Oral Health Is A Missing Piece of Longevity | Dr. Jeffrey Solomon

Your mouth is not separate from your body, and it might be the most overlooked “dashboard” for long-term health. We’re joined by Dr. Jeffrey Solomon, founder of Old Moreland Dental, to talk about how oral health connects to longevity, inflammation, and the daily habits that quietly shape your healthspan.

We dig into why most people dread the dentist and what it takes to rebuild trust from the ground up. Jeff shares how he designed a world-class dental practice around hospitality and personalized care, why he hires for communication and service, and how he thinks about pushing back against a rushed, corporatized healthcare model. If you care about patient experience, leadership, and building a business that feels human, you’ll take notes.

Then we go deeper into the health side: periodontal disease as chronic inflammation, why bleeding gums are not normal, the bidirectional relationship between diabetes and gum disease, and how dentists can flag warning signs of sleep apnea and refer for sleep studies. Jeff also explains oral appliance options for mild to moderate sleep apnea and why prevention matters long before symptoms feel urgent.

We close with fitness, discipline, and a simple idea that lands hard: the real disruption in wellness is consistency. If this conversation helps you think differently about health, share it with a friend, subscribe, and leave a quick review so more people can find the show.

Transcript

Welcome And Why Jeff’s Here

SPEAKER_01 0:14

Are you ready to live an active lifestyle? Welcome to Behind the Bluff, where we believe every moment of your life is an opportunity to pursue wellness on your terms. I'm your host, Jeff Ford, and today I'm joined by Pelodle Bluff member, Dr. Jeffrey Solomon. Jeff is the founder of Old Moreland Dental and has spent decades helping people improve not only their smiles, but their overall confidence and quality of life. Throughout his career, he's built a reputation for combining exceptional clinical care with an extraordinary patient experience. Beyond dentistry, Jeff is passionate about health, fitness, and lifelong learning. Whether he's leading his team, serving patients, or training in CrossFit, he's someone who believes that excellence is built through consistency, discipline, and a commitment to continuous improvement. Our plan for the conversation today is to explore leadership, health, fitness, and what it means to pursue wellness for life.

SPEAKER_00 1:16

Jeff, welcome to the show. Jeff, thanks for having me. This is awesome what you're doing here. Happy to be on the show. And uh this podcast is uh a really interesting thing that I think a lot of the members here are really appreciating.

SPEAKER_01 1:30

Thanks, Jeff. Yeah, it's it's funny when I'm in the New Fitness Center. Someone's asking when the next episode's out. And I really appreciate you making the time uh to be here today.

SPEAKER_00 1:41

Absolutely. And by the way, the new fitness center is incredible. I love it. I've already been there, already trained there. It's uh it's far surpassed my expectations.

SPEAKER_01 1:51

Ugh, that's humbling to hear, Jeff, and totally makes my day huge team effort to get the facility open. And it's just what this community needed. Let's start

From Michigan To Palmetto Bluff

SPEAKER_01 2:00

at the beginning. For those who haven't met you, tell us a little bit about your background and what brought you to Bluffton and Palmetto Bluff.

SPEAKER_00 2:08

Yeah, so uh kind of a long story, but I'll keep it short. Uh, born and raised in Michigan, uh in the suburbs of the Detroit area, and I'm a Spartan. I went to Michigan State for my undergrad and I pursued dentistry at the University of Detroit Mercy, which was in the city of Detroit. So, needless to say, we saw any type of clinical uh condition under the sun. So the clinical um uh experience was absolutely incredible there. Um I've always been interested in the sciences and I've really had a passion for the arts. And I wanted to bring both those things, both of those items together. And what I realized, I didn't realize it at the time, but dentistry is essentially professional arts and crafts in somebody's mouth. I mean, it's it's bringing science together, it's bringing arts together, and it's using science, it's using art, and it's creating something beautiful and uh, you know, something long-lasting that's gonna improve somebody's health.

SPEAKER_01 3:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:17

Um, what else about me? So I've uh I've been ultra competitive when it comes to athletics growing up, and I think that that same drive and that same discipline translates really well to how I run my business. Um, I just like doing everything the right way. I like doing it well. I like preparing for it. I like showing up. I like making sure that I'm well prepared. And um, you know, ultimately building a business is um takes a competitive mindset. I wound up in Palmetto Bluff. Actually, I was looking through a travel magazine back in 2011, and I just stumbled across this article in a travel magazine talking about how this Bluffton, South Carolina, specifically Palmetto Bluff, uh, there was a uh resort there that was voted as like the best five-star resort in the country that you've never heard of.

SPEAKER_01 4:19

So this was a random magazine. Totally random we're scrolling through.

SPEAKER_00 4:22

It absolutely was. Wasn't looking for anything in particular, but it definitely caught my attention. You know, my family has always been into traveling and trying to check out new spots throughout the country, and this was one of the places that we've never heard of. And if it was written up as one of the best that we've never heard of, then let's let's check it out.

SPEAKER_01 4:42

Must be worth getting down there.

SPEAKER_00 4:43

Absolutely. So we did, and it was an Auberge property when we came down, and they had the beautiful cottages along the May River, and that's where we stayed. And obviously, for anybody listening to this podcast, it's probably a pretty familiar story. Uh, they just fell in love with the place immediately, uh, and so did we. And we kept on coming back year after year, and every long weekend, we just we couldn't get enough of this place, and we're pretty well traveled, and there's not too many places, if any, that when we leave, we're looking forward to coming back right away. And this was one of those places. So we kept on coming back, and eventually we said, you know what, we're spending a fortune down here, we're spending a lot of time here. I think it's time we look for a vacation home. So we looked for a vacation home and we didn't really find anything at first. But I found a gorgeous piece of property, so we decided to buy a piece of property. Um, fast forward a couple years, we wanted to be down here more often, but um, we just didn't want that timeline of building. So then we bought a vacation home while we still had our property so we could be down here immediately. And um, it probably was the best decision we've ever made. Um, we were in our vacation home during COVID, and honestly, it was the absolute best life we could have imagined. Uh our friends and family in the Detroit area were miserable. We were having fun, there was a million activities, you know, the place is expansive, so we were, you know, super active. We were going out on the river, we were, you know, doing the group fitness classes on the village green. It was unbelievable.

SPEAKER_01 6:28

I heard there were a lot of cycling classes going on at that time, too. Any anything that folks could do to the cycles in the chapel.

SPEAKER_00 6:36

That's what it was. It was unbelievable. It was really cool. Uh, but yeah, so we signed up for all these fitness classes. We were having the best life. You know, I'd talk to our friends and family back in the Detroit area. They were on lockdown, they were miserable. Um, so we just decided to stay. Um definitely like we're we're done with Michigan. Well, yeah, my wife Michelle said it we're done with Michigan, but I knew that I had my business in Michigan. So for me, it was temporary and could until I could figure out something more permanent. Um, so once COVID sort of passed, I had to get back to work. My businesses opened back up. Uh, at the time I had uh a handful of dental practices, I had a bunch of dentists working alongside me, so they were kind of covering the emergency care, and I was down here just hanging out. Um but I had to get back. Um, and basically I commuted back and forth to the Detroit area every single week for two years. And I did that because I was working through the sale of my business so that I could be down here full time. And eventually I made that happen. And uh we took the plunge and we moved down south full time. Never saw that in the cards. But again, you haven't looked back since, huh? No, it was absolutely the best decision. And uh, you know, really I owe it all to Michelle because she was the impetus that made that happen. She put the drive and totally making sure this was the move. Absolutely. What did that feel like to you? Yeah, you know, um, I've always sort of been the type of guy who doesn't really complain about much. I'm pretty easygoing and laid back. Um, and I knew that the uh final outcome was going to be well worth it. So, you know, I just did it. I just I just commuted back and forth. I left here every single uh Monday, came back every single Thursday, and um saw patients while I was there, worked to worked with my team, worked with my business, worked, you know, on a on the sale of my business. You know, it was all well worth it. I knew that in the long long game, um, I'd be here, I'd be happy, and this was just a little short speed bump in the in the in the way. You could see the finish line.

SPEAKER_01 8:50

Totally could, absolutely. Yeah. Well, we're glad you're here, Jeff, because you you've obviously created something very special, very close to Palmetto Bluff.

Choosing Dentistry Over Medicine

SPEAKER_01 9:00

Before we get into the business side of things further, tell me a bit more about what inspired you to pursue dentistry. And did you always know this was the path that you wanted to take?

SPEAKER_00 9:11

Uh so the short answer is no. I actually had no idea. Um, my dad is a physician, and I think I had every intention in following into his footsteps. And uh, you know, I would spend time at his office kind of learning, you know, what he was doing. He was an internal medicine doc. And uh I was pre-med going into college, and I was taking all my prerequisites for pre-med. And probably about my sophomore year in college, I realized that I didn't want to do medicine anymore. Uh, I didn't like being in the hospitals, I didn't like being around sick people. Um, I definitely didn't like how the larger hospital groups and insurance companies were getting in the way of uh doctors being able to provide the best quality care on a very personalized level. Uh and my dad would sort of allude to that, how like sort of the heyday of medicine was behind him, and how you know now he had to see twice as many people because the hospital was dictating the level of care.

SPEAKER_01 10:29

So through your dad, you saw a lot of change big care during those decades that he was a doctor. I I can imagine that is one of those factors that pushed you from you know want to be caught up in that system.

SPEAKER_00 10:42

Absolutely. And I also saw that my dad had, you know, at that time a pager hooked to his belt, right? And it would be going off in the middle of the night or at family dinners or and on holidays, on weekends, and you know, he'd have to attend to the phone calls. So um, you know, I was trying to envision myself in his shoes, and I was like, I don't want to do that. I mean, I don't want, I don't want to be bothered on my weekends or on holidays or you know, or on vacation. So um I quickly realized that medicine really wasn't what I wanted to do, but I really enjoyed the sciences and I really enjoyed the arts. And I had already taken all these prerequisites for medicine. So I was kind of trying to think about how I could, you know, uh use what I had under my belt and pursue a new career that had a lot of the same similarities. And luckily, I had a cousin who was a dentist who said, Hey Jeff, you need to check out to see what I'm doing in my practice. I think you're gonna like it. There's a lot of you know artistic components to what I do. I use my hands, I create, you know, I create, you know, smiles, I make people happy. I'm not around sick people. Uh and I shadowed him for a summer. And I was in his office, and you know, he was a pretty stress-free guy, enjoying life, joking around with his patients. Nobody was coming in sick and miserable. Um, and he was really good at what he did and he had a passion for it. And uh, I quickly noted that um there was a lot of immediate gratification from what he was doing. You know, somebody would come in with a broken tooth or a bad-looking smile or whatever it might be, and they'd leave happy. You he'd fix it immediately. Whereas, you know, in medicine, somebody comes in with a cough or a cold or the flu or something, and you get them on some medication, and eventually they get better. You don't always get to see the end result. You don't. And um, I like the fact that I was able to change somebody's life almost instantly. From that summer on, I realized that dentistry was for me.

SPEAKER_01 12:56

Yeah, to get those different experiences, and I'm sure learning the work ethic from your dad, the time that he put in, you know, with that pager going off to tend to his patients. I mean, that's what guided you to then even begin the conversation with your cousin and and find that wow, like this might be the way that I can help people. And gosh, I'm right there with you to see change in someone very quickly. Yeah, it's from gratifying. Yeah, like from a training session or from you know, technician of the teeth. I know I'm not saying that right, but getting them in a place where they feel confident with their smile, I mean, it's it's got to feel like the same thing that many of our trainers experience here. I mean, the patients gain confidence, they change their whole life.

unknown 13:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:39

You've built an incredible career and and a practice. I'd like to talk about the journey a bit.

Learning Business In A Clinical World

SPEAKER_01 13:45

As someone who is a high achiever, discipline is in your DNA, you invest heavily in continuing education, and you've done that throughout your career. So, what drives your commitment to growth and improvement?

SPEAKER_00 14:00

You know, I think it's kind of like with anything I do, I want to do it well and I want to strive to do my absolute best. And in order to do that, you need to invest in yourself. And, you know, whether it be in the form of continuing education or researching new and advanced technologies, reading books on business, I have my favorite books and my leadership uh mentors. I read up on these things and I want to better myself as a businessman, which, you know, um then translates into taking better care of people. Um, and you know, honestly, the crazy part about being a dentist and owning a dental practice is that there wasn't even one single class in dental school that was based on business. And we're expected to graduate and open up our dental business.

SPEAKER_01 14:56

Is that the primary route for dentists, typically their own practice? I'm sure you can join a practice, but it seems more common in dentistry that you start your own practice.

SPEAKER_00 15:06

It used to be more common than it is. And the reason why I say that is because nowadays there's these massive dental service organizations, they call them DSOs, that are trying to take over the dental landscape and corporatize the dental world. Control the whole experience. Yeah. And what they're doing is they are uh picking up new grads right out of dental school, you know, offering them a pretty attractive salary and handcuffing them essentially to the dental chair, and they're working, you know, crazy hours. They're seeing, you know, 20, 30 patients, 40 patients a day. And um unfortunately, the days of getting out of dental school and opening up your own dental practice, it's really quite uncommon now. It's more difficult than it was in the world. It is, and one of the reasons why is because people are graduating with $500,000 in debt.

SPEAKER_01 16:09

Yeah. It seems like a similar parallel to physical therapists. I know a lot of PTs who have gotten out of the recurring 20-minute sessions, 20 in a row, booked on their calendar, to then go into private practice so they can give one hour of their attention, a higher level of care to their patients. It's almost to a lot of my friends who I've I've talked to, it it's more impactful for them to have the time with the patients.

SPEAKER_00 16:40

Oh, I couldn't agree more. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:42

Yeah.

Designing World Class Dental Hospitality

SPEAKER_01 16:43

So your practice talks a lot about world-class dentistry and world-class hospitality. It's it's like this collide, is what I'm feeling.

SPEAKER_00 16:52

That's a great way to describe it.

SPEAKER_01 16:55

Why is hospitality such an important part of the patient experience that you and your team provide?

SPEAKER_00 17:01

Well, let's let's just get real. Most people in general hate going to the dentist. And the reason why they hate going to the dentist is because they've typically had really bad experiences with where they've gone previously. And there's this stigma associated with it that generally people think it's going to hurt or that it's an unpleasant experience and that it's going to be a real busy office with people running around the place and it's cold feeling and it's sterile feeling, and it smells terrible by you know, all these dental materials that we use are stinky, and the technology is archaic, and there might be some orange shag carpeting on the floor, and the staff is anything but hospitable. So, you know, we have this awful stigma that we're trying to overcome. And in my mind, I've sort of made it my mission to turn that completely around, just flip it on its head and go a hundred percent in the opposite direction, where we've created a very luxurious experience, a spa-like experience, a calming experience, one with five-star personalized service, and offer amenities that are you know similar to like one of the world's best hotels. We want to create an experience. We want those patients to feel as though this is not a dental office, this is not a healthcare facility, this is, you know, a high-end spa, a nice hotel, a private club where we truly want to get to know and build relationships with our patients. We don't see a hundred patients a day, we don't see 20 patients a day. We see a few, a handful of patients a day, and really spend the time with them, giving them the attention they deserve, giving them in a pleasurable experience, and overcoming those obstacles that history has uh led them to believe that dentistry is just miserable. Your goal is to break the paradigm. A hundred percent. And I think we've done a decent job at it. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:13

I I find in life there's always I want to and I should. And it sounds like you want to have a practice that's inviting to the point where people want to go to the dentist.

SPEAKER_00 19:26

That's absolutely right. That's absolutely right. And we actually have a comfort menu that um patients can select from uh to personalize their care and to make their visit even more comfortable. And they range from anywhere from you know artisanal coffees and cappuccinos and espresso to champagne. We even offer like CBD drops and nitrous oxide for our uh nervous or high anxiety patients. Cutting edge comfort. Absolutely, why not? And you know, we have like TVs mounted on the ceiling in every single room, and we have noise-canceling beats headphones that they wear, and they could watch their favorite movies, they could watch a Netflix movie, they can listen to their you know favorite music. We have curated playlists based on patient preferences. I mean, it's pretty cool stuff. Uh, we even had one patient um say, Hey, you guys should really consider doing like leg massages during the visit. So guess what? We did it. We got leg you get some Normotech boots. Well, they're not Normatech, but they're very similar. Yeah, we got those uh leg massagers, we got these under-eye uh patches that you know depuff the eyes and feel like they're like at a spa. It's really kind of calming. And um, you know, the other thing is that our team is not built on a bunch of people who had dental experience working in the type of practices that are traditional. I didn't want to bring people out of the traditional dental model and try to have them learn an entire new system because the traditional dental model will always be around. And people who have been in that system only know how to do things one way, and they think what we're doing is absolutely bonkers, absurd, right?

SPEAKER_01 21:21

Absurd, totally absurd. It almost triggered to me as you were going through the description of the hospitality, the experience that you're providing. I'm sure you've heard of uh find your yellow tucks, the semana banana. Absolutely, it's the same deal. It seems like there's a lot of uh symbi symbiotic relationship with that kind of thinking here. And I I was thinking to myself, man, I don't I don't have that kind of experience at my dentist right now.

SPEAKER_00 21:48

Well, they're an industry disruptor, and so are we. Yeah, right. There's a very there's a very similar parallel there. Um so you know, our team, I I built our team really through. Finding people who, in my mind, were exceptional at what they were doing in the hospitality world. You know, I brought people in who understood people who are great communicators, who have a passion for serving others, and who truly don't have any dental experience. But that's okay. I can teach that. I mean, obviously, when it comes to dentists and hygienists and the technical skills, you know, we hire people who have those necessary licenses and certificates. But all the other team members, where it's not a clinical role, it's more of a hospitality role. I'm not hiring them out of dentistry. I'm bringing them out of hospitality and teaching them what dentistry is all about.

SPEAKER_01 22:49

Jeff, I'm super aligned with that because in the fitness world, you get a lot of trainers out there with bad habits, or you have trainers who know everything about the human body under the sun and yet they lack the skill to be able to connect with people. And it's a pretty common thread. Yeah, it seems like with any business someone goes after building, hiring people who know how to connect to other people usually is a win. And then just teaching them the skills to be successful with that specific business that you're operating.

SPEAKER_00 23:24

Yep. Couldn't agree more. We've had a lot of success doing that.

SPEAKER_01 23:27

Well, it's exciting, man. I'm super stoked that Bluffton has a practice like this. And I'd love to switch gears into beyond dentistry because part of the reason I knew you'd be the perfect fit for the podcast today is that health and fitness has played a huge role in your life.

Oral Health Links To Longevity

SPEAKER_01 23:46

You're someone who I think lives it, you breathe it. And so I'd like to start with what's one thing people missed misunderstand about oral health, though, and its connection to overall health and longevity.

SPEAKER_00 24:01

Uh so great question, Jeff. And and most people think about living a long and healthy life. They think about exercise, they think about nutrition, they think about sleep, they think about preventative medicine, which are all incredibly important, but rarely do they think about their dentist. And the reality is that the mouth is one of the more powerful and overlooked windows into overall health. And this may sound crazy, but literally every single day we're looking in patients' mouths and we are identifying signs of disease. Now, whether that be uh dental disease or generalized inflammation, uh, you know, periodontal disease, which is gum disease, has a tremendous correlation to a lot of systemic diseases, whether it be diabetes, uh nutritional deficiencies, autoimmune disease, we see signs of oral cancer, we see signs of sleep apnea. So inflammation in general is one of the major drivers of chronic disease. I mean, heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's, uh, certain cancers, they all involve chronic inflammation. In periodontal disease, like I said, it's fundamentally an inflammatory condition. And patients don't realize that bleeding gums, that's not normal. Like it's not, they're not supposed to bleed. Uh and what's even crazier is that there's a bunch of research being done that shows how oral bacteria is now showing up in arterial plaque contributing to heart disease. That's pretty that's pretty mind-blowing. I never saw dentistry going in that direction, but it's absolutely fascinating. That's that's super interesting, Jeff.

SPEAKER_01 26:00

When you talk about dental disease or gum disease, it's just another sign that something is off with how that patient is living. It's just another one of those signs. You know, if you're snoring while you're sleeping, that isn't normal, like bleeding from the gums.

SPEAKER_00 26:19

Correct. And, you know, being being uh a dentist, we actually get to see patients far more often than they're typically going to their general doctor, right? So we're seeing them at a minimum twice a year. And at those visits, we are, you know, discovering, you know, what their oral health looks like. We're looking at their tissue, we're looking at their tongue, we're looking at their gums, we're looking at the pocketing of their uh between the gums and the bone, we're looking at bleeding, signs of infection, uh, inflammation. And there's a lot of uh information that we're gathering uh specifically for even like our diabetic patients. And the interesting part about our diabetic patients is that there's a very, very strong relationship between diabetes and periodontal disease, and it's actually bidirectional. So, what I mean by that is poorly controlled diabetes increases your risk for gum disease and severe periodontal disease, make blood sugar more difficult to control. So it goes in both directions, which is really quite interesting. Um, and then the other condition that we see a lot of is sleep apnea, and this seems to be a big issue nowadays. And I think that it's probably one of the more dramatically underdiagnosed conditions. That's right on. Yeah. And as you know, I mean, sleep apnea is linked to cardiovascular disease, it's linked to stroke, diabetes, weight gain, depression. And dentists can frequently identify these warning signs early on. Um, and what we do at that point is once we discover these warning signs, we will likely send the that patient off for a sleep study. Uh, once they get their sleep score and their recommendation from their sleep specialist, it may entail wearing a CPAP. Now, as you probably know, a lot of patients are not compliant with that or don't want to wear one. Uh, so there are other alternatives for patients who have mild to moderate sleep apnea. And what we do is we actually make uh oral appliances that are geared specific for sleep apnea, where it's on a where the oral appliance is on a hinge, it brings the lower jaw forward, it brings the tongue forward out of the airway space, and the patients can breathe a lot better at night, it eliminates snoring. Uh, and obviously their spouse is much happier.

SPEAKER_01 29:02

Man, I I think this is one of those areas of health we just don't think about. I mean, you set the stage where you're not thinking about is my mouth truly healthy? And it seems to me, like as someone who sees and knows the interconnectedness of blood sugars, inflammation, right? If we have high blood sugars and lots of inflammation, it's gonna affect all areas of the body. Absolutely. And so having this as another kind of tool, a provider like you, to be able to tell folks, hey, we we might see something else going on here based off the symptoms that are appearing in the the health of your mouth.

SPEAKER_00 29:43

Yeah, it's a warning sign, and that way we can investigate it further. Very cool.

CrossFit Discipline And Daily Habits

SPEAKER_01 29:48

You're very much into CrossFit. I uh got my early goings in CrossFit as well. And and uh I know you're an early worker outer, right? Like 5 a.m., 4 a.m.

SPEAKER_00 29:58

I'm at the gym at 5 15. Um, I just like to get it done. That's just that's just my uh that's my thing. Early morning, early to bed.

SPEAKER_01 30:06

Yeah, I I think it's huge having that set time every day. How has fitness influenced the way you approach your career, leadership, life? Tell us.

SPEAKER_00 30:16

Yeah, so um, like I said earlier, I mean, I I think that I'm pretty disciplined in the things that I do. Uh, I try to be as you know, pretty darn disciplined. And and fitness teaches me and teaches in general that you know progress comes from doing tough things repeatedly, over and over again, and consistently. And even when they're uncomfortable or inconvenient, um, there's no shortcut to that. It's the same in fitness and it's the same in business. You've got to show up, you've got to put in the time, you've got to put in the work, you've got to be consistent about it, you've got to be disciplined in what you're doing. And um, I think that in general, you know, waking up at 4 15 in the morning every single day and being at the gym at 5 15, I mean, I think that shows some form of discipline. I I show up, whether, you know, if I if I feel tired, if I feel sluggish from the day before, uh, if I don't feel all that great at my top, I, you know, I still wake up, I still get out of bed, I still go. Uh, sometimes you put blinders on, sometimes you just put your head down and you just grind it out. You do the best you can. You just put put in your maximum effort.

SPEAKER_01 31:25

This is just what you do, consistency.

SPEAKER_00 31:27

You know, it becomes sort of an obsession where you actually enjoy the uncomfortableness.

SPEAKER_01 31:34

I'm right there with you, Jeff. Many of our members are focused on healthy aging, and I think it takes developing habits and practices as we get older to keep us bulletproof, to keep us doing the things we want to want to do. So, from your perspective, how can someone out there make a big impact on their own health and performance with what they do today to protect them for years to come?

SPEAKER_00 32:03

I think the secret sauce is doing it consistently. I've seen so many people get into this, you know, get into this mode where they're just going incessantly and then they take like a couple months off and they lose interest and you know, they get distracted and then they get back to it and they're like, you know, 19 steps behind from where they were. Um, I think that if you're gonna do it, regardless of what you're doing, I mean, whether it's you know, powerlifting or jazz or size, it doesn't even matter, right? Just do it every single day and do it consistently and give it your all. Be disciplined about it and put in the effort. Um, I think that, you know, when once people start realizing that uh it becomes habit, they can't imagine their life without it. Um, in the days that I do take off, if I'm traveling or if I'm doing something else and I just can't make it, I look forward to the next day where I can get back to it. You know, never does like more than two days go by where I don't do some form of fitness. I just it's just, you know, I miss it. Um so to answer your question, I think it's just about showing up and and and making it a habit. And, you know, even when it's uncomfortable, um continue to put your head down and do it. And I think that's where the growth, the growth happens. Do it today, do it tomorrow, do it the next day, and eventually, you know, it's just gonna be like brushing your teeth in the morning. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:38

Showing up is the main thing. And I love how you pointed out that it's not about what you do, right? It's about doing it.

SPEAKER_00 33:46

Do what you enjoy, right? If you like and if you enjoy tennis, do tennis. If you enjoy running, go running. If you enjoy powerlifting, then do that.

SPEAKER_01 33:55

And there was a great nugget in there as well where it's put in the effort when you're there. Getting through the door is the hard part. 100% you're there. Take advantage of the time that you do have. Absolutely. As you've grown professionally and personally, you know, I know your daughter's been getting older. I'm extremely curious about how your perspective has evolved over the years.

Redefining Success And Wellness

SPEAKER_01 34:18

So, what are you most excited about in your practice, your personal life, and this next season for you and your family?

SPEAKER_00 34:26

So it's definitely exciting to see Old Moreland Dental becoming exactly what I envisioned it could be. Um, like I said earlier, I you know, we're an industry disruptor, and I love that because I hate the traditional healthcare model. I just feel like it's totally broken. And my whole mission was to be an industry disruptor and do something really sort of wacky that is um maybe not everybody's cup of tea, but in my mind, it's really what the healthcare profession needs. And it's getting back to the personalized care, uh, getting out of the insurance industry and getting back into uh helping people. Uh so I love that Old Moreland Dental has become what it has. And um I really enjoy creating an experience that truly changes how people feel about going to the dentist. I mean, that part's really cool because every single day people leave our practice and they say, like, I've never ever been to a dentist like this before. This is really amazing. Like, I can't imagine myself going back to like my old dentist.

SPEAKER_01 35:42

How does it feel when they say that?

SPEAKER_00 35:43

Incredible. I mean, because that's exactly what I want them to say.

SPEAKER_01 35:48

That's the arrow that you were aiming at the target, and it's happening.

SPEAKER_00 35:52

I want it to be a game changer where patients just can't go back to what they're used to.

unknown 35:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:58

Um, and then so from personally, um my daughter Zoe, she's 16 years old, and it's really um exciting watching her sort of navigate this next chapter of her life. It's it's really, really rewarding watching her develop confidence and pursue her interests. She's doing tennis and sporting plays, and now she's sort of into fitness, which is cool. Um, she's just an incredibly hard worker. She's looking at uh uh sort of colleges now. So um that part is interesting. And really, she has a true passion for serving others. And, you know, I want to see kind of where that takes her in what type of career. I don't want to push anything on her, but she is doing a summer internship with me. I don't necessarily know if it's for her, but I think time will tell. Um, I think that she enjoys it, but I don't necessarily know if she likes the uh, I guess the clinical element of it.

SPEAKER_01 37:02

The art science connection might not be there.

SPEAKER_00 37:04

Maybe not. And she'll figure that out for herself. But it's really nice look, you know, uh spending time watching her develop as a person. Um and you know, um, as far as you know, family matters go, right? 20 years of marriage. We just celebrated our 20th anniversary last week. Oh, congrats, man. Thanks. I appreciate it. So there's there's really more of a deeper appreciation for like shared experiences, family experiences, travel, friendships, just kind of building a life together. Um, and they mean they they truly mean more now than they have in years past. Um, and then as far as like the next season of my this next chapter, I guess you can say, is you know, I'm excited about kind of pursuing bigger opportunities, whether it's growing the practice or you know, developing real estate projects that I'm super interested in, um, you know, creating new experiences for our patients, kind of thinking out of the box. What are what could we even improve on further? Like, what is like the craziest thing that other industries are doing with their customers? And, you know, how can we adopt some of that, I guess, specialness and bring it into our business? Like, how could we make it? How could we what can we do to actually even differentiate ourselves even further? So I'm looking at bringing in new experiences for our patients, for our community, but but really doing it with more purpose. Um, and ultimately, you know, what excites me most is the opportunity to keep growing, to become a better husband, to become a better father, to become a better leader, and certainly to become a better entrepreneur.

unknown 38:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:50

I mean, I can hear the focus continuing to disrupt, continuing to invent, and continuing to connect and impact at a greater level. It's I think high achievers like yourself, Jeff, it's it's it's all folks who have that mindset are after of like always being better the next day. And it's it's great to hear the level of detail that you provided there. And it triggered me to think about okay, Jeff's a high achiever, he's super dialed in. And it can be hard with how we define success sometimes, or we may have defined success differently earlier in life. What does that look like for you now, your career today? How would you define success?

SPEAKER_00 39:37

Yeah, so I definitely think that you know, defining success now is a little bit different than maybe if you asked me 10 years ago. Um so earlier in my career, I think I would answer the question uh with you know, success was more about what I could accomplish and sort of my achievements. But if you were to ask me now, I think I think success is not necessarily about just that, although I I that there's definitely some elements of that. But today I think it's more about the impact I can have on people and the impact I can have on transforming their lives and um the legacy that uh I hopefully will leave behind. You know, and I think achievement still matters, but I think that relationships, purpose, health, and family, those all matter far more to me now. Final question What does wellness mean to you? Wellness means having the energy and having the freedom to do the things that matter most, both now and into the future. And when I say that, I mean it in both from a business standpoint and from a personal and life standpoint. So really just investing in my health today so that I can enjoy tomorrow and the next day and the next day and deep into my old age, where I'm not necessarily just living longer, but I'm living healthier and longer. I think that's the difference between, you know, health span and life lifespan. Um, so I think that those are the elements that I would say what wellness means to me.

SPEAKER_01 41:31

Thanks, Jeff. This has been awesome, bro.

SPEAKER_00 41:33

Thank you. This was great.

SPEAKER_01 41:34

Yeah. I mean, just to hear more about the hospitality focus that you have at Old Moreland Dental, the connection between oral health and our overall longevity, and just diving into you as a leader, the discipline, the showing up. I mean, outstanding. Well, that's a wrap on our main conversation.

Consistency As The Real Disruption

SPEAKER_01 41:57

Listeners, feel free to hang out with me for a few minutes longer and get some healthy momentum for the rest of your week. The major theme that stood out in my conversation with Jeff Solomon today was the idea of being a disruptor. Jeff has built a dental practice that challenges the status quo. He invested in technology, education, hospitality, and patient experience long before those things became common. It still isn't common to have necessarily a luxurious patient experience at a dental office. He has committed to a different and better way. He's committed to serving people differently through the experience that him and his team provide. It got me thinking about wellness. When most people think about disrupting their health, they typically look for something new: a new workout, a new diet, a new supplement, a new gadget with AI out now. Something that in most cases promises faster results. But what if the real disruption in wellness is consistency? What if the thing that separates people who thrive from those who struggle isn't doing something revolutionary, but doing the basics over and over again. Moving your body even when you don't feel like it, going to bed on time when nobody is watching, choosing the walk, the workout, the strength class, or the healthy meal when motivation is low. The truth is, consistency isn't flashy. That's why we don't talk about it. It will never be on the Wall Street Journal headlines or New York Times. It doesn't sell nearly as well as the latest trend. But it works. In a world constantly chasing the next big thing, showing up day after day for things that matter may be the most disruptive thing you can do. So this week, don't worry about finding a better plan. Focus on following the one you already know works. Because success in wellness is rarely about doing more. It's about doing the right things consistently enough for long enough that then they compound. Until next week, keep building healthy momentum. And remember to actively participate in life on your terms.