Turn Back the Years With a Smile!

[00:00:00] Speaker A: On this month's episode, we'll talk about how to keep that youthful appearance when we speak with Andrea Keith at Andrea Keith Aesthetics. And then we'll talk about the importance of dental health when we speak with Casey J. Owen of Owen family Dentistry. Justin has lots of information in tech news and tech tips, as always. And our DTC expert has a lot of information about the importance of a quality and reliable business phone system. [00:00:22] Speaker B: Learn more about fun local events and interesting people throughout the heart of middle Tennessee, with a dash of everyday tech talk thrown in for good measure. Click starts now. [00:00:34] Speaker A: Hello, everybody. Welcome to the August edition of the Local Click. The local click is the technology based podcast brought to you by DTC Communications each and every month on the first Wednesday of each month, where we talk all things technology, but also talk to a lot of interesting people. So we have a lot of fun getting to meet different people in our DTC service area. And this month is no exception. And with me, as always, is Justin Malden. Hello, Justin. How are you? [00:01:03] Speaker C: I'm doing well, Nick. I'm glad to still be your robin on this show. [00:01:07] Speaker A: That's right. That's right. Hey, this is the 12th episode of the local clique. That means we survived an entire year. [00:01:14] Speaker D: Congratulations. [00:01:16] Speaker C: Are we gonna start calling every one of them after this season two, then? [00:01:20] Speaker A: I think we should, don't you? [00:01:21] Speaker C: I think we should, yeah. Get a different numbers, kid. [00:01:22] Speaker A: Sounds impressive. [00:01:24] Speaker C: It is impressive that we've been doing this for. For over a year, and we've got to meet some exciting people. We've got to learn some exciting things, talk about our community. And so it's been a good time, a good experience, a great learning experience as well. [00:01:39] Speaker A: I think a lot of the things that make it successful, honestly, are the people and the guests that live, our neighbors, our friends and neighbors we have on the show. And people really seem to connect with having people on a program like this that they actually can relate to. And in a lot of cases, they actually know them well. [00:01:56] Speaker C: These are our neighbors that we have on here, and we're letting them tell their stories. And, you know, these are our neighbors, our fellow small businesses, and in our communities that we all shop at and are patrons of, and we're allowing them to get out here and tell their stories. And this is a wonderful avenue. We think of it as a podcast, but you. Maybe you could think of it a little bit of storytelling. [00:02:17] Speaker A: That's true. That's a good point, too. So. Well, on this month's episode, speaking of some of those kind of guests we'll start off by speaking with Andrea Keith. With Andrea Keith. Aesthetics. Really interesting business in the heart of Smithville, Tennessee, on something that a lot of times you would have to travel to find someone to help you with, you know, different cosmetic issues and things like that she's able to do. So I think everyone's really going to enjoy hearing that interview. And then we'll also be speaking with KCJ Owen with Owen family dentistry in Gordonsville, Tennessee. And he has some great tips on keeping our oral health and our teeth where they need to be for less problems as. As we age along life's journey. So, of course, you'll be with us with some tech news roundup later in the show and also with your famous Justin's tech tips. It's gonna be a great show, and we appreciate you being with us, Justin, as always. And we appreciate everyone that listens and watches the program. And for this segment of the show, we are lucky to have Miss Andrea Keith. With Andrea Keith, aesthetics. How are you doing? [00:03:25] Speaker E: I'm good. How are you doing? [00:03:26] Speaker A: Great. Thanks for being with us today. [00:03:27] Speaker E: Thank you for having me. [00:03:28] Speaker A: And you're gonna. You're gonna have your work cut out for you now. You've got to teach me, me about aesthetics and what that is, because I'm a little green. [00:03:37] Speaker E: Okay. I will try my best, but I. [00:03:40] Speaker A: Am a quick study, so maybe I can catch on quickly. But before we get into that, tell everybody more about yourself and kind of describe what aesthetics is. [00:03:49] Speaker E: Okay. Well, my name is Andrea Keith. I'm a family nurse practitioner. Previously, I worked at Family Medical center in Smithville for several years. So that is where I got a lot of my medical experience from. [00:04:01] Speaker A: Gotcha. [00:04:02] Speaker E: And then in 2019, I decided that I might want to start a new endeavor and started to look into the world of aesthetics. So that's kind of how that got started. And as far as what aesthetics is, is aesthetics is a word that's usually described to describe someone's beauty or someone's aesthetic appearance. And so in the medical field, we have a specialty that's called aesthetics, where we address concerns of aging, sun damage, wrinkles, anything that somewhat kind of bothers somebody about their appearance. And so we're able to construct a plan and treat that. [00:04:45] Speaker A: So is it primarily, like, helping with skin issues and that sort of thing? [00:04:51] Speaker E: Yeah, a lot of skin issues. A lot of aging concerns, a lot of sun damage in this area that. [00:04:58] Speaker A: We see, which is. That sneaks up on you, doesn't it? [00:05:01] Speaker E: Yes, it does. After years and years of exposure for sure. [00:05:04] Speaker A: Is this something that you've always wanted to do as a career? How did you get started, really? [00:05:08] Speaker E: It was not my intention. So actually, in 2019, I personally received Botox in Nashville for my migraines because Botox does have therapeutic indications. So I received Botox for my migraines, and not only did it help the reoccurrence of my migraines, but it also did some really nice things to my skin. So I noticed that my. My skin, where they placed it, was also wrinkle free and bright and glowing. [00:05:35] Speaker A: Good. Yeah. [00:05:36] Speaker E: Yeah. And then my head didn't hurt as well. So that's really what kind of created the idea. So then I started to research ways that as a nurse practitioner, I knew I was qualified to give Botox injections and to take care of people's skin, but I wanted to continue my education and specialize in that. So I started looking into certification courses and just continued my education. Covid hit not long after I started that process, so that kind of put a damper on my plans. But after Covid and the restrictions were lifted, my business just thrived. I think people were at home more. They were on FaceTime calls a lot. They were noticing things about their appearance that maybe they weren't happy with. [00:06:21] Speaker C: That's a good point. [00:06:22] Speaker A: I haven't thought about that. That's true. [00:06:23] Speaker E: Yeah. So after Covid, my business just really took off. It throbbed. And in 2021, I resigned from my position at family medical and decided to open what is now Andrea Keith aesthetics. [00:06:36] Speaker A: Just jump right in and go for it. Right. [00:06:37] Speaker E: Jump right in. It was definitely a scary decision, but I have been very blessed. [00:06:42] Speaker A: That's awesome. [00:06:42] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:06:43] Speaker A: And you're in Smithville, right? [00:06:44] Speaker E: I'm in Smithville. We are located at 3261 Nashville highway. We are kind of tucked behind another commercial property, the real estate team. Our office is located directly behind them. We're a little bit private, more off the beaten path, and we really like that because with our patients, maybe they don't want everyone to know where they're at or where they're going. [00:07:07] Speaker A: That's an excellent point. [00:07:08] Speaker E: Our location gives our patients that privacy, and that's very important to us. [00:07:12] Speaker A: And yet it's still really local to all of us. [00:07:14] Speaker E: Still very local, but also private. Yes. [00:07:17] Speaker A: So tell me more about some of the services that you offer there, the specific services that you have. [00:07:21] Speaker E: So we really have services that we feel like can treat an array of patients. Whether you are just looking for skincare. We carry medical grade skincare by doctor Zenobaggi. He is a world renowned dermatologist and he has a medical grade line. When you carry ezo, you can only carry it or offer it by being a medical provider. So it's very good skincare. So we have skincare, we have facials, we have microblading, lash lift, intense. We have diamond glow facials, which we could probably do a whole podcast on diamond glow facials because they're wonderful. [00:08:02] Speaker A: Wow. [00:08:03] Speaker E: But we also do injectables. So we do botox, injections, filler. We have a full service laser that does laser hair removal, resurfacing skin. We have a Frax laser and we also offer IPL. So again, we really have services to customize to. Whatever your comfort level is and whatever your concern may be, to me, that's. [00:08:25] Speaker A: Just amazing that you can have access. These are state of the art services that you're offering. And we're talking in our backyard in Smithville, Tennessee. You're not driving to Cookeville. You're not having to drive to Murfreesboro or Nashville or further. That's amazing. [00:08:42] Speaker E: That was one of my goals with opening this, because once I started to receive Botox and I was having to go out of town, I realized that it was something that our community didn't have and a lot of people weren't getting it because it was an inconvenience to drive. It has really opened, I think, a lot of minds and a lot of people to start caring about their skin because they aren't having to drive so far. And honestly, maybe you don't have to pay as much because those larger towns don't have those larger overheads. [00:09:14] Speaker A: So you saw the need and you went for it. And that's great. That's awesome. Where would you start with? I guess it's unique to every person. [00:09:21] Speaker E: First and foremost, I usually recommend that people start with just a consultation with me or I, the other staff that I have at the office. So we start with a consultation and we just sit down with you one on one and talk about what your concerns are. And then we build you out a plan from that. So we like to have a plan in place, and we like to customize that plan to you. It's not cookie cutter type treatments. Your treatment may be different than the next person, and that's what we want. We want it to feel individualized and customized for our patients because we all don't want to look like each other. We all have our own unique traits and our own unique features. And we strongly believe at our office that we need to continue that. And that we need to encourage people to be different. [00:10:08] Speaker A: And I'm sure, too, that, you know, for one person, they may have an issue that doesn't bother them at all. [00:10:14] Speaker E: Right. [00:10:15] Speaker A: But there is something specific they want touched up or whatever, but. And then another person can be totally opposite. They may have the same problem, but. [00:10:22] Speaker E: Have a totally different opinion about how to take care of it. Yes. That's why we do have a lot of services, because we're able to treat different issues by different methods. [00:10:31] Speaker A: Right, right. So how often, once you start a plan for treatment for different things, do you see a lot of people come in on a regular calendar basis to get those return treatments? [00:10:42] Speaker E: Our number one procedure, our number one service is tox injection. So people getting Botox, and usually those have to be done every quarter, so every three to four months. So those patients are normally coming in every quarter. But then if we're working on skincare or facials, you may be coming in every four to six weeks to have those services done. And then we're open throughout the day for people to drop in, pick up skincare, pick up gift cards, that sort of thing. So we really have quite a bit of traffic through our office. [00:11:13] Speaker A: I bet your patients become almost like family because you get to see them. [00:11:16] Speaker E: On a reoccurring basis and they want to see you. That's important, too. They're excited to see you. They want to see you. And you do just develop that relationship with them. [00:11:25] Speaker A: You build that trust. [00:11:26] Speaker E: You do. You do. You do. And you get to know them and you get to know, what would I fit them and what wouldn't, what would be good for their skin and what wouldn't. So it's. It's really nice. It's. It's very rewarding. [00:11:37] Speaker A: Not only that, but they can see the results. So they're probably the minute they have that first session or whatever, they're like, wow. Yes, this is working. [00:11:44] Speaker E: Yes, it is. It is. So it's, it's. It's nice to see the results as well. And that's what we want to deliver is noticeable results, but not too noticeable. [00:11:54] Speaker D: Right. [00:11:55] Speaker A: So do you see any trends in your industry going on right now? Any new trends? [00:11:59] Speaker E: I do. I feel like what I have noticed in the past two years is that aesthetics is really moving to a more natural appearance. So people do not want to look like they've had work done. So they want their friends and family to not know that they've had anything done. They want it to be very natural, very unnoticeable. [00:12:21] Speaker A: Right. [00:12:21] Speaker E: I feel like in years past, aesthetics has maybe went to a place where people, people did too much. You know, the large lips, the large cheeks. And we are now seeing that people are wanting to remove that and take that out and go the other direction. Go the other direction. And that is more my taste. I like more of a natural aesthetic. And it's actually harder to give someone a more natural look than that overfilled look. [00:12:48] Speaker A: I've never thought about that. I bet that's true. [00:12:49] Speaker E: It's actually more difficult for us to give that more natural appearance. Takes a little bit more skill, a little bit more aesthetic. Ah. To make it to wherever it's not noticeable. [00:12:58] Speaker A: Right, right. Do you use a lot of technology in your business? I know it sounds like the industry itself is growing a lot and changing a lot. I'm sure the technology probably is too, to some extent. [00:13:09] Speaker E: As far as you know, we have the laser services there. We also have an ultrasound device that we use for safety purposes just whenever we're injecting to make sure that we can see your anatomy and make sure that we're doing things properly. [00:13:23] Speaker A: Right. [00:13:24] Speaker E: We also utilize a couple of different softwares that we run our business off of. So we do online booking and scheduling, which is really nice for our patients. A lot of good feedback from that. [00:13:37] Speaker A: It's convenient. [00:13:38] Speaker E: It is very convenient. So if you're a busy mom and you've got kids and you've got a work schedule and it's 09:00 at night, you can schedule, you can hop online and schedule an appointment, so it makes it very easy. And then we also use a software charting app where we store our patients demographics, their medical records, their treatment plans. We're also able to store their before and after pictures. [00:14:00] Speaker A: Oh, that's neat. [00:14:00] Speaker E: And so we use that throughout the day. We're constantly using that. It's HIPaa compliant, so it's very secure. So we rely on fast and good Internet and good technology to keep my office running throughout the day. And so we try to make it to where it's easy for our clients, it's easy for us, and we're also staying up to date on current technology. So of course we still recommend for patients. They can call the office to make appointments, but having the appointment booking online really helps to serve other clients. And then also our charting app, we are just really proud of that. And it's very easy to use and it's again, very HIPAA secure. [00:14:43] Speaker A: So I think you mentioned this earlier, but you offer gift cards and things like that. [00:14:48] Speaker E: We do offer gift cards. So we offer those online. So they, those can be purchased online again. And then we also offer in person gift cards as well. Those are available for any of our services. You can use those for skincare or maybe our injectable services. And they're a huge hit with the Wob. So I've heard. So yes, yes, yes. Those gift cards are a huge hit. [00:15:13] Speaker A: All right, guys, note to self, file that away. You're going to need that one day. [00:15:18] Speaker E: Come get a gift card or go to our website. [00:15:19] Speaker A: That's right. Absolutely. Well, tell everybody again, I know you mentioned where you're located in Smithville, but tell them again your address and your hours, typical hours of business each week. [00:15:29] Speaker E: So again, we're located at 32 61 Nashville highway, that's in Smithville. And we are open Monday through Friday from nine to five. And we usually take lunch from about twelve to one. But we stay open just in case anybody needs something. But you can find us there through the week. And we do occasionally work some Saturdays by appointment only. [00:15:49] Speaker A: And if people want to get in touch with you, what's the best way. [00:15:52] Speaker E: So you can find us at our website at andrea kaesthetics.com. we also have social media platforms on Facebook and Instagram that we're very active on. So you can follow us on those platforms and then you can also call the office at 615-588-2520 awesome. [00:16:09] Speaker A: Awesome. Well, it sounds like you're doing great and it's awesome to have this business here in our smaller communities. Wish you the best of luck in everything that's going on. And if I want to get a more youthful appearance, I think I know where I'm at. I know where to go. There you go. [00:16:25] Speaker E: I tried. [00:16:26] Speaker A: Well, Andrea, thank you so much. [00:16:27] Speaker E: Thank you for having me and wish. [00:16:29] Speaker A: You all the best. [00:16:30] Speaker E: Thank you so much. [00:16:31] Speaker A: Stay with us. We've got more of the show coming up. [00:16:35] Speaker F: Great communities attract talented people to live, work and raise their families. We've deployed a high speed network that helps the best and the brightest enjoy better lives in our smart rural community. Great small businesses provide jobs that help workers earn a good living and provide for their families, while strengthening local economies. We deploy fiber Internet that helps those businesses succeed. Great doctor and patient relationships create bonds that lead to healthier lives. We deliver secure connections so every home and rural healthcare provider can connect to the best health care options. Great schools help knowledge hungry students learn, think creatively and follow their passions. We've built a network that helps their dreams take off. Great farmers provide the food that sustains and nourishes our nation and the world. We keep those farmers connected to the technology that ensures their crops can thrive. We've planned, engineered, and constructed a cutting edge communications network. We're committed to delivering future proof broadband so our friends, families, and neighbors can live rich lives in smart rural communities across America. Your community is our community. Were your rural broadband partners. You do great things. We make great things possible. [00:18:20] Speaker B: Here's normal Internet speed. Here's the gig difference. Average speed. Gig, not enough speed. Gig speed. With gig Internet from DTC, everything's different. Video streaming is a breeze. Music and photos fly. And gaming gets real with no data limits. That's the gig difference. Call or visit DTC online and get your gig today. [00:18:52] Speaker A: And welcome back to the show, everyone. We're gonna start this segment off like we do each and every month by throwing it over to this guy right here as he spread some of those technology truth bombs on us on a little segment we humbly like to call Justin's tech tips. Justin, take it away. [00:19:12] Speaker C: You know, something that is often overlooked. We talk about a lot of overlooked things here, but most of the time, so far, we've talked to software related and app related or application related, and we're actually going to take it and pull from the software side. I want to look at the hardware side, okay. Today and think about some things that we really should be doing that we don't think about too often. You know, there's a video that stays in my mind every so often of a gentleman who owns a repair shop. Somebody comes in and says, my game console is just not working. I don't know why it'll boot up, and then it just shuts off. And I don't understand why. So the gentleman says, all right, I'll diagnose it and fix it for you. And so he runs a video. He's got an overhead shot of him opening up this console. And he opens it up, and inside of the console, it's loaded down with dust and also insects and critters. And the gentleman wondered why his device didn't work. Sometimes, maybe not to that extent. Maybe we don't pay attention to the physical condition of our devices. You know, we think about, oh, I need to. I need to delete my apps and update my software and things like that. But whether it's your phone or your laptop or even your desktop, how often are we taking proper maintenance steps to make sure that those devices are staying in tiptoe? [00:20:35] Speaker A: A lot of times, you just don't even think about it. [00:20:37] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:20:37] Speaker A: You take it for granted that the device will work and it's. Everything's good and that sort of thing. [00:20:42] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:20:42] Speaker C: You know, and sometimes it gets to the point, and I'm guilty of this, you know, it's like, oh, I need to move. I need to move my, my desktop machine over because I got to run a cable or something. I move. I'm like, how'd all that dust get there? Where did that come from? I must have always been there. I didn't do that, you know, and that's, you know, one of the big things is clean your machines and wipe them down. Make sure that the vents aren't blocked. Make sure that they're not getting clogged with dust because airflow. And in the specific video I referenced earlier, the issue was airflow. The machine was overheating. It wasn't able to cool properly because it didn't have the ability to cool because there was no airflow through the machine. So making sure your vents are blocked and you have vents on most of your devices outside of smartphones, and smartphones do have some, you know, usually where the speaker grills and stuff are your charging ports. You need to make sure that you're not getting lint from your pockets in there and dust, you know, if you plug it. Why. Why isn't this charging? Or when I had to help a friend out one time, like, well, nobody can hear me when I talk to them on the phone. I don't know what it is. And it's because the microphone mesh was clogged full of lint, and so the sound waves were not penetrating through it. Also, from a safety standpoint and just a management, tidy standpoint, keep your cables organized. It'll help you when you try to, you know, try trying to diagnose hardware issues or you're swapping out equipment. But also what's going to keep you from tripping over it being a tripping hazard, potential fire hazard, you know, so the safety aspect of it matters. To clean the things that you touch the most, clean your smartphones, wipe those down. Use electronic wipes. Please don't take Windex to any of your electronic devices. Do not do it. Use specialty cleaners that are not abrasive and that will not harm your, your screen surfaces, but wipe your smartphones down from a safety standpoint, a cleanliness standpoint, and again, from keeping it running properly, wipe your keyboards down, wipe your mouses down, get you a spray can of air, and, you know, blow out the dust from your keyboard. Please be careful and don't spray the inside of a machine with those cans if you don't know what you're doing, because we don't, we don't want you to cause more harm than good. Use a surge protector because you're going to have an electrical issue at some point. You know, Mother Nature sometimes will cause lightning strikes, and sometimes as a result of that, you will have surges in the grid and you don't want to burn out your, you know, machine that maybe a few hundred dollars, maybe a few thousand dollars and that surge protector, that was, you know, $20 you'd be wishing that you had. [00:23:27] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:23:28] Speaker C: And also, maybe you need to look at going a little bit beyond that. Use a battery backup. You know, if you're on, if you're using critical equipment, a lot of people work from home today. [00:23:36] Speaker A: Sure. [00:23:37] Speaker C: Lots of people do remote work. You don't want to be in the midst of something important and have that machine go down. Maybe you're doing remote learning and you're on a proctored exam. You don't want it to go down. Maybe you are in a very, very intense tournament in esports, and you're in your video game, and it's, you were in the do or die moment in the heat of battle. You don't want your machine going down either. So you could use a battery backup for multiple things, find out what's important to you, what you need it for, and maybe, maybe you want to throw a battery backup on there. And then the last thing is properly dispose of old hardware. Most time, don't take that. Don't take that laptop and just toss it in the trash. [00:24:20] Speaker A: Right. [00:24:21] Speaker C: So multiple reasons for that. One from you don't, you don't want to throw lithium ion batteries away from an environmental, from an environmental standpoint, away standpoint, again, also the safety standpoint of those as well. When lithium ion batteries get pierced and are exposed to oxygen, they will have uncontrolled burns and you douse it with water, will not do anything. So from a safety standpoint, the environmental standpoint, and also from a digital safety standpoint, you don't want to throw old hard drives and storage devices away that may have sensitive information on them without first wiping them. So don't throw them in the trash. Find the proper disposal place. Multiple places will take batteries. If you have a Lowe's anywhere in your area, I can guarantee you they will take old batteries. Oftentimes, they will take old electronics. Well, and make sure that you are wiping those storage devices so that somebody doesn't come along, pick it up if it, you know, and try to reuse it and find your data on there, you know, find some sort of sense of information that you don't want somebody finding out. [00:25:26] Speaker A: Appreciate it, Justin, thanks a lot. And for this segment, we are very lucky to have Doctor KCJ Owen with Owen family Dentistry. How are you doing today, Casey? [00:25:37] Speaker D: Doing good. Doing well. How are you? [00:25:40] Speaker A: Appreciate you. Doing well. We appreciate you joining us for our first virtual interview of the series so far. So we are a technology podcast, so, you know, why not throw a little technology in, right? [00:25:54] Speaker D: There you go. Absolutely. [00:25:57] Speaker A: So tell us a little bit about your background, about yourself and how you ended up in a career in dentistry. [00:26:05] Speaker D: Well, I grew up in Smith county, here in Carthage, and I guess, you know, I had a really good childhood dentist growing up, Doctor Lee, and he just kind of was always really kind and gentle and, you know, just gave me a good impression of the profession. And so I, during school, I always liked the sciences and math, and I was more on that side of things. I always liked working with my hands. I made models and stuff growing up. So I like to do kind of small, intricate things and didn't know really what I wanted to do. All throughout high school, and me and dad were talking about it and I'd just kind of been mulling it over and it just kind of, I don't know, Doctor Lee impressed me just with his work environment, and I started looking into dentistry. So I guess he just kind of gave me kind of a little bump of just, you know, what, what the profession might be like doing work. So I just started looking into it. The further I looked, the more I thought, yeah, this, this might be it. [00:27:28] Speaker A: Well, it's also one of those professions, honestly, it takes such dedication from education standpoint, right. To do this profession. You want to make sure that this is what you're cut out to do and that sort of thing. I mean, it's a real commitment to your life, really. [00:27:44] Speaker D: Yeah, for sure. It's, it's eight years of post high school education. You get your, you know, you get a doctorate in dental surgery and. Yeah, it's, it's not a, it's not for the faint of heart, necessarily. And I didn't really know that when I started looking into it. But you learned that pretty quick. [00:28:05] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, I bet. Well, tell us a little bit. I mean, I know you offer general dentistry services, but there's so much more, really, to that term. Dentistry in this day and age especially, seems like it's a profession that has really changed rapidly in the past several years. So tell us about some of the different services that you offer. [00:28:25] Speaker D: So we're full service family dental practice. I'm the only dentist currently at the practice, but we have a staff of six people, two hygienists, myself and two front desks and two assistants. And we offer anything from implants, bone grafting, we do cleanings, we do gum therapy, we do any sort of restorative. We can, you know, restore with fillings, crowns, removable partials, removable dentures, all that. So we're moving towards being able to offer anything that anyone can offer. [00:29:11] Speaker A: That's amazing, too, because you're located in Gordonsville, right? So that's a smaller town to have access to all of those services. [00:29:21] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah. So when we started, you know, it was just, I didn't have really anywhere to practice and talk. Talked with a local guy, and he was going to be building some office space. So, you know, when I started, it was a grab a lot out front and everything, and. But, you know, the area is growing. It's growing. As everybody can probably tell, it's growing rapidly, it seems like. And yes, definitely people want the services. They want to have a nice smile. They want to be able to chew. You know, it's. I think it's. It's a blessing that we can offer top of the line dentistry. And, you know, technology is allowing us to do that a lot, a lot more efficiently, a lot easier than we might have in the past. Right. It's allowing us to get educated faster and more, you know, get. Get further along than Dennis had a chance to in the past. So things are changing rapidly, and, you know, we're staying on top of that. So we can, you know, we might surprise you, the things that we're going to be able to offer. Offer you. So. [00:30:35] Speaker A: And I love that because I'm a small town guy myself. So anytime I can stay in a small town or a small town close to me and still get the services I need, I'm all about that. So, in fact, talking about your location, I know I mentioned you're in Gordonsville, but you're extremely close to the interstate, right? [00:30:56] Speaker D: Yeah, I can. You can see our office from the interstate if you know where to look. [00:31:00] Speaker A: There you go. Yeah. Very convenient. [00:31:04] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:31:04] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:31:05] Speaker D: It's a good baseball thrower, too, but, yeah, we're pretty close. Probably a quarter mile. [00:31:09] Speaker A: So let's talk a little bit about maybe some of the best steps that someone watching this program could take in order to be preventative. In any problems, starting with their dental. [00:31:21] Speaker D: Health, it's a threefold solution, really. Mostly. One is hygiene. You know, brushing twice a day and flossing once a day, I think, is the minimum. And, you know, if you can start there, it can make a world of difference. I mean, it's, it's really so important. It's a habit that you have to form and it's, there's no replacing it. [00:31:51] Speaker A: Right. [00:31:51] Speaker D: There's no mouthwash that's going to, you know, fix that. There's no, there's really nothing that, that can replace brushing physically, you know, removing the buildup off your teeth, removing food and plaque out of your gums, you know, between your teeth. It's just, it's, you know, it's the standard. And the second would be your diet. You know, people that are going to consume a whole lot of refined sugars are going to have more dental problems. [00:32:28] Speaker A: Right. [00:32:29] Speaker D: You know, it's, it's going to. What happens is basically the buildup that's on our teeth takes that sugar, and there's bacteria in that buildup, small little microbes, and they take that sugar, they consume the sugar for their energy to multiply and stuff, and they release an acid. And so what happens is, you know, you eat what you eat, they eat, and the byproduct is what breaks down your teeth. So removing that bacteria, not giving them as much to consume, will reduce the acid levels in your mouth and will help you maintain a healthier mouth. Our saliva, you know, can help remineralize all the problems, all the beginnings of breakdown of our teeth. But if there's a constant bacterial load and buildup on our teeth, then you're going to have breakdown of the teeth over time. [00:33:30] Speaker A: Right. [00:33:31] Speaker D: So hygiene, brushing and flossing and rinsing, managing your diet, you know, making sure you're not eating too many refined sugars, make sure, you know, getting healthy foods, good fiber. Eating just a healthy diet is really important. [00:33:53] Speaker A: I think a lot of people miss that, don't they? [00:33:55] Speaker D: The whole diet part of it, it, I miss that. You know, we went to the dentist growing up, like I was saying, doctor, Doctor Lee was a really big influence on me. But, you know, I drank sugar Cokes like it was nothing. [00:34:10] Speaker A: And, you know, I've done that myself. Yeah. As I understand, I had a lot. [00:34:14] Speaker D: Of cavities growing up, and I think a lot of it was due, due to the sugar intake that I had. [00:34:20] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:34:21] Speaker D: You know, so, you know, as I've gotten older and kind of got away from that, taking care of my mouth has become a lot easier. I've had a lot less issues. So that, and then regular visits to the dentist is the third apart. And that's just because, you know, you start to get harder buildup that you can't brush away over time. Right. You start to, you know, there's certain things that we can catch before you start to have think, even think you start to have a problem because a lot of things that you start to run into aren't painful at the beginning when they're easier to fix. It's not until they've advanced, you know, to the point where they're causing you pain. Well, you know, that can be a little bit harder problem to fix at that point than if we do the things, the preventative things like we're talking about. [00:35:14] Speaker A: You can have a, a less painful dental experience as a whole throughout your lifetime, really, just by being a little more proactive. Right. And preventing those issues from starting in the first place. [00:35:26] Speaker C: So. [00:35:27] Speaker D: 100%. Yeah. And, you know, there's other things, too, like habits being tobacco, you know, smoking. Those are hard on your, on your gums and your teeth. Some things are out of your control, you know, or somewhat out of your control. Systemic health, you know, affects your teeth as well. Diabetics have a lot more issues with gum disease and things like that, so. But, you know, the things that we can do make it a lot easier on ourselves. [00:35:57] Speaker A: You hear a lot of this on television commercials especially, I think, too, these days. Of course, they market to us at all times. But teeth whitening is a big buzzword or buzz phrase, I guess you might say today. But I know you guys offer professional teeth whitening services. Talk about that for a moment. [00:36:16] Speaker D: Yeah, we do offer whitening what we have. We don't have any in house light type treatment, but we do offer a professional grade whitening where we would take impressions and have a tray for you, and you would, you can come in and, and apply the bleach into the tray, and it's something that you take home with you and do. So we offer that there's several different types of that you can, you know, sometimes people run into issues with sensitivity. Sensitivity with their teeth when they're doing whitening. And, you know, different people have different levels of sensitivity that they deal with. So we have different grades of whitening that we can use to help them with that. Yeah. [00:37:12] Speaker A: Do you also help people with. I know sometimes life happens. You know, you've heard that phrase, life happens. And, I mean, sometimes you can have a dental injury, right? You can have a tooth that gets broken or that sort of thing. Can you also help people out with when those kind of situations come up? [00:37:28] Speaker D: For sure, yeah, yeah, we have those all the time. People come in car accidents or, you know, fell, fell and hit concrete or got hit with something. I mean, that happens all the time. So, yeah, I mean, it just depends on, on what happens, you know, it might be as easy as, you know, pat on the back, everything's okay, or, you know, sometimes we have to take out teeth and kind of put people back together, so. [00:37:52] Speaker A: Right. I'm glad there's professionals like you that are up to the task because some of those kind of moments are when we're really down and out, not at our I finest moment in life. So I'm glad there's, there's people like you there to help us when things like that happen. So we all need help. That's right. That's right. Well, talk about technology and how you use technology in your business. I know, you know, the field of dentistry has been around a long time, but I bet technology has really changed the way you do some things in your day to day operations there. [00:38:24] Speaker D: Yeah, it's big. It's becoming even bigger, I think. You know, we do CAD Cam, so we scan and do digital impressions here and do our own crown milling. All that's done by scanning with a little wand, making a three dimensional image and using that instead of impression paste or impression material to actually put in the mouth, we use scans and stuff like that to help restore teeth. Now we do 3d imaging. All our x rays and radiographs are digital now. So that all has to transpire through technology, through computer integrated software and stuff like that. That goes into allowing us to provide patients with a lot better care than, than we ever have before. All that has to run through a network, all that has to run through Internet provider to some extent. And so it's above my head. That's why I depend on other people for that. But, yeah, it's becoming more and more of a must. Technology is not going to slow down. [00:39:53] Speaker A: And having the Internet access, I'm sure, helps to be able to share records and order supplies or just keep up with schedules and contact customers, billing and all that information too. [00:40:05] Speaker D: 100%, yeah. There's several different products we use to work with, insurances and things like that. Claims. It's big on that. A faster turnaround for those types of things. It's endless. A lot more, I'm sure you could do, but, yeah, we provide the best service with the technology that's available. [00:40:32] Speaker A: Well, if someone wanted to get in touch with you and they said, you know what, I've been putting it off. I need to make an appointment. What's the best way for them to contact you? [00:40:41] Speaker D: Just give us a call. Our front desk. We have a great staff here and they will work with you. The number? 61568. And just give us a call and we will, you know, assess what's going on with you and start getting you set up for what you need. [00:41:00] Speaker A: Well, Doctor Owen, thank you so much for joining us today, and we wish you all the best in the future. And we've got more of the show coming up in just a moment, so stay tuned. You know that DTC provides great products and services to your home, and you can get the same great value for your business. With DTC Business solutions, whether you're making sales over the phone or online to. [00:41:25] Speaker D: Customers around the world, we deliver the. [00:41:28] Speaker A: Reliable business solutions you need at a competitive price. [00:41:31] Speaker D: And we do it all with uncompromising service. [00:41:35] Speaker A: Let's talk about what matters to your business, called DTC Business Solutions today. And welcome back to the last segment of this month's episode of the the Local Click. And we are lucky to have a new DTC expert with us this month. [00:41:55] Speaker C: Hello. [00:41:55] Speaker A: You are Emma Atkins, right? [00:41:57] Speaker G: I am Emma Atkins. [00:41:58] Speaker A: And you are our business sales representative, is that correct? [00:42:04] Speaker G: Accounts representative. [00:42:05] Speaker A: Okay. [00:42:06] Speaker G: Formally. [00:42:06] Speaker A: Formally, yes. You help businesses with their communication needs, basically, right? [00:42:12] Speaker G: I do, I do. I make sure that they have everything they need, phone, Internet wise, to be successful. [00:42:20] Speaker A: Awesome. Well, everybody wants to be successful, so having someone like you on speed dial is probably a good thing when you have a issue with keeping the phones running or the Internet or that sort of thing. [00:42:30] Speaker G: And I do put myself on speed dial. [00:42:32] Speaker A: Hey, there you go. [00:42:33] Speaker G: When we install these new digium systems, I put my own number in there. I have Jonathan program that in. [00:42:39] Speaker A: There you go. So you're not alone, right? [00:42:41] Speaker G: Yeah, I'm always just a button away. [00:42:45] Speaker A: So here you're going to tell us a little bit more about the importance of having a reliable phone system in your business and some of the different things you can help businesses set up if they don't realize, or if maybe they haven't looked at their setup in a while. There's probably been a lot of technology changes over the past several years. So let you take it away and kind of tell us what we need to know about business phones. [00:43:06] Speaker G: There has been a lot of changes, especially recently with we have the new VoIP systems. [00:43:12] Speaker A: Okay. [00:43:12] Speaker G: And they are just they're pretty impressive. And I always tell our customers that one of the cool things is these are the same systems that we use at DTC. So I'm not selling you something that we're just selling and that we don't use ourselves. We use them. We know what they do and what they can do. They're really cool. They're very customizable. They are extremely reliable. They can help out any business, whether you have three employees or whether you have 5100, 300 employees. [00:43:48] Speaker A: That's a good point. That was one of the questions I kind of had myself. Is there a time, you know, that you're too small or too large to look at a phone system? [00:43:57] Speaker G: There's not like this. There's not. If you have one line and you just need one VoIP phone, we can make that happen. Or if you need a 400, we can. We can do that, too. And something that's really cool that I don't think a lot of people realize about them is that if you have businesses, and if you have offices in multiple locations, say you have one in DeKalb county, one in Cannon county, one in Wilson county, we can connect all of those offices over one phone system. So, you know, say you get a call in Woodbury, but it needs to go to Lebanon. Well, you can just transfer it. You don't have to say, hang up and call this number. You just send it on down. [00:44:40] Speaker A: So it makes it look seamless to the person calling in. [00:44:43] Speaker G: It makes it look very seamless. And it is. It's all very professionally done. Your voice recordings for your auto attendant that answers the phone for you. Basically, we do professional recordings for those. Thank you for calling DTC communications. For the business office, press one. [00:45:00] Speaker A: Right. [00:45:00] Speaker G: Only it doesn't sound like a high bell, like I do. [00:45:05] Speaker A: I thought that was fine. I think someone would be fine with it. But I think it's important for people to remember that if someone calls in and your system is not set up in an easy to use way, and for some reason, they just give up and get frustrated and they just drop the call, they hang up. That's possible money out of your pocket as a business owner, right? [00:45:23] Speaker G: Absolutely. Absolutely. We aim to make this as simple, as seamless, and as user friendly for our customer and for our customers customers as we possibly can. [00:45:36] Speaker A: And I'm sure you'd be glad to help them with any of their Internet needs, right? [00:45:40] Speaker G: Of course. Internet, phone security. [00:45:44] Speaker A: That's right. [00:45:44] Speaker G: I've got you covered. We can handle it all for you. [00:45:47] Speaker A: So if someone says, you know what? I'm ready to get out of the stone age, and I'm ready to update my phone system and maybe stop losing business, possibly, on some of these calls and stuff. What's their step to get in touch with you to make that happen? [00:46:01] Speaker G: My personal line is 615-464-2404 and I'm always, always available. And by the way, if I am for some reason not available, we have an amazing business team. You can reach them by dialing the main number. We've got Miss Janet and miss Tish, and they're also. And they are phenomenal. [00:46:23] Speaker A: And that number is 615-529-2955 and you are exactly correct on that. We have a great team that really care about helping our customers, and I guarantee you there's no question too small or too large for them to handle. If they don't know it, they'll find it. Exactly. [00:46:41] Speaker G: There are no dumb questions. [00:46:42] Speaker A: There are no dumb questions. That's right. So. Well, thanks, Emma. Thanks for being here, and good luck on. On everything. And I. You've not been here for a terribly long time, like someone with gray hair, like me. But welcome aboard. I know you've been here long enough. You probably don't need a welcome aboard, but we're lucky to have you, and I wish you all the best in helping our customers with all their business needs. [00:47:01] Speaker G: Thank you. I'm excited to be here. [00:47:04] Speaker A: And we're going to toss it to Justin, where he's going to enlighten us with some of the exciting things going on in technology with a little segment we like to call tech news roundup. Justin, it's all yours. [00:47:16] Speaker C: So, every four years or every three years since we experienced an event in 2020 that I will not name, that kind of knocked the world off its feet for a little bit. During the summer, we have the Olympiad, and we've got the 2024 Olympiad that's taken place in Paris. One of my favorite times of the year, a time when my television will not leave anything that has to do with Olympic sports. A time when I don't care about certain sports, but because of my patriotism, I have to cheer on the United States and some of these obscure sports that I don't even know the rules to. And a lot of people take it seriously. [00:47:59] Speaker A: Yes. [00:47:59] Speaker C: So seriously, in fact, that some people may use technology to their advantage in illicit means, unfortunately. And so the first thing I. And I've got to talk about this, this broke not too long ago, but during the Olympic Games. So soccer is a sport that actually kicks off before the opening ceremonies because it takes so long to complete. And so men and women soccer has already kicked off and they've been having games, but unfortunately, members of the canadian coaching staff have already been sent home due to using illegal surveillance tactics and flying drones over opponent closed session practices. And, okay, there's a great use for technology and sometimes there's uses that aren't permissible. And so the Olympic federation, the International Olympic Committee, the IOC did not take too kindly to this, nor did the Canadian Olympic Committee, as I imagined. [00:48:56] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:48:56] Speaker C: And they said, we're going to go ahead and send you home now. There's some questions over has this been done before? The canadian women actually won the gold medal of the 2021 Olympics. So they are the reigning Olympic champions in soccer. And there has been past accusations and there was some proof this time, unfortunately. But we think drones are great. Drones are everywhere. Gotta play within the rules and gotta play within the sandbox. That's been delegated for those things. Though another thing that happened that y'all may have heard of that may have affected some people, and more people are going to know this name of the company than they ever did before. But when I say crowdstrike, does that mean anything to you? [00:49:34] Speaker A: It didn't about two weeks ago, but it does now. It does now. Yeah. [00:49:38] Speaker C: Yeah. A few weeks ago I'd be like, well, what's that? Who's that? I have no idea. You know, obviously we're not going to dive too deep into what happened with CrowdStrike, but it's just a reminder for us, really of how fragile technology can be. Too true. We think banks, we think airliners, we think retailers and hotels and all kinds, government entities, hospitals, you know, you name it, you know, they were affected by what was supposed to be a security patch to help things that unfortunately led to the downfall. And we can see how quickly that spread. What was interesting is I saw a statistic that said it was only about 8% of windows machines were affected, but it was, it was all critical windows machines and only people who were running critical infrastructure or business needs were using this. So it became so widespread and a. [00:50:33] Speaker A: Lot of commercial environments. Right? [00:50:35] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:50:35] Speaker C: So, I mean, you know, so, you know, again, you know, practice good security practices, make sure that you're doing good, good security practices. Microsoft still going to say, do our updates, do updates regularly? We want to do that, but sometimes things do go awry. I don't want to talk about AI too much because we talk about it every single month. But two quick things. One, OpenAI is introducing voice capabilities for their search still kind of iffy. Not the best so far. And they're also doing search GPT in addition to chat GPT. So I guess they're gonna try to enter the space. They want to compete against Google right now, the early testing of it, because it is still in the testing phase. It's bad. [00:51:16] Speaker A: Oh, wow. [00:51:17] Speaker C: It is not good. So it's supposed to be a little bit more advanced. You know, the illustration that I saw where somebody used it was like, I need, I would like to go to this concert on this date. And it said, well, you can purchase tickets for this date. It was like two weeks after the concert, you know, so it got it. I think it got the venue and the date wrong. So still going to need some testing. You know, still they're, they're pushing the boundaries with AI. But it got me to thinking, you know, as we enter into, you know, what happens every four years, we enter into a presidential election cycle. And this year, AI is part of the talk. And the FCC is actually making a push with a new rule that they've proposed. It's not going to go into effect. They see no way that it's going to happen prior to the presidential election in November, but a requirement to have an ad disclosure if you use any generative content or AI content in your ads, because what they're afraid of, and it's something that has been mentioned on this podcast before, is telling the difference between what is real and authentic and what is fake, what has been made up. And, you know, it's hard to tell with some of the generative AI that we have if you're just doing something that's meant to be satire, but people can't tell the difference, they may think, oh, well, this is authentic. Oh, yeah, that's a huge issue. You know, that person said that, or here's the video, I can see them doing it. And again, that rule is not going to be into effect, but it'll be interesting, not just in the landscape of political advertising, but is Facebook going to require it on social media posts? Will other social media outlets require, will Google require it? [00:52:55] Speaker A: You know, YouTube already has a, when you upload a video, it has a checkbox where you have to let them know, did you use AI to alter any of the footage that you're uploading to make it appear something that it wasn't? And you're supposed to let them know that during the upload process. So it's definitely probably coming to all the platforms soon. [00:53:13] Speaker C: Right now, most of platforms are using it more for copyright issues than anything. That's the space. But, yeah, it's gonna be that judgment of, is this real or not? And we're already getting to that point that it's very, very difficult to differentiate between reality and what has been generated through artificial intelligence. [00:53:33] Speaker G: Yes. If you don't listen closely, I mean, and even if you are, the voices sound so spot on. It's very hard to tell that it's not an actual. [00:53:44] Speaker A: It's very realistic, isn't it? [00:53:45] Speaker G: Yes, very. [00:53:46] Speaker A: Even just over the past year, it's gotten that much better. Yes. [00:53:50] Speaker C: I mean, if you pull up technology news, AI is going to be half the articles right now. I mean, it's the hot thing, and it continues to be the hot thing, and it's going to be as we see these revolutionary changes. It'll slow down eventually. Maybe when I get to your age. [00:54:06] Speaker A: That kind of hurt. You know, you're supposed to respect your elders. Did you not read that burn? Geez. Well, that was his last episode on the local clique. [00:54:16] Speaker E: I'm just kidding. [00:54:18] Speaker A: All right, thanks, justin. I appreciate it. This old man's going to now scoot over to another part of the show we like to call what's up, DTC. And coming up for the month of August, the Wilson County, Tennessee State Fair. And that will be on August 15 through the 24th, which is amazing. So I'm sure you've probably been to that at some point in your life, but if nothing, you have no excuse. You need to go. It's gonna be a lot of fun. It is absolutely huge. And I guarantee you there is something there that you will find to do that you will enjoy. And if nothing else, just hit the food booths and try a little bit of everything. And what do you think, Justin? You think they'll have any deep fried treats at the state fair? [00:55:03] Speaker C: I mean, I don't know that I could list all of them that they would have. I mean, the go to is deep fried Oreos. Yes, that is my go to. [00:55:11] Speaker A: Not a fan. [00:55:12] Speaker G: Not a fan. [00:55:13] Speaker C: Not a fan of deep fried or deep fried Oreos. [00:55:17] Speaker G: It's just too sweet. It's too much sugar. [00:55:21] Speaker A: Supposedly there have been events where you could buy a stick of butter deep fried. Now, to me. I don't think so, Justin. Yes. No. [00:55:33] Speaker C: I don't know. Yeah, I would probably have to pass on that. That 1 may be a little cross blind. [00:55:38] Speaker A: A little bit. [00:55:39] Speaker C: But I got Emma, so no funnel cakes. [00:55:41] Speaker F: So delicious. [00:55:42] Speaker G: A bot. A bot. [00:55:45] Speaker C: So we. Little progress. [00:55:47] Speaker G: I'm a caramel apple girl. That's my weakness. [00:55:50] Speaker D: Oh, yeah. [00:55:50] Speaker C: Listen, part of the reason to go to the fair is for the food vendors and for the food. And you can. You could literally go every night and go to two or three places and have something different still every night. [00:56:02] Speaker A: Of course, you have all the rides, but you also have all the music, a lot of music. You have a lot of ag events and that sort of thing. So it's pretty awesome. [00:56:10] Speaker C: Well, you know, and we have a benefit that the state fair is in our backyard. [00:56:16] Speaker A: Sure. [00:56:17] Speaker C: The official state fair for Tennessee is in our backyard, and it is an agricultural fair. So all of these individuals from our local county fairs, whether you're DeKalb county, whether you're Cannon County, Smith county, those winners are going to be entered into the state fair there in Wilson county as well. So it's within our area, too, but it impacts a lot of people within our area, and we're very blessed to have such a wonderful event that's close to us. [00:56:44] Speaker A: Even someone as old as me would enjoy going. [00:56:46] Speaker C: Yes. I mean, you may be able to get by without having to use your walker there. [00:56:50] Speaker A: Yeah, maybe. Maybe. [00:56:52] Speaker C: My goshen. [00:56:55] Speaker A: I don't know if this pin would hurt or not. I could. [00:56:57] Speaker C: Listen, all I'm thinking is, one day you're gonna be like, I told you so. [00:57:06] Speaker A: You'll find out. He'll find out. [00:57:08] Speaker C: Like it was funny then. Hey, it's okay. You talked about gray hair earlier, and I have a lot more gray hair since I started working for DTC than before now. [00:57:17] Speaker A: What are you trying to say? Since he started working for me, I think Twitter. [00:57:21] Speaker G: I have less. I started getting hot lights since I started here, so I have less gray hair. [00:57:27] Speaker A: I begin to think it. Maybe I need to look into that myself. [00:57:30] Speaker C: My wife is recommended just for men. It has happened. [00:57:35] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. That's what spousers are for. They won't let you go out of the house and be, you know, ridiculed and picked on. They'll let you know your faults before you leave the front door. [00:57:45] Speaker G: Indeed. As they should. [00:57:48] Speaker A: That's their job. [00:57:48] Speaker G: Right. [00:57:50] Speaker A: Well, thank you for being with us, Emma. I really appreciate it. And good luck with everything. And also want to thank all of our guests on this month's episode, and that's going to wrap it up for the month of August. And by the way, this is the 12th episode. This is one complete year of the local clique. So maybe we'll have to have a birthday cake next month. I don't know. I can help with that. Yes, you can. [00:58:14] Speaker G: Yes, I can. [00:58:14] Speaker A: Well, that worked out very good. Okay. [00:58:18] Speaker C: Was that planned? [00:58:19] Speaker A: That was not planned, but we'll take it. [00:58:21] Speaker G: Wink. [00:58:24] Speaker A: Well, thank you guys for being here with me, and thank you for watching and listening as you do each month. And we look forward to seeing you again next month on the local click. [00:58:32] Speaker B: Learn more about the show by visiting us [email protected] dot. Also, be sure to subscribe to us on your favorite podcast or video platform so you won't miss our next episode of the local click. See you next month.