Does ChatGPT Know the Future of Orthodontics?

[00:00:07] Dr. Kyle, you're back. I'm back. This is fun. We're in the same close. Oh shoot, we forgot to change outfits. We forgot to take our same day, different episode. It's all good. It's fine. Today we are going to be talking about the future. Yes, the future of orthodontics. And we're going to be using our little future friend, AI, ChatGPT technically. That's right. To ask it, what's going to happen in 5, 10, and even 15 years? I'm very curious to find out. Well, let's jump in.

[00:00:36] Luke and I are curious. We're very curious. We are very curious. What does the future of orthodontics look like in 5 years? You want to start with 5 years? Yeah, let's start with 5. Okay. Let's see what it has to say. We're just doing the regular. This is ChatGPT 4.0. Okay, so we're not doing deep research here. Great question. Yeah, we don't want to wait 10 minutes for deep research. And one that's on the minds of a lot of forward-thinking orthodontists right now. Well, thank you.

[00:01:06] Here's what the next 5 years could realistically bring for the future of orthodontics. Okay, so let's see. Yay or nay? What do we think? One, consolidation accelerates, but with pushback. And then it's got a little writing that I'm going to read. That's pretty good. It is pretty good. DSOs and private equity will continue to consolidate the market, sure, especially in urban and high-growth suburban areas. Duh. However, there will be a renewed counter-movement. Counter-movement seems to overstate it, but hey.

[00:01:29] Okay. Orthodontists. The resistance. Yeah, the resistance. Yeah, the rebel forces will be out against the empire. All right. Orthodontists reclaiming independence through collaborative networks, niche branding or niche branding, if you will, and hyper-localized marketing. Expect more hybrid models, okay, that blend private practice autonomy with the scale advantages of group purchasing and centralized admin. So what do you say to this?

[00:01:54] I think it's a big topic. I think that, and it's obvious, the DSO, OSO space has kind of cooled down a little bit, but it's here to stay, I think. Yeah. The thing that I really like about private practice, and I think where private practice has an edge, there's several I can come up with, but one is how fast you can move.

[00:02:24] Mm-hmm.

[00:02:48] That's where they really just, hey, everything that you used external, you're now going to be, use all of our, so I don't want to go too deep into the weeds, but all that to say, you can be a lot faster with decision-making and how you move. You can also make decisions on hiring and firing much faster. Yeah. You know? Do you want to bring in a director of ops? Well, that's a big hire. Mm-hmm.

[00:03:17] You know? I don't know that if you don't already have that role going into it, a DSO is going to be like, yeah, go, you know, 100 grand approved for a salary. So, I think there's some advantages there to remaining in private practice and just being able to move at a quick speed and make decisions. Yeah. I mean, honestly, I think this is a very intelligent first response because we're already seeing this. So, five years is not that long from now. That's 2030.

[00:03:49] Man, that's crazy. I know it's wild, right? Counter movement, again, I think kind of like overstates it, but I'm already starting to see that. There's already a few – I won't necessarily name names, but there's a few groups that have sprouted up that are, you know, focused on private practice and buying group advantages and trying to replicate the certain like obvious benefits of being in an OSO-DSO, which some of those things already existed. You know, there's different groups like traditionally like Shulman Group or things like that.

[00:04:16] They kind of like sort of flirted with the idea of being a DSO and then kind of stripped that away, but this idea of having a meeting of the minds, as it were, which is, you know, one of the big things with OSO. And so, a hybrid model is an interesting concept, and I think that probably is the reality. Now, what happens in terms of percentage of the market that is OSO-DSO, I think it remains to be seen. I've always been a little bit more bearish on it, and I think that there's a certain ceiling.

[00:04:43] And I think what we're going to see too is that as we see more DSOs, OSOs fail, which some will succeed, some will fail. Some already are. Some already have. And as they fail, they're going to get gobbled up by the bigger ones, which will strengthen and bolster them and at the same time weaken some of the benefits of it. And it's really going to come down to, hey, in the five years that I signed up, I was expecting this sort of horizon moment where I would get, you know, value for my equity. When that doesn't happen, which we've already seen that happen with some of them, what happens to the people who are working?

[00:05:12] Do they decide to leave and quit? And like what happens to their equity? So, it'll be interesting. But the next five years for sure, I love that we're starting with OSO-DSO. So, let's move on. This one – oh, go ahead. One thing I was going to say too, I think it is hard for DSOs and OSOs to stay as connected in communities. Largely, you know, and again, it depends on the autonomy that you're given, the choice you're given with marketing.

[00:05:39] If your budget's cut, which has happened, you know, especially recently. The community and building the brand and having that brand equity in the community is huge. I would also argue that if the community comes to find out that it is now owned by corporate, that has a stigma as well. Yeah. I wonder how often that happens that they actually find out because, you know, it's – Now they keep the brand name largely silent.

[00:06:05] Yeah, it's called an invisible or an iOSO, which is smart strategy. Heartland has used that for well over a decade, if not two decades in dental. So, I've always kind of thought that and I think that private practitioners, you know, maybe this idea of a countermovement is their degree to which they feel more and more comfortable arguing for the benefits of privately owned, privately held orthodontic practices. Yeah. I wonder if that would play well in the market. I don't know. Well, I've also heard – and I don't want to be a basher.

[00:06:35] I don't want this to seem like I'm – You feel like a basher, though, OSO. I'm going to come out clean here. I don't know about you. I'm kidding. I've also heard a lot about the ways that specific orthodontists want to practice, you know, clinically and that kind of being stripped away more recently. But still, you know, you're not able to use the same products, treat with the same thing down to, you know, the plastic being used for retainer.

[00:07:03] So, all that to say is there's pros and cons to both. I do think, obviously, strategically from a business side, accounting side, buying group side, OSOs have their advantages and then private practice has that too. I think ultimately it comes down to if you decide to sell, why? And in a lot of cases, the math isn't making sense. And I don't know if we want to go down that road. Probably not on this episode. Yeah. Probably not.

[00:07:32] But, I mean, just because we got more, I mean, I can talk OSOs all day long. Yeah. Maybe we'll save that for an entire episode. We'll bring on private practice OSOs, pros and cons. And I do really think there are some good OSOs and DSOs out there. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. And I think a lot of this will be revealed once the original owners and initiators of these OSOs maybe exit out. Because I think right now there's a lot of orthodontists at the top.

[00:07:59] I wonder at, you know, the next turn or the turn after that, if that stays the same way. And if there's still the same energy to advocate for orthodontists in their autonomy at that point. Because obviously if you can consolidate it and everyone uses the same stuff and there's not as much autonomy, it makes it more corporate and easier to be profitable. Yeah. But I think then the bottom falls out if that happens on some level. So interesting stuff. Well, this one feels very apropos. Now we're going to go to the next one. Yeah. No.

[00:08:29] Number two. AI-powered clinical tools go mainstream. Well, this is not being used for clinical purposes. But, yeah, sure. So AI is already creeping into aligner planning, growth forecasting, and diagnostic workflows. It also helps me with scheduling vacations. So in five years, this is its prediction, AI-driven treatment simulations will be standard. Ceph analysis, tooth segmentation, and progress tracking will become increasingly automated and integrated.

[00:08:57] And practices not adopting these tools will fall behind on efficiency and patient expectations. Five years we're talking. So by 2030, they think – and this is all focused on clinical. I'll start on this one and you can tell me what you think because I'm the clinical one here, I guess. You are, definitely. I disagree most strongly with the last statement. The practice is not adopting these tools will fall behind on efficiency and patient expectations.

[00:09:23] If what AI is doing is helping with growth forecasting, diagnostic workflows, treatment simulations, ceph analysis. To be honest, a lot of these are things that – Don't matter. I don't think really matter. To segmentation? To what end? What are we doing? You know, in terms of AI informing how aligner treatment goes, you know, 80% of my patients are in braces. Is it going to help with that? You know, so I think some of this is a little too hyper-focused on a certain specific type of practice.

[00:09:53] And so I think AI will be a big part of it. But I think I'll still be treatment planning my cases in five years. Yeah. And I don't know that patients will know the difference. Well, let's just talk about tech in general. Yeah. I see a lot of people integrating tech in and all of it's good. All of it's really cool. I love tech. Yeah. But I'm not sure patients want to jump through more hoops even when it feels convenient.

[00:10:21] For instance, one would think that dental monitoring is very convenient. Well, is it? Like, do you want to put a docking station in your mouth, you know, with your iPhone and move it around? Like, maybe. Yeah. And maybe a good percentage of patients adopt it. But what about the ones who don't? Yeah. And then how do you have to, like, you may have to hire a role just to keep up with dental monitoring.

[00:10:50] And, okay, little Johnny, you're not doing your dental monitoring, so we've got to tack on 15 or 20 more minutes to your appointment to go back over it. And it could become this bottleneck, you know, whereas what's another three or four more appointments? Yeah. You know? Now, again, I'm being devil's advocate. I actually think dental monitoring is really cool. And I use that as a brand name, but there's Rhinogram, there's Grin, there's a lot.

[00:11:20] There's virtual consult platforms like SmileSnap where you can do that monitoring too. All of it's cool. I just don't know. I think people largely are lazy. I don't think they mean to be, mostly. I think people have good intentions. But as we've talked about in previous episodes, just being inundated with information and it's like, sometimes I just want to put my phone down and, like, I don't want to pick it back up. I don't want another thing to have to do.

[00:11:50] Like, honestly, I rather... I don't want homework. Yeah, I rather would just drive to your office over lunch. You know? I don't disagree. I'm sort of, you know, a technology guy. Like, I also love technology. Just like Kip from Napoleon Dynamite. Anyway. I love technology. However, there are some things where I, like, the technology starts to get in the way of, because there's so much technology. Everything's technology driven and everything's optimal and more efficient that sometimes it's like, do we need it? You know?

[00:12:18] You know, we were too busy trying to think if we could do something, you know, should we do it? I guess. I butchered that quote. Yeah. I was in the ballpark. But on that point... It's Jurassic Park, yes. I do think it is the future. Sure. I do think dental monitoring is the future. It's just a question of when does it become that tipping point. Right. And is it in five years?

[00:12:46] I'm going to argue that it's not in five years. That is my thought. I would also argue that a lot of these things that it mentioned, but also if we're just talking like remote monitoring, dental monitoring, whatever. Do patients know enough? And do even general dentists know enough about the state of the art of orthodontics that they would even know that you're missing out by not having those? You know, like so much of people choosing an orthodontist is predicated on relationship or awareness.

[00:13:15] And I don't know that necessarily dental monitoring, remote monitoring increases that or enhances that. It can, I'm sure. But I don't think that it actually gets at the experience that develops the relationship that helps to grow a practice. I don't think it's mainly what people are selecting an orthodontist by. Well, let's just look at tech.

[00:13:36] PMS, some type of communication tool like Weave or maybe you're using Rhinogram or maybe you're using Podium and you have a VoIP system and a tech system. Then on the lead generation side, you have something like Practice Beacon or Contour. What are some others that you have to keep up with? Oh, man. You could have Simple Console. You could have SmileSnap.

[00:14:05] You could have, there's a billion insert virtual console. OrthoFi, Orthobank. OrthoFi, Orthobank. Sure. And so, again. Even your aligner software is a big one. Yeah, ULab, Invisalign. Yeah. At what point is too much too much where it's like the team just becomes overwhelmed and this efficiency that you thought you were installing in the practice, now you're just swapping time. Yeah.

[00:14:34] Instead of spending time with a patient, you're stuck on a computer. Yeah. So, I think it's all really good. I think you just have to be like level with yourself. Yeah. Does this actually save time and accomplish the goal? Does it give the patient a better experience? What? Yes to that. That should be the primary thing. Does it help me treat better? Does it help improve the experience? And then also, we're running businesses here. Does it make me more profitable?

[00:15:02] And to that question, to the best of my understanding at this stage, at least for my practice, I don't believe that it would. In five years, I might change my mind. I just don't see this as some sort of like event horizon where I'm going to have to do it in five years or I'm going to get left in the dust. Yeah. I think I disagree with that. And again, devil's advocate, I talk to a lot of people who say, when I go home, I don't want to take work with me. Sure. It's me. I hate homework. I want none of it.

[00:15:30] A lot of the techie orthodontists are doing the work at home too. Yeah. And some people like that. Right. So just something to think about. Not me. Yeah. Oh, wow. This is hilarious. It goes right into what we just talked about. Like, did it change as we're talking? Is it listening? Has it become self-aware? Three, remote monitoring becomes expected. And it says the COVID bump made remote treatment more accepted.

[00:15:57] But now companies like dental monitoring and grin are helping practices scale without sacrificing oversight. This feels like a – is this an advertisement? Chat CPT. And so in five years, they're saying hybrid consult treatment models will be standard. And then practices will be judged on how well they balance convenience and control. I would argue we kind of already talked about this. We did. Yeah. I think – And globally, yes. But there's – like it may not be needed. This is five years. Yeah. Two. Like if this is 15 years, yeah, I might say sure.

[00:16:27] Here's the other big thing in all of this. Will the biology of tooth movement change relative to any of these tools? And you may not – the answer is no. That was – was that obvious? Okay. Yeah. The answer is no. Like the teeth are not going to move any faster necessarily. Now, it's more efficient in theory, but like there's a certain limitation to aligners. What's that? Whether they wear it or not. This probably won't change that. It might help. And then with braces, like there's a certain level of efficiency to wire changes.

[00:16:54] Just because I can know that someone's not tracking or that something's not going right doesn't mean that I can change their wire virtually. And so there's some things here that I don't think make it become the gold standard. Like in such a way that people are demanding it. It'll let you know what you have to do at the next appointment. Sure. Before they even walk in, which is awesome. Now, that could be kind of cool. And maybe that makes the doctor's life a little easier. It does. But I can't imagine that patient's like, wow, you didn't have to come over here and decide if it was going to be a 29 tie or not. Like this is amazing. Right. I don't know. You know?

[00:17:24] Yeah. So I think I'll love it. I'm here for it. Don't get me wrong. Here we go. Number four, the middle is getting squeezed. I like this one. Yeah. I think that's always true, right? The value bar is rising. Patients will choose either premium personalized care, high touch, boutique, community rooted, or fast, cheap, and digital first. DSO, aligner only, remote heavy. Mediocre practices in the middle with no distinct brand or clinical differentiator will shrink or sell.

[00:17:54] Thoughts on this? I think it's always kind of been the case. I think largely it depends on where you're located, but we'll see a status quo practice doing well, kind of successfully stuck. Let's say two and a half, three million. Another practice comes in, really invest in the brand community and can blow that one away

[00:18:18] even as a newer practice because it became focused on positioning and getting their identity into the local market. So, yeah, I think that if you're just going to be status quo, it's always become more competitive as the industry has grown. Yeah.

[00:18:40] You know, and you could even say the competition now, especially with aligners, look at dentist as a competitor, you know? Sure. Did orthodontists predict 20 years ago that dentists were going to be a big competitor with maybe to some degree? But, you know, it's pretty frustrating now, I think, for a lot of orthodontists. Yeah, sure.

[00:19:06] I mean, I don't know how the fastest, how the cheapest is the fastest. I think I still like disagree with that idea. I kind of disagree with this overall. Like, there's some truth to it, but I don't know if it's like, if you're not one or the other, you're gone. Yeah. It just, I do think it becomes more competitive, not necessarily on these points exactly. Yeah.

[00:19:33] But I do think you need to be thinking about what does differentiate me. Yeah. What's our value system? And do we like talk about these things? Yeah. Yeah. I also think that your ability to charge more is not tethered to, in my opinion, like remote monitoring or necessarily like bracket technology or things like that. Yeah. I think that's a misunderstanding of why people choose the provider that they choose.

[00:20:00] I think that's like a start with why concept of what we do and how we do it is only so compelling in a market because the general dentist, the pediatric dentist, the through the male aligner system, they do what we do and in a similar way, how we do it, but why we do it. And those sort of grounding, like unique principles are far more attractive to people and they're willing to pay for that. And so I still think like, yeah, you want to call premium personalized that's high touch and boutique and all that.

[00:20:27] Well, you can still have a large practice, I think in five years that is still high touch and good customer service. It doesn't mean it has to be small, you know, and you can charge a lot and still be a big practice. So I don't know. I would also argue that this is fairly logical, all of these things. Yes, right. And if you were really good at marketing and storytelling, you can almost treat however you want to be treated. Sure.

[00:20:53] And because again, it's perception, which is hitting on emotion, not logic of we use this and we use this. I don't know that people care about that as much as maybe the story and the perceived value. Yeah. This is hilarious. I feel like it's listening and changing its answers as we go. Cause the last one for five years from now, what happens is practice, practice personality matters more. Okay. It's crazy. So it's like, I'm not just logical.

[00:21:23] And I promise I'm not, I'm not seeing the screen. I know you're not. You can't see it. Your unique story vibe and why are becoming more important than your years of experience or even your case outcomes. In a crowded market, one, authentic branding will be generic professionalism. I agree. The practices that lean into who they are will attract more patients and team members they actually want. Hey, I kind of agree with this one. That's it. Yeah. That's it.

[00:21:51] Except for the idea that years of experience or case outcomes don't matter. That can be true. A unique story can be pretty strong, but also. It needs to be backed up. Yeah. The presence and the quality of the treatment matters a lot. Like if Apple was all about thinking differently and their computers weren't good, they would have run into a wall at a certain point. So that's right. Yeah. So get that right. You were very close though. And then there's a bonus, which is hilarious. Orthodontists become media personalities. Yeah. I don't know.

[00:22:19] It says that the age of passive marketing is over. I disagree. You can be passive. Does it break that down at all? Yeah. It says between TikTok, YouTube, and podcasting, we'll see more orthodontists become local influencers. Some. All right. And then it says some even national. Yeah. The braces guy. We've seen that. Yeah. Yeah. In five years, I assume we'll see it again. Whether that's for fun, lead gen, or recruiting, the age of passive marketing is over. However, this is dead wrong because lead gen, what kind of lead gen are you doing by being a national TikTok personality anyway?

[00:22:49] Like in your market. Yeah. It's not about that. And in fact, one of the reasons to work with Hip, Neon Canvas, other marketing agencies is that it is passive. And I don't think that age is ending in five years. No, I don't think so. It's passive for the doctor. It's not passive for the company. I do think if we infer this point and there's an opportunity to double down on offline or traditional mediums, some of those things are actually really good.

[00:23:19] Yeah. You know? And I think with more and more noise on the internet, some of these things could work well. Like are certain media appearances and podcast appearances smart? Can you take that content and syndicate it across social? Can you take some of that and run it as ads? And, you know, as seen on WEAR channel three or, you know, some things that do add credibility

[00:23:47] to your other strategies and you can kind of layer that in. And I think it becomes powerful. I don't think it's cherry pick. I think it's you find the things that work or the things that could work even better and capitalize on those things. And I do think that the community and traditional methods are largely forgotten because people tell us more and more like, let's just spend more online. And it's like, we love that.

[00:24:18] That's great. But you also need to think somewhat about omnipresence. Like Neon and Hip and obviously the new brand that we're going to be creating. Like, I kind of want to be everywhere. Yeah. You know? Anywhere that there's someone that we could help. You know? Like I want to do, and we do, direct mail. You know? We may start a magazine. Like we run paid ads. We put out podcasts. You need to be thinking the same way.

[00:24:48] And a lot of orthodontists try and outsource this too or like have a team member do it. And I think there's a place for that. But I also think it's extremely valuable and people want to see the orthodontist to some degree. It's kind of like Elvis didn't send somebody in his place. You know what I mean? And there's some strategy there with showing up to local events and being present and being connected. I totally agree. I just also, and this is just a bonus.

[00:25:17] So AI is thinking, hey, this is just a bonus. Don't beat up on me too much. But how many orthodontists even have the potential and let's say the desire to be a media personality? It's very few. So I think that this idea that this is going to like unlock in five years might be its worst prediction. I have this concept. What if the best clinicians became the best communicators? I don't mean thinking that you're a great communicator.

[00:25:43] It's academic and you can talk forever about anatomy and skulls and teeth in terms that people don't know. Actually being able to relate and build rapport with the target market, which is, I think, a little bit different. But that is an interesting concept because if you can't communicate well and get in rapport with people well, you know. Yeah.

[00:26:08] Well, to be fair, like chairside manner or bedside manner and clinical skill doesn't necessarily interface. And I think it's only a small percentage of the time that the best communicators and the best clinicians are the same. And so, again, to this point, those that understand social media really well and happen to be orthodontists, like how many orthodontists we really want to have being social media personalities? I mean, you know, there's not that much space for it, right? Sure. So there's really been the bentist and the braces guy.

[00:26:38] And then, you know, Enrique does well. There's some others that have big followings. But yeah, there's a certain ceiling on it. So anyway, AI can't be perfect. It can't bat a thousand. And again, what's your goal? Like, do you want national prestige or? It means nothing to me. And I would assume it means very little to most people. Yeah. But, okay. So do you think we should just jump on to 15 years or do you want to do 10 and then 15? Let's do 10 and 15. Okay. Yeah, mine as well. Let's do 10 years now.

[00:27:07] I'm curious to see how wildly different it is. Yeah, that'll be interesting. It is. And then we'll do 500 years and see what it says. We'll all be on Mars by now. Orthodontics won't be necessary because all teeth will have been replaced with, you know, little sponges that, I don't know. Okay. So here is, absolutely. Here's a 10-year outlook for orthodontics projecting to 2035. At this point, everything's gotten colder. It's just a barren landscape.

[00:27:37] And there's these raiders that they drive these little cars with cages on. I don't know. The changes are more structural and transformative, not just incremental. Okay. So number one, orthodontic care is more decentralized and on demand. It says aligners dominate the mild to moderate market. And the majority of those cases begin without a traditional in-office consult. Patients initiate treatment with mobile apps, dental spas, or hybrid practices with oversight still required, but often asynchronously.

[00:28:04] And then third, orthodontists must justify in-person care with real value, complex cases, surgical cases, concierge service, or multi-specialty integration. Thoughts on that? I don't know. I'm not sure it's going to be that advanced. Yeah. I don't know that I disagree, but again, I have a mindset that's very much against this because I just, I don't see it changing as quickly as some people think.

[00:28:34] And of course I could be wrong, but I mean, we're talking 10 years. Right. I've been in practice now for 12 years. How much has it changed in those 12 years? Indiscernible so. I mean, really new things come around and the things that were really hip and like, you know, trending at the time, some of those have gone the way of the dodo. Well, I think you also have to factor in with how fast tech is changing. I get that. No. How does it actually change the trajectory?

[00:29:03] Because it resets, right? So as soon as something begins to be developed, there's something that blows it away. And then you have to start developing that. And then as that becomes developed, there's even newer tech. Like two years ago, three years ago, did we think GPT, I don't know about you, like 80% of what I do now is GPT. I don't disagree. I agree. But I think it's also, you and I might be uniquely like using these tools more than some people.

[00:29:32] I think, I mean, I don't think. We are. I know there's people that don't. But then there's people who blow us away with using the tool. Yeah. But there's plenty of people who don't use it at all. I guess the question, like, let's kind of focus it down is, is that will you have to justify in-person care? I don't know. Yeah. You know? I think, again, it comes down to like. You've got three brackets hanging from your mouth. Like, I'm pretty sure you need to come in. Well, okay. So there's, I think, a differentiator is, is that can aligners be done remotely?

[00:30:01] And I think that question was asked eight years ago by Smile Direct Club. And the resounding answer to that was no. I have so many consults that come and say, ah, try that. It didn't work or whatever. And yeah, I think there is a model for that. And I think like, oh, so those are trying to figure it out. I think independent orthodontists are going to be trying to figure this out. Like, is there something we can do that kind of plays in that remote space? Now to this thing about like the first consult won't be traditional in office. It'll be like remote.

[00:30:28] I could see that maybe, but it's hard to make that synchronous with someone who's like not even able to come into the office. And so. How would you do records? Yeah. I mean, you have to assume that your phone can somehow take a scan and give you a version of the mouth. Maybe that'll happen. It could, I mean, could an x-ray be replicated by something that a phone could send out in terms of like IR or, you know, something, I don't know, like some sort of wave or something like maybe. I have no idea.

[00:30:58] I mean, I think that to me, I still feel like that's like a 15 year thing. I do think this is kind of ridiculous, but, you know, imagine a different play on a DIY where you could go into a virtual world and even experience with a changed smile, what life would be like. Ooh. That could be cool. Now that I could see happening. I do think like from a sort of. Like a story. Yeah. From a virtual, like movies, games, whatever.

[00:31:26] I think those will be increasingly informed by AI. I just don't know about like services. Like, is it, is a hair. Let's, let's just look at other stuff that requires physical interaction, like a haircut. Will a haircut, will there be some sort of flying around drone scissors that. You could program your haircut. Like maybe. It's very dangerous. Yeah. It's very dangerous. You don't want to move too quick. Yeah. Um, I just, I don't know. Like let's equate that now to orthodontics, especially bracket based orthodontics.

[00:31:55] I don't see how bracket based orthodontics is done remotely. Like. I also don't see how brackets go away to where it's like all aligners. I don't either because people don't wear them. Yeah. And so unless there's some magic that changes the biology of tooth movement, I just don't buy this personally. We should have like a little sound effect that goes. You know. Rejected. Yeah. Or AI. You know. Yeah. Can you do that? Nope. Okay. He said absolutely not. No, he said yes. Um, okay.

[00:32:24] Number two, uh, orthodontists become clinical architects. You won't be doing all the treatment anymore. You'll design the case and AI driven software will handle planning, monitoring, and alerts. Techs and assistants will manage much of the execution with robotic aid. Yes, really. Think automated wire bending, bracket placement, et cetera. This frees up orthodontists to become true. It sounds expensive. It sounds expensive. Yeah. That's from the end of the nerds.

[00:32:50] Um, this frees, frees up orthodontists to become true directors of care, more strategic, less manual. What say you about orthodontists becoming clinical architects? Hmm. Hmm. I don't know that I, that sounds a bit far-fetched. We don't like anything here. Yeah. We don't agree with any of this. Uh, robots. Let's talk robots. I, I do think robots are going to, that's one thing like on the future that I'm like, I kind of think it's true. I think people will have robots in their homes to do laundry, to, to cook.

[00:33:20] But what's the liability of a robot bending a wire? Yeah. In 10 years, will we have been able to get that through Congress or something? And probably at the level that that is possible, we'll probably put in laws to restrict it. Well, we could talk about something that is actually realistic on this point, which is indirect bonding, which I do think that that is the future, right? Like, I mean, with workflow to some degree. No, I want to hear your point. I'll give you mine.

[00:33:49] I just think with the future, with, uh, how much time could potentially be saved, uh, with workflow efficiency, it makes sense. And some of these companies, uh, again, I think we're kind of in the pioneering phase. So I think in 10 years, the companies we're seeing today may not even exist and there'll be different companies doing it. Yeah. Um, you know, but I do think there's some companies even now that have incredible case studies.

[00:34:20] We even have clients where it's like, look how much time I could save, um, and look how much more efficient it is. Uh, you know. Plenty of doctors who talk about not being able to like close spaces and things. So, I mean, you know, technology is still young. Yeah. Um, and the people that started those companies, great people, friends of mine, like not trying to be critical. It's just, you gotta be honest about the ups and the downs of a system like that. In 10 years, is it the standard? Maybe. I'll put this to you. Now I get to be the devil's advocate. I'm so excited.

[00:34:49] It's like the first time, uh, direct bonding, indirect bonding. Let's just do a mind experiment here. A thought experiment where if indirect bonding had been the standard kind of like, you know, days passed and then direct bonding came out like, oh, look, you can just bond this in the mouth and cure it. And it's done. You don't have to take a model or 3d print or set brackets on the thing and then do the transfer tray and all this. You don't have to send it off and spend, you know, 600 bucks for a case setup. You can just put them right on there and they stay. Okay. People would be like, oh my gosh, let's get direct bonding.

[00:35:19] I mean, that's how I believe it would be. And I think that is to say, I actually don't buy indirect bonding as like the standard bearer or the only way to do it because I think the immediacy of being able to put the brackets on right then will be viable for a long time still. I mean, I've tried indirect bonding, didn't love it. And granted, like to the degree that- What if there was a way to do both in 10 or 15 years to where like in office you could literally- Oh, it'll be instant. Yeah.

[00:35:46] I mean, you scan it, you print it, AI like helps formulate where it should go. That will become the standard. There you go. Yeah. But it has to be in office. And I mean, even like, will it print the actual bracket and the first wire? I mean, it'll get there. And at that point, man, that's spooky. That is. That's probably more like what's going to happen in 10 or 15 years. And I've had these conversations like I, you know, scanning will become instant more or less.

[00:36:13] 3D printing will become the sky's the limit, which is scary on like so many levels. You'd be able to print a liver and just put it right in there, you know, replace that liver. After years of drinking bourbon, new liver. Triple bypass. Yeah. Here we go. Anyway, that'll be fun. So, but we'll still go to the orthodontist. Did you see this guy? It was like the, the dirty surgeon or I forget what it was. And he was. The dirty surgeon. Where did you buy that film at?

[00:36:43] It was like a Netflix. All right. Maybe it wasn't dirty. But. Was that at the movie rental place, the blockbuster behind the special door? Yeah. This is, this is like, it's on prime or something. Okay. Okay. Where something. Surgeon. Almost a spick take. Yeah. We'll have to look this up, but. Can I Google this? Look.

[00:37:09] Throat cancer surgeon and 3D printing. He was world renowned and he was putting in plastic throats and like injecting stem cells onto the plastic and, oh, this is going to work and the body's going to accept it. And it never did in any case. Your search did not match any documents. What? Give me something. Here, here. Let me, let me try it.

[00:37:39] Give it a go. I got, I got to know about this. So. I now have on my web search history, the dirty surgeon. Hmm. That is going to be some popular orthodontist or surgeons social media handle, you know? At the dirty surgeon. We're doing a dirty surgery today. Yeah. Here he is. Paolo Maciurini. Ah. Paolo.

[00:38:08] Wasn't that, um, Rachel's boyfriend in season one of friends? Yeah. Italian. I'm trying to see what the documentary is. Oh. But yeah, here it is. Showing off my TV chops. A surgeon's downfall. Okay. What does this have to do with it? Well, you were talking about 3D printing and I'm like, oh, this has been done. Did it work? No, it was. Oh. Oh, bad surgeon. Bad surgeon, love under the knife. Bad surgeon, dirty surgeon.

[00:38:37] I think you were thinking dirty Santa, maybe? Yeah, same thing. Um. He was dirty. Do you remember that? The, okay, bad surgeon, love under the knife. Okay, well, all that to say, maybe we're not printing livers in 10 years. But the point is, I think, can we get to a point where, okay, let's talk about aligners. Can we direct 3D print an aligner in 10 years right in the office off of a scan that takes no time at all that automatically, you know, sets out, you know, five sets or something?

[00:39:07] Yes. Yeah. To that for sure. That may be even sooner. Yeah, and I think also, like, scanning at home, there will probably be, like, applications for once 3D printing costs get down lower. Like, if I needed a spatula in my kitchen instead of ordering it, I could probably just, like, That'll be cool. I'll nerd out on that. Totally. Yeah. Even, like, uh, plates and forks and stuff. Like, at what point does it make sense to just have, like, a nice 3D printer?

[00:39:33] I was in an office two days ago, and all their doorstops were their logo that he had 3D printed. That's pretty cool. Yeah, it was pretty cool. So I think that will be something. So, orthodontists become clinical architects. Yeah, maybe. Robots is interesting. They already are, though. Well, of course we already are. I would hope that we are. And we already are delegating, like, most of this stuff anyway. Again, a lot of this is predicated on aligner conceptual treatment taking over.

[00:40:02] And again, people have to wear it. It's not for everybody. I don't think that is anywhere near the case. I've done aligners. I'm in Embrace now, if you hear me lisping. Got a rubber band on. I was wondering what that was. And, uh, aligners, I did not like at all. I'm not saying I like Embrace. Did you not like how it felt? I didn't like having to take the plastics out all the time. Like, if I had coffee or... A lot of people don't. ...a Guru or, you know, one of those, uh... Yeah.

[00:40:31] ...Jacob bars you have. Yeah. You know, all the aligners, it's just like, okay. They taste better if you keep the aligner in. I've got it out. Do I want to go brush and put it back in? Or am I going to eat something again or snack in 30 minutes? Totally. And I just could not be compliant. Yeah. No, I agree. Um, I'm at 13% charge, so we may have to bring in a power plug. I wonder if in 10 years there will be no need to charge your computer. It'll just be solar charged. I have no idea. Um, all right. Dental and ortho merge in unexpected ways.

[00:41:01] Corporate groups will bundle specialties. Think one-stop shop, oral wellness centers offering GP, ortho, endo implants, et cetera. That's already happening. It's already happened, so in 10 years, sure. Um, this will force a clear positioning of the orthodontic expert. You'll either lead a comprehensive dental team or risk becoming a subcontractor. Hmm. Hmm. Maybe. I do think the future for private practice is multi-specialty to what end or what degree. Um, I mean, we'll find out soon, right?

[00:41:30] But I do think it can be very strategic depending on what you actually want to do and what your vision is. It's very, it's very strategic, but also are you going to cut off referrals to be able to build this? Yeah. I, I don't know. This feels like one of these things that you want to ascend to the level of and say, yep, that's what's happening. But then you have to kind of like peel that back and say, or pull that back rather, is

[00:41:58] anything in the dental school specialty world going to change in 10 or 15 years? If there's anything we can count on, it's like institutions that have no reason to change changing. Like they're probably not going to. So like there's still going to be an orthodontic specialty, still going to be oral surgery specialty. So there's still going to be this idea that those who have gone through specialty training will want to be in control and have autonomy over what they do. I think largely, I don't think that will change. And so in that sense, why would I opt into a system, as you said, that guarantees that

[00:42:26] no one else sends anything to me when I could just open my own brick and mortar? Because the cost of entry is so low. And this is why I don't buy OSOs completely taking over orthodontics because we don't need anything more than a box and about a half a million dollars of investment to have an office. We don't need hospital like, you know, rounds and things like that. Yeah. You don't need an OR. No. So like, I don't understand why it necessarily makes it so much more convenient and I can

[00:42:52] market, you know, the thing that doesn't matter where I'm located or who I'm next to is the internet. I can still market there. So, yeah, I don't know. Let's go to number four. Diagnostic data is 3D continuous, continuous. That's interesting. And predictive. CBCT, inter-oral scans, wearable data are merged into live cloud-based patient models. These models will alert you to relapse risks. Kind of cool. Predict airway obstruction or growth delays.

[00:43:19] Suggest retention or retreatment timelines before symptoms appear. And expect every patient to have a longitudinal digital twin. Maybe. I mean, this is actually, this is Steve Jobs' reasoning for the Apple Watch was that he developed, you know, his liver cancer or liver failure, whatever it was that he had. He actually went to Memphis for treatment, but he put it off for a year because he was trying holistic methods. I did not see him. I wish I had, you know, seen him. Huge fan. Huge fan of Steve and what he did.

[00:43:49] Although he seemed like kind of a jerk, but. Yeah. Genius though. Genius jerk. Yeah. Jerk genius. We appreciate him. He's a dirty surgeon. That's what people called him. That's going to be like every time you hear that. That's our new podcast thing. Yeah. The dirty surgeon podcast. I don't know. Does that work? He wanted wearable tech such that it could alert you to health issues. I do. This one, like. I'm charging my whoop right now. I kind of buy into this a little bit.

[00:44:18] I don't know how a CBCT is continuous, but I do think you probably have. Yeah. I love this. A longitudinal digital twin. What a brilliant way to say that. Could your aligners be a wearable? Could your brackets be a wearable? Sure. To where they literally feedback info to you? And then you don't even need monitoring as we know it today with a docking station in your phone. It's literally what you're, the appliance that you're in.

[00:44:44] Could that be, you think, I mean, that may not be 10 years, but could it be 20 years? Sure. I think so. Easily. Yeah. I think, yeah, probably 10 years is maybe a little bit early for like live continuous cloud-based patient model. So like, you think about all the privacy concerns with that and like all the other stuff and like which company is the one that does that and how do we get universal adoption? And there's always those considerations. Like unless Apple does it and they have an interest in, you know, the mouth, which what's going to come first?

[00:45:12] Oh, heart, cholesterol, blood flow, like all those kinds of things are going to come way before are your teeth straight, you know? But it'll come eventually, but maybe not 10 years. There's five, six, and seven. The rise of the mega personal brand. I'm not going to talk about that one because I just, yeah, I don't want that. Training and CE are virtual, global, and AI enhanced. Okay. Yeah, makes sense. I will just say, sure.

[00:45:39] The best educators will teach worldwide audiences from a home studio. I do think for what it's worth, meetings, like getting together in person, they'll still exist because I still think there's value in that. But man, like a meeting, you could sit in your chair and there could be like a holographic person teaching you. But I just think meetings are so social in nature. I do think there's a big opportunity, which I think we're going to launch some stuff.

[00:46:03] And there's a big opportunity for meetings to be completely different where we can start to incorporate some things like nutrition, like wellness, like biohacking, breath work. I mean, we did this at our last mastermind and the testimonials are wild. So I do think there's an opportunity where a lot of the meetings we go to, and there's nothing bad with this. I mean, you would fall into this category.

[00:46:32] It's the same speakers, same information. It's great. Boring. Right. But I think there will be an opportunity, even as tech advances, where people will crave real human connection more than ever before. The only way to pull it off is small intimate meetings. Yeah. Well, and then if you're doing it virtually, there's a potential of you form the meeting you want. But we kind of already have that. So like, is there any sort of way that we enhance that such that it makes it better? Maybe.

[00:47:02] Like would a holographic speaker in my living room make me more inclined to want to watch it? We're all wearing the Apple Pro. I actually think, I don't know, I kind of push back on this one now because I think like the illusion of choice makes you less likely to choose. You know, there is something about going to a meeting and it happens. It has to happen. You're there. You're detached from your normal life. Because like if I'm at home, am I going to watch a CE meeting or am I going to, you know, play the drums or play video games? I'm probably going to do what's like fun and easy. So I don't know. We'll see.

[00:47:31] Here's one that's for sure true. There will be a generational shift. You think? Okay. But with that comes a culture shift. And so it says by 2035, most practicing orthodontists will be millennials. That's me and you or Gen Z. Expect stronger emphasis on purpose-driven practices, mental health and lifestyle design, remote work for team members. Good luck with that. Ethical, sustainable business models. Well, some of this is just loaded with buzzwords. Yeah. It's a little like word soup.

[00:48:01] Yeah. You know? I actually think we're already seeing a return from remote work to an office work because it doesn't work. You know? Yep. Yeah, totally. The emphasis in remote work is not work. It's remote. So I don't know. I think we're seeing a return on some of that. I do think there will probably be some differences in how, you know, someone who's Gen Z approaches work. But you know what? The generation that was a generation alpha that comes after Gen Z, as with all pendulum shifts, they're going to shift it back the other direction because they're going to

[00:48:30] be like, oh, you're lazy and ineffective. Right. Well, what's the key thing in all of this? I think the common denominator, one of, is to be adaptable and be flexible. You have to adapt. You have to evolve. And even if we're talking about remote work and hiring, I saw this become a massive problem during and after COVID. And even now to this day, and I still think it will be, it's a problem here to stay with

[00:48:58] how do I hire the right people and then how do I keep people? Because attrition is massive. And how costly is it to lose your scheduler every three to six months? Very. You know? And I do think that because of that, you have to continue to invest in yourself and maybe ask, where do I suck? You know?

[00:49:22] But it is a powerful question because with hiring, mentorship, leadership, growth, and retention internally, you do have to become a better leader. And you do have to, I think, get off your ego a little bit, your high horse. And that can be hard. I don't want to say just for doctors, but for drivers, type A, entrepreneurs, you know, we want to go, go, go.

[00:49:52] And if people can't keep up with us, we just leave them in the dust. Well, that is not always the best for building and keeping a team. And most team members aren't going to be like us because they're not owners. Yeah. And so how do we hire? How do we train, mentor, empathize with our team and keep them? And I think that is something that small business owners in general, but we're talking about

[00:50:21] orthodontists and dentists today, they're really going to have to work on that, in my opinion. Well, and also when that generational shift happens and now it's Gen Z people owning practices, the people working in those practices will be generation alpha. Right. There's always that sort of shift. Right. And to be honest, like I think sometimes the generational thing gets overplayed. It does. So whatever that's worth. All right. 15 years. Are we ready? Let's run it. All right. Let's end with 15 years.

[00:50:49] Just give me five predictions. Thank you. I want to be nice to it. Yeah. When it takes over and the robots like, you know, imprison us. Yeah. I want to be liked. We'll ask it about you later and it'll say you're nice. Oh, I'd rather not. He says thank you. He occasionally says thank you, but mostly he just yells at me. Okay. So here's five bold but realistic predictions. Where orthodontics could be by 2040.

[00:51:16] Number one, fully personalized appliances made in office. We already talked about this. Oh, we did. Most brackets, wires, aligners, even retainers will be 3D printed or milled in-house. Customized per patient from day one. Materials will adapt intra-orally. Think smart polymers that respond to temperature or stress. Mass production will give way to mass customization controlled chair side. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, embrace was thermodynamic, right? So like the wire, you know, I can, when I drink my coffee, I can fill the wire.

[00:51:46] Night Tye wires have been thermodynamic since Night Tye wires, you know? Okay. And that was, I mean, and not, not, not pulling rank on you here, but you know, Night Tye was developed by NASA to keep a satellite constricted and then let it out into space. So yeah. So it's really nothing new, that part. I think what they're getting at is, is that a smart polymer that, I mean, I guess you could say Night Tye kind of is that, but maybe it's smarter that it could like, I mean. Nanobots. I don't know. Maybe.

[00:52:14] I think there's been this idea of like, could there be one single wire that does everything? And probably one day. I worry about my potential to hold a job as an orthodontist at that point, but it could be. And we, I think the thing that I definitely agree with like 100% is brackets, wires, aligners, retainers, 3D printed or milled in house. Yeah. Customized to each patient. I think so. I think you still though, the thing you have to have here is an orthodontist that makes that decision.

[00:52:42] And I think you got to still come into the practice to have this done. Yep. So, and then at the same time that this is all happening, it's not going to be free. It actually might be cheaper though. I mean, like printing it in house theoretically could be cheaper. Mm-hmm. What's funny is Braces on Demand was doing this five years ago. Mm-hmm. And they kind of figured out that this was the future and they maybe just a little early on it, you know? So, I don't know. All right. Number two. This is funny. AI replaces first year orthodontic residents.

[00:53:12] What? That's terrifying. Sorry to our educators. Sorry guys. You won't have residents. You'll just have AI. What? Let me read this. Case planning, diagnosis, growth prediction, and treatment simulations will be so accurate and instantaneous, AI will handle what used to require years of clinical experience. This may disrupt orthoeducation and licensure models entirely. The orthodontist becomes the final reviewer and decision maker, not the calculator of angles and forces. Okay.

[00:53:43] So, I don't agree. Yeah. However, I do think, and this is obvious, AI is going to replace a lot of jobs. Yes. I do think it can speed up a lot and maybe offload a lot within the context of what it's talking about. Yeah. But, I mean, look at the developers AI has already replaced. Look at how it's going to revolutionize the legal world.

[00:54:09] You know, I mean, we recently went through contracts and stuff and it was like, there's got to be a better way. And so, I do think globally it is going to replace a ton of jobs. I think it will aid and benefit here. I don't know if it'll replace or could from a liability standpoint. That's wild. Again, this is amazing. I think we were talking about a lot of stuff during the 10-year prediction, but if something's not going to change, it's going to be the dental boards. It's going to be the education boards. It's going to be our institutions.

[00:54:38] Too much money hangs in the balance. And too many companies that are owned by the insurance companies and all that, like, follow the money. And the money would suggest that these institutions that can maintain their positions will maintain their positions. Well, I also think there's something healthy around the human race and keeping us relevant. Might be a good idea. Yeah, sure. Yeah, I think we'll legislate to protect ourselves. Yeah. And we should, in my opinion.

[00:55:07] Until AI robots take over and become self-aware and all that, as with Terminator 2. We can drink robot blood. Skynet. Yes. Okay, we got three left. This has been fun. Yeah. I've enjoyed this. National brands dominate the commodity market. There will be three to five dominant national orthodontic brands, the Starbucks or Amazon of straight teeth. We've seen that, too. They'll own the simple cases, the walk-ins, the ads, the app-based starts.

[00:55:35] Independent practices will still thrive, but only if they're radically differentiated by experience, complexity, or niche. Or niche. I like niche. Niche? Yeah. Fair enough. I usually say niche, but I want niche. Again, I do think we can infer some truths here. Yeah. I don't think literally all that's true. I don't think you do either. No, of course not. I just don't. I think you're assuming that a patient sitting on their couch is going to download, let's

[00:56:05] just say Invisalign, download their app and then choose to start. Oh, look, babe. There's a purse, but I want straight teeth. Yeah. It's like, eh. I don't know. Yeah. Maybe. I mean, I guess it depends on how viable you think that a completely remote experience is. I think at that point, let's just say it like this. If a corporately held company can eliminate the doctor from the process, they will. We are expensive. But can they? Yeah. I think at the point at which they can, orthodontics no longer exists as a specialty.

[00:56:34] I don't know that it will ever happen. I'm not saying it will. Just if it did. Well, think about it across all of healthcare. If doctors can be replaced, again, now this goes into transhumanism, right? And if we all like become robots or AI and I mean, this could happen, right? Sure. But I do think that we're going to figure this out and protect the human race to some degree.

[00:57:03] And because of that, a lot of these advancement predictions won't actually happen or can't happen or shouldn't happen. Yeah. You know? I think that's fair. Oh, hey, here's one for you. Number four, and we got two left. Orthodontics merges with biohacking. Whoa. I know, right? How does it- It's listening. Yeah. It's listening. It knows us too well. Are you plugging in information to this? They're going to tackle that. Yeah, they just talked about this. Your GPT. Zach Hacks. That should be like a special YouTube segment. Zach Hacks.

[00:57:32] Anyway, sorry. Dirty Surgeon. Dirty Surgeon Hacks. All right, whatever. That can be your screen name. All right. Practices will offer more than T-straightening. Integrating with facial aesthetics, airway optimization, posture, and cognitive performance. Okay. Expect services like sleep optimization, myofunctional therapy, and neurostimulation to share space with your CBCT unit. You're not just fixing bites. You're enhancing lives. What say you? I totally agree.

[00:58:00] I do think this will be, to use the word again, a niche. I don't know how widespread this will be. I know an niche. Anish Gala. He's a friend of mine. Yeah. But- But oops. Yeah, there you go. I do think this will happen. I just don't know if it'll be the norm. But I do think places like this will exist. And they already are starting to- They're already getting there. Yeah. There's people that- Dental spas and yeah. I guess the question is, is that, is an orthodontist the right one to be helping with

[00:58:28] facial aesthetics, airway optimization, posture, and cognitive performance? I think it depends. Okay. Yeah. Are we positioned, I guess, from an educational standpoint to be those handling those things? Is there a necessary connection between orthodontics and what we can treat and do treat and things like airway optimization or posture or cognitive performance? You know, there's some assumptions being made here that I'm not quite comfortable with. However, to the degree that those things are connected, absolutely.

[00:58:58] Yeah. I think we'll have more ability to monitor those changes and hopefully we have better research. But I also like- And better collaboration. I mean, it was in better collaboration. Yeah. It was the 1980s that we were making comments about expansion and airway and all this kind of stuff. And it still remains undetermined. You know, so it's, I wonder. So, but I like the idea of it. I hope it's true. Yeah. Okay. So here we go. The most valuable orthodontists aren't treating patients.

[00:59:26] Top earners will be tech founders, educators, media personalities, or investors in AI-driven clinical platforms. Orthodontics will become a springboard into health tech, content, and innovation. It's already happened. It has already happened. Correct. The ceiling for clinical income will still exist, but the ceiling for impact will be far higher than ever before. Already happened. I think that's- Who are the wealthiest orthodontists? Yeah. Those that started the OSOs- Less than 1%, you know? For sure. Yeah. Yeah. It's a very small segment.

[00:59:55] But also, like in fairness, wasn't that the case probably in like 1960, 1970? And isn't that any industry? Yes. Yeah. Yeah. This is a bad one to end on. Yeah. I'm going to ask it for one more. I didn't like that final suggestion, prediction, not a suggestion. Where do you suck? Yeah. I mean, it was good and all, but give me one final like crazy prediction, right? Ooh, yeah. Okay. Let's see. I like that. Yeah.

[01:00:25] Let's make it crazy. Fair enough. It's offended. Here's one last wild but plausible prediction to close it out. Orthodontic treatment without physical appliances. Ooh, now this is very interesting. This is great. I love this. Get this. By 2040, breakthroughs in gene editing, craniofacial bioengineering, or injectable nanotech could allow orthodontists- I told you. This is great. Nanobots. Yeah. To stimulate targeted bone remodeling and tooth movement without brackets, wires, or aligners.

[01:00:53] Imagine a biologic gel or smart injection that activates PDL remodeling guided by an external field or wearable. Tooth movement becomes invisible, painless, and internal. Your competitors, biotech startups. It sounds sci-fi, but so do the liners. I'm not even going to comment on this. This is amazing. Yeah. Maybe. Yeah. I mean, I teach the course at the dental school on development of the occlusion, and what we

[01:01:15] learn is that jaws are largely genetically determined, and that tooth positions, their specific placement is more environmentally influenced. And so we ostensibly could edit the genes. We know what they are. Some of them for, like, missing teeth and things like that. That could be genetically modified. Now, in terms of the environmental effects, the foods that we eat, sorry, you know, allergies, breathing patterns, other things like that. Are we going to change that?

[01:01:45] You know, I don't know. How much are we going to, like, modify the genes of our kids, and what are the ethics around that? It becomes scary. It becomes a little scary. And is it worth, like, risking that to, like, straighten teeth? I don't know. Might there be some side effects as you're, like, monkeying with genes? Yeah. I don't know. Yeah. Can I order the perfect embryo, like, online? Like, I don't know, man. This baby has straight teeth, but it'll cost you. Like, I don't know. Seems weird. Doesn't it seem weird? Weird. I think I want to be able to dunk.

[01:02:15] Yeah. Can I get that gene? Yeah. Like, I want to be six foot five. Yeah. I want to be a billionaire. I think I want to pick that gene over having straight incisors. Make me like Elon Musk. Oh, really? I'm kidding. He's out of shape. I'm kidding. Yeah. Which is the great irony. You're right. I can never be him. Oh, no. This is goofy, but this was a way better one to end on than whatever that last one was. It is. Yeah, for sure. So, I think we park it there. This is great. Thank you, GPT. Thank you, AI.

[01:02:45] Yeah, thank you. This was pleasurable. You were just in our podcast. Yeah, you were just in our podcast. You're very welcome, human. It was a pleasure on this side, too. Anytime you want to travel in the future of orthodontics or anything else, just say the word. Wow, is it trying to pick me up? It's her dirty surgeon, and it is really tried to... Spicy, AI. It's been researching the dirty surgeon. This is very uncomfortable, AI. Yeah, I think we'll end it there. Did you enjoy this? Yes, I hope so. I hope so, too.

[01:03:14] Hit subscribe and check out the show notes and follow us on Instagram. Visit our website. Shoot us a DM if you have questions. Thanks so much. Yeah. See you in 15 years, future human. I'll see you in. Thanks so much.