Joshua Rub, DDS - Dentist in New York City

Eva Sheie (00:03):
The purpose of this podcast is simple. We want you to get to know your doctor before meeting them in person because you're making a life-changing decision, and time is scarce. The more you can learn about who your doctor is before you meet them, the better that first meeting will be. There is no substitute for an in-person appointment, but we hope this comes close. I'm your host, Eva Sheie, and you're listening to Meet the Doctor. Welcome back to Meet the Doctor. We have a treat for you today. It's Meet the Dentist and my dentist guest today is Dr. Josh Rub in New York City. Welcome to the podcast. 

Dr. Rub (00:43):
Hello. Hello. Thank you so much for having me. 

Eva Sheie (00:46):
So first of all, tell me how you found the podcast. 

Dr. Rub (00:51):
So my cousin sent me a DM on Instagram of Dr. Anna Steve on your podcast, and he was like, Hey man, why don't you reach out to them and see if they're interested in interviewing you? So I did, and here we are. 

Eva Sheie (01:12):
That's excellent. Yep. And so you're a dentist. How long have you been practicing and give us the lay of the land for where you are in your career. 

Dr. Rub (01:21):
So I actually graduated dental school in 2022, so very long ago. And yeah, I completed a one year general practice residency in New York City. I just completed that and now I just started working at a private office in Manhattan. So I've been a dentist for not too long, but long enough. 

Eva Sheie (01:46):
What is dental school like? 

Dr. Rub (01:48):
Wow, getting stressed, thinking about it. Yeah, it's very stressful, very rigorous, very intense. So the first two years of dental school are same as medical school. We take the same exact sciences, basic sciences, and then the third and fourth year of dental school are the clinical setting where we go in and we treat patients. And yeah, that's pretty much it. 

Eva Sheie (02:16):
Where do the patients come from that you see when you're in dental school? 

Dr. Rub (02:21):
From all over. So I went to Touro, Touro College of Dental Medicine in Westchester County, and most of the patients come from the insurance referrals, people who reach out to their insurance companies and they ask or Can I go see a dentist that will take my insurance? And that's where most of the patients come from. 

Eva Sheie (02:45):
So the insurance company tells them to go to the dental school? 

Dr. Rub (02:49):
Well within the vicinity of where they are. So most of our patients are from Westchester, Westchester County. So they called the insurance companies, insurance companies said, Touro Dental will take your insurance. Why don't you go see them? And that's how the majority of the patients came about. 

Eva Sheie (03:07):
So when they arrive there, do they know that they're going to this dental school or is it just look like, they do? 

Dr. Rub (03:14):
They do. They do. They're fully aware and patients are okay with it. Dentistry is cheaper, obviously, at the dental school, and it's a learning setting so they feel comfortable with the students working on them because they know that the supervising doctors are always there to supervise the procedures and make sure everything goes smoothly. So it's a win-win. 

Eva Sheie (03:38):
Did you see people there who were in crisis or was it just a broad mix of everything, like regular stuff and people with problems? 

Dr. Rub (03:48):
I would say it's a broad mix of everything. Definitely some people in crisis, people unfortunately with without teeth came there to get a new smile, but I saw everything under the sun. 

Eva Sheie (04:02):
Was there any part of this work? I'm sure there were many, but if you can kind of think back on this time, I know it was a really long time ago. Was there a moment where you realized that this is amazing work? 

Dr. Rub (04:18):
Yes. So there was a patient who came in, she said, doc, I haven't smiled in years and I really want to smile again. She was a previous drug user and she lost all her teeth and it was really, really unfortunate and sad. And my partner and I, we worked up this case from start to finish, took about six and a half months to get this beautiful patient, her new smile again, and the last appointment that we had together, I delivered my final denture on her and I showed her what it looked like in the mirror, and she was just so appreciative of everything that we did for her. She started to cry and I'll never forget it to this day. And it was just so heartwarming. And that's probably when I had an epiphany. I realized, wow, this work is something great other than just fillings. And yeah, that was my aha moment. 

Eva Sheie (05:24):
So to carry out a case that involves a lot of planning, you have a vision for where you're going to go from beginning to end, and then did it go as planned or did it have changes in the middle or how did that happen? 

Dr. Rub (05:39):
Yeah, it did go as planned. There was some tweaks to the treatment plan that me and my partner and the supervising doctors had and made, but all in all, it went pretty smoothly. The staff at Touro was amazing. I learned so much, and most of all the patients were really, really grateful and happy that they could receive dental care at an affordable price and it looked good too. So like I said, it was just a win-win for everyone. 

Eva Sheie (06:10):
So once you finished at Touro and you went on and did a fellowship, so talk to us about what was the fellowship experience? 

Dr. Rub (06:19):
So it's a general practice residency. So New York State mandates all dental graduates to perform a one year general practice residency in order to get licensed to New York State. You could do that or you could work out of state for three or five years, something like that, and then you get licensed. I decided,

Eva Sheie (06:38):
No, they don't want you to leave, do they? They want you to stay in New York. 

Dr. Rub (06:41):
Right? But mainly they want you to get that extra experience treating patients in a hospital setting. So where are you from right now? 

Eva Sheie (06:52):
I'm in Austin, Texas, but weirdly, I mean, I had never really lived in New York. I was born in New York. 

Dr. Rub (06:58):
Oh, really? Wow. So Austin, Texas, UT, right. UT has a dental department, right? 

Eva Sheie (07:04):
Sure. 

Dr. Rub (07:05):
There's also a UT Health. There's a hospital that has a dental clinic in it. So patients who are in a lower socioeconomic status, patients come to the dental clinic and get dental treatment. So it was a one year general practice residency at Woodhull Medical Center in Brooklyn. And 

Eva Sheie (07:24):
Did I use the wrong word? It was a residency, not a fellowship?

Dr. Rub (07:26):
Yeah. It was a residency, but fellowship. Same idea. Yeah, same idea. The one year general practice residency at Woodhull Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York. And when I tell you I saw everything, I literally saw everything. We had to be on call twice a month. So I saw the craziest things, gunshot wounds, and me and the oral surgery resident had to go down and treat the patient in the middle of the night if we needed to. But it was just an amazing experience. Again, I learned so much there. I developed a great skill in endodontics because specifically the program that I went to, all root canals are free there for patients, and patients knew this and the wait times were astronomical. Patients had to wait months to get an appointment. 

Eva Sheie (08:20):
Wait, if you need a root canal though, aren't you typically in pain? 

Dr. Rub (08:25):
So the clinic made exceptions for people, patients in pain. It would be a one visit type of thing. We would get them out of pain and they'd have to come back to finish the root canal. 

Eva Sheie (08:34):
So you would just put a temporary on and then say come back later? 

Dr. Rub (08:38):
Yeah. You do something called a pulpotomy where you remove part of the nerve tissue, it gets the patient out of pain, you put a medication inside the canal and then you put a temporary filling on them and that'll hold them usually until they get the root canal finished and crown. But I saw everything under the sun. I had amazing exposure to all different aspects of dentistry. The faculty at the program was amazing. I learned so much and I'm just very grateful for the experience. 

Eva Sheie (09:09):
So do I have this right that every dentist who goes to dental school in New York then goes through an experience like this? 

Dr. Rub (09:16):
Well, yes. Some of the hospitals are different. They're tailored differently than the hospital that I went to. So the hospital that I worked at was a level one trauma center. So like I said, I saw everything. Some of my other friends went to clinics that weren't in trauma centers. They didn't have to be on call, so they didn't get that exposure, but they still got good dental experience. 

Eva Sheie (09:40):
So did you like being on call? Did you think this was kind of cool? No, it was terrible. 

Dr. Rub (09:46):
I hated it, and I dreaded the day that I'd have to be on call. It was just nightmares. I would pray to God every night that I would not get any calls. But 

Eva Sheie (09:57):
How often did you actually get a call then? 

Dr. Rub (09:59):
Oh, it was pretty often. 

Eva Sheie (10:02):
Almost every time.

Dr. Rub (10:03):
Almost every single time. And it didn't have to be a gunshot wound. Patients came in with an abscess or swelling and they needed immediate drainage or something like that, or a laceration. I did tons of lacerations. So I got really good at stitching, just invaluable skills that I'll take with me for the rest of my career. So looking back on it now, I'm happy that I was on call for those nights because the skills I developed were, like I said, invaluable. 

Eva Sheie (10:35):
So as you went through this, did you start to figure out where do you want to go next? Were you trying to figure that, make a plan for when this year is over, where were you going to go and what were you going to look for? 

Dr. Rub (10:48):
So the type of personality, I'm very neurotic, so I need to find a job six months before I complete my residency. I want to make sure that I have everything set up so that when by the time I graduated residency, I'm good to go. And I wanted to work in a private setting, private office. And that's where I am right now. I'm working part-time in Midtown Manhattan on 58th and seventh in a private office. And the other time I'm working at a Medicaid clinic in the Bronx. So you can imagine I'm seeing a lot of different things at both offices. 

Eva Sheie (11:32):
Is this pretty typical then in your first year out on your own, that you have to kind of put together your work in a couple of different places? 

Dr. Rub (11:40):
Very typical. Yeah. The residency programs will definitely teach you how to go out and job hunt, but it's up to you to close the deal and make sure that you make a good impression and get the job you want. 

Eva Sheie (11:55):
Now, there's not a lot about you on the internet yet. When I googled you, I had a hard time finding you. I found a little bit, I kind of figured out who you were. And then I had to ask you, is this you Dr. Rub? And so what's going to happen, I think is people who either are referred to you or heard about you are going to Google your name and they're going to find this podcast. So what I want to ask you is what do you want those people who are potentially coming to see you to know about you as a dentist? 

Dr. Rub (12:26):
I want them to know that they can trust me with anything, with anything that they want to disclose or with any problem or issue that they have. I want them to know that my approach to dentistry is very thorough and comprehensive so they can feel confident that they'll get the best possible treatment that they will ever get. And I want them to know that I'm a pretty personable guy. I like to think so, and I want them to enjoy coming to the dentist. I want them to, when they wake up and they're like, oh, I have a dental appointment today. I don't want them to say that. I want them to be like, oh, Dr. Rub's pretty cool. I enjoy seeing him. Let's see what he has to say. 

Eva Sheie (13:09):
You opened the door. So I'm going to go through it. A lot of people are afraid to go to the dentist. So talk to me a little bit about what you do to make it not so scary. 

Dr. Rub (13:19):
So it's a good question. Most people are afraid of the dentist. I have encountered a good amount of people who aren't afraid. I think the fear association around dentistry is the unknown. Patients come in, they don't know what they're going to expect, and therefore they're afraid. They're scared of the feeling of pain. So I try to talk the patients through the procedure and tell 'em to step by step exactly what I'm going to do so they're not blindsided. I always say the worst part of dentistry is the Novocaine or the numbing. That's the worst part of any procedure in dentistry. It's that little pinch in the beginning and you just hate it, but you get over it. So what I do to really calm the patient's mind is I just give them all the time that they need. I let 'em talk it through. We talk it through together, and that sort of eases them a little bit, eases their nerves. 

Eva Sheie (14:19):
At my dentist office, I get to watch H G T V on the ceiling. 

Dr. Rub (14:23):
Yeah, we don't have that in our office yet, but I'm pushing for it. We have TVs in front, but not on the ceiling. When I tilt the patient back, they won't be able to see the tv, but I'm trying to push that. 

Eva Sheie (14:37):
What about headphones? Do we get headphones? 

Dr. Rub (14:40):
We do offer the patient headphones if they want. Some patients don't like the sound of the drill and the chalky, sorry if you're barking my dog. 

Eva Sheie (14:48):
It's okay. He lives there too. <laugh>

Dr. Rub (14:51):
Yeah. Right. So yeah, so we do offer headphones, glasses, so the patients don't have things flying in their eyes and stuff. We try to make the experience as peaceful and as enjoyable as possible to go to the dentist. At the end of the day, it's still not the most fun experience. And anyone who says, oh, I love going to the dentist is probably faking it. But like I said, to minimize the discomfort and try to maximize the satisfaction is the goal. 

Eva Sheie (15:25):
We've talked about a lot of regular dental stuff, like being afraid of the dentist and when we have a crisis, which I feel pretty confident, we're in good hands if we're seeing you for a crisis, but a lot of what we talk about on this podcast is related to aesthetics. And I wonder if you've started to incorporate any kind of aesthetic component into what you're doing. 

Dr. Rub (15:51):
That's a great question. So most dentists in my position, coming fresh out of residency, haven't had the exposure to the aesthetic cases that you see online. I know you interviewed Dr. Davidowitz, right? And he prides himself that he's a cosmetic dentist. I wouldn't say that I'm a cosmetic dentist. I've done cosmetic cases, veneers, aesthetic crows, stuff like that. I've done a ton of them, but I wouldn't call myself a cosmetic dentist. I do cosmetic dentistry, but I'm not a cosmetic dentist. And in order to become the status that Dr. Davidowitz is, or there's Dr. Michael Apa, maybe you've heard of him, maybe you haven't. Another cosmetic dentist in New York City, you have to do a ton of these cases. And the only time you will do these cases is if patients want them, for example, a veneer case. A patient will come and say, Hey, doc, I really don't like the way my teeth look. 

(16:52)
You'll give them the options. You'll say, okay, we can do this, this, and this. The veneer will be part of the treatment plan, and you'll show them before and after pictures of what they will look like. It's a whole workup. It's a whole treatment workup. But back to your question, I wouldn't say that I've had a ton of those cases. I do have cases where I'm working on a case right now where I'm doing six front veneers, pretty straightforward case. But again, the case has to be right. The patient has to meet the criteria in order to meet the case. 

Eva Sheie (17:24):
You're setting them up for success and not just taking their money. 

Dr. Rub (17:28):
I wouldn't just put veneers on anyone. They have to be the right candidate. 

Eva Sheie (17:33):
We all know what it looks like when people get veneers that they shouldn't have. 

Dr. Rub (17:38):
Unfortunately. Yeah, some dentists, they just want to sell treatment, and it's really unfortunate. 

Eva Sheie (17:43):
Yeah, it is.

Dr. Rub (17:45):
Patients don't really know. They don't know a difference between bad dental work and good dental work. They just know how it looks and then how you treat them. And again, that's the most important thing that I care about, is how patients feel when they leave the office. Obviously, the work has to be excellent, and I strive for excellence of course, but I just care about the impression that I leave. 

Eva Sheie (18:08):
Now you have a very charming Instagram handle. Can you tell us what that is? 

Dr. Rub (18:15):
Again, I can't take full credit for it. I have to give credit to my cousin, Mitchell Leff. 

Eva Sheie (18:21):
Your cousin again? 

Dr. Rub (18:22):
My cousin, really.

Eva Sheie (18:22):
I was going to guess it was your cousin. He is looking out for you. 

Dr. Rub (18:25):
My cousin should be on this podcast with me, right? He should be sitting right here next to me. 

(18:29)
He should be my spokesperson, honestly. But he works at Einstein Plastic Surgery. He's the chief motivator there, and he suggested, Josh, why don't you do something along the lines of crown, have the word crown in the handle. I actually thought about the handle. Some of the handles were already taken, so I couldn't use them. And I thought of King of Crowns, so King of Crowns spelled out the normal way was also taken. So I hadto fudge the letters a little bit, but it ended up working out, and I thought that it was a catchy handle, and I just went with it. 

Eva Sheie (19:05):
It's genius. It's perfect. King of Crownz with a z. 

Dr. Rub (19:10):
King of Crownz with a Z. Yes. Yeah. 

Eva Sheie (19:12):
Yeah. I'll make sure we link it in the show notes. So it's easy to find. 

Dr. Rub (19:16):
Yes, please do. Because most people won't think to put the Z in there. So 

Eva Sheie (19:20):
Yeah, I love it. 

Dr. Rub (19:22):
Thank you. Appreciate it. 

Eva Sheie (19:23):
I knew right away that you had a sense of humor just from your handle. That was perfect. 

Dr. Rub (19:27):
I appreciate it. Thank you. It means a lot. I should honestly post more too. A lot of those posts were from my residency cases, and you can see a lot of them were root canals. I know I mentioned that. My favorite procedure in dentistry, 

Eva Sheie (19:41):
I think you're overestimating my ability to identify dental work on Instagram. <laugh>

Dr. Rub (19:46):
Yeah, like I said, those are just the majority of the cases that I got in residency. I got a ton more than that, but I just never got to posting it. I was just too lazy or whatever, so I should definitely get to it. 

Eva Sheie (19:59):
Yeah, they're beautiful. There's nothing better than a beautiful before and after photo of a smile, really? 

Dr. Rub (20:06):
Oh, yeah. I should definitely do more of those. I need to do more of those for sure. 

Eva Sheie (20:11):
Well, I'm following you now, so I'm going to hold you to it. 

Dr. Rub (20:13):
Awesome, thank you. 

Eva Sheie (20:15):
If someone's listening today and they want to come see you or find out more about you, where should they go? 

Dr. Rub (20:21):
So I'm working at a private office. The name of the practice is called Midtown Manhattan Dental Arts. It's on 58th between sixth Avenue and seventh Avenue. So Billionaires Row, and I work with another dentist in the office. His name is Dr. Gildo Corradi. He's a fantastic dentist. He's actually a dental anesthesiologist, so he's a specialist. He's one of very few in the city. They do major sedation cases. They put people to sleep, nitrous oxide, the whole nine yards. So if someone wants to find me in Manhattan, that's where I am. You can look us up on Google, and hopefully after this podcast you'll be able to find me on Google. 

Eva Sheie (21:04):
You will. And how did you find Dr. Corradi? 

Dr. Rub (21:09):
It's a great question. So my wife's family friend approached me when I was in residency and he was like, listen, Josh, I don't know if you're looking for a job or anything, but I know a guy who was looking for an associate and I can put you guys in contact. I said, why not? Yeah, it can't hurt. He put me in contact with Dr. Corradi. We had a lovely first phone call. I went down to meet him in his office and we just hit it off. I was talking to my friend. I wasn't talking to my superior. He didn't make me feel like he was a superior. He made from the get go, he was like, Josh, we're equals. We're both dentists. I'm hoping that we can learn from each other here. And that right there was the selling point for me. When I wanted to enter a new office, I wanted, someone can mentor me and teach me the ropes on how to run a successful office. 

(22:05)
And you could see, because patients really, really love him. He does excellent work, but he's also a kind, genuine, honest, ethical dentist, and that's really the most important thing. That's the main thing I saw on how he ran the practice and I fell in love. I fell in love with the practice. It's a small, little boutique practice, only four chairs we have. We're actually trying to expand in the next year or so. We're looking to get a bigger space, but he's been in the office for about 15, 20 years, I would say. That's how I found him, and he offered me the job in January of 23. I was graduating in June of 23, so I had a job six months before I graduated.

Eva Sheie (22:50):
Love that. Six months ahead. Yeah. You were definitely planning. 

Dr. Rub (22:53):
It all worked out. It all worked out for the best. I was very grateful for the experience. I'm there now. I'm transitioning into a part-time role there, and I'm working at the Medicaid office in the Bronx and at the Medicaid office. I am seeing a lot of volume and a lot more laborious procedures. So I'm getting two different kinds of exposure at both of these offices. And like I said, I'm just very, very grateful for the experience and I look forward to starting a career in dentistry. 

Eva Sheie (23:31):
Okay, last question. What do you like to do when you're not working? 

Dr. Rub (23:36):
So I love to exercise. As you heard, my dog, big barker. He's very loud, mischievous little dog, but I love him. His name is Louis. He's a Bernadoodle. My wife and I, we love taking him on long walks, so I enjoy walking with him and my wife. I'm a huge, huge cooking fan. I love to cook. I've always been since I was a young, young boy. Fun fact. I was offered a position on Teen Chopped, you know the show Chopped. 

Eva Sheie (24:08):
Sure. 

Dr. Rub (24:09):
I declined because I was just very camera shy. So 

Eva Sheie (24:13):
Should have been a podcast about cooking. You would've been fine. 

Dr. Rub (24:16):
Honestly, we could do that. We could definitely do that next time. But I love to cook. I love sports. 

Eva Sheie (24:25):
What sports? 

Dr. Rub (24:26):
Big basketball fan football. I love tennis. Especially recently. Tennis is blowing up the US Open. Right? Just finished the other day.

Eva Sheie (24:36):
Are you a Jets fan? Did you see this horror that happened yesterday?

Dr. Rub (24:40):
I know, I know Aaron Rogers. 

Eva Sheie (24:42):
It's my fault, and I'll tell you why. And I feel terrible. No, but my fantasy team, my opponent's quarterback was Aaron Rogers, and so on Sunday, I said, I need Aaron Rogers to get hurt. I must win. 

Dr. Rub (24:59):
Oh my God. From your mouth to God's ears, huh? 

Eva Sheie (25:03):
I'm so sorry. 

Dr. Rub (25:04):
You should write him an email. Write him a letter or something. Apologize. 

Eva Sheie (25:08):
You  think it's just like Aaron . Rogers at the Jets dot? <laugh>

Dr. Rub (25:15):
Poor guy. No jets can't, can't catch a break. We'll see what happens this year, but it should be interesting. Are you a Texan fan? 

Eva Sheie (25:26):
I was, but I mostly grew up in Minnesota, so I was originally a Vikings fan. 

Dr. Rub (25:30):
Okay, cool. 

Eva Sheie (25:31):
But my husband is a die-hard Seahawks fan, so they're really my number one. 

Dr. Rub (25:37):
So yeah, I mean, I hope you got a snapshot of who I am as a person, as a dentist. 

Eva Sheie (25:44):
I did. I think you painted a really nice picture of what everything is. So thank you for sharing yourself with us today. 

Dr. Rub (25:54):
Thank you so much, Eva. I really appreciate the experience. 

Eva Sheie (26:01):
If you are considering making an appointment or are on your way to meet this doctor, be sure to let them know you heard them on the Meet the Doctor podcast. Check the show notes for links, including the doctor's website and Instagram to learn more. Are you a doctor or do you know a doctor who'd like to be on the Meet the Doctor podcast? Book your free recording session at Meet the Doctor podcast.com. Meet the Doctor is Made with Love in Austin, Texas and is a production of The Axis, t h e a x i s.io.