falling out of your mouth is not like, kind of thing.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

people want

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Yeah. But, um, so the, the difficulties is, is that. My diseases decay. But as you get into adults, you really start to see dry mouth take effect. Yeah. And so as we get older, you know all of the medications that you're talking about, all of them cause dry mouth, I feel like turtle mouth. you even have a name for it. I do

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

because they turtle mouth,

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

because they because they go, they live as a turtle. It's. Sorry, I can't believe you have a name for it. I just said, it's so sad I said it. They're very uncomfortable. Everyone at that dry mouth is very uncomfortable, and so the dry mouth makes managing your teeth much more challenging. Yeah, so that's why I'm really not poised, like I'm just not in a position where I can take care of adults appropriately to the way that I know they should be getting taken care of.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Okay.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

But for as far as I've seen in the Tallahassee community, I don't think anyone else is. Providing that type of care at all. If I were to see adults, um, on a more regular basis, I would definitely be doing some saliva testing. Not only looking at the flow, but looking at the quality and then helping my patients. Can you reverse Lack of saliva? You can treat it right. Okay. So, and you really have to figure out what that's a symptom. But

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

But I

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

I mean, I, I get like dehydration is one thing, like drinking more water. That's not really what's happening. That's what I figured. That's why asked. No, it's medications. So medications are gonna cause dry mouth all and like, um, you know, cancer, when you're on all the medicine, the first thing that happens, it doesn't matter what medication you're on, if you're on anything that is trying to stop something, it is also causing you.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

you.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Interesting. Hmm. Okay. I didn't know. Yeah. Yeah. So that is gonna be start if you start asking your friends, everyone has dry mouth once you get to like a certain age. Right. That's the thing. And so then your teeths really start to deteriorate once you don't have appropriate saliva. The thing with kids is they have amazing saliva, they have boatloads on it. They're everywhere. Yeah. So like shirts, everything. Exactly. So, uh, for treating children, you just don't need to. I haven't found any real, real need to. Dive into that, to dive into the saliva Their saliva's

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

saliva

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

definitely malfunctioning in some way if they're getting caries because the

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

saliva's

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

saliva's supposed to buffer the acid. So how sometimes you can, you can think about it as treating the teeth, but you can also think about treating the saliva. What do I do in this mouth to get the disease process to

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

be stopped,

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

interrupted. Uh, reversed in my case.'cause I'm a maniac, right? Of course. I wanna reverse my cavities.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Okay.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Okay. When you, but not everybody does. When you say carrie's, what if, if a listener's like, Hey, she said carrie's. What does that mean? Say that, what is it? What is that? Sorry. So we, um, so cavities is, uh, not a real term. Carrie's is the. Name of the chronic disease where your teeth dissolve. Perfect. In your mouth. Thank you. Thank you. No, that's super, super helpful. Yeah. I'm gonna start saying it Cares, cares.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Dunno what

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

I'm so sorry.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

many

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Carrie's disease, you definitely have carrie's disease and so when and but really when you're reading, when you guys are in the insurance world, so you understand like it's not just a blanket, this is what everybody needs. It's really a discussion with the patient to figure out what their risk is and the risk in the mouth. There's a bunch of different diseases you can get, but the most common one across the planet is caries cavities. The, the yard description's a really good analogy. Yeah. Thank you. Because kind of to your point, it's like some people have more shades, some people have more sun. I mean, the reality is it is true, like when you think about even like from a fitness perspective and coaching or guiding somebody on losing weight.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

weight.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

You, you can't treat each person the same, right? Like their metabolic rate per person is gonna be different. And like right out the gate you're having issues and heaven forbid that they have diabetes or some other issue that you don't know about and you're telling. So realistically, yeah, I mean it could be very specialized to the individual. I would, I would think, which makes it more necessary, right, to have somebody who's passionate about it, because otherwise you just want to kind of.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

of.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Blanket, give a answer to everybody and get'em out the door. Yeah, and that's, I mean, that's what the, like speaking to your question of how are people receiving it? people are basically just freaking out. They're like, are you kidding me? You don't want to drill on my teeth? Yeah. You want to partner with me in me achieving health for myself. Hold on. And my family, wait a minute, this is like. People are just absolutely excited about having someone who wants them to stay whole as their healthcare provider. Absolutely. So you mentioned that you have one specific insurance carrier that reimburses you. What, what about the industry as a whole? Like what are you seeing there? That's a really good question. That is much more so what happens with dentist with dental insurance is that it's.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

So fragmented

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

that there's, I mean, in our practice, I don't know, we have like, let's say we have 6,000 patients. We probably have, I don't know, 500 insurance plans. Mm-hmm. It's insane. You know, like how many insurance plans do I have that are just two people on that insurance plan is'cause they work for this company that the parent company is here and there. So you end up with this, the dental benefits market, even though there's a lot of similarities from insurance plan to insurance plan, there's just so much.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

much.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

You know, diversity within it that you can't, you, it's really hard to, to, say what's happening in every plan. Yeah. But did I answer your question?

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

well,

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

it, it, it, it almost seems like it, it's a, a, the onus is a little bit on us as consultants, like

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Like understanding what

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

the medical providers are trying to accomplish and understanding like someone like you and what you're trying to accomplish, to go and help with the negotiation process of, Hey, we know this is best for our client, our consumer. Um, we know that if, if, like, if I bring you in and you're providing this service at Tiny Teeth of Tally, we did it.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Yay.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

did it. And I say to like, CHP locally as an example. I say, listen, there's all these dental providers, but this particular one is focusing more on reducing, um, health factors that are going to contribute to unhealthy teeth, but that's also gonna contribute to lower claims and healthier people. You know, it's on us to go and negotiate, I think, a little bit on your behalf with the carrier to say, we need to steer more people to this person.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Right. Her

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Not just,

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

blown.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

well,'cause conceptually,

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

right?

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

what? Hold on a second. Oh God. I mean, conceptually. Oh, my, because the other, the alternative is, is that you guys, how does that happen? Why has this never happened before? Where have you been? All my life. Yeah. I, I, I, I think, I think, yeah, it's like most things, uh. Like, you're either not paying attention, you don't know you, you're not aware that certain dental practices are, are, looking at life differently. But I think like our role as a consultant is to have a say in steerage. And what I mean by steerage is. is,

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

is.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Take for example, a, a knee replacement. We do this in medical all the time. If I know that there are three hospitals locally and of the three, if you get a knee replacement done at hospital A, B, and C, I know the cost for each one. In addition, I know the recovery stats and how well people recover, meaning the quality score for each one. If I know the quality score for hospital C is higher than hospital A and hospital C's cheaper than hospital A, then I create a plan design that steers people to hospital B, and I create a copay design that makes it more expensive to go. Basically, I'm, I'm making it easy to do the right thing. Right. Similarly, if you have a dental practice that's doing that, you would want to create steerage toward the practice that's helping with the overall holistic health aspect of your population. I'd love it if the insurance companies would share with me their data on my rates of. how

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Seats how do I

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

do I get that?

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

that?

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

And that, I think would be a phone conversation with, uh, you know, some of the people at the different, but will they show me They wouldn't release to that comparison of that to somebody else? I think they would, I think they would, if it benefits them and it

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

be definitely

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

them to steer more people in a direction that, that is going to reduce chronic disease. I'm like, I haven't had this relationship. I have, I've, yes. I want your help, please. Thank you.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Yeah.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

I mean, I, I, that, that's where my brain goes, just sitting because we're both on different sides of the fence, but we play in the same sandbox, you know what I mean? Kind of thing. Mm-hmm. Uh, and, and so that is quite the mixed metaphor, I guess the, the deal is though, when you really think about it, it's like, okay, so you have a skill set. Even like CHP or any carrier has a skill set and the consultant's job is then to look across all the skill sets and say, how do we navigate this for the consumer? Mm-hmm. Some of them don't do the job right and, and that creates a negative opinion. But some of us are actually out there saying, okay. If we're gonna reduce overall costs, people complain about their premiums. Well, you want your premiums to go down. There's only three ways to make that happen. One, you shop the carrier and you try to get the best deal you can, but that's not a long term solution. That's literally somebody's buying the book and then they're gonna jack the rates up a year later. You know? The second one is, is you cut benefits out, meaning, I, I, I reduce your benefit, and so you, you pay less. And that doesn't help you with retention and it doesn't help you with recruiting or any other factor. The The last one, three is like you get healthier. Like if your people get healthier, then the costs go down'cause you have less claims. And so from the perspective of dental, it's like, well, the average dental. Claims amount is like two and a half claims per year per person. When you kind of forecast out that I expect that many visits from the patients. So yeah,

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Yeah.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

I agreed. So like as a consultant, when I look at it, that's generally what I would as.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

I would assume,

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Zoom, but medical's more like 12, it's 10 to 12. And the healthier you are, the lower that is. Mm-hmm. Right? And so

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

It.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

it's like, am I trying to bend the curve of two visits or am I trying to bend the curve of 12 visits in a possible catastrophic claim? If you're asking me where I'm gonna spend my time, like any consultant, I'm gonna go to the bar chart and I'm gonna take that highest one and I'll be like, this is the biggest bang for your buck. But what people then ignore is, is yeah, but the.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Impact

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

the decisions you make that we're seeing over here. This is your leading indicator versus your lagging indicators, which is now I had a heart attack,

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

now I had a heart attack,

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

And it's like, well, great. So what are the things we need to do to get ahead of the heart attack? Well, unfortunately the two and a half claims over here is driving a big component of that is that the Mississippi study that that ties into all of the, the different studies that are out there. One of them being the miss. But this is, this is, so this is your understanding of like kind of the flow, how it all ties together.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Yeah,

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Really, I'm I'm, really I'm, really, excited to have this conversation. I'll tell you that. Yeah. So I mean, like, and then you think about the average person out there who just gets mad.'cause they're like, well, he's telling me to eat less fried food. And it's like, well, listen, there's a whole education process that has to happen here of, of, okay, let's just talk about.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

like

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

The food, you know, the food pyramid and what everybody's always told you about what you should eat, and it's like, okay, really, somebody needs to sit down with every single person and help them understand, like, look, your basal metabolic rate tells you like how many calories you're gonna burn in a day. Then you have to have a basic understanding of how many calories you're putting into your body every day. Mm-hmm.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Mm-hmm.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Wouldn't hurt to know how many of those are coming from protein, how many are coming from fat, and how many are coming from carbohydrate. You know what I'm saying? And oh, by the way, everybody's day looks different. If you're working a a garbage truck and you're on your feet and you're hoofing it all day long, basal metabolic rate plus a certain amount of calories burned, you can eat more. But if you're sitting behind a desk at a computer, and let's just say your bas basal metabolic rate is like 1400 calories a day, and maybe you burned an extra 500 just throughout the whole rest of the day. I mean, you're at 1900 calories, but you're probably eating like 3000. Right, right. For lunch and those, so the right, and so now all of a sudden

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

you're going

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

that fried chicken, right. And so now you hit the microbiome issue because let's talk about what they're eating. So their teeth are decaying, they're progressing towards like. Less saliva in their mouth, but also'cause of all of their other, uh, diseases, right? And, and then the medicines that they're taking for those diseases. And then you add on to that. Oh, by the way, now I'm obese and as a result, my blood pressure's higher. Uh, maybe I'm pushing or progressing towards diabetes. And so now

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Now

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

get into a scenario where people are showing up to work less. They're sick more, they're less present with their families. Depression starts to increase. Like you could literally go through the gamut with somebody and say, here's how this impacts your life. Yeah. This is how this impacts your life. And oh, by the way, there's these people out there called actuaries who are literally. Looking at all your decisions and saying, this person's gonna die by the time they're 63. And they know someone knows. They know it because when you get a life insurance policy, right? Like literally. Literally, if you, like, if you, Gary Breca,

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

And

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

I'm not endorsing anything he does or doesn't say, but he was one of those people that worked at the carrier. Who was doing that analysis of people and, and in, and he tells his own story. He says, in the process of doing this, I realized I could call this person and say, Hey, if you don't do these things, you'll live longer. But, but he's technically not allowed to do that because it's hipaa. Right? And so he's like, I'm gonna quit my job. Doing this and I'm gonna go create a job and teach and I'm gonna tell them don't do these things. Mm-hmm. And so I think like the world is waking up to it. I haven't heard the world waking up to it in dentistry, which is it's trend that started, started. Well, what I gonna say is I feel like you hear about all this stuff as healthcare industry as a whole and, and medical and wellness, but you don't hear about it specific to the industry. So it's very cool, like, I mean, and across all the functions, I'm sure. You know, are there any other areas that are starting to think this way? Is there something for vision or, you know, who knows? Like, that's great. Well, we had a question on here about is, uh, it was, is, is it correct to say that current reimbursement model rewards surgeries and invasive treatments rather than preventative ones? But I think like we all, like, we, we get it. Like people in life, it's like, it's just that people want, but people wanna Sorry to interrupt. No, go ahead. Go ahead. People wanna pay, people want to go to the dentist to pay, like they expect that they're going to, They know they're gonna hate getting their teeth drilled on,

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

but they,

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

they they're, they, are. When we're talking about how they're receiving it, when I say, look, rub this cream on it

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Uh,

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

three times a week, um, they're like, oh no, they don't want it sometimes. And, and you're like, oh, they'd rather be drilled on they, well, it is like list three. It's really hard to change people's perception of what.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

what,

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

When they expect your, the dentist to act a certain way. Mm-hmm. So that's been, I have, I guess I can, I've seen some of that, but it's, it, there is some of that people, people ex.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Expect

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Expect the dentist to drill on their teeth. I say it's like blistering because if it doesn't burn, I don't feel like it's working. Yeah. And and that's what I mean when I say that. And your point is well made. It's like it's more if they don't, don't do like an invasive procedure. I didn't get my money's worth. Yeah. And oh, by the way, I'm only coming like two and a half times a year, maybe two times a year. No, those are the, no, that's when it's good. Most people wanna come once every five years.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Yeah.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Well, even worse, right? Like that's not good. Yeah. I see what you're saying. They're coming for their, so when they come, it is a big event because they've been delaying, delaying, delaying. It's been building up, building up, building up, and now it's, there's an issue. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And that's why they're coming. Yeah. And so when I'm trying to sell$40 tubes of paste to put in your mouth or in your kid's mouth, it. People just don't expect to spend$40 on that. What they expect is to wait until it's a disaster. Okay? And I'm gonna fork over 3000 bucks.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

And

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

not that I'm gonna like a

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

no, it's like a root

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

of 3000 bucks, but I, I've been telling you to buy the

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

40

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

too for a while. You just kind of. Didn't think of me like a dermatologist caring for the outside. Um, I, I personally try to remind people constantly that I'm tired of looking at the inside of people's teeth. Like, leave me on the outside. I'd rather talk my way through this disease. It makes me think of, this is funny, it makes me think of football. It's like when you teach a

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

a

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

If you're an outside linebacker, where do they play that song? Right? You play from the outside in. Right, because you have to have outside containment. And so in my head I'm like, that's like your teeth. Like you're basically saying I wanna work from the outside in. Yeah. Like I, I wanna create containment that starts on the outside and then we'll work in. But if you do a good job on the outside, we won't make it to the inside. We'll never know that I was a good den. I mean outside, well, outside of like basic cleanings and Got it. Like, but that's from the outside in. What's the outside strategy? And then we'll go. You know what I mean? Yeah. It's kind of interesting. Yes. It's a defensive strategy. So where do you see the industry going? Like, oh, towards this health, health, wellness?

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Absolutely. I

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

mean, it's gonna change the business model that every dentist is accustomed to because most of the treatment that. I mean, we're talking about doing minimally invasive care. Most of it is literally cleaning your teeth more frequently in or rubbing cream on it. Or, you know, I have an arsenal of candies and chews and lollipops that taste delicious and are full of protein, right? So they, uh, you know, there's prebiotic and probiotic laws, vitamin. It's amazing. There's amazing. Once we shift from invasive dentistry to a minimally invasive or non-invasive or topical type of dentistry where we're doing chronic disease management instead of trying to patch up the holes. Then from all of the, the, failures of prevention, I see the scale is different because the hygienist will be the ones delivering most of the care where a dentist currently is incentivized for most of the work that comes out of their hands. This is now also shifting a lot of the intervention burden to the hygiene team to, and really empowering them to be able to provide the preventative care that they set out to do. So the dental practices I expect will grow.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Mm-hmm.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

In sheer volume because now the dentist can actually care for a far larger number of patients and we're still gonna be in charge of doing the surgical intervention. Right. Because

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

surgical it's

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

surgical intervention isn't going away. Yeah. But you can manage a lot more healthy people than you can sick people, if that makes sense. Mm-hmm. With your auxiliary team. So I see a restructuring of, yeah, a restructuring of of things, but I think it's gonna happen pretty darn soon. It's Like

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

It's

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Like coffee is to CrossFit or burn or orange theory, meaning, you know, people are like, okay, I want to create an ecosystem. So if I buy a building, I wanna buy a building that can have multiple businesses within it.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

And

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

you ask yourself, well what businesses do I put in it? Well, glad you asked. You know what I mean? Like, I'm gonna put a coffee shop and then I'm gonna put a workout facility.'cause people are gonna come work out and then they're gonna go next door and then they're gonna get a coffee. And if they work out in the afternoon, they might wanna go get a lunch, so maybe I'm gonna create a, a sandwich shop. And it's like, how do I create a place that one, if they come in for one thing, it begets them going and doing another thing. Right. And so you said multidisciplinary

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

collaboration and so

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

collaboration and so Right. So conceptually you start to

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

think

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

think about, well, what are the components of health that need to be impacted? Right. And how do they then tie into. This pathway towards a better existence for a person? Well, you, that's also cheaper, right? Like you, maybe you have a primary care physician, maybe you have a dental person, and maybe you have a vision person. Maybe you have a dietician. You know what I'm saying? And so then the question becomes, if I can figure out the right pathway through these people on the preventative side. Then on the long term, you should have less claims and lower, um, catastrophic loss. Right. And so that's where some, it's like the field of dreams. It's like if you build it, they'll come, they'll come. Mm-hmm. Right? And then you start to think, well, okay, start in one community and do it in one community, and let that be

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

the,

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

the, model for other communities. Um, there's gotta be an element to that, that you do have the general thought process that like, I think every consumer has, like, take orthopedics. Nobody decides to become an orthopedic surgeon so that they can tell you to go use bands and like, you know, heal your shoulders so that you don't need shoulder surgery. Like, that's not why they went to school to become a surgeon. Mm-hmm. You know? Yeah. And so. You don't expect to go to any orthopedic clinic and have them say, well, let me give you this rehab thing so that you don't need the surgery. What they say is happy to do the surgery, and oh, by the way, first I need an x-ray. And it's like, but I didn't break a bone. And they're like, but I need an x-ray. And then they're like, and now I need an MRI. And you're like, well, why did I get the X-ray? Well, I had to make sure you didn't break a bone, but I know I didn't break a bone. Like it's not like I fell off a. Ladder. You know what I mean? Like I was doing, putting a backpack on a hook and I heard something make it pop. Yeah. So, but, but this is, and here starts the, where the average consumer looks at it and they're like, you're taking advantage. Of me.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

me.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

You know, and this is where distrust comes from, and this is where like, I think there's an opening for new because people are tired of feeling like they are being taken advantage of a pin cushion, right? Yeah.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Yeah.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

So it, it, it, what, what I think it stands to reason is that people are looking at you and they're saying, okay, this person's not trying to give me a surgery. This person's basically giving me a plan of attack, that if I follow it, it'll prevent the surgery. And this is not making, it's making them less money.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Yeah.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

This person's being honest, to me, they care. That's the gen, probably the general logical thought process. I don't think they think we're making less money. People think that, do they sound super rich, but, but

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

but

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

and irrespective it's a different form of care. It seems like you are trying to

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

avoid,

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

especially with children. Parents don't want to hear, oh my gosh, I have to get my kids. Like, they have anxiety about it. The kids have,

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

have anxiety about

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

the worst.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

worst. It's

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Terrible, worst. Yeah. And then you're like, you know, I don't know about, like, I'll say this and if my parents hear this, I love you and I don't, there's no issue. But when we were, we didn't have a lot of money when we were kids. Dad was in the military. Mom at the time didn't work. And so I went to get my wisdom teeth and my parents couldn't pay to put me under. And so whatever I was awake.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

awake.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

But while I was awake, the anesthesia wore off. Like because the guy didn't give me enough as he was cutting into, and unfortunately had, they had to.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

to

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

My jaw, they were wrapped around my jaw. so it was not the best procedure and it lasted for a very long time. And my shirt when I walked out was covered. It was wet, soaking wet and sweat. And my mom was like, oh my gosh, what have we done?

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

I'm so

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

I'm so sorry. So to this day, they feel super guilty about it, but I think about. That. Yeah. And I think about like our kids. I, I told my wife, I was like, we will pay for anesthesia, right? And you think about like this kind of stuff, and it's like, well, if you can avoid that and you can avoid having to have that kind of an experience because you're, you, you're, you're, you're doing things differently that are, that are avoiding it. Like why the heck wouldn't you? Yeah. Right. And so as I process a lot of that, like. Yeah, I think it's super cool. I think it's super cool. Thank you. As somebody who, you know, didn't have the greatest, I, I still to this day don't have a problem going to the dentist, but zero cavities. Zero cavities.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

I mean,

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

I have that. I consider

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

consider

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

why, I consider that being very fortunate, we know you're getting chipped down. You know, I do get chipped down and I do get yelled at about. My gums all the time. Lost it. But like, I do consider myself super fortunate from that perspective. And I felt really bad watching the kids.'cause I'm like, my goodness, I, you know, they have so many, you want me to make a toothpaste recommendation that would

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Yeah.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

and thematically break down the calculus instead of you having to get it screened off? Is it? Well, I'll, I'll give it to you. Okay.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Okay.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Tell the world. Tell, tell the world. Don't tell the world. Um, and you're gonna, it's gonna have to spend$7 on it, on Amazon. It'll be okay.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Okay.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

live fresh and has a.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

a,

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

has. You could get a couple of options with or without bubbles and with or without fluoride. Also, did you know people that you can use your FSA dollars for things like toothpaste? Oh, there you go.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Are you

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Alright. Lip fresh? You heard that. You know exactly

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

calculus

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

for ne, but your dentist should be offering you the toothpaste that speaks to your disease.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Right.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Right. I think isn't that like the best, if I could help people by helping them pick out the toothpaste that they use, and I never have to pick up my drill and put it to a two year old's head. I would be like super happy about that existence. You know what, you could, you know what, it's an, I don't know if you're interested or not, but social media's such an interesting world these days, and I'm just thinking if you did like little blips like that with, with your company's thing in the background and just like, Hey, toothpaste, influenza

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

coming in. Well,

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

coming in. Well, it's like not even just toothpaste, right? Like whatever the different things are you think people should be doing, that's different than what dentists are telling people nowadays. And at some point some toothpaste companies be like, I'll sponsor this lady. I mean like there's just a new ways to make income. Mm-hmm. And new ways to advertise your business. And maybe that's being that nobody else is really doing that. And that's a different model you have. It could be a fun little.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

little

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Way to push your business. Thank

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

you. Yeah,

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Yeah, thank you. Thank you. Yeah, absolutely. Thank you. Thank you. I think you're completely correct. Yeah. I couldn't agree with you more. I don't know how, and I mean, I see stuff on teeth all the time on social media. Yeah. Like random stuff, you know? You know, like

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

like a.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

we're gonna get off topic. Let's, we'll talk about it off there. No.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

I mean, it's

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Interesting. But yeah,

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

yeah, I mean,

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

you get like some beautiful mouth child to be like, I love this toothpaste and I, you know, whatever. And

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

yeah.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

then their mom has a million subscribers and they posted more. Well, I say all of this to say like, if you're listening to this podcast, like be be on the lookout for tiny teeth of tally and maybe

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

tiny teeth of

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

out to me. Maybe we see Astrid on social media.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

I would

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

I would love it. Get some, some, I have not. Camera shot, you know, some

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

dental tape tapes. Um,

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

So, okay, let's, yeah.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

yeah.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Can you share a moment with us that you, you're like, this was worth it. This, all of this research, all this staying up late at night reading after my kids have gone to bed. What, what is a mom a story that you can share that, um, well, I, I had these family of, I mean, it's just, it's countless patients. It's countless patients, and I don't wanna get too much into the medicine of it. But, um, what I can say for sure is, is that my life is different now because I'm happier.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

happier. Her,

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Um, when I started first got started getting into learning about minimally invasive dentistry and what we call medical management of Carries. I, I've met a couple of mentors and they were like, they kept talking about how happy you will be and you are like, how happy. Like this makes you. and what I can say is, is I've never been more energetic in the morning, and I've always loved my job. I've always loved my job, but the, the, pride that I can feel like walking through are everywhere I walk. I. See kids, and I'm like, if parents want to bring them to me, I can pretty much

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

It's

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

whatever they want me to, whatever they decide they want me to do, but I can treat a child with. So with this incredibly huge arsenal of treatment options that will work for that patient. Mm-hmm. And when I'm able to do that for special needs kids that are nonverbal for a 3-year-old who has a lot of fear for, I mean, every.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

every, every. every,

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

kid. And you can come up with a strategy that works for that family. It makes me that, that pride and that joy is something that's been personally transformational. That's cool. So it's um, it's definitely a beautiful thing. Like I said from the beginning, I was really happy to be here'cause it's my favorite thing to talk about.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

cool.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

But helping people be healthy. Is something that is, well, I found my passion. I found my passion for the rest of my career. I got 20 more years and I'm really excited about doing this. Very cool. Yeah. That's awesome. That's very cool seeing where it goes. So, well, I know where you see, pediatric dentistry heading for you. I mean, how, where do you see it going for the, for the market and for kind of your, this way? So if you were to, so I think the best thermometer for this is what is presented at the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry Annual Session, which I'd love to go to.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

to.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Um, and if anyone is on the selection committee, I did just apply to the

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

speaker there.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

speaker there. That's fine. Um, but, um, it was on how to make money doing this type of care in a PPO insurance universe. For the last three years, this is pretty much the only thing they've been talking about. Last year they did an eight hour, which I couldn't go to, but the last, last year they did an eight hour. Intensive, what would you call it? Educational thing? Yeah. Teaching these, these, techniques, these advanced caries management techniques. I bet. So it's happening. I bet you

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

if

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

if you, if you talked to like Matt

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Olinger

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Vicky Whaley and some of our people that manage one of our large cases on, uh, that that, on dental, that we could probably even create an arrangement with you where. You put together an educational seminar or something that's virtual. I just have four hours last week

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Yeah.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

the tall Bet you school t

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

for

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

you up north. We could do like a seminar because dental issues is one of their biggest issues. Yep. And you could do an educational event for all of'em. I love to teach. Well, we'll, we'll have, have to do a follow up and connect. Yay.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Yay.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Hallelujah. Thank you. Uh, so the next thing on here is your lightning round. I'm gonna let Kyla do the lightning round. Yeah.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

All right.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Lightning round. No drilling down too deep. That's why I'm gonna let Y'all are laughing, right? Okay. All right. You ready? Yes. All right. Best part of working with kids. Oh, love. Love,

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

love,

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

love, I love children. Go next. Fluoride varnish or sealants. Go to super ca, hero ca, cape four Teeth,

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

mark.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

um,

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Say that.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

fluoride varnish or sealants? Uh, it depends on their risk. Okay. That carries risk. Okay. If you weren't a dentist, what would you be? A teacher or a cake decorator? A cake decorator. Ah, secret. Yeah.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

talent. Talent.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

No, I'm not good at it, but it seems entertaining. I'm laughing because I'm like cake. She loves sweets and cake. And you're a dentist? Yes. And I have cat. I'm my number one patient. Don't, it's like, you know what I mean? It's like when you go to a counselor. You can know. It doesn't mean you wanna do it 100%. I'm like, okay, fair enough. Yeah. All right, I hear you. It makes sense. But no, it makes perfect sense. Okay. Fill in the blank. Tiny teeth, big heart. Thank you. Head.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

mouth.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

I think that tiny teeth they get is fine. I like the wet mouth. Wet mouth. We all know that's dog. You know, wet kids.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

warm heart. Wet nose warm.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Okay, well, what if they're sick?

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

sick?

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Then they're their heart's

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

sad.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Oh man. Poor dry nose dog. That's funny. All right.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Aw.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Aw, I feel like we just totally beat up the dry nose dog. Anyway. All right, so fan. All right, Thank you. Um, last question. So we, we kinda reserve like one last question for everybody. It's, it's, it is basic, right? Is there anything else you want our listeners to know? Aw, that's, um, uh, um, you can read more about minimally invasive dentistry on our Tiny Teeth tally website. There is a dedicated page on minimally invasive dentistry, or you can go to the American Dental Association and read about caries management. Hmm. And there's lots of resources there. And of course everything is evidence based and la la, la, la. It's just a matter of getting the word out there. And if there's a dentist out there that wants to connect, let's connect. Let's go out. Let's do it. Okay. Yeah. Well, that's super cool. Thank you.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

you.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Yeah, thank you. Thank you for coming. Thank you guys for listening. Thank you. Super appreciate it. Um, thank you to all the listeners out there. If any of you have any questions, please contact us or look for any information on our homepage@www.fbmc.com. And just one more time, I just wanna make sure.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

sure,

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Um, it's a plug for you web address, www.tinyteethoftally.com. Awesome. Tiny, you can fill out

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

teeth

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

tally. Yes. And you can fill out new patient paperwork right on there. It's all electronic. It's all there. See for moms. Okay. Well Astrid. And Dads. And dads. That's cool. Um, thank you very much. Thank you. And, uh, remember to all the listeners out there, you can listen and subscribe on any podcast app.

farris_1_09-10-2025_141811:

app.

marketing_1_09-10-2025_141811:

Thank you and have a great day.