A Portland dentist’s patient called his wife to help translate, and her nude caller ID photo popped up on the screen

A Portland dentist, Dr. Brady Smith (drbradysmith), shared a story from his office that has racked up hundreds of thousands of views on Instagram and TikTok. In his video, he said he unexpectedly saw a nude photo on a patient’s phone during a dental appointment. Smith explained that he was working on a Russian patient who “speaks a little bit English.”

He joked that normally they communicate with love, but since they had to discuss some complex dental work, the patient decided to call his wife since she “speaks a little bit more English.” When the call went through, the patient told his wife she needed to translate and then held out his phone. Smith then flipped over a Post-it pad with a stick figure with breasts, calling it “an artist’s rendering of the screen.”

“I look at the phone,” Smith said, “and I go, ‘Oh no, that’s my naked patient.’” The dentist clarified that it wasn’t a FaceTime but that he was looking at a nude photo of the wife that his patient had set as his caller ID. Not knowing what to do, Smith told his viewers that he turned the phone away, and “I start speaking into the phone’s anus.” He noted that with the phone now mostly facing the patient, “He sees what I saw.” According to Smith, the man scrambled and then turned his screen off.

His viewers had humor to spare

Smith’s followers found the situation hilarious, and quite a few commented on his art. Some made jokes like, “I was disappointed the bush was not represented in the stick figure.” Others praised it, noting, “If you didn’t become a dentist, I’m pretty sure you could’ve been a successful artist.”

Others did not see the story coming. One user said they thought the wife would mess up the translation and that the man would strip down, noting, “This was less jarring in comparison.” The same user wondered, “Why would you have a naked picture show up every time you talk to your wife? You know people are going to see that!”

Wired noted that people should be careful about what photos appear on their phones to protect their privacy. The outlet suggested that private photos should exclude identifying features. For safety, it recommended turning off location data and storing such images in locked folders or hidden albums, keeping them out of the general gallery. Explicit photos have previously flashed during a classroom presentation after being stored alongside other files.

Sending photos through encrypted messaging apps can provide more privacy, but the person on the other end could still save or share the image. Ultimately, Wired noted, the best protection is trusting the person on the receiving end.

Smith, however, had some additional advice for his female viewers: “Ladies, you should know what picture shows up of you when you call your man. Otherwise, you know, your dentist might see your full bush. I don’t know if you want that or not.”