Between Two Teeth _2024

Hi there I'm Stephy Steph. I'm a Periodontal and Dental Implant surgeon from Dallas, Tx. Together, I run a YouTube channel with fellow dental surgeon Bobby. Bobby is an Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeon from Canada. We run a joint surgical practice in Dallas, Texas.

Bobby and I met on a mission trip in Guatemala in 2019 (about a year before the world shut down for Covid-19). We were trying to figure out if two different types of surgeons in the dental field could work together. We thought ‘what better place to try than by serving in Guatemala’. We quickly realized that working together in dentistry would be much better as colleagues, not competitors.

We joined together in private practice shortly thereafter with a mission: working better together. This mindset set us apart from other surgical groups in the area. Oral surgeons and periodontists historically are trained with different philosophies towards patient care. Combined, we learned from each other to offer our patients the best from both philosophies. Once in practice together, our referrals started to notice our advantage as a surgical team. That year, we took a group of dentists from our area to Alaska for a practitioner wellness retreat and educational venture to continue to build a community. Dentistry can be isolating for the providers. Bobby and I wanted to change that. Our Alaska wellness retreat was an overwhelming success. Providers who had not felt like they had the support to take vacations of their own in years, stepped out of their comfort zones and leaned into their community for that support.

After that trip, Bobby and I kept the community going by creating the ‘Blue Couch’ space as a place for practitioners in the area to come to the office and literally sit on our blue couch. The message: you have a safe space. We wanted practitioners to be able to share successes, challenges, fears and failures with each other in this space. The ‘Blue Couch’ concept grew in our community with doctors showing up sometimes 2 hours before our study club meetings to share in this community.

Covid shut down our dental clinics to emergency only treatment in the winter/spring 2020. The ‘Blue Couch’ concept was forced to move to digital meetings. The world suffered from a lack of human connection during this time. We all took a break from our ‘normal’ lives as we knew it. This is where Bobby and I started to travel. We began seeing the benefit of getting out of the office on a regular basis. With the Covid shutdown in effect, we were able to explore different areas of the United States through backpacking and camping adventures. Most weekends Bobby and I traveled through Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Oklahoma and Arkansas exploring a life that was far removed from anything we had ever known. Did I mention we started riding motorcycles too? Bobby rode as a kid and I stepped way outside my comfort zone and got my first motorcycle that year.

We both grew during this time, I’d argue that our entire world grew in ways we all never thought possible. Once the COVID shutdown was lifted, Bobby and I started to go back to practice. Our patients flowed in and we got the Blue Couch back in action. Things were different though, Bobby and I through the shutdown decided that we needed to bring the ‘Blue Couch’ to other practitioners to more people. We had the awesome experience through our travels to hear other people’s stories big and small. We wanted to bring those stories to others.

Between Two Teeth was born. We decided on the title as a twist off Zach Galifianakis’ Between Two Ferns YouTube comedy channel. Since the launch of B2Teeth, we have expanded across multiple platforms including Spotify, YouTube, Apple Podcasts and Meta. We have traveled to 12 countries and counting for dental mission work, influencer trips, educational fellowships and motorcycle adventures. Bobby and I have both completed a 2 year Integrative Medicine Fellowship with the University of Arizona School of Medicine. Bobby completed a Senior Executive Fellowship in public policy through the Harvard Kennedy School last year while I finished up an International Surgical Leadership Fellowship with Harvard Medical School.

We had the unique and awesome opportunity to host the American Dental Association’s Annual Session - representing 161,000 active member dentists. During that time we hosted a live interview with Hollywood actor Constance Wu - she is absolutely incredible!

Currently, Bobby and I are leaning into the wellness space through my involvement as an ADA wellness ambassador and Bobby’s key opinion leader status through the Dental Team Wellness Advisory Committee (part of the ADA’s Council on Dental Practice.) We are utilizing our training in integrative medicine to bring awareness to our provider community. With a global reminder to ask a colleague, friend or family member ‘how are you doing, really?’.

I hope you sincerely enjoy our substack and please feel free to reach out to us. Bobby and I are committed to hearing stories and finding the inspiration in this world that pushes one to live a life best lived.