Most of what we write on this blog is the serious stuff — how to care for your gums, what to expect from veneers, whether that tooth sensitivity is something to worry about. All useful, none of it especially fun. So since it's Friday, let's do something a little lighter: a look at the dentists who genuinely went viral, the kind of internet-famous that gets you on morning TV.
Because here's the thing — there's actually a real lesson buried in the silliness. Stick with me to the end.
The dancing dentist: "In My Fillings"
Back in 2018, when Drake's "In My Feelings" was inescapable and everyone was doing the "Shiggy" dance challenge, a dentist in Greenville, South Carolina named Dr. Rich Constantine filmed his own version in his office. He called it — wait for it — "In My Fillings."
It exploded. The video racked up tens of millions of views, drew well over a hundred thousand comments, and got more attention than some of the celebrity versions of the same challenge. Suddenly a family dentist in South Carolina was getting written up by national news outlets and invited onto morning shows.
What's genuinely charming is why he did it. In interviews afterward, Constantine said he wasn't chasing fame — he just wanted to keep the atmosphere in the office light and calm his patients' nerves. Going to the dentist makes a lot of people anxious, and his whole point was to show patients a human, fun side of the practice so they'd feel more at ease walking in. (He also, somewhat hilariously, had to publicly clarify that he was happily married, because the comment section had gotten a little carried away.)
You can watch "In My Fillings" here if you want a genuine 2018 time capsule.
The most-followed dentist on the internet: "The Bentist"
If Constantine's moment was a single viral lightning strike, Dr. Ben Winters built an entire empire. An orthodontist who now practices at Wincrest Orthodontics in Plano, Texas, Winters — known online as "The Bentist" — became the most-followed dentist on TikTok by posting funny, fast-paced videos about the expectations versus the realities of dentistry and orthodontics.
We're talking millions upon millions of followers and well over a billion views a year. He's been flown around the country to make videos, and — the detail we love most — patients have reportedly driven up to five hours just to get their braces done by the dentist they discovered on their phone.
His content mixes genuinely useful orthodontic tips with comedy, myth-busting, and reaction videos. The throughline is that he makes braces and dental care feel approachable and even cool to an audience (teenagers) that historically dreads both.
You can find The Bentist on TikTok here.
So what does any of this have to do with us?
Here's the real takeaway, and it's the reason this isn't only a fun Friday post.
Notice what these two had in common. Neither of them went viral by showing off the most expensive equipment, the fanciest office, or a wall of diplomas. They went viral by being human — by being warm, a little goofy, and clearly happy to be around their patients. And the response wasn't just "haha, funny dentist." It was people saying "I would actually go to that dentist."
That tells you something true about how people choose a dentist, online or off: trust comes from personality and warmth at least as much as it comes from credentials. Patients assume a licensed dentist is competent. What they're really trying to figure out, scrolling a website or a social feed, is: Will this person be kind to me? Will they rush me? Will they make me feel stupid for not flossing? Or will they make this whole thing feel okay?
The viral dentists answered that question in fifteen seconds of dancing. The rest of us answer it in how we talk to people in the chair.
How to tell if dental content is actually trustworthy
Since we're on the topic — a quick, genuinely useful note. Dental content is everywhere online now, and not all of it is good. Some of it is great; some of it is people selling supplements or scaring you into unnecessary treatment. A few honest filters:
- Real, named, licensed professionals. The trustworthy accounts are run by actual dentists and orthodontists who use their real names and practices. Anonymous "dental hacks" accounts are a red flag.
- They bust myths instead of creating fear. Good dental content tends to calm you down and correct misinformation. Content designed to scare you into buying something should make you skeptical.
- They don't promise miracles. Be wary of anything claiming a product will regrow enamel, "detox" your mouth, or replace seeing a dentist. Charcoal whitening, oil pulling as a cure-all, DIY aligners from a kit — these are where social media gets genuinely risky.
- They tell you to see a real dentist. The honest ones always land on "but go get this checked in person." Online content is a starting point, never a substitute for an actual exam.
That last one matters more than people realize. A video can teach you to brush at a better angle. It can't see the cavity forming between your molars, screen you for oral cancer, or catch the early gum changes that have no symptoms yet. That part still happens in a chair.
Our version of "fun"
We're probably never going to out-dance The Bentist. But the spirit behind those viral moments — making dental care feel human, warm, and a little less intimidating — is honestly the whole reason Sunset Smiles exists. We'd rather you leave a visit thinking "that was easier than I expected" than "wow, nice diplomas."
If it's been a while since the dentist felt like anything other than a chore, come see what a comfort-first practice feels like. We promise to take excellent care of your teeth. We can't promise we won't occasionally have fun doing it.
Happy Friday. Go easy on the gummy bears this weekend.