A South Carolina dentist went above and beyond to "make patients smile" this week by participating in the internet's newest viral dance challenge: the "In My Feelings" Challenge.
Dr. Rich Constantine, a dentist at Constantine Dental in Greenville, South Carolina, said he just wanted to show off his fun side when he posted video of himself participating in the challenge at work on Thursday, but he had no idea that it would rack up nearly 50 million views in less than three days.
“It was surreal! I've never seen anything like that before. I've maybe gotten a couple thousand views before at best. That's it. Never expected anything like this,” Constantine said in an interview with “Good Morning America” on Monday. “I thought a few people in Greenville, South Carolina, might see it, and a few of my friends and family members. But I had no idea that it would get legs like it did and take off.
“A lot of my colleagues and classmates from school have texted or called me. People that I see daily and also people that I haven't seen for days have reached out to tell me that they've seen it,“ he added.
Constantine’s video of himself doing “The Shiggy” dance to Drake’s “In My Feelings” had more than 49 million views on the office’s Facebook page by early Monday morning with more than 921,000 reactions and comments.
He said his co-workers had been trying to convince him to participate in the challenge for weeks, but he was originally too embarrassed to take it on.
“They just kept asking me and asking me and one day, last Thursday when they went to lunch, because I knew I wouldn’t be able to do it while they were here in front of them, I just propped my camera up and I filmed it in our hallway. And then it took off from there,” Constantine said.
Constantine, a self-proclaimed Drake fan, says he isn’t much of a dancer, but decided to do the challenge anyway in an effort to showcase his "fun" side.
He encourages his staff to connect with patients in an "approachable" manner, so they'll "look forward to future visits and look at it as a pleasurable experience rather than one they have to be nervous about," he said.
"You know we get that coming to the dentist isn't always something that people look forward to, but feel that the more our patients get to know us and see a side of us that they may not otherwise see," Constantine said. “We like to do fun things at the office to keep the atmosphere light and to make patients smile.”