In this issue:
Customer Spotlight: Dr. Brandon Tiek
For several years, Dr. Brandon Tiek traversed the worlds of dentistry and music. He was dedicated to his purpose of being a dentist and serving his patients in Carmel, Indiana, and in his off-hours, he enjoyed giving voice to his passion for music.
One day, he decided to merge his purpose and passion to create something new altogether: a dental podcast. Dr. Tiek launched “Teeth Talk Radio” in March 2020, just as the COVID-19 pandemic suspended dental practices’ schedules. Initially, the podcast was for patients. In the show’s first 25 episodes, he discussed dental topics such as amalgam fillings and trendy toothpastes, and took listeners out of the operatory to talk more broadly about health and fitness.
“I loved having a way to reach everyday listeners and provide patient education with those first episodes,” Dr. Tiek said. “However, as I met other dentists and people in the dental sphere, I started to see that I probably needed to steer the show toward more of a peer-to-peer podcast.”
After announcing the podcast’s new direction in March 2021, he quickly secured a lineup of a dozen dental professionals to feature on the show. One interviewee included fellow dental podcast host Dr. Neil Park, vice president of clinical affairs for Glidewell.
“The new mission of ‘Teeth Talk Radio’ is to lift the tide of dentistry, so we as dentists can support one another,” Dr. Tiek said. “All too often, you can feel like you’re on an island by yourself when you’re in private practice or solo practice. This dental podcast is a way to encourage and learn from each other.”
In this Q&A, he talks about his experience as a podcaster, as well as what integrative dentistry means to him and why BruxZir® Esthetic Zirconia is an essential restorative material for his practice.
Dr. Brandon Tiek is the host of the "Teeth Talk Radio" dental podcast, which he records from a studio at his dental practice, Tiek Dental Studio, in Carmel, Indiana.
CHAIRSIDE® MAGAZINE: As the creator of the “Teeth Talk Radio” dental podcast, what drives you as you’re brainstorming peer-to-peer content for the show?
DR. BRANDON TIEK: I think about what it’s like to be a solo dentist in private practice. I love dentistry, and I’m grateful to have the freedom to be my own boss and care for people the way I feel that they should be cared for. It’s easy to feel alone in that space though. My hope is that “Teeth Talk Radio” can be a way for us as dentists to be able to encourage and educate each other. I want to talk to people who I’m learning from — people like Dr. Park and Dr. Timothy Kosinski, who’s teaching a dental implant CE course that I’m joining this year. There are so many amazing doctors who know so much about dentistry and are willing to share their knowledge and wisdom.
CM: You’re a self-described integrative dentist. How do you define that at your dental practice?
BT: The word “integrative” can mean different things from dentist to dentist, but it’s how I personally think of my philosophy as a practitioner. I want to learn as much as I can about the human body, in addition to simply someone’s teeth and gums. I’m a dentist, but I’m really concerned about patients’ overall health. I want to be integrative in my thinking and ask what else I can do to get to the source of the issue, so a patient doesn’t continue to struggle with the same problem.
CM: Does that mindset stem from your own experience?
BT: Well, I grew up not healthy and quite overweight until I was in college. A friend who picked up running a little later in his life encouraged me to give it a try for my own exercise routine. I thought: “Man, I can’t run. I’m super slow.” But I realized how much better I felt afterward. Running was my way of disconnecting from the craziness of the world.
And then I got to a point of running way too much and having some health issues — kidney stones, joint pain and hip problems. I had to stop running for a few years and try to stay active in other ways. Eventually, I got my body back to a balanced state and was able to start running again in a healthier way. Now, I run purely because I love it, rather than because I’m trying to run away from something.
CM: As a dentist whose use of BruxZir Esthetic Zirconia has eclipsed your use of glass ceramics, what are three qualities that come to mind when you think of BruxZir Esthetic?
BT: Strength, beauty and predictability. The strength of the material is vital — BruxZir Esthetic Zirconia is so much more stable than other types of restorations. Obviously, you need to make sure your preparations are designed well to support the structure itself. But if you prep it right and you get the right shade, the results are just amazing. After all the BruxZir Esthetic Zirconia cases that I have prescribed, I can tell you the material is translucent and very pleasing to look at. And the restoration drops in every time. In those rare instances when an adjustment is needed, it’s minor.
Dr. Tiek uses the BruxZir Zirconia Shade Guide when prescribing BruxZir restorations for patients.
CM: How does BruxZir Esthetic Zirconia align with your approach to cosmetic dentistry?
BT: If you’re doing cosmetic cases, you’re restoring broken and worn-down teeth — you’re not just making things prettier. You need to take occlusal forces and parafunction into consideration because there’s a reason why those teeth are worn down. And it’s worth noting that in the past year-plus, I probably have made more bite splints than in almost my entire career. I have seen more people come in with migraine headaches, fractured molars, fractured crowns and fractured fillings, all mostly because of nighttime bruxism and stress. So if I can prescribe something like BruxZir Esthetic Zirconia, which is going to be able to withstand a whole lot more occlusal force, it’s a no-brainer to me.
CM: In 2020, you joined our research & development efforts as a clinical evaluator for the BruxZir Zirconia Shade Guide, which recently debuted for industry-wide use. How did the new shade guide fit into your workflow for your BruxZir cases?
BT: The simplicity of the BruxZir Zirconia Shade Guide was really nice. I don’t need an excessive number of different shades for most of my cases. Also, BruxZir Esthetic restorations look different — in a good way — from, say, a porcelain fused to metal crown, so it makes sense to use exclusively zirconia shade tabs to pick the best shade. With a BruxZir Esthetic restoration, I know the translucency is going to be there. Picking the right shade is equally important to ensure the BruxZir Esthetic crown blends in with the patient’s smile, and results like that are why I’m here. I want to do everything with the intention to better the lives of the patients I serve.
CM: Thank you for sharing your story with us, Dr. Tiek.
