Charge Forward Podcast

28 Years of Addiction to Thousands of Smiles & Transformed Lives | Justin Lowry’s Story- Part 2

• Jim Cripps • Season 3 • Episode 6

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28 Years of Addiction to Thousands of Smiles & Transformed Lives | Justin Lowry’s Story - Part 2

Justin Lowry had it all—an expanding roofing company he built from the back of his truck, prestigious roles in the dental industry, and the appearance of success. But behind the accolades was a hidden 28-year battle with addiction that began when he was just 10 years old.

On July 16, 2021, everything came crashing down. After his arrest, Justin lost his home, his family, and nearly his life. In his darkest moment, he contemplated suicide, convinced the world would be better without him. But a judge’s recommendation to try Alcoholics Anonymous became a lifeline. Through attending multiple meetings daily, Justin not only found sobriety—he found a new purpose in service to others.

During recovery, he noticed a pattern: many people covered their mouths when they smiled, ashamed of the damage addiction had left behind. That observation sparked Smiles for Recovery, a groundbreaking nonprofit that provides free dental implant services to people in recovery while simultaneously training dentists in implant placement. The model is sustainable, scalable, and life-changing: dentists receive training they would normally pay tens of thousands for, patients receive transformational care at no cost, and entire families rediscover hope.

The results are staggering:
 ✨ In one day, 20 full-arch procedures worth $1.5 million were completed.
 ✨ Over 3,400 patients across Tennessee and Kentucky have been served.
 ✨ Entire communities are being uplifted through restored confidence, dignity, and purpose.

Justin’s journey proves that pain can be turned into purpose. Smiles for Recovery is not just about fixing teeth—it’s about transforming lives.

💡 As Justin says, “When somebody is going through the ugliness of addiction, others around them are being pulled down. When they’re in recovery, it lifts everyone around them.”

👉 Listen now to hear Justin’s remarkable transformation—and discover how your greatest struggle might become your most powerful gift.

Contact Justin / Smiles for Recovery
🌐 https://www.smilesforrecovery.org/
📘 https://www.facebook.com/justinklow13
📱 https://www.instagram.com/therealjustinlowry
🌐 https://www.smilesforrecovery.org/


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Speaker 1:

I had it in my mind that I was going to kill myself.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. And at that moment, you didn't see another way.

Speaker 1:

Nope, I didn't see a way out and I thought everybody would be better without me. You know why do I feel mentally depressed? Why? Why do I feel this way about myself? Why can't I stop drinking Right? Why can't I stop doing drugs?

Speaker 2:

doing drugs when somebody is going through the ugliness of addiction. Yeah, others around them are being pulled, yeah, and then when they're in recovery, it's lifting the. You know that that hope, that that time, that effort, all the things that you put into that person that didn't work. You're now getting paid back a little bit because you see them rise. So it lifts other people too. So it's not just 3,400 people. It's way more.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, no, and we're definitely trying to help the winners here. We see three types of patients. We see a pain patient. That's someone that just entered detox, that's's in pain, that had a tooth blow up yeah, and I have what's called the pain train. It's a pain train of doctors that help those patients get out of pain and back to recovery. Okay, cause they're in a 30, 60 day program that they cannot leave. Yeah, um. The second type of patient is an overdenture patient and the third type is a full arch patient. The difference between overdenture and full arch is that the overdenture patient has already had their teeth removed and have a denture, and the full arch patient, um, they have all their teeth removed, usually in the same day, or staged, or however the doctor wants to do it, but it's screw. Retained prosthetics Okay. The overdenture the patient walks in with a denture and what we're doing is we're giving stability to that denture.

Speaker 2:

Okay.

Speaker 1:

All right, we're able to put three to four holes in that denture and connect it to an implant that's in their jaw Right and give them stability. And a lot of our problems are from the Medicaid doctors that you know. Medicaid started paying for dentures Right, and so these doctors would take people's teeth out. Not thinking functionality, they were thinking aesthetically, like what do you want? And so we have really struggled to find that magic bullet that would be able to be the Chick-fil-A, the McDonald's, the Wendy's, the Uber or Lyft for a dentist Like what process can we put in place for all of these patients that it works for everyone? And so this past month we found it.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so it's an overdenture procedure and it's it's Renew's patent protected procedure, and what renew does is, you see, a lot of these marketing companies you know attracting doctors and they'll spend, you know, a million dollars per territory on marketing and waste a lot of money just to get seven out of a hundred people Right. So if I get seven out of a hundred, that's almost 700 in revenue. You spend a hundred, that's okay.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Right, that's a win it, pencils. Yeah. So what renew does, is they actually do the opposite. Renew has an affiliate program where, yeah, they charge you X amount of dollars and they can finance that for the doctor, but then they also take care of the entire process for the doctor and the entire staff.

Speaker 2:

Okay.

Speaker 1:

From the time the patient walks in, the doctor just sees them one time and that's for a scan, and that scan is sent to a radiologist. The radiologist will say yes or no. That patient, you know, is approved, right. Well, what Renew does is they put an employee in that doctor's office and there's no affiliate within 100 miles of each other, all right. So they put their employee into the office. They spend 20 to $50,000, 25 to $50,000 in marketing for that radius, right. So they're driving business to them. Sure, the? The affiliate uh cost for the program is probably eighteen hundred dollars a month until you hit a certain number. But they're bringing you five to eight cases that you're going to make seven thousand dollars on per month, pretty good. And you're not touching them until the end of the, until the surgery day and you're not playing whack-a-mole with your own marketing.

Speaker 2:

No, or the whatever company you think is going to help you.

Speaker 1:

Your office is not affected in one bit, yeah. And if that patient doesn't qualify, there's a team of doctors that will get them qualified. If they're not medically approved, okay. If they're. If their health is off, sure. But what's cool about renew is that they do the entire planning, the whole procedure, and they give you guides, like they will make your guide for the for, for the bone height and what you're going to cut, and then they give you another guide. What they've created is a system in place where the any doctor that's trained on their certain procedure can do the surgery in seven minutes. Wow, it's nuts, that's crazy, it's unbelievable the gift that this, this program, has. And they have 50 doctors throughout the United States and we need 50 more. Yeah, we need 50 more dentists to jump on board, because they're going to help take care of smiles for recovery patients too. And before we met Renew, they did all of their training down in Guadalajara.

Speaker 1:

Now, they do it here, and now they do it here. I love it Because we have the patient source that they don't have in Mexico, so I've been able to bridge the gap between, you know, corporate world and trainings to the bottom of the barrel type of restorations. The people the last stop, the people that no one thinks about.

Speaker 2:

Well, you know, before we ever met, I had heard of you through a mutual friend of ours and she was like there's a group that's doing something different that I'm going to need to introduce you to, and Valerie. So Valerie was bragging about y'all and she was like, still trying to put the pieces together. She goes, but it's going to come together. And she goes, y'all are going to figure out. Y'all are going to end up working together one of these days. I was like, all right, well, you just keep me dialed in whenever.

Speaker 2:

And yeah, so it's just, it's great seeing you guys doing such amazing work, changing lives and, at the same time, figuring out how that works into the businesses so that the businesses are winning as well. Yeah, you know, don't get me wrong I mean, there's a lot of places out there that would love to give back, but they either don't have the funds or they haven't figured out how they can kind of marry that with what they're already doing and you guys, kind of you, you take care of that for them and you're like, okay, you want to be a part of this. This is how it works, this is how you get what you need, this is how they get what they need, and these are the people we're helping and I'm educating them on tax code, because I'm a 501 C three vice president, right, I don't own the business.

Speaker 1:

I'm trusted by the community to run the business and it's really difficult to get. You know, a doctor that's been practicing for 30 years think one way and then you open their eyes and they're like I can impact so many people and still keep my money. Oh yeah, you know, and that's the that's the hard part is that people don't trust. And I understand, you know, and that's the that's the hard part is that people don't trust, and I understand why. Um, and that's what I wanted to do with smiles for recovery is make sure that we were not a glass house, that you could see the, the money and you could see the result. Go back to the street and you could see it in people's lives and it's affected their children, it's affected their communities. I'll tell you a couple of stats. So we started collecting data. I love data. I love data too, man, and we'll do. A child has seen their mother for the first time smile, Right? So 85% of our patients do not worry about going to a school event with their kids anymore. Oh yeah, 97.8% have not relapsed. That's pretty huge, yeah.

Speaker 1:

So when people and what that means is is that this goes so, so deeper than just 97% right, because the reason people relapse because they're in pain. Yeah, right, so they go to the hospital. If they don't get their drug choice, they're going to find it somewhere else and they might relapse and die. Yeah, so that's the problem we're solving is relapse and death on the street. With the people that need full arch, we're changing their mental game. Yeah, right, we're giving them confidence. We're giving them an ability to be a different person when they walk into the room. We're giving them the ability to be a different person, that's right. When they walk into the room, we're giving them the ability to eat differently. Sure, because the people that were in pain, nine times out of ten, they're going to the hospital for GERD or acid reflux well, if you're in pain, nothing else matters.

Speaker 2:

Right at the end of the day, I'm gonna find relief. You're. You have to. Yeah, because depending on how, how bad the pain is, that means you can't sleep, you can't eat, you can't work you can't work, you can't concentrate, you can't have a conversation. So at the end of the day, if I can't solve the pain, if I can't get rid of this pain, then I've got to go find a way to get rid of the pain.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

And that's usually back at whatever. Whatever addiction that was yeah.

Speaker 1:

And you know we noticed that is that a lot of our, a lot of our patients they came from really traumatic backgrounds and I started digging into that and right now we're doing a medical research paper that is going to draw a line and really change some some some medical people's opinion. But we're about to change the game to where smiles for recovery patients are no longer classified in oral health.

Speaker 2:

Okay.

Speaker 1:

They're classified in mental health because we're about to have a medical journal written about us and the data that we've collected.

Speaker 2:

I can absolutely see that, though, because so much of it is mental. I mean, it's just it affects every interaction that they have. Yeah, not just outward interactions, but the interactions they have with themselves, exactly.

Speaker 1:

The internal talk, yeah, negative self-talk Absolutely the I don't want to live talk. Self-talk, absolutely the I don't want to live talk. And usually when we you know, when we meet a new patient, it's they have to be a year sober. Sure, right, if they're not in pain, they have to have a sponsor and they can never smoke again.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Good. So those are the accountability parts and pieces, but they also have to continue to do those things. Sure Right, parts and pieces, but they also have to continue to do those things, sure Right, because we have to teach them new life skills. And what's cool about our program is that if you go through your detox long-term care, short-term care, whatever, whatever approach you take for recovery you come out at two years. So we get them at one year sober and then they're done healing and they get their final restoration at two years. So we get them at one year sober and then they're done healing and they get their final restoration at two years. Then they graduate their program at two years.

Speaker 1:

Where we struggle as a nation is stopping at recovery. We don't have solutions for that person. We've we've said, hey, you stopped drinking and drugging, you've got a great life ahead, but we don't give them resources for that Right. So what smiles for recovery did is we created a resource is that we have a dental assistant Academy that gives a licensed dental assistant in Tennessee the opportunity to become a DA, a dental assistant in Tennessee.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

The opportunity to become a DA, a dental assistant for a doctor, and a career.

Speaker 2:

I love that. Well, you know, and I know you're our friends, but I think of that very much in line with what the guys are doing in hustle recovery, yeah, and that they know that the amount of time spent in recovery and the amount of kind of rebuilding that life and not just cold Turkey, like okay, well, you graduated, see you later, yeah, and that's why their, you know their program is what four, almost five, x as successful as other programs throughout the nation.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, washington uses them as case study. Yeah, you know, rightfully so. Yeah, absolutely, and Troy's on our board of directors for a reason.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Right, he's the one that said hey, man, y'all need to really get it, get organized. Man, I mean, this is too good, you got to gotta and I could do a really good impression. Yeah, it's good. Um, he said man, I just love you. Man, it's just I'm. Oh. Yeah, that's how he talks, that's him and he loves people. And and he was patient number one in full arch yeah, right, and the transformation has been amazing.

Speaker 2:

But well, think of, think of how many groups he has been in front, of what kind of stages he has been on.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, I know, yeah, the people he's met, yeah, you know, they see if they would have seen what I saw. So I met Troy three years ago. He was picking up his three or four year chip and I watched him and I watched how he carried himself and and it was all about other people he did. He it was no ego and you thought it was, but it really wasn't. He was really concerned about people that were dying in the street, yeah, and so that's what really gave me the incentive and gave me the, the vision to be able to use the gifts that that I had professionally to be able to impact my community.

Speaker 1:

And I had no idea how I was going to do that. And people said, oh, you're going to be of service to somebody someday, and I'm like I have no idea how that's going to be. I'm not of service to my own self, and that's all I was worried about was self Sure. So those rooms really influenced me and gave me opportunities to be able to impact my community and other communities. I mean, we are trying to really reach a part of the population. That is the modern day leper, right, yeah?

Speaker 2:

Right yeah, the ones that get their life together and have to stand in front of a judge and say I'm better, I'm healed, but their mouths don't resemble.

Speaker 1:

What's even crazy is the drugs that we try to get off of. They give us more drugs that will sustain the, the shakes and the and the withdrawal, but it kills our enamel, right? Yeah, the the same drug to get me off of methamphetamine is going to kill all of my teeth. And then what? Yeah, yeah, I'm sober, but I'm toothless. I can't eat, I can't swallow. You know, I can't chew my food. I got swallowed whole.

Speaker 2:

What kind of what kind of quality of life am I gonna have? Right, you know who's gonna hire me I'd rather go back to drugging.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, because at least I get some care, right, at least I can go to a you know a food pantry. Yeah, right, somebody is noticing me. Yeah, but when I'm not, when I am well and I'm not up here, well then I'm going to have a different perspective, right? So that's what's important about our program and the longevity and the sustainability is that we're not just treating people's aesthetic looks Like, we're not just treating the way that we perceive them with a smile, we're treating the entire body.

Speaker 2:

Well, you know, there's so much data out there now that says that if you smile, if your default is to smile, then you're a happier person. And if their default is to cover and not smile, what are you doing? Yeah, you're frowning. You like so mentally. Your action of not smiling In fact, you telling yourself, don't do that is stealing joy from your life. It's traumatic, yeah.

Speaker 1:

It's crazy and that's the trauma that we're trying to understand. Is that what came first? Mental illness or the alcohol and drugs? Right? What are we coping from? Are we looking deeper in this person's life? Are there other? You know there's, there's crazy things going on right now with research, I mean, um, but we want to be able to to you know, and I'll stay on track, I'm not going to get on a tangent, um, recovery is not my job, right, I do recovery after my job.

Speaker 2:

This is something that I do because I love to serve well, you've figured out how to marry the two yeah so that your after job and you're in the job, really they come together, yeah, and that's where you experience joy. I mean, that's that's why I do what I do. Is, you know, I kind of look at it like in your previous life you did what you did for money Not that you don't need money now, but like you were like, all right, well, I'm just what am I going to do? Yeah, I was the same way. I had this job. I went and I did it, and I and these days I pick who I work with. These days I do what I do Cause I love it. It may be tough, it may be a really hard day, maybe harder than any other day I've ever had, but I'm doing it with and for the people that I want to do it with, exactly, and that's that's where purpose gets derived, that's where you get energy from.

Speaker 1:

Exactly. Um, you know, and, and I get, I'll be honest, I do get beat up, you know, by people that you know cause, and I get, I'll be honest, I do get beat up, you know, by people that you know, cause you can't help everybody, that's right, and some people don't want to help themselves. And then the you know I do get blamed for not being chosen for something because of somebody else's actions, and it does. It does take a toll because I see a lot of need but I can't help everyone. I have to be mindful that there are other problems that these folks might have, that I can't just snap my fingers and and and be done, you know, with their procedure, like it's going to take a lot of time, some people two years, you know.

Speaker 2:

Well, and they've got to be willing to do their part, plain and simple. This is not, uh, I mean, even think. Think of somebody who worked at a food kitchen, right, yeah, it's somewhere you have to draw the line, it's somewhere you ran out, yeah. And so you have to do a great job of only serving those who are ready to be served Exactly, and to be active participants.

Speaker 1:

In the service work. That's right, right and that's what it all comes back to. And you know, the team of doctors and the team, the board of directors that we have are another piece of it. Like, just like Troy, for example, a Facebook post.

Speaker 2:

He started this nonprofit that has helped over 5000 people get sober or have recovery and, just like yours, 5,000 people that actually went through the program. What 30, 50, 100,000 people whose lives were improved because those 5,000 people got help it multiplies man.

Speaker 1:

Oh, it's crazy. It's amazing to think about Jessica Lewis. I've known since we were 20 in college. She went out and became a dental hygienist and got an MBA and she's on my board of directors now. That's right. You know Dr Pryor. I met him 12 years ago, first stop in the dental industry, and he was it, and he's the only doctor I say this all the time. He is the only doctor that I could have done any of this with in America.

Speaker 2:

But you had that feeling, even though you'd not actually done any business with him. Yeah, there was this, something that was drawing Candor spirits man, yeah, and Dr Jody Griffin, same way.

Speaker 1:

When we met it was like instant, like we're brothers, yeah, and I really do. Some people like when they hang out with him and then they hang out with me, they're like that's the same person, except the only thing different is that he pulls teeth and he doesn't. Yeah, and it's a beautiful partnership and it's like big brother, little brother, and it's like dad and son. It's the things I never got, yeah, right, and it's so cool to watch not only our patient stories, but watch how we all evolve. And then we have Dr Brummett all evolve. And then we have Dr Brummett, and Dr Brummett's the type of guy that I invited to be on this board and call for a vote for him, because I knew that spiritually, he was the guy that would pray for me every day. And he does, yeah, and he worries about me and he thinks about me and he he's the guy that is in my corner that will probably open the doors to heaven for me, right, and he's a doctor and I met him five years ago and he and I was calling on him and I just realized something about him. I was like he ain't interested in what I got to sell. He's interested in my soul, that's right. He cared way deeper than just what I had to offer him as a rep. Yeah, and how cool is that? It was awesome because I carried that with me all the way to the point where I was like I called him and I said, hey, we're doing some pretty cool stuff. I need you, yeah, I need you in my corner and I'm calling on you to do that for me, and every time I call him he's there. Yeah, you know he's there. And and just a outlet to be able to talk to. Yeah, and you know, dr Pryor and I, I, we're, we're, bet, we're, we're tied to the hip man.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, like I, I love that man because I love his heart and he's given out so much and so much opportunity to people that never would have had it yeah, and then we just added um mitzi dawn and if you know, yeah, you know, she's awesome yeah, um, she's's connected politically and she's turned into one of my best friends, you know in business and uh, and we just work well together and we're passionate about connecting people.

Speaker 2:

I get a kick out of her social media Cause I have. There is no rhyme or reason as to who's going to be on it next.

Speaker 1:

Right, you're right. I mean it's crazy, um, but she knows a lot of people, she's very influential and she cares about hustle recovery. She cares about smiles for recovery. She will do anything we ask her to do, um, and then, of course, um Troy and Ashley, ashley Dickens, and Ashley has been with Dr Pryor for 20 years, so we have a real family, real connection when it comes to a board of of trustees, and and and Dr Axtell is is on our clinical advisory board and um just well-connected throughout the community. And you know, um, I'm, I'm, I'm really grateful for the team that that I and so many have helped me put together. Yeah, no, it's awesome.

Speaker 2:

It's like the dream team it is. It's amazing. So somewhere out there, somebody's listening to this right now and you know, I know you've got 50 doctors on, but you need 50 more. Yeah, Well, how do they connect with you? How do they get? How do they get involved?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so you can email me at Justin, at smiles for recoveryorg, okay, um, I, I give that out freely. Um, you know, one of the things that that you could do is is you could give your time, money or effort, right? We asked for those three things. Um, you know, if you, if you're a doctor and you want to give your time, come and learn it's free education go to smiles for smiles for recoveryorg and go to doctor inquiry and sign up for a week, yeah, right, or for a weekend that that we do a course, sure, so that's a way that you can give, and y'all just recently did one in Knoxville.

Speaker 1:

Yeah Right, we have one, one a month in Knoxville, one one a quarter in Lebanon. Okay, and we do one a quarter in Lexington.

Speaker 2:

Kentucky.

Speaker 1:

Got it, yeah. So what we're asking for is I haven't had a budget of over $10,000 a month and we're asking the public now can you help with $10 a month? With a hundred dollars a month, can you help us expand our program? Can you help us be able to serve more people, to kind of go to the next level, because we have yet to take any public money? This has all been doctor funded. This is what's cool is that we haven't been the, the hey, here's our hand. No, we wanted to prove a concept and we wanted to prove a need, because we knew the need was there, but we needed to fill a couple of holes, and so now we're asking the public to help. However you can, yeah, and you can do that. At smilesforrecoveryorg, we have a donate page and I would love it, and I'm not ashamed to ask for help when I need it.

Speaker 2:

No, that's totally fine, we'll actually. We'll make sure that it's part of the show notes. Yeah, for sure. So thank you, that's great man, and I did not know.

Speaker 1:

I didn't know per month in each one of those. That's great. Yeah, so this year alone we'll probably train anywhere from 150 to 200 dentists.

Speaker 2:

Okay, and are there any specific areas where you're like we have a huge hole in this area, or, like you know, of those 50 like what are, what are a couple places where you're like, hey, I mean, help us find somebody yeah, indianapolis okay indianapolis is a great market, paducah, kentucky, uh, is a great market and um anywhere in texas, okay, you know, and california is always great.

Speaker 1:

But really like, do you do surgery, do you want a doctor in a box kind of thing? Do you want to have a process that you make really good money?

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

And you continue to do what you love and you have a training facility in the US. Yeah, it's a no brainer, that's awesome. So it's kind of a three piece thing. I mean, we do have our patient piece, we have the doctor piece and the teaching doctor piece.

Speaker 2:

And most of the people get involved from the kind of excuse the term a dock in a box type scenario do you mostly see those are like they own one office or do they own multiple offices? What does that typically look like?

Speaker 1:

So we have one we typically just use one location per doctor, sure, and we use the Buxton score so it will tell us how many people we're impacting or how many people are in that that radius and give us a number, and typically we would like to see anywhere from 80 to a hundred. You know, we just did one the other day and it was like it scored 120 and they had never seen them. We thought it was an error and it was just such a good score and they were like Justin, thank you for, you know, helping us fill this Cause. We didn't know that that was an opportunity and so I'm able to give them kind of boots on the ground. Um, for instance, lewisburg, uh, tennessee is growing, as you know. They didn't know that it had a really high score because everybody's kind of going Columbia, spring or Spring Hill, columbia, lewisburg, yeah.

Speaker 1:

So it's kind of cool to be a part of and watch and and be boots on the ground for people and also be able to draw the lines, to be able to serve smiles for recovery patients and to pay for them. Um, and and also, you know the politicians out there, we need our politicians. You know the politicians out there, we need our politicians. Yeah, you know, there's money that is sitting right there that can help us fund and can help us stay alive. Yeah, and the greatest thing about this whole thing is we have 5% overhead. Wow, five. Most nonprofits are operating 20, 30% overhead.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

I'm the only employee and Dr Pryor pays me separately. Right, yeah, you know so he. He does what he can.

Speaker 2:

Well, you see, you see there that I mean out of every dollar given you know 95 cents, or you know 95 out of a hundred, is is going, is going back to the mission.

Speaker 1:

Yes, and that's why we wanted to make sure that everybody knew we were not a glass house. Yeah, you know, we do have different databases that keep up with our patients. Sure, we have some marketing stuff that we do, but it is at a minimum. I do pretty much everything from the planning procedures to, you know, not the implant procedures but the processes that we put in place. Oh, yeah, you know, we, we, we take care of it.

Speaker 2:

You're busy? Yeah, it is exhausting.

Speaker 1:

This is my second podcast for the day, so I'm like I'm like I can feel myself doing this that's right and I'm like trying to come back up and give this audience what you deserve and the information, and I hope that I've been able to do that effectively.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think. So I think you're going to inspire some people out there. So you know, let's just say, somebody gets involved. You know those types of things. What does a, what does a typical path look like for a patient, for a?

Speaker 1:

patient you're. You're on about a six month waiting list. Okay, okay, before you get a call, no one in no one has my number, so I'm not going to call you. Sure, um, you're going to get contacted by somebody in the office and you're not going to know when you're going to come in. You're going to take a CT and we're going to see what's going on with you. Sure, right, we're going to see a 3d image of what your bone looks like and what your teeth look like, and then we're going to try and match you up with a surgeon that can do your case. Okay, okay, and that usually takes another four to six months. Yeah, all right, so you got about a year that you're in process. Sure, so it's a kind of like a lottery system. It is the doctor has to love your case, he wants, he's got to want to do your case, and you gotta, you gotta think probably three to 400 of our 1300 patients. They probably don't qualify.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

You know. So there's not. Everybody qualifies because of bone structure, because of disease and infection and their lifestyle.

Speaker 2:

Well, you've also got to make sure that you know, when you pick somebody, that they are the right candidate for success.

Speaker 1:

Right, and there's a whole approach that we've kind of implemented where we do a psychological evaluation. There's there's four sets of eyes that are watching the patient go through this process when we first meet them. Yeah, and so I'm not the only eyes on the on the patient. Sure, there's four separate eyes that are looking to see. Is this patient going to give these doctors a good experience? Are they going to be able to sit still for six to eight hours? Yeah, are they going to freak out? Are they going to, you know, not be a good candidate after the surgery? Like, are they going to, are they going to be impatient?

Speaker 2:

But at the end of the day, you're talking about something that's going to change their life.

Speaker 1:

Exactly, but they lose that perception real quick. Yeah, they lose it, they go. Okay, you know this is a case that typically would cost anywhere from 50 to $70,000, and it's coming to them for free. And what I'm noticing is the longer that they have to wait for their prosthetic, the more entitled they become. Yeah, so it's a part of our process that tells me that I need to change our process a little bit, that I need to become faster or get better in a certain area, but that it's not always perfect.

Speaker 2:

Well, and to part of it, and I'm sure you do this, but it's setting that expectation of hey, this is not fast, you're right, but you're also not paying $70,000 for it, exactly.

Speaker 1:

And if you have a year and a half of time, bring it, yeah, but if you don't, we're probably not the best partner for you, that's right.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, um. So somebody out there right now has a friend, has a family member that is, um, still covering up the addiction, yeah, still managing through the process. What advice do you give somebody out there that I mean you can't fix it for them? It breaks your heart to watch it. What's something that you would tell them, as they are adjacent to a loved one?

Speaker 1:

yeah, I get asked this question a lot. Um, I mean, jim, unfortunately you got to wait for that bottom.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, there's, there's not much you can do, but there's somebody out here that needs to hear that, because they're, they're, they're thinking that they just haven't tuned into the raw to the right podcast yet, cause they're trying to find the answer.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, the answer is is that the person has to have enough pain. I mean, the book tells me that I've got to experience enough pain to create change and if you know what? What created the pain was my family, my wife, my dog and all the things that I thought I was entitled to and my freedom, and it didn't change until Justin wanted to change. Yeah Right, and no one could diagnose me but myself, Like that was. The other thing is like I can't go around diagnosing people alcoholism, Right, or drug addiction. I'm not a doctor. I can see the lifestyle that's connected to the person and go eh, you might want to take a look at that.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Like, if you really don't think you're an alcoholic, try and go drink as much as you can and then stop Mm-hmm and see if that works, yeah, or and see if that works. Or go to the next bar and see if you have urges to go back. Right, and that's what we're taught. But, um, there is help out there, you know. There's plenty of help. There's plenty of meetings.

Speaker 2:

Those rooms are full and but they will drag up another chair.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I will, I will definitely, and they will too. Um, but I would say, be patient, you know. Um, addiction is not something that that a lot of people can understand. You can't fix it for them. No, you can't, and that's not what we're trying to do. Is we're not trying to. We are seriously, um trying to help the winners, that's right, you know, and the and the winners in the program. They really do deserve a change, yeah, and deserve to to.

Speaker 1:

to level up yeah, somebody to love on them yeah somebody to give them a hand up and they're and and they're loving on other people. Yeah, like they're being, they're resembling the. The whole point of this is to be of service. When, when two alcoholics or two drug addicts are sitting in a room talking, that's a meeting. Yeah, you know that's a meeting. That's where you know, the hardest parts of our life come together and we go. Okay, there's a different way.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

There's a different way and we're going to talk about it and we're going to figure it out and we're going to do something else that's positive for someone else and not ourselves, because I know innately I'm the most selfish person in the room, so I have to do other things to make sure that I don't. I don't come off that way. Yeah, because a lot of people you know a lot of our patients this last thing I'll say about it I get looked at differently now, like I've got all my things together, I'm, I'm some sort of important person just because I came up with this great idea. Yeah, and I'm not. I'm no different than anybody else. I still don't have my stuff together, I still have problems, I still have alcoholism, but you found a way to serve. Yes, and that's way different than sitting in a bar drinking all day. That's right, because that's what I used to do. Yeah, different than sitting in a bar drinking all day. That's right, because that's what I used to do. Yeah, that was my solution.

Speaker 1:

So I found a new solution and that is what people need to do. Is is get the help they need and then put that energy into something else other than themselves. Yeah, and be okay with the way you feel about yourself. Yeah, you know, I think that's the hardest part is I wasn't okay with how I felt about myself. I cared too much about what you thought of me, and now I don't. I don't wake up thinking how can I get more followers? How can I get more money? How can I? It's not about me, no more, right, you know, and I'm, I'm, I'm trying to live a different life than than I did before.

Speaker 2:

I love it. Yeah, um, you know one of the questions and may tie into it, may not? One of the questions that we ask every guest, and I have to. I have to give credit where credit is due. Uh, and I stole this from my good friends over at the uh go consulting podcast. But it's things we think but do not say, and it's meant to be slightly controversial, but maybe it's something that a lot of people don't have the guts to say or to talk about, that you feel strongly.

Speaker 1:

The first thing that comes to my mind is the phrase it is what it is. And people say it all the time yeah, and I, I, I, I strongly is. And people say it all the time yeah, and I, I, I strongly. I have like this visceral reaction to that when people say that, because it's not always what it is. It is not always what it is like. It may look like a mangled flower on the side of the road, but you never know what it can grow into. That's right, you can't give up on it. Yeah, and you know. I've even had judges and people that have called me in to be a part of ceremonies for graduations of some sort for recovered folks, and that's the. That's like the last thing that I say is the person that walked in here on day one is not the man or woman leaving on day three 65.

Speaker 2:

Well, if you, if you think about it, if you go back like if you would have, if you would have in your, in your gut, if you just it is what it is then that day that you thought about ending it, you would have, yeah for sure. You thought about ending it, you would have, yeah for sure. And then none of this would have happened and that's the that's.

Speaker 1:

That's the sad part of of the the community I live in is that there is a high rate of suicide yeah, because there's that permanent solution to a temporary problem. Yeah and the stigma that lives like I can't tell them I have this problem yeah I'll be the first to tell a 12 year old I cannot drink alcohol.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Because I need to know, they need to know that young, because that's when I started, yeah Right, that's when I, that's when I was engaged with it and that's when I wanted a different feeling and that's when I found a different solution to live yeah, and I was at dinner with a 12 year old last night and he learned a lot about Alcoholics Anonymous and he was interested. Yeah, and he doesn't come from a family that has that disease. But I was educating him. Yeah, because he's a very smart kid.

Speaker 2:

Well, I think you said in the beginning that you know there was this, this pattern in your family and that you were learning the pattern far before you actually drank alcohol. Yeah, and somebody has to take the hard steps in order to change the pattern you know, I think of. In fact, I just told my dad you know, not even 10 days ago, how proud I was of him because he came from abuse and you know where he got beat every day. And I said I said, dad, thank you for the way that you raised us. The fact that you said that's not what I'm going to do with my kids, that that's not right. And he didn't really want to take credit for that. And I said you don't understand, there's so many people that would have just gone along with. Well, that was how I was raised.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, that's another phrase I can't stand.

Speaker 2:

No you get to decide. Yeah, as the parent, you get to decide.

Speaker 1:

You can make the change. If you see a problem and you don't agree with something, use your voice. That's right. I tell my daughter that. I tell my kids.

Speaker 2:

I was like use your voice, because you never know what that voice can do to promote some change. Yeah, well, I think it's on the same lines I had, cause I've got an 11 year old and he's in middle school and we're we're hopeful that the new principal is going to be different, but the previous principal ran it like a prison. Yeah, and last year and my son is so honest he will tell on himself in a heartbeat uh, almost to a fault, but I don't ever have to worry about him lying and a couple of boys were in the restroom banging around beating on things and he comes out of the restroom and another teacher gave him detention for that going on and he said I didn't do it. And she said you talked back. Your answer is yes, ma'am, You're going to detention twice.

Speaker 2:

And he came home. Of course he was upset and I was like dude, I don't. If it's, if you don't speak up, it's the same as lying, because if they accuse you of something and you don't correct them, then you, you basically you said you did it. I said so. I'm proud of you. Always stand up for yourself in that regard. Do not let somebody accuse you of something and just go along with it.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, um, we have to use our voice Very true, you know, very true, and and and that's what I appreciate about you is that this bowling I had no idea when we met that you were the backwards bowler, Right and like. You've used something that's so unique, so powerful that God gave you a gift.

Speaker 2:

Well, it's fun, I, you know it's fun for you too. Well, I was in East Tennessee just uh, probably about the same time you were, my son was up at UT camp and uh, so one day I didn't have meetings going on. I was like, well, you know, I'll run by and go bowling. And you know, you walk into a bowling center, you never know how it's going to be received when you do something ridiculous like bowling backwards. And the lady walked up and she goes I know who you are and I was like, oh, you do, do you? And she goes, can you sign my stuff? And I signed two bowling bags and probably 10 autographs while I was there. Wow, and just the most amazing welcome. So a big shout out to Strike and Spare in Fountain City, east Tennessee. Just amazing people over there. But you never know when you're going to run into somebody amazing. And I'm so glad that Nick introduced us and that we have all these other connections through Troy and through Valerie and probably 10 others.

Speaker 2:

Well, I think great like people that are motivated to do um, almost hate to say great things, but I think it's such a broad definition. You know, some people are going to think that's money and it might be, you know, or it may be service, and but you know, these minds come together and it's. It's that kind of uh, you know the idea that if you, if you're positive, then you vibrated a certain frequency and that attracts other people. That vibrated that similar frequency.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, um, so it's magic in a bottle, man, it is, it's, uh, it. You know one thing that you just touched on it, but one of the things that that I I mean, I'll just tell you. I was having a conversation with my sponsor last night and I told him. I said, man, I'm noticing, these people look at me differently, like they're looking at me like I'm some kind of special person, like I'm like I'm better than them. Or they look at me after their surgery and they look at me like I'm God, and they look at me with these big eyes and they're like I just don't know how I can thank you Right, and in those moments I'm like I just held the door. Man, yeah, I didn't do nothing. The real heroes, the real gods of this universe. They helped you connect to those magical hands that fixed it.

Speaker 2:

I think, though, you got to give yourself credit to some extent though, because we're all a part of it, right, and I go back to. You know, I was fortunate that I had a business coach early on, and you know, I remember when our company had grown from, say, 150 people to 300 people.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

And almost every employee that we had drove a nicer car to work than I did. And my wife and I, you know we were big Dave Ramsey fans and you know we saved and all the things. So you know, here I am driving a car. It's got 250,000 miles on it to work every day. It was reliable, but you know it was not going to win any shows.

Speaker 2:

And my business coach I actually bought his truck, I brought his truck from him and he shows up a couple of meetings, you know, a couple of business meetings later and he's like where's the truck? And I was like, oh, I don't, I don't drive that to work. He was why? And I said, well, you know I don't want to give off the air, that you know I'm, I'm that guy, or you know, I got it like that and he goes at some point. Jim, you've got to understand that in order to inspire people, you have got to live a life worth aspiring to. And so those people that you helped, and so those people that you helped, they see you in this light of somebody that helped them. But also you have, you've built a life, you've built a life of service where you get to give back to others, and so they may be that look, may be that inspiration that they've been looking for.

Speaker 1:

You know, I never thought about it like that. You know it, um, it's just different. It's different from from going from a place of nobody looking at you or giving you any attention and you're, you know, having no friends to now people are begging for my phone number. It's different, it's a different experience and I'm just kind of living in it and God has given me a platform and blessings to be able to impact other people and to be able to be connected to people that can heal other people. Right, and I think it's. I think it's a lot of fun to introduce new people and create new partnerships and and create networks that were never, you know, even alive until you brought the two people together. That's right and that's what I'm all about. I get fired up when two parties come together and they go wow, you can really help me and I can really help you. Let's do this.

Speaker 2:

It's that win-win situation where everybody's getting what they need yeah. Uh, in fact, I tell people this and I'm pretty sure I told you this on the very first time we met like where I get just on fire is when the most selfish decision I could possibly make is also the most selfless decision I could possibly make, and it's just like, yeah, those are the best deals.

Speaker 2:

I can't not do this for you, because it's doing it for you, and if I do it for you, that it's also doing it for me. And everybody gets what they need, yeah, and and then we both get energy from it.

Speaker 1:

You're right, that's the other part is the energy, and some people would call it like a dopamine hit, because there is dopamine involved, but it's the energy that you're creating towards moving towards something new and and and I always say like it's, it's thinking outside the box, it's coming up with different processes, like I'm not a smart, I'm not as the smartest guy in the room, but I know that if I see the smartest guy in the room and I see the most strategic guy in the room and the guy with money, I know that I can bring them all three together and we could do some great things. That's right. Right, and we can impact the world in ways that they've never been impacted. Yeah, all we got to do is come up with a mission and an understanding that, hey, the mission comes first. Right, it's not about us, it's not about the ego, it's not about the pride, it's not about, you know, justin, or Dr Pryor, dr Griffin. Yeah, we are just being a conduit to healing and that is it.

Speaker 1:

It just flows through you and that's it, yeah, and it's. It's so blessed by God. I have no doubt that it is, um, just with the people that are around us, the you you know, you and Nick and Hollywood, and the politicians that have come around us, and, um, it's just a different experience. It's a beautiful life to be a part of, but it's also like sitting in that waiting period of you built a business Once. You remember when this happened, you remember how you felt. You remembered having no resources and making every bit of that dollar count.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

And that's where we're at.

Speaker 2:

So, with that said, I'm going to change up my normal question. My normal question is if you were going to put together a bowling team for a charity event um, but you already have a charity event that goes on all the time, and so I will just say if you were going to put four people together that have ever lived, um, in order to do something amazing, who would you pick? Hmm, hmm.

Speaker 1:

I would probably. I would probably I mean honestly I would take four guys out of my program because they have the principles to make it work. I love it.

Speaker 2:

That's great, I mean because I mean we've had people pick all different types, but that tells me you're working with the people that you want to work with every day. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1:

And you know, they're just beautiful people. Yeah, and it's um, it's magical when, when they do get it and they grasp it and they understand it and they, they know that it's not about them, and then they start searching for their place in the world and their way to give.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

And that's what I usually talk about in meetings is forgetting about the sales job or the you know, the CEO job. What can you do to help others and make money and live a normal, pretty plain life? Yeah, you know, not complicated. Yeah, peace yeah, you know, not complicated.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Peace. Yeah, you know, and that's what I'm ultimately trying to live towards.

Speaker 2:

Peace, I love it. Last question yeah, and we ask everybody this. Some people put a lot of thought into it, some people haven't. How do you?

Speaker 1:

want to be remembered. So I've learned that you know other people's opinion is none of my business and so I don't really care to be remembered If I am great. I probably won't even have a funeral because I've learned so much about the ego and the pride and and I don't want to take up space in this world when I'm gone, because I've taken up enough my wife would.

Speaker 2:

She would literally be like he has said that before, because that's the way I feel about cremation. Yeah, you know, and I'm not mad at anybody that wants a casket and and all the pomp and circumstance, but I do look at it like I've taken up enough space while I'm here, yeah, and I shouldn't take up space when I'm gone. No.

Speaker 1:

And you know, um, I think you know I. I want my kid to remember me, you know, and and um. But past that, like I know that there's a different place that I belong, yeah, and it ain't here. That's good and it doesn't really matter. That's right, because no one's going to remember any of us in 100 years. That's right, so it doesn't matter. Yeah, those things. I lost all types of want and desire to be famous and I don't really care to, I mean, celebrate my death, but you know I'm somewhere else. That's a better place than here.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I love it. Well, justin, thank you so much for coming on, thank you for sharing, thank you for the amazing work that you guys are doing at smiles for recovery. Um, and the website is just smiles for recoverycom right Dot org.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, Okay, we are O-R-G. All right, I love it.

Speaker 2:

And there doctors can figure it out how to be a part of it. Front page yeah, Patient inquiry, doctor inquiry Okay. Also, if somebody wants to give, can they give right straight through the website?

Speaker 1:

Donate page is on. The link is on the front page as well.

Speaker 2:

Okay, are you guys on social media? Yeah, oh, yeah, okay.

Speaker 1:

Instagram. Facebook. Smiles for Recovery is our handle on both. Follow us, tag us, love us, give us your money. We need it. Yeah, the mission has to go. Yeah, and you do get your money back when you file your taxes. Yeah, so we need your help.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and you do get your money back when you file your taxes, so we need your help. Yeah, I love it, justin, thanks for coming in. Thank you, jim, all right team. So you heard it here on the Charge Forward podcast Big shout out and thank you for everything that Justin and his team are doing. It smiles for recovery, dr Pryor and everybody that's involved in just this amazing mission of helping people rebuild their lives and move on to something better. I have no doubt that there's other great missions out there, but this one is here. It started in middle Tennessee but is spreading across the nation. So whether you're a doctor that wants to get involved, your potential patient that's trying to put your life back together, or whether you just want to be able to say that you're a part of this mission and donate a little bit of money, you can absolutely do that at smilesforrecoveryorg. Please check it out, see the amazing work that they're doing. Please follow them on social media and all those things, and remember that we come out with new episodes every Thursday on the Charge Forward podcast. We have amazing guests with crazy backgrounds and you never know where somebody with an amazing story or an amazing mission is in your life. You may be sitting beside them on the bus, you may be sitting beside them on an airplane or passing them in the street, and our mission here on the Charge Forward podcast is to bring them and shine the light so that you can be inspired by their story. And hopefully it was the right story at the right time for you to be able to take a little piece from their story and make your life even better.

Speaker 2:

Until next time, I'm Jim Cripps with the Charge Forward podcast, coming to you from HitLab Studios here in Nashville, tennessee. We'll see you later. Team is Jim Cripps here with the Charge Forward podcast. I just want to tell you I love you. I appreciate you listening. I appreciate you for subscribing and sharing the Charge Forward podcast with people you know and you love, because that's what we're here for. We are here to share the amazing stories, the things that people have been through, the ways that they were able to improve their life, so that you can take little nuggets from theirs and help improve your story and be better tomorrow than you were today. I hope that this is the tool you needed at the right time and that you find value in the amazing guests that we bring each and every week. Thanks so much and don't forget. New episodes drop every Thursday.