Take the Small Step: How Teledentistry Is Expanding Access and Changing the Way We Care

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Melissa Turner to talk about teledentistry — but what we really explore is how change actually happens inside traditional industries.

Melissa is a hygienist, founder, consultant, and the first Chief Hygiene Officer in dentistry. She thrives at what she calls the intersection of tradition and innovation. 

We talk about increasing access to care, supporting clinicians, navigating AI, and what it takes to move an entire industry forward.

Her advice is simple and practical: just take a small step.

If you’ve been hesitant to adopt something new — in your practice or your life — this conversation is for you.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Just take a small step. It can even be a small step back or to the side. It doesn't have to be forward. But take a small step to implement, you know, one appointment of virtual care, you know, a week. Like something small, just to get you going to thinking outside the box. Because it's so often we are used to just thinking how we think, right? And we're not used to being uncomfortable. And so you don't need to take a big step for anything, just a small step.

SPEAKER_02 0:27

Welcome to the I Am Wiser Podcast, where the biggest questions in healthcare and wellness meet the collective wisdom of industry leaders and innovators. I'm Dr. Laura Purdy. And here we explore the intersections of AI, care delivery, telehealth policy, and more. Through the lens of those who are reshaping healthcare. This is not just about theory, it's about lived experience and real industry insights. Let's dive in and get wiser together. Welcome to today's episode of the I Am Wiser Podcast with Dr. Laura Purdy, where I explore the real stories behind groundbreaking healthcare innovations and the human impact they have on patients and providers. On that note, I'm delighted to welcome Dr. Melissa Turner, a visionary in the world of dentistry and teledentistry. As the industry's first chief hygiene officer and a trailblazer in leveraging technology to improve oral health care, Melissa is here to share her inspiring journey and the powerful role teledentistry plays in reshaping access, quality, and patient empowerment.

SPEAKER_01 1:38

Thank you, thank you, Laura. I couldn't have said it better myself. So thanks for that great introduction.

SPEAKER_02 1:43

Thank you for joining me. So let's dive in. I am dying to know what is teledentistry. Can you tell me just a little bit about teledentistry? Who are you treating? What are you treating? How does it work? Do you sit there with a camera and just say, oh, let me look in there? Like, how does it work?

SPEAKER_01 2:01

Yeah. Well, you didn't know we could do root canals over Zoom, did you? No. Okay. I did not, actually. No, that's a good question. And that's something I get, you know, every day from dentists and patients alike. All that teledentistry is, is the same thing that you are doing in telehealth, telemedicine, right? It's the same thing. It's okay, let's meet and greet new patients. Let's get new patients, funnel them through maybe a consumer-facing teledental platform. They call in, they have pain, they meet with a doctor on you know some website, and then they get funneled through a practice, right? So there's that side of teledentistry. Then there's the side of teledentistry where it's actually uh we call it the synchronous, right? The face-to-face where the doctor is actually speaking with the patient one-on-one for maybe even 30 seconds. And a lot of those appointments are the the quick look and see appointment, or if you have kids, it's the oh my god, my kid fell, what do I do? Right. And like it takes us a second to look and like, no need to worry, just come in on Monday, right? That kind of thing. But then what we're also seeing, too, as as dentistry maybe opens up and into its um more of an innovative place. We're seeing uh dental practices begin to understand that they don't have to stay within their brick and mortar, that they can take either concierge dental care, mobile dentistry out to the patient wherever they are, in their home, in their workplace, in their schools. And then through that, there's there's that teledentistry helps keep that connection from the off-site providers to the main provider. And so it's it's I mean, it's the same thing as telemedicine, right? But nobody ever thinks about it, right? No, oh really, but you can. It's amazing what you can see through a phone. When I have my patient, you know, FaceTime me, well, HIPAA-compliant FaceTime, when they're video chatting me on phone, it really does reveal so much of the mouth that, you know, it sometimes all it needs to all sometimes all you need to say to the parent is, hey, you're fine. The kid is fine. There's no need to, you know, just come in on Monday and enjoy the weekend, right?

SPEAKER_02 4:18

That's awesome. So I'm hearing urgent care triage, um, which is a lot of, you're right, that is exactly like medicine, urgent care triage, increasing access to care, reducing barriers to care, using technology to shorten the distance between the patient and the dentist or the dental team or the office. That's that's wonderful. I had no idea that dentistry was doing it too. So congratulations. It makes sense.

SPEAKER_01 4:45

It it just makes sense when you think about it, right? And then, and then too, what we really want to do is be able to bridge that oral systemic connection. And so having a hygienist or dentist in a healthcare facility in a pediatrician's office, and then they can be that off-site provider from the dentist, but then referring back and seeing patients in that healthcare facility, right? So, so then that really opens up access. And and that's my heart is opening up not just healthcare, but dentistry in specific. It's still a little bit of a privileged industry. Uh opening up dentistry to everyone so they can get easy access to it. Increasing access to care.

SPEAKER_02 5:28

I love that. Well, thank you. I I have five children on behalf of you know, parents, parents and people who are high utilizers of dentistry in America, which I qualify as that. Thank you for what you do. And I'm gonna seek that out actually, because that's something I could use in my life. I mean, we've had it all. We've had broken teeth, we've had abscess teeth, we've had uh knocked out teeth, we've had all the things. And it always happens at two in the morning or on a Saturday or a Sunday, right? And and so I thank you for what you do because that's that's incredible.

SPEAKER_01 6:00

Yeah, you're welcome. Wow. And it's it's one of these things too, you know, when I talk to the older generations of dentists about this, they will often say, Well, I'm doing that anyway. You know, I'm going to my patient's house on the weekend, or they're sending me pictures on their phone, right? Of their kids' teeth. And I'm like, well, okay, well, that's number one, make it HIPAA compliant. But number two, let's make this a part of your operating clinical flow and let's get you reimbursed for it too, right? Like there's no need to have to do it. You don't have to do that for free, right? But they're all like doing it. So it's just this mind shift that they need.

SPEAKER_02 6:35

So actually, that's a really great segue into something I was wondering because I'm curious. Are the insurance companies willing to reimburse for because now for telehealth, right? The insurance companies are finally reimbursing, but you have to do it a certain way, you have to use certain codes. It's like a whole thing, but you can get it paid for. Are the insurance companies willing to reimburse, or is this more of a cash pay situation?

SPEAKER_01 7:02

Just how that works. They are. It's you know, it's state-to-state basis, and there's different parity laws in place. You know, they'll some states will pay the same for an oral exam if it was done in person or virtually, right? Um, and then some will pay partial. Uh, so it is different state to state, but it's pretty mainstream now. Most insurance companies through COVID are now uh reimbursing some aspect of it in dental. They won't necessarily necessarily reimburse you for the teledentistry code, but they'll they'll reimburse you for the procedures that were done, you know, at teledentistry. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:39

Sure. Oh, that's so interesting. And how do you feel? So I hear you when you say you're you're trying to get the dentist on board with it, but how are the patients? Do the patients like it? Do the patients think it's weird? Are they open to trying it? How's the the receptivity level of on the patient side of things?

SPEAKER_01 7:56

It's a no-brainer. I mean, you the easy the easy answer is all the young generations, like this is how we function anyway, right? We're gonna function, we're gonna FaceTime everyone and Snapchat everyone. So why aren't we doing this with our dentists? Right. And even the older generations, they're the ones that will say, really? You can do that. But but that and that's another, that's that's another really huge segment that I'm advocating for right now, because a lot of the um the baby boomer patients are losing autonomy, right? So they're they're leaving the dental practice, they can't drive in the rain anymore, they have health issues, they can't really get around like they used to. But if we can train them, the older generations, on how to contact us through virtual care, whether it's texting or video chatting, then when they can no longer come into the dental practice, they can still be active patients of ours. So so once we can train them, and it doesn't take much to train them, right? And to kind of change that mindset, there's a little bit of a what, you can do that? And then they're like, oh my gosh, this makes sense. And it benefits them. Yes, please.

SPEAKER_02 8:59

Wow. Okay, so I'm hearing increasing access to care. I'm hearing empowerment. You're talking about patient empowerment, allowing them to retain their autonomy. That's that's a very empowering principle. I'm wondering if you do you have any specific stories? I mean, of course, HIPAA, we won't use names and we'll only, you know, share what we can, but do you have any specific real life stories of patients or even dentists, clients, practices, any big real life success stories that you feel are powerful enough that would be relevant to share?

SPEAKER_01 9:31

Yeah. I mean, there's a couple different angles we could take. So for a while, and and this traditionally in the past for dentistry, virtual care and normal dentistry had been uh more focused on public health, but now it's becoming more and more mainstream and work profit. But I was director of a mobile dentistry program in Minnesota for a while. And we implemented teledentistry while I was there. And I don't even know the exact numbers, but it was something like we tripled you know production and patient load because we were able to then see patients more off-site. And it just from that standpoint, it was phenomenal. And then one of the things we realized was, and and I'm a huge advocate, not just for uh making dentistry a better place for the patient, but also for the provider as well. I'm a hygienist, I know what it's like to work clinically, and I know how hard it can be. And I also know that dentistry is one of the most inefficient business models out there. And so what I know is that if we can help make the dental industry a more flexible place for the provider, for the clinician, then it will trickle down to the patient. So I've had dentists who uh had gone on surgery for carpal tunnel surgery leave uh patients that get pregnant and can no longer work chair side, but now they can still work clinically through teledentistry and do it even at home while they're nursing their baby, right? Ironically enough, or do it while they're on surgery leave. And that increases their quality of life and then increases flexibility as well.

SPEAKER_02 11:15

Awesome. So we're talking about how bringing teledentistry into the practice is not only better for the patients, but it's also better for the clinicians as well, because it allows them a little bit more freedom. It allows them to have probably better work-life balance or work-life integration and not be so chained to their office with the more traditional office-based dental model. So that's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 11:41

And you and I both know how hard it is to be, you know, a parent and clinical workers. You know, it's hard to work clinically anyway, let alone you've got kids at home that you've got to somehow feed and like retain.

SPEAKER_02 11:56

That's great. Well, okay, so that's a great segue as well. So talk to me about how did you personally get involved in this innovative dentistry care industry? Did someone recruit you for a company that they were starting, or did it start with an office, or did you come up with an idea and start your own company? Like how did you get so invested into this segment of the industry?

SPEAKER_01 12:22

Well, I think, Laura, there's two things. The first is I am a self-made woman. So if something needs to get done, I will get it done, right? Yeah. I love that. The second thing was, you know, when I was working clinically full-time, I was very antsy. I was an employee, I didn't own my own practice, and it was just not a thriving environment. And so I knew clinical work for full time was not gonna last for long. So that was early on in my career, right? And then I realized pretty soon that the industry is broken and that change needs to happen. And so for a little bit of time, I was waiting around just to watch people make the change, right? And then I realized, no, no, no, no, no, like I've got to hold on this, I can make the change that needs to happen. And so through the years, what I've realized, you know, when people ask me what my superpowers are, I for a long time, like many people, you know, I didn't know. I was like, well, I don't know. I'm a good speaker, I'm great with patients, right? But that's not that's not like superpower. But what I've realized is kind of throughout the years that I I not only enjoy, but I thrive living at the intersection between tradition and innovation. And I feel I don't know if that's a if that's like a traditional millennial characteristic or what, but like I can roll with the OGs and I can play their game, but then I can also raise my fist with the young ones and be like, yes, let's fight and change the world, right? And so I think that's kind of and being the youngest kid in my galley didn't, you know, didn't help anyway. That prepared me, but I I think that's you know, throughout all of my journey, that's my gut, that's my drive. That's saying, hey, like you can go make shit happen, you can create a legacy for your kids, for those who are to come and make a positive change all at the same time. Just get it done. And and so that's kind of where I find myself living right now. And it's really fun. It's it's a heck of heck of a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_02 14:25

You love what you're doing, and it shows. I mean, listen to the passion in your voice. You love what you're doing.

SPEAKER_01 14:30

Yeah, yeah. And part of it is too, like in dentistry, because it is such a traditional niche, uh, very old school, it almost makes it too easy to be the innovator, right? Because we're still dantias using fax machines, and here I am saying a virtual appointment. And they're like, Oh my gosh, too much, too much, Melissa.

SPEAKER_02 14:52

Back away slowly. Wow. But also it leaves you with a lot of space to be able to imagine and envision, and the playground is wide open, right? The sandbox is empty, and you can step in and say, I have an idea. What if imagine together that we can do things this way and you're making everyone's lives better, including your own, at the same time? So why not?

SPEAKER_01 15:15

That's exactly right. Why not? That's what I tell my kids. Why not? Why not?

SPEAKER_02 15:20

Why not? So it was a grind, I would imagine, sitting there. I mean, I'm sure you love taking care of patients and taking care of people, of course, but the grind of doing the same thing in the same way at the same place at the same time every day, and then also feeling like you might do that for the next 30 years. No wonder you decided to become an innovator.

SPEAKER_01 15:39

Yeah, yeah. For a lot of clinicians, as it used to be that when you graduated from dental school or hygiene school or whatever school you're graduating from, a lot of times uh in the past, we used to reach our glass ceiling right away. And that was frustrating, right? Because that's all we had then, clinical. You know, we've just had clinical. And now we can be founders. Now we can quit clinical and use that experience to help with consulting and all this other stuff. And I think that's kind of seeing that transition throughout the years. It's it's it's a fun thing for me to kind of watch the industry grow.

SPEAKER_02 16:14

Well, and as a self-made, you know, self-proclaimed, self-made, take charge, kind of visionary trailblazing innovator in your field, you can take that wherever you want. That makes glass ceilings very irrelevant, at least in my experience. The glass ceiling is only as relevant as we decide that it is or is not. And you can just go right. You can just ignore it and walk right past it and put up your little ladder and on you go, right? Like take the elevator straight up. A little hammer and do a little breaking of the glass ceiling. That's right. I love it. I think that's amazing. So, all right, so let's talk a little bit about um, so I'm curious, right? Because you mentioned millennial, I'm a millennial as well. I fall into the older, the elder millennial is the generation that I'm most aligned with. And I'm curious, how has it been for you like getting involved in social media and putting yourself out there and taking pictures and videos of yourself and putting them all over the internet, at least for me personally? It has not been my favorite thing to do. Uh, I did it begrudgingly. You know, I told my first um marketing team, I am not doing Instagram, forget about it. No, no, no. And we actually made it six months without having any Instagram. And then I realized that is just not the way the world works and you know, gave in. But how has that been for you? Did you also do that begrudgingly as a millennial, or were you easier, you know, faster to adopt than me?

SPEAKER_01 17:43

Well, you know, I do remember life without the internet, right? But throughout that, throughout, I think I was sixth grade when my when my class first got internet, and we like the beeps were happening and we all logged on, and then nobody knew what to do. I can hear it. I can hear the beeps. I know what you're talking about. I don't know if I feel stressed when I hear that. That's really excitement. I don't know how my body rings. Uh so so I do remember that when the internet came out, I was like, this isn't this is amazing, right? I don't know what I'm doing with it. And then like pretty soon you can buy you get your plane tickets on it, and then pretty soon MySpace came out, and then you know, all of this stuff. But each time something new came out, I do remember being pretty public-facing and open about it. So when MySpace came out, I was posting. When blogs came out, I was like, okay, let's start like 500 blogs and just like get things out there, right? So I think I have a little bit easier time than you. Oh, but but it is a very vulnerable thing. It's it's and I don't know if you've watched the Martha Stewart documentary where she was not. Oh do I need to watch it? Yes, okay. You remind will be. I will watch it. The gist is the gist is she was one of the first people to make her face her brand. And there were so many people that were saying no, don't do it. That's not wise, because if if your face, you know, distorts in any way, shape, or form, not even just physically, but if it's something, you know, if you get a bad rep, then you're then your whole brand is done, right? But she did in that lesson. So that's why for me, you know, it is a very vulnerable thing to be public-facing in any aspect, but it's also something I know comes naturally, and I've learned to just tune out the haters. Uh, I think for me, the most difficult part, and you'll have to tell me if you struggle with this as well. Um, you know, I have a lot of influencer friends who are simply just uh influencers behind the scenes. They don't make public appearances, they're not on stage, they don't go to corporate events, they're not, you know, it's they're just behind the screen. And I I feel like it's it's harder to be both behind the screen, but then also in person because you know, just stupid things like you can't use an AI filter that's super AI because then nobody will recognize you, right? You're not real. Yeah, she's old, isn't she? She doesn't look anything like that. Yeah. She doesn't look anything like that. Or like you just have to what what I've worked on, what I I think one of the keys, and I do a lot of coaching with with founders and people who want to become more public-facing on social media. And I say one of the keys that you have to do is make sure your online persona, even your written copy verbiage language, matches what you bring out in person because that's what's going to pull it all together. And in an age where everyone is using chat and generative AI to create social posts, I'm like, ah, I will never do that because it's like dime a dozen, right? I remember there was a time where I was trying to make every social post perfect. Every photo had to be perfect, the lighting had to be perfect, you know, no extra periods, no extra commas, you know. And now I'll throw in an extra period because I'm like, I want people to know this is actually me and not like just to prove how imperfect you are. I love that. So I feel like I have a little more easier time than you, but it's because uh I I have always liked it, you know, from little on up.

SPEAKER_02 21:24

So that's hysterical. No, I can't relate to that at all. I I I was the latest adopter. I mean, to be fair, I I worked for the government for 15 years. And when you work for the government, you don't get to, you can't represent yourself because you're a property of the government. So I acknowledge that some of this had to do with that. But no, I I was the in fact, I don't know if you've you Google around sometime, you'll see we did this brief thing of the America's Favorite Doctor campaign. And that was this whole image constructed by someone else. You should look this way, you should dress this way, you should talk this way, you should only wear these colors. Metallic silver was not on the list of colors I should wear. You know, and this is what you should do, and this is who you should be. But but it's exactly what you're talking about. If you met me in real life where you hung out with me casually, the the person, the persona and the person were two completely different, um, two completely different people, and it was exhausting. Really. So I I love that. That's like a we'll call that the bonus wisdom. If you're gonna do social media, just be yourself and don't tune out the haters.

SPEAKER_01 22:32

Yeah, yeah. And the honestly, the older I get, so I turned this is gonna be revealing, but I turned 40 this year. And I remember when one of my friends, she was older than me, she had already turned 40. And she's like, Melissa, when you turn 40, you're just not gonna give an F what other people care. Like what other people care about you or think about you. And I'm like, I turned the day I turned 40, I was like, man, I just don't care anymore.

SPEAKER_02 23:01

I do not care. I turned 40 last year, and I absolutely do not care. There's I don't care. I don't care. Even coming into this day, I said, I don't care. It doesn't have to be perfect. Things are gonna go wrong. It doesn't even matter. I what can you do? So I love that. Well, okay, that'll be bonus wisdom number two. Once you get past the age of 40, you you have permission not to care. So so let's bring it back. Let's bring it back to the teledentistry. And um, I so let's talk about the elephant in the technological room, which is AI. So are you using AI? Because it's kind of interesting. I've been in telehealth for almost 10 years. So I've seen the iterations of all of the things that people have done, right? First it was urgent care, and then it was sexual health, and then they came into insurance, and then it was like lab testing and STDs, and then it was weight loss, every resume weight loss. And now everybody wants to use AI, and everybody's always talking about it. And the answer is yes, of course, we're going to use AI. I can't tell you exactly how, but I know that we're going to. Talk to me about the future of AI as a tool, not a replacement, but a tool that you're going to be using in teledentistry. Are you already using it? Is it an emerging technology? Where are you at on that?

SPEAKER_01 24:26

So over COVID, dental AI came out, right? And I'm using these air quotes because dental AI came out, and still to this day, when when we say AI in dentistry, people think that this is what it is, right? This small fragment of what we're using it for. So dental AI came out over COVID on um basically it'll it'll read the radiographs for us, right? And tell us, you know, here's a cavity, here's some bone loss, here's something we don't know what it is, but it shouldn't be there. And so it's still very novel. I would guess maybe a quarter, maybe a quarter of dental practices are using it now, maybe a third. So that's that is how dental AI came into my space. But the fact is, we've been using it forever in, you know, in other things, right? Anytime you pick up a device or a phone or practice management system. But right now we're seeing it come out as, you know, robots for the front front office, right? So people call in, they think they're talking to a front office person, but it's really a dental AI robot. So that's kind of the next step in this, but all in the background of it. So those are the fragmented artificial intelligence uses. But in the back end of this, there's some exciting things happening where you know it goes uh a step above. And it's basically like um kind of like a Siri for dental, right? The the dentist comes in, this Siri walks the dentist, you know, through the day, through all the patients. It can ask the dentist, the dentist can ask it to do anything, write up the treatment plan, you know, and it will do it for you. Uh, and it's kind of one step above and pulls everything together. So that's that in itself is gonna revolutionize my industry, my tiny, tiny industry and push, kind of propel them, force, force these dental practice owners, a lot of them are still dentists, to to kind of move into the 21st century, right? To actually get their shit together, to get more efficient in their dental practice, to use virtual care and things like that. So eventually, you know, I don't even think we'll be talking about teledentistry or telehealth or AI because it's just gonna be part of what we do anyway, right? Just so in green in what we do. But for now, we'll take the baby steps to get there.

SPEAKER_02 26:47

Baby steps, baby steps. Yeah, that's great. Wow. How exciting! I think this is so fascinating to me. And I love learning about the technology that other industries or other corners of the sandbox are evolving and developing. So I see in your caption that you're a founder. Have we talked yet about what what what did you found and what does it do? Tell me, tell me about your uh venture, your endeavor that you're personally and I gotta know more about Chief Hygiene Officer. I tell me, tell me what I need to know about what you founded and most specifically the impact that you personally and your venture are making on the on your little section of the industry.

SPEAKER_01 27:29

Yeah, it is, it is a little section, but I'm proud, I'm proud. I don't know how I got here, but I'm proud to be in it. Uh so chief hygiene officer, this is for a consulting group. Uh we grow and we accelerate businesses. So it's a consulting group inside of dentistry, and we'll grow any manufacturer, tech company, things like that. So that's the chief hygiene aspect of it. Uh, I was the first chief hygiene officer in dentistry, and now we're seeing that pick up a lot in um specifically in the corporate side of dentistry, where you know, it's no longer a dentist that owns the practice, it's more of a group practice that's owned by a third party. Uh they're called DSLs. I don't know if anybody knows what that is outside of dentistry, but in the corporate group practice, uh, there's room for hygienists and clinical officers to grow outside of the clinical, you know, just the clinical role. So we're we're seeing some chief hygiene officers, chief general officers come through there, which is super exciting. Uh, but as far as the founder aspect, I am a dental event nerd. I love getting together, even through COVID. I loved getting together at dental events with my friends, right? They become part of your family. It's a special group that will still get together in person. Uh, I'm aging myself there, right? But so what I did was for this teledentistry and for a few other aspects of the industry, I I founded and co-founded some national events. So we've got a teledentistry conference, we've got something called the Jenobi Awards, which is well, we wanted to call it dentistry's Oscars, right? How nerdy are we, right? That's big red carpet extravaganza. But so it's fun, though. That's a lot fun. One day a year we get together and just give out a whole bunch of awards. And then we have this prevention summit that we have as well. Uh, that's kind of along with AI, it's propelling dentistry into a preventive-based future instead of a reactive disease-based industry. So, so I love dental events. I love speaking at them, I love running them. I just love everybody getting together and hugging each other, right?

SPEAKER_02 29:39

I love it. And so your your specific um, what you have founded does the like you put on the events or you throw the awards, or is that how that works?

SPEAKER_01 29:50

Yeah, so they're my babies. So we've created them and now we're growing them. And then, but but the bulk of my time is either spent on stage speaking, you know, outside of outside of that, or uh as a brand strategy consultant. So that's where I spend most of my time is in the boardroom. You know, a lot of times only the only female in the boardroom. But you are. That's a whole other podcast, isn't it? Yeah. Yes, it is. But working alongside startups and mature companies on, you know, how can they have these fantastic revolutionary products that are coming out, you know, every week these days, but they don't know how to speak to the healthcare professional. They don't know how what words to use, you know. So I'll walk alongside with their product launches, with the product line launches, and and even with development, a lot of times, to help them grow their product and get their work out in a way where dental professionals will actually hear what they're trying to say.

SPEAKER_02 30:48

So I'm hearing that you're generating impact on all fronts. You're bringing people together, you're recognizing their achievements, which I'm sure has not been done a lot previously by rewarding them, giving them awards, calling them out on what they're doing great or what their superpowers are. You're helping practices innovate, you're helping businesses grow, you're helping brands. I mean, that's all you do is just help people and have impact everywhere you go with every person you interact with.

SPEAKER_01 31:16

Yeah. And that's, you know, it used to be where I'm like, I should stick to one lane and stay in it. And then once I try 40, no, the older I got, then I realized I'm gonna play to my strengths. So whether it's helping people in this area, that area, the bottom line is I want to make the industry better for both the patient and provider. So that's the one thing that ties all of it together. And I think that's just who I am. I want to make people help them live a better life. Like we have one life and it goes by pretty fast.

SPEAKER_02 31:47

And so it does, especially when you're about halfway through it, right? So I can relate to you there. Okay. Well, listen, thank you for spending so much time with me today. Thank you for sharing. I have learned so much in the last half hour about an industry that I really had no idea. So I'm really happy that you're out there doing what you're doing for all of the people that you're doing it for. I just have a couple, couple more, I'll say questions or words of wisdom to glean for you before we call it a day. And my first would be so can you tell me what's the one piece of wisdom that you would give patients and clinicians alike when they're thinking about taking the plunge to adopt technology? Maybe they're afraid, maybe they're like me and they don't want to use social media, or maybe they're using paper charts and fax machines and they don't want to do video visits and they want to keep on their iPhone. What advice do you give them from a consultant standpoint to help get them over that hump and with the current times?

SPEAKER_01 32:56

What I would say, and I say this a lot even outside of my consulting, I'll say it to my kids too, but I'll say just take a small step. It can even be a small step back or to the side. It doesn't have to be forward, but take a small step to implement, you know, one appointment of virtual care, you know, a week, like something small just to get you going, to thinking outside the box, because it's so often we are used to just thinking how we think, right? And we're not used to being uncomfortable. And so you don't need to take a big step right away, just a small step. And I don't know if you uh are into Mel Robbins at all, but she's come out with her five-second rule book. And so, you know, the easiest thing to do when you don't want to do something, if even if it's a small step, is to just count down from five and do it, right? Just make yourself and get it. Do it anyways.

SPEAKER_02 33:47

Do it anyways. I say, how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. There you go. That's great. Okay, and last but not least, what are you most excited about when you look to the future, the next five, 10, 15, 20 years of your amazing career? What excites you the most?

SPEAKER_01 34:07

What excites me the most is change. Change that is out of my control. And this very well could be just a coping mechanism for change that's out of my control. But it's what I know. Yeah. What I know is when things change, whether for good or for bad, then that's when opportunity arises. And so in healthcare, we're seeing all kinds of legislative changes, we're seeing changes through Medicaid, Medicare, we're seeing everything change right now. And it's kind of been that way since COVID, but now this is like around two. And now with generative AI, you know, we're gonna see more change in the next five years than we have in the last 50, just through technology. And and so it's it's these times of change that I'm like, okay, this is when I can change because everything else is changing. So I can be who I want to be, or you can be who you want to be. Uh or and this is what I tell my kids all the time, too. I'm like, you don't have to be, they're starting school tomorrow, right? You don't have to be who you were last year in second grade. You're no in third grade, you could be who you whoever you want to be. So that's right, like live intentionally, right? And take this change opportunity to just live intentionally. I I think that's the biggest piece of advice I could get ever give anyone. And I tell myself every day, same thing.

SPEAKER_02 35:27

Embrace change, whatever it is, embrace technology, embrace teledentistry, embrace turning 40, embrace it all, embrace social media. I love it. I love it. Thank you. This has been a wonderful conversation. I have loved spending time with you. Dr. Turner, thank you so much. I wish you the best in all the things that you're working on, and we'll talk to you soon. Laura, thank you. It's been a pleasure. Thank you for tuning in to the I Am Wiser Podcast, where each episode brings us closer to a wiser, more human approach to healthcare. If today's conversation inspired you or sparked new ideas, share it with someone who's ready to rethink healthcare. And you have a story or innovation that could light the way for others to reach out. We'd love to hear from you. This space is yours too. Don't forget to follow, rate, and review us on your favorite platform. Until next time, stay curious, stay courageous, and stay wiser.