Good Neighbor Podcast: Union
Bringing Together Local Businesses and Residents of Northern Kentucky! Based in Union, KY....The Good Neighbor Podcast helps the residents of Northern Kentucky get to know local business owners as people. We allow the business owners and influencers in NKY to tell the stories of how they started their business and why. We hear about their families, their personal interests and why they love living in and serving resident of Northern Kentucky!
Good Neighbor Podcast: Union
A Community Dentist’s Journey: Trust, Listening, and Small-Town Care
A beloved 50-year dental practice doesn’t change hands lightly—and this one didn’t. We sit with Dr. Tiffany Buller to explore how a retiring small-town dentist chose his successor not for scale or corporate polish, but for shared values: conservative treatment, active listening, and unwavering community care. Within a week he realized the practice was safe, retired fully, and now returns as her patient. That’s trust you can feel.
We dig into what makes dentistry truly work for people: the psychology behind the chair, not just the tools on the tray. Dr. Tiff explains why active listening beats memorized scripts, how she tailors visits for fear and comfort, and the practical ways a laid-back, human practice—think 80s pop, gentle humor, and real conversations—can lower anxiety and raise outcomes. From same-day crowns and therapeutic Botox for TMJ to extractions, implant restoration, and periodontal therapy, she keeps care accessible while staying conservative: fix what’s needed, protect what’s healthy, and never sell what doesn’t serve.
Prevention is the quiet hero here. We walk through why six-month visits matter, the life-saving role of oral cancer screenings, and how panoramic x-rays every few years spot hidden issues early. Tiffany also addresses the controversial topic of refusing x-rays and the legal concept of supervised neglect, making a clear case for evidence-based imaging with today’s low-radiation tech. Most importantly, she maps the mouth–body connection—periodontal bacteria in arterial and brain plaques, the two-way street with diabetes, and why people with cardiac conditions, autoimmunity, or dementia need dental care that’s proactive and consistent.
Threaded through it all is a warm portrait of real life: two daughters with full schedules, a house of pets with big personalities, Midwest sports loyalties, and small-town roots that run deep. Gratitude flows—to Hebron patients who built her first practice and to Bellbrook families who welcomed her with open arms. If you care about compassionate dentistry, community trust, and practical prevention that protects your health and your wallet, this conversation will stick with you. Subscribe, share with a friend who hates the dentist chair, and leave a review to tell us what helps you feel at ease. Visit www.bellbrookdental.com or call Dr. Tiff at 937-848-8662.
The point where both of the numbers come together. Mike Murphy.
SPEAKER_04:Thank you, Charles Cadidlhopper. I am Mike Murphy, host of the Good Never Podcast. We talk to local business owners so that you get to know them as people and not just a logo on a business card. Sometimes they're not so local, but they used to be local. Such is my next guest, Tiffany Bueller. She is a dentist up in uh Bellbrook, Bellbrook Dental. She lives in Waynesville, Ohio. She used to be, she may have been your dentist in Hebron uh once upon a time. She was my dentist once upon a time. So yeah, she took care of my teeth from age, I don't know, 55 to I don't know, but um in my 50s, definitely. And um, so I certainly uh I appreciate her keeping my choppers well intact you know through today. But uh Tiffany, welcome to the podcast. And we're going to find out um where you've been since you uh left Hebron and moved north. So Tiffany, welcome to the podcast.
SPEAKER_00:Thanks for having me. I really appreciate it. Um, since I left Hebron, I have I moved to Waynesville, Ohio. Um, I've been up here since 2021. And um I live right in town, right in the heart of Waynesville. And um in the fall of 2021, um, no, the fall of 2022, I purchased a practice in Belbrook, Ohio from a dentist who retired. He'd had that practice for 50 years, five zero years. Um, and um he was looking to sell it to someone who was not corporate, was not large, and really felt like had the same values of practice um that he had. And we met a couple of times, and there was a lot of kind of dental chemistry, if you will. Um, we had the same kind of philosophy on treatment, we had the same kind of practice values and um team building values and things for our practice. And once we met, it was kind of a done deal. Um I didn't look at any more practices, and he begged the broker to please get me to buy his practice. And um a few months later, um, it was done. And he um he handed the practice over to me. His plan originally was to work for me one or two days a week for a few months. He worked one week and he said, I'm done, you've got this, and he retired. Um, he still comes to the office as a patient, him and his wife. Um, they're super sweet. Um, you could definitely tell that he had poured a lot of love into the practice. The community loved him. They still do, they ask about him all the time. So you can really feel in his practice the community part of the practice. And um, that was really appealing to me for the practice because it reminded me a lot of what I was trying, what I tried to build when I was in Hebron. Um practice that was for the community. Um, you know, I lived in I lived in Hebron, I practiced in Hebron, my kids went to school in Hebron. Um, so it in living in Waynesville, I'm super close to Bellbrook. I'm only about eight miles from work. Um and so it's just really nice. All these little small communities are kind of here together, and uh it's they're all really tight knit. It's really, it's really nice.
SPEAKER_04:So that's pretty strong that somebody who had a practice for 50 years um and had um a list of boxes that needed to be checked to turn the practice over to. You checked all those boxes, and to the extent that he is now your patient, you are his dentist? Yes. Okay, that's six volumes right there.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, he's he's a super nice guy. I mean, he and his wife both, and they uh I mean, they treated me and and my kids like just like family like family from the get-go, and um when they come in, they always ask how the girls are and stuff like that. It's just it's just really um, it's really just really nice to kind of have that experience because my other practice I started from scratch. This one, you know, I'm I bought and it was kind of a different experience building versus buying, um, but still much the same because I'm still new in the practice and I have to get to know everybody and and everything. So from that aspect, it was kind of the same because I didn't know anybody in Hebrew, and then I got to know everybody, and I didn't know anybody in Balbrook, but now I'm getting to know people, and that's it's really nice.
SPEAKER_04:Well, there's the the personal part, the you know, getting to know the humans, the patients, getting to know your staff, understanding the human part of their business. But what comes with a um a practice, a successful practice, is understanding the business part of dentistry, the business part of running a dental practice. So you were able to pull what you learned from Hebron, you know, up to Bellbrook, and I'm sure that has served you well. Um if if you were to talk to somebody who is the former you starting a practice from scratch, what is the one piece of advice you would give that dentist who is bright-eyed and just wanting to go in and build the best practice they can build in a in a small town? What would you say to them?
SPEAKER_00:Make sure you listen a lot more than you talk.
SPEAKER_04:Okay.
SPEAKER_00:Because people have specific expectations, they have specific needs, and honestly, even back when I was a really young dentist, you don't know what you don't know, and you think you know a lot, and you act like you're a know-it-all, and it kind of turns people off. But learning to listen to specific um concerns, needs, um, things for the patients, I think is what has served me the best in being a business owner and all because it helps me understand the needs for my team, but it also has served me very well in being a provider because it helps me understand the needs of my patients. And maybe it's because somebody's really fearful and they tell me they're fearful, but I don't know why. So I'm gonna ask them and I'm gonna listen what specifically makes you fearful so that I can kind of customize my care to make their experience as easy as possible. And I think listening is a skill that's kind of been lost, and everybody likes to talk, but nobody really likes to actively listen. And so I think learning to be a more active listener is what's helped me to be the best kind of provider and boss that I can be. Um, and I wish I'd have done more of that um throughout my entire career. I mean, I'm on year number 20, I'm starting year number 28.
SPEAKER_04:Oh my goodness, which is crazy to me, really, because I mean ridiculous.
SPEAKER_00:Um, but year number 28, and you know, it just I feel like it it's something that can serve, especially young dentists that are coming out, and they're pretty green. You really don't know what you don't know. Um, and I think that number one, learn to learn to listen, learn to be a good communicator, and then work on your skills at the same time. But you if you can't communicate, especially by listening, you're not gonna ever build up a good practice because you're um you just won't.
SPEAKER_04:Okay. That's good advice. Something that just kind of seems, you know, I mean, common sense, but at the same time, you can see somebody going through what you go through to become a dentist. And um, you're just again, like you said, you think you know everything because you know all the the practical stuff that comes with, you know, um the the science of dentistry.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:The human part of it is just as important because those are humans laying in your chair with fears, and you're having to deal with that as well.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, the psychology of dentistry is probably the hardest part about dentistry. I mean, you can learn the you can learn the physical skills that you need to get by. Um, you know, but the the psychological aspect of doing dentistry is can be overwhelming at times because every single patient is different and everybody has a different reaction to being in the office, being in a chair, doing what you're gonna do. And some people don't care and they do just fine, and there's no fear at all. And you have others that it takes every ounce of emotional energy that they have just to walk in the door. And that's not even to come and sit in a chair, that's to come in the door. So you have to learn to really be able to um manage and real respond to so many different scenarios, um, in addition to your scientific stuff and your medical stuff and everything, checking health histories. There's just so much you have to do. And I love it. I feel like it's made me a better person because it allows me to I have to keep learning. Um, and the more I kind of learn and the more situations I encounter, I feel like I get better at handling these scenarios all the time.
SPEAKER_04:Okay. Well, you certainly did a great job with me, but again, I'm a sample of one. I guess I'm a sample of two because you know my wife um had a great experience with you as well. Everybody loved you, and although I've not sat in your chair up at uh uh Bellbrook, I certainly have heard many of my friends talk highly of you. So it just seems like you've kind of picked up what you had going here in Hebron. You moved it north, and you're rocking and rolling up there, same but different. But I'm sure you miss Hebron. Hebron misses you, but you know, you go where you go for a reason. I mean, life takes you where it takes you because it's supposed to. We don't always know in the moment why that is, but um, it seems like you've landed at a at a really good place. I'm very happy for you, very proud of you. Um let's talk about the things that you do for your patients up there in Bellbrook. You know, um, you're not just filling cavities, there's a lot of things that um a dentist, quote unquote, can do for you. There's cosmetic stuff, there's emergency stuff. So um, what can you do for your patients that come see you in Bellbrook?
SPEAKER_00:I mean, so I'm a family practice, a general dentist. So I do a little bit of everything. I do the normal drill and fill stuff. Um, we still offer our same-day crown service in the office. So I have my CADCAM machine, and only now it's I have a newer one, so now it's better and it's faster. Um, I still do my Botox and fillers, but I also treat patients for a little bit of headache treatment and jaw um clinching and dragging, TMJ stuff. Um, you know, we do um, I do as part of my treatment, um, we do a lot of education and nutritional counseling, um, things that people do in their daily lives that can affect the health of their mouth and their teeth, um, the kind of diets that we consume that can contribute to tooth decay, habits that can contribute to gum disease. So um I love to educate. I used to educate when I first got out of dental school, I taught for a little bit too. So I really take pride in making sure that I feel like I want to give everybody the best education about their individual needs. Um, I'm a very conservative dentist. I consider myself very conservative. I do not like to do treatment that is aggressive or absolutely not necessary. Um, can I do cosmetic dentistry? I can, but I'm not that dentist that's gonna just randomly, if you come in and tell me you want eight veneers just because your teeth aren't straight, I'm gonna recommend ortho because it's more conservative rather than grinding on six or eight teeth. So I'm very conservative. So I do a lot of education in my office as well. And um, and to that point, it's I do a lot of I study and read a lot of stuff about nutrition and the effects of things on the mouth and the teeth and supplements and things. So I try to educate people too. So we do dentistry, we do cosmetics, we do some Botoxin fillers. Um again, the talks we do for two reasons. We can do it for jaw tooth grinding and headaches, but also if you just want the lines gone, we can do that too. Okay, that's good. We can do that too. Um, and then you know, we do your crowns, I'm restore, I restore implants, I do extractions, um, so a lot of the general dentistry stuff, but it's kind of a little bit of everything. Um, and we just do it in the office, it's very laid back, so we do it in just a really laid-back fashion. Like I'm not a super serious dentist. If you want me to be serious, I can be, but I'm probably gonna crack jokes. I'm gonna be listening to pop music, um, probably from the 80s. And so it's yeah, it's just it's a very laid-back atmosphere. Um, kids are home.
SPEAKER_04:Um, I hear the dogs jump.
SPEAKER_00:So um, you know, it's just, but we do a little bit of everything. Um, I stopped doing root canals right after COVID. Um, it was a procedure I never really liked doing. I could do it, but I didn't like it. So I just decided to stop doing it. Um, so I'm I kind of I do the things I love to do and that I that I'm very comfortable doing, and I refer out what I don't. Um and it seems to be working well up here. Um, the dentist I bought the practice from referred out lots of stuff. So I brought some stuff back in, like he didn't do any extractions or surgeries, and I love doing extractions. So the patients are happy that they don't always have to go to an oral surgeon now to get a tooth out. Um, which, you know, that was a really that was crazy because that was one of the big value-added services to the practice was that I just just putting extractions back in the practice. Um, adding back in basic gum disease therapy. He referred all of it out and we added basic therapy back in. Um so it's a couple things, but that's what we do. It's it's uh we have a little fun, we do some dentistry.
SPEAKER_04:Um and uh some people some some people think that they don't have to go every six months. If if I go for my six-month checkup, everything's good, you clean, polish, yeah, you're good. See you in six months. They think I don't have to come back in six months, I can just put off another year or two or whatever. But I've I've heard stories here and there of people that have gone to the dentist and their teeth might be fine. However, um going with this is um a dentist has caught a cancer situation.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:So there's other reasons to go other than just to have a nice shiny smile. Yeah. How how often does a dentist catch a cancer?
SPEAKER_00:So in my career in 30 in 28 years, I've only diagnosed about four.
SPEAKER_04:Okay.
SPEAKER_00:Um, and all of them have been on soft tissue, so tongue, floor, the mouth. Um but it's for me, four is a lot. I mean, that's a lot of that's a lot. And the problem with oral cancers is that they frequently get advanced before they get caught, and they have a for they don't have a great survival rate. Much like melanoma, they don't have a great survival rate. And if you do survive, they have a lot of morbidity with it, meaning you might lose half your jaw or half your tongue, part of your palate. Um, so it is a little bit, it is important to come and get screened because there's other things that happen to the teeth besides cavities. Um, you can lose the support structure for your teeth. So we screen for gum disease. So your your teeth may look great, but underneath of the teeth, in the parts you can't see, which is why we have to take x-rays, your bone may be melting away for because you have gum disease. Maybe you're a smoker or maybe you're genetically predisposed to it. But your gums may your bone may be melting away, and now your teeth are gonna start to get loose. But there's also a pretty substantial correlation between mouth health and body health, and there's a heart connection, there's a brain connection. Um, they found periodontal bacteria in um plaques in the brain of patients with Alzheimer's disease. Um, they found they find mouth bacteria in plaques in the heart all the time. So it's so important, especially if you have comorbid conditions, if you have a heart disease, if you have type one or two diabetes, if you have an autoimmune disorder, if you have dementia, that you're coming and getting your mouth checked and healthy. We take x-rays, we get a lot of pushback on x-rays. I don't want the radiation, I don't want to get the x-rays done. We get a lot of pushback on x-rays. And we used to allow people to sign a release that they didn't want the x-rays. I no longer allow people to decline them. And the reason is that informed refusal doesn't protect a dentist in a lawsuit.
SPEAKER_01:Okay.
SPEAKER_00:In a lawsuit, it's called supervised neglect. So you allowed it to be neglectful because you allowed the patient to refuse. It does not absolve us of responsibilities. And there have been situations where decay, gum disease, cancers were missed because a patient was allowed to refuse images. And so the importance of going six months at a minimum, six months, is so we can stay on top of little things. We can diagnose cavities, we can diagnose gum disease, we can keep it in check, we can treat things, we can catch things early. We do the soft tissue exam, we check the tongue, we check under here, we touch, we look. Um, and then you get the bigger x-ray, the one that goes around your head, the panoramic x-ray, every three to five years. And that is a screening film that is to help us look for cysts, for tumors, for any other abnormalities. And we can see from right here at the neck all the way up to the top of the brows. So we can see your eye sockets, your sinuses, um, you know, if someone has hearing aids, you can see their hearing aids in there if they forget to take them out. So we want to screen for all of these things because if you catch a tumor early, if you catch obviously, you may be limited to just a limited little surgery and maybe some radiation versus losing half your face. Um, if you catch a cavity early, it's a filling instead of a root canal or an extraction. And that can be the difference. Like I always say catching a cavity early is the difference between about$100 and about$1,500. Um, so if you if you catch the cavity while you can fill it and you have insurance, your out-of-pocket's probably gonna be less than$100. Now, let's say you let it go because you didn't go or you didn't want x-rays, and now it's root canal territory. So now it's a minimum of$1,500 to$3,000 to fix that tooth. And I'm gonna quote cash because insurance is so variable, I don't ever know, but it's a thousand dollars or so, maybe more for the root canal, and then it's another$1,500 for the crown. But let's go one step further. What if you let it go? Now we have to pull it, and now you have to replace it with an implant. So now you're at$5,000 to replace the tooth.
SPEAKER_04:Okay.
SPEAKER_00:So the importance of screening and catching stuff early is both health, it's dollars and cents. Um, with gum disease, if we catch it early, we treat it regularly. We can maintain the teeth for a very long time or forever. But once the bone is gone, it's gone. And eventually, if it's not treated, the teeth all fall out. Well, now you're faced with either dentures or$60,000 worth of implants.
SPEAKER_04:Okay.
SPEAKER_00:That's a bunch of zeros.
SPEAKER_04:As you're explaining all this, I mean, I'm not I'm not just seeing the doctor in you, but I'm kind of hearing the mom in you. Yeah, a little bit, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Tell telling, you know, telling their child, you know, you know, you, you know, do this, do this, do this because of this, this, and this. But I mean, this is all great, great advice and great food for thought. Um, so you know, I'm sitting here saying you're sounding like a mom. It's because you are a mom.
SPEAKER_00:So I am a mom. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:We heard that we heard the kids come home and the dogs bark a few minutes ago.
SPEAKER_00:Yep.
SPEAKER_04:So who are you mother to?
SPEAKER_00:So I have two daughters, Tabitha and Tatum. Um, Tabitha's 14 now. She'll be 15 in January. Um, Tatum is 11, um, and she's taller than both Tabitha and me. Um, and they both go to Waynesville. Tabitha's a ninth grader, and Tatum is a sixth grader. Um, so um, both busy girls. They uh Tabpa's a swimmer, she swims for the local YMCA in Lebanon um for the torpedoes, and then she's gonna swim high school this year. Um, but two. So she does both, she swims year round. We do indoor and outdoor season. Um, Tatum's a dancer and she's on the competitive team. This is her fourth year. Um, and we dance all year round. Um, so right now for her, so swim season is just starting. We have a meet in a couple weeks. Um, dance season competition doesn't start till March, but dance season has already started because we're doing choreography for all of our dances now. Um so we are on the go with busy girls six days a week. We have practice in some way, shape, or form six days a week. Um it luckily it's close by. Our dance studio is right here in Waynesville. It's a mile from my house. Tatum and I occasionally walk there because it's close. It's a mile, it's an easy walk, it's right on Main Street. If you've ever been to the Starcraft Festival, it's um right the studio is right on the street with the heart of the festival. Um, and then the YMCA is just down in Lebanon, which is about 20 minutes from our house. Um and so we were there, but they're busy, they're doing well. Um, I like the schools up here, they're really good. Um, middle school is middle school, it sucks for uh middle school, and then it gets better in high school. Um that like I used to hear when I was in Hebrew, and everybody would go to middle and they'd be like, middle school stinks, and then they get to the high school and it all of a sudden it gets better.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. Yeah, that that there's there's a lot of reasons for that. I mean, just the tender age of the kids. Um, I don't know. I mean, again, there's a lot of psychology, there's a lot of I don't know, um, you know, bullying is always going to be kind of a thing. Um but when you when you add that to that that that tenuous age there, I mean, I think it's it's a miracle that any any of us ever get through that stage of our life.
SPEAKER_00:It's the hormones, it's just the hormones, is what I blame it on. It's it's hormones, and my whole house is female because my I have two daughters and I have five animal, five pets, um, and they're also all female. Um and there's me. So I have three cats, two dogs, um, occasionally an extra dog. So sometimes there are six, um, also female. So um it's a lot of there's a lot of estrogen surging through this house. Um, but it, you know, it's it's our house. We love our pets, we love our kids.
SPEAKER_04:Um yeah, we all we always make it work regardless of what's happening in our lives, we make it work. Yeah, yeah, you get from one day to the next. And you know, uh one theme, a common theme when I talk to anybody is um you you go through these stages of life, and as hectic as it is, one day you look back and you say, Man, I miss those days. Yeah, I wish we were back, you know, running to the practices and I was sitting in meets and cheering and all that stuff.
SPEAKER_00:It's gonna be fun, but it'll be baby, yeah. See this one. This is one of the new ones. This is one of our kittens. Um so um, yeah. So I mean, the the kids adopted the kittens. I think we've had the kittens a little over a month now. Um, I was never a cat person, but all of a sudden now I'm a cat person and a dog person, but they have a fantastic shelter, so we have new kittens. Um, but the kids wanted them, so I said, why not?
SPEAKER_04:Well, you have a good heart. I mean, I know you as a person too. You have a good heart, so yeah, I guess that just kind of comes with it.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so super proud of my girls, though. They've adapted well to the move up here. You know, it was a little bit stressful. It was right at the tail end of COVID. We were kind of coming out of COVID. Um, they had just been back in person school. Um, we finished up school um in Hebron that year, and then we moved on up here. And um, but they've adapted well to the schools up here and making friends and staying busy and doing all the things at school the kids do.
SPEAKER_04:I know you make it back down here every once in a while. You've got business down here, you know, and um, you know, Waynesville is not that far away, so you end up coming down here and you're taking care of business, and um, you get to occasionally see some of your friends down here. And um, you know, maybe you and I'll you know sit and have a coffee together here shortly someday.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I'll have to holler at you the next time I'm gonna be down that way and see if you're free. Um, I'm down that way at least every six weeks because my dogs get a haircut every six weeks, and we still go to Greendale. Um, I've been with that local group, it's a local small groomer, and I've been with them since well, let's see, my other my my maltese passed away a couple years ago at 17, and she'd been going to them for 11 years, and we continue to go. So we've been patrons of their business for about 13 years with our dogs, and I just can't bring myself to not take them down there.
SPEAKER_04:The dogs love them, and it's a local business, and we all know how much we love to support small local businesses, and yeah, um, it's I think it's kind of cool that even though you're up there now, uh up in uh Waynesville and you've got the the Bellbrook practice, you're still part of this community. Um so yeah, you're this is always going to be one of your homes, your homes away from your current home.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah. Between it's I don't I probably get to Hebron more than I get home to Indiana, to be honest with you, because it's easier to get to Hebron. Um it's super hard for me to get home to Indiana um because it's it's a lot longer ride, and it you know, you don't want to just spend the day and go back, you want to spend the night. So finding the time to get back to Indiana is is tough. But um, and even to get to Tennessee to see my dad, it's it's tough. But um, you know, we try as much as we can.
SPEAKER_04:And you know, as as far as geography goes, it's still kind of a tight circle. I mean, you know, yeah, you're not having to, you know, drive too far.
SPEAKER_00:No.
SPEAKER_04:Speaking of Indiana, you and I always have our little back and forth. You know, I'm a I'm a Michigan fan, you're an Indiana girl. Yeah. So you're you're Hoosier, I'm I'm Go Blue. And I have to say, um, your football team is just kicking some serious ass right now.
SPEAKER_00:I'm still in shock because I'm still in shock. Well, so I went to I had I got to go to a football game last year. Um, I went to the bucket game last year.
SPEAKER_01:Okay.
SPEAKER_00:So the IU Purdue game. And I went with three Purdue fans, my brother included, was one of them. Um, and so I'm decked out like head to toe. I mean, when I get dressed up in Indiana stuff, it's like obnoxiously all out. Um, so I had the stickers and all out. Um, and I didn't expect the score to be what it was. I actually thought Purdue would actually score. Um, but you know, there was a little bit of satisfaction in whooping up on the Boilermakers a little bit after all the years they whooped up on us. We were on our home turf, to be fair. But um, even my brother and the other two Purdue fans I was with were like, I didn't expect it to be 66 to nothing.
SPEAKER_04:Right, that was incredible.
SPEAKER_00:It was it was amazing. I mean, and there are only two losses. I mean, granted, their schedule was a little light last year, and it has been this year too, except last week. I mean, they took out Illinois pretty handily last week. Yeah, they did.
SPEAKER_04:That was a surprise.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, well, I was watching that game and I was like, where is this coming from? And why did I'm like, do we look that good or does Illinois look that bad? But I mean, I was pleased last year with only having the two losses. We lost to Ohio State, we lost to Notre Dame, and they played for the national championship. Yeah, um, so um, and uh it's uh it was it's just fun. It's it's fun having a good football team because usually it's basketball. I'm a little worried about basketball this year because they had to rebuild the entire team and a new coach. Um, but it's fun having a fall sport that you can root for because the Reds hopefully don't break my heart this week um and not make the playoffs.
SPEAKER_04:Um three more games with the Mets, right? No, Milwaukee, Milwaukee.
SPEAKER_00:Milwaukee, and Milwaukee's always tough for us, and we're playing, I think, in Milwaukee.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and we need the Mets to lose.
SPEAKER_00:We need the Mets to lose. I was so happy when they swept the Cubs last weekend, and I was at one of the games on Friday night, and I was so happy, and I was like, Oh yeah, right now we have a playoff spot, and then they drop to Pittsburgh, to Pittsburgh. I'm like, what the heck? And then so I'm hoping that my reds don't disappoint me. I mean, I'm used to disappointment with them. I love them, but man, they break your heart every year, they just break your heart. So um, but I'll transition into my fall sports because football will keep going and basketball will start in a month. And um I just transition through my sports easily. Um, yeah, you and I have had a lot of discussions. Um, I did watch the Ohio State Michigan game last year. Um I was in Bloomington, oddly enough, I was in Bloomington because the bucket game was that night and the Michigan Ohio State game was earlier. And um I was uh I thought someone was gonna die that day. Um I really thought someone was gonna get killed on the field when they planted the field in the middle of uh ice.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, they they put that flag in the middle of the field.
SPEAKER_00:I don't really I live up on the heart of Buckeye Country. I'm definitely not a Buckeye fan. So everybody I was with was rooting for Michigan because we don't like the Buckeyes. But it was, um, I was just like, ooh, that was a bad move.
SPEAKER_04:Um, so you see, that this is why you are one of my favorite dentists because you're just as passionate about sports as you are about dentistry. So um sitting in your chair was always fun because we could talk about things other than how come you're not flossing every day, Murph.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. And I don't, it's funny because I will I do what I need to do to give patients information and remind them what they need to be doing at home. Um, but I don't want it to sound like a lecture. Um, people get lectures from people all the time. I don't want it to sound like a lecture. And then I can say, okay, you're gonna you you need to floss more, but I want to see a picture of your new grandbaby or a picture of your dog.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Um, because at the end of the day, that's the stuff that really matters, you know. We I take care of your teeth, but the human stuff is the stuff that really matters.
SPEAKER_04:I get yeah, I I I agree. Um if you can if you can handle the human stuff alongside the the the professional stuff, then um the professional stuff sort sort of um kind of sinks in a little better.
SPEAKER_00:It does.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:I think a j I mean I think a gentler touch um when your lecture, I mean it to make it not sound like a lecture, I think someone's gonna listen a little bit better than if you just go all in and you're just mean about it or really intense about it. I'm not gonna lie, I don't I my mom voice comes on when I'm talking to kids. Um, and I might even say, listen, I have kids your age too, and guess what? My kids don't like to brush their teeth either. But guess what? They all had they both had cavities last time they came to see me too. So I'm like, my kids have to have feelings too. Um, so the mom voice comes on if I'm seeing kids sometimes. Um but I try not to do that because it's I don't like to do it with adults because it sounds very condescending. But with kids, the mom voice just I don't know, it's an instinctive thing, the brain just turns to mom mode, and you're just like, oh no, no, you need to brush.
SPEAKER_04:But you know, at the same time, um, at the same time, kids, I'm sorry, um adults are just uh kids with more bills. That's yeah, pretty much. So we need we need sometimes that uh you know that uh that push to to to to do what, you know, you you know what we don't know, so you have to kind of help us in that regard.
SPEAKER_00:Well, and I can I can kind of judge like who's gonna respond how to which tone or which one of me comes out to play that day. So I know which of my adult patients that I can be more like the mom voice, and I know which ones I need to just be like the professional voice that doesn't sound like a lecturer or mom. I have some that I can really joke with and kid with and and be like that, and they totally take it just fine. Um, and it's just a matter of figure figuring out how to talk to each person individually. So, you know, it's it's just like everything else when you're dealing with anybody in business, it's everybody's so different, and some people are really laid back, and some people are really uptight, and some people are really dry, and you're not sure if you're offending them or not. You're not, but they're just really dry. Um, it's everybody's just different. I think it's just figuring out how to do it.
SPEAKER_04:Well, you went to school for a reason and we didn't. So um, you're the professional, and thanks for sharing everything that you share with us and keeping our mouths healthy, our smiles bright, and uh keeping us protected. And um, one thing I want to do before we actually part ways here, because this is the end of our time together. I want you to say what you want to say to both your Hebron patients and your Belbrook patients. If there's anything you want to say before we go, do you have a message for all of your patients?
SPEAKER_00:So for my Hebron patients, um, both my former patients and the few that drive all the way up to Belbrook to see me, I just want to tell everybody thank you for all those years of helping me build my business and being such great patients. Everybody was so loyal, so generous, and friendly. A lot of us we became friends. We were friends. Um, and I just want to thank everyone for helping me build my business and be to be successful in Hebron. The ones that are coming to see me in Belbrook, thank you for coming to see me in Bellbrook. That means an absolute the world to me because it just reinforces how much you trust me and you with your care and that of your family to my Bellbrook patients. Um, I want to thank everybody for trusting me with their care once Dr. Sternberg retired. Um it's it again means the world that you would be with a doctor for as many years as you were with him. Many of those patients were with him for most of those 50 years. And to let, you know, me take over your care and trust me with your care, um, it kind of warms the heart and the soul, and it makes me feel really good. It makes me feel like I'm hopefully doing a good job for everybody, um, being their provider and their educator and becoming their friends up here. Um and uh it's just it's it's a very warm feeling um just knowing that everybody trusts me with their with their care.
SPEAKER_04:Well, that's because of you. So I mean, people feel the way they feel about you for a reason. I've got good friends up there, Ernie and Teresa Havens, that think the world of you and they speak highly of you.
SPEAKER_00:So um and they're they're super great. And I can't say enough about Ernie and Teresa and how how they've been so great with the publishing up here and the magazine. Um, when we did the feature article and we got the cover of the Waynesville magazine. Um which was a great photo, by the way. Yeah, that was nice. Fantastic. Um the photographer was amazing. We had a perfect day with some snow, and um, I got so many text messages um from people that day. They're like, You're famous, and Waynesville, and the kids got text messages from their friends, and um it was just it was just really nice. Um, and I actually got a couple patients from it because a few people said they saw the article in the magazine and they were looking for a new dentist, and so they came up to Velbrook to see me.
SPEAKER_04:Well, it works storytelling and education. Um it's always gonna work. And uh Ernie and Teresa are some of the top publishers in the country, and so you're in good hands with them, and uh you're you know, close proximity is good for you. So I was I was just so happy with how that issue turned out. I love seeing you guys on the cover. Beautiful cover, beautiful family.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:So um moving forward, uh, things are just going to continue to get better and better and better for you. I feel a little guilty because you're telling me that there are people down here in Kentucky going up to see you, Hellbrook, and it's like, uh, I uh I'm kind of tethered to your good buddy Jason Ford here at Touthology.
SPEAKER_00:And you Jason's gonna take good care of you. He's fine. He's gonna take good care of you. Um Jason's got a beautiful. I was just down at his office for a class um about a month ago. Um spent the morning in his office. Um, you know, he's got a beautiful office, took over Sandy's uh Dr. Derringer's office, and um he he's got a beautiful office, he does a great job. He's a really good dentist, you know, he's a good guy, um, super likable guy, you know, and um so you're in good hands with Dr. Ford.
SPEAKER_04:Well now I'm at now I'm mad at you because you were in Jason's office and I'm only 10 minutes away from his office. You know, but uh down there for a class.
SPEAKER_00:I'll be down soon. I'll I'll send you a text message. I know the dogs have a visit coming up pretty soon.
SPEAKER_04:Okay, we'll see each other soon. Well, it's been nice seeing you here um virtually on the podcast. Um I want to thank you for spending time with us. I want to thank you for taking care of my teeth for all those years. I want to thank you for being such a good friend, and I want to thank your little black kitty cat for being the this is Daisy, the star of the show. So thank you, Daisy, for joining us on this podcast. Yeah so to the rest of you out there, uh, all you humans and kitty cats alike, I want to say thanks for joining us on this latest episode of the Good Neighbor Podcast. We are the Good Neighbor Podcast, so I'll always say to you, until I see you next time, everybody out there, please be good to your neighbor. So long, everybody.
SPEAKER_03:Thanks for looking for the Good Neighbor Podcast Union to nominate your favorite local businesses to be free to go to go to 313 union.com. That's 313 at union.com or call it eight five nine six five one twenty two.