DRS. KAREN WOLF AND ANDREW PLY
Creating Smiles Together
story by JENNIFER BROWN-CARPENTER photos by CARLY SCARBORO
Parents live very busy lives. From taking the kids to school, after-school activities, summer programs and camps, the inevitable sicknesses that occur, the list can feel overwhelming and never-ending. At Zest Pediatric Dentistry and Zest Orthodontics, Drs. Karen Wolf and Andrew Ply are looking to relieve some of that overwhelm and pressure that parents feel by creating a safe, welcoming, and family-focused practice that makes parents and children feel at home.
Dr. Karen Wolf grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee, deciding while she was still in high school that she wanted to be a dentist when she graduated. She shadowed her family dentist while in high school and went on dental mission trips, understanding that one day she could own a dental office. Karen went to the University of Tennessee for her undergraduate degree and then attended MUSC in Charleston for dental school. “I always thought I wanted to do general dentistry,” Karen says. “And then I ended up taking a position as a general dentist at a practice in Beaufort for a few months, and I only worked with children the whole time. I discovered that pediatric dentistry is actually where my heart is.” Dr. Karen returned to residency and was in Naples, Florida, for two years before working as a dentist in Charleston while Dr. Andrew finished his schooling.
Dr. Andrew Ply grew up in Myrtle Beach, SC. He attended UNC Wilmington for his undergraduate degree, playing basketball for two years in college. He focused on school for the next two years, and after graduation, he went to England to play basketball for a year, where he got a master’s degree in Newcastle. He started dental school at MUSC once he was back in the States, and this is where he and Karen met. “Dentistry wasn’t for me, but the moment I discovered orthodontics, I was hooked. I ended up getting into residency there and spent the full seven years of school at MUSC.”
Dr. Karen and Dr. Andrew met in 2014 when he was a first-year student in dental school, and she was a third-year student. “We could have fun outside of focusing on dentistry. We went to a lot of restaurants, to the beach, and we traveled. It was what I needed,” Karen says.
They both knew that they wanted to stay in South Carolina, specifically on the coast. They loved Charleston but knew it was too big for them, and it would not have provided the sense of community that they were looking for. Since Karen had spent a few months working in Port Royal, they knew that Beaufort would be a good place to raise a family. “Beaufort has really become home to us,” Karen says.
Dr. Karen and Dr. Andrew got married in 2020, had their first baby in 2021, their second baby in 2022, and Zest Pediatric Dentistry was born in 2023. “We moved to Beaufort a month before we opened Zest. We had a 1-year-old and a 4-month-old, and Andrew was commuting for work at the time,” Karen says. ”I was working for different offices around the state at the time,” Andrew shares. “To say it was challenging is just an understatement. I was spending the night in hotels while Karen was starting this practice from scratch. We didn’t have family support here in Beaufort. It was a lot and it was tough, especially for Karen.”
A year after Zest Pediatric Dentistry opened its doors, Dr. Andrew began working full-time in the office, the same year their third baby was born. “I took a three-week maternity leave and then Beckham came to work with us for the next three weeks until he started daycare.”
Zest Pediatric Dentistry and Zest Orthodontics not only share a building, but also the same workspace, at least for now. “We are elbow distance from each other, basically 24/7,” Karen laughs. While that might make some couples crazy, Karen and Andrew enjoy being able to run their practices together. “We can bounce ideas off of each other, which I love,” Andrew says. While at work, they only discuss work-related topics, patient care, marketing, etc. And then once they’re at home, they try to limit the time they spend talking about work. “I don’t know if I could share an office with anyone BUT Andrew,” Karen says. “He keeps things very light. He knows me best, and he knows how to lighten the mood when things are getting stressful in the office. Although we are very close to each other all the time, we aren’t talking to each other the whole time. We are focused on our work.”
Dr. Karen wanted to create the kind of pediatric dentistry office where she would want to take her own children. “We try to make it as easy as possible for parents. It should be seamless and there should be no obstacles, from the moment they look into scheduling until they leave the office. We have a great patient care coordinator who can be super helpful for parents.” There is a jumbo Connect Four game on the patio, an outside space to hang out prior to an appointment, and a coloring station for the kids. They kept the aesthetics very clean and light.
Another thing that sets Zest Pediatric Dentistry apart from other offices is that Karen is not seeing a huge influx of patients each day. She schedules an hour per patient and even though she does not always take up the whole hour, she wants to have that available for any patients who might need more care or parents who have more questions than normal. “It allows me to not run behind, not feel rushed, and to be able to deliver good quality dentistry and a good experience.”
For Dr. Andrew, after being in a lot of different offices, he understands how most of them function. “It is all about efficiency, about saving money, and increasing production. That is not an enjoyable experience for the practitioner or the patient. It leads to burnout and practicing in a way you don’t truly believe in. We look at booking longer appointments and not seeing as many patients in a day not as inefficient but as an opportunity to build trust and meet people and form good relationships. That creates a better overall experience for everyone involved.” When it comes to orthodontics, it is a unique opportunity for a kid to come in for a dental cleaning, and then have their orthodontist in the same office. It is more convenient for the child and their parents. “They don’t have to be referred, try and find an appointment time, take time off of work and school; it just simplifies it.” For Karen, it is a special gift that while she is working with children, their parents have the opportunity to be treated by Andrew for orthodontics. “You can see that these mothers, in particular, have been neglecting their own needs and this is an opportunity for them to care for themselves while their children are also being cared for.”
As parents of three young children, Andrew and Karen understand all too well how it feels to care for young children. Because of that, their office is truly a judgment-free zone. “We get it. That is also our life,” Andrew says. “Parents can come here and not feel bad about how their kid is acting. That is just the norm for us.”
There is a wide range of treatment options when it comes to orthodontics. There’s a growing trend toward starting orthodontic treatment earlier and earlier. Dr. Andrew doesn’t believe most young children need early intervention, and he thinks that’s an important thing for parents to hear. He takes real time with each family and is honest when ‘watch and wait’ is an appropriate, less invasive path. “Neither is necessarily right or wrong. I just choose to be more conservative about it and offer the option of waiting. It is part of building trust. We ask ourselves, Would we do this for our own kids?’ I think people appreciate that about our practice.”
“Kids like familiarity. Because it is just Andrew and I as the practitioners, they know what to expect. It develops trust and rapport with the families. They know who they are going to see every single time,” Karen says.
At Zest Pediatric Dentistry and Zest Orthodontics, there is an exceptional team, made up of a great patient care coordinator and four dental assistants. “With a small team, they have to be the best. We ask a lot of them,” Karen says. “It’s not always just the technical skills either. We want people who have a great attitude. Patients sense that. If people truly want to come to work every day, everything about the day is easier for everyone. Our goal is to have a happy team,” Andrew says.
In the future, Dr. Karen and Dr. Andrew hope to build out their orthodontics space and continue to serve the children (and adults) of the Lowcountry, while maintaining a healthy work-life balance. When they are not in the office, they enjoy spending time with their three children (Harper, Bennett, and Beckham), going to the beach, visiting family in Charleston, and going on regular date nights.
To learn more about Dr. Karen Wolf and Dr. Andrew Ply, you can visit www.zestpd.com or call (843) 321-9944 to schedule an appointment.
