Podcasts about American Dental Association

Send us Fan Mail"When a dentist invests millions of dollars into a practice, who should that office be designed for?"The patient?The clinical team?Or the dental equipment sales quota?For decades, the industry has answered this question the same way, and most dentists have never stopped to question it.The greatest dental offices are not remembered because they had the most operatories.They are remembered because patients felt cared for from the moment they walked through the door.Perhaps it is time we stopped asking how many operatories can fit into a building......and started asking how many extraordinary patient experiences can be created inside it.Support the show

Send us Fan MailYou may know dentistry. You may be clinically excellent. You may care deeply about your patients.But if you are not running the business—with intention, clarity, and authority—then you are operating in a system you don't fully control.And in today's environment, that lack of control is exactly what's putting practices at risk.Support the show

by Christian Medical & Dental Associations® Dr. Bill Claytor, recipient of the American Dental Association's 2025 Distinguished Service Award, speaks on the critical topics of perfectionism, isolation and burnout in dentistry. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cmdadental/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61576106769605

Dr. Brianne Butler joins the podcast for a conversation detailing her unique experience as a practitioner in rural Washington and the choices led her to her work. A long-time children's health advocate, Dr. Butler shares her journey from interning in Senator Patty Murray's office during healthcare bill negotiations to making a home for her practice in a location that allows her to not only make a difference in the clinic but also in hercommunity. Dr. Butler and host Dr. Joel Berg also discuss her growth as a volunteer focused on advocacy and optimal oral health for all kids within organized dentistry and how others can use her path as a roadmap. Guest Bio: Dr. Brianne Butler, or “Dr. Bri” as she prefers to be called, was born and raised in Washington State. She completed both dental school and her pediatric residency at the University of Washington and Seattle Children's Hospital, where she received extensive experience in working with children of all ages and children with special needs. After completing residency, she and her husband decided to relocate to the beautiful Olympic Peninsula where she has been serving children for the past nine years. Dr. Butler has also completed her board certification in pediatric dentistry and is a Diplomate of the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry. When Dr. Butler is not in clinic, she volunteers her time working as affiliate faculty at the University of Washington School of Dentistry and attends events throughout the community to promote oral health in children. She is an active member of American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, American Dental Association, Washington State Dental Association, and Olympic Peninsula Dental Society. She has also served as president of the Washington State Academy of Pediatric Dentistry and is currently serving as a President for the Western Society of Pediatric Dentistry. Dr. Butler is committed to bettering the oral health of our community by working with patients and parents both in the clinic and in the community at large. In her free time, Dr. Butler enjoys spending time with her husband, daughters, and their dog, Huc. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Send us Fan MailIncrease clarity, confidence, and connection before the patient leaves your office, and the need to crowdsource disappears.You won't completely eliminate this behavior, but you can dramatically reduce it by controlling when, how, and why patients feel the need to “shop” your treatment plan.Support the show

The conversation with Dr. Kessler last week couldn't be contained. This week Dr. Pam and Dr. Brian continue last week's discussion with the past president of the American Dental Association, Dr. Brett Kessler, and things heated up. The very personal nature of dentistry is full display this week as they discuss the future of organized dentistry, what it means to each of them, and the support provided to our colleagues.  Accountability and mentorship can provide a steady compass to creating a meaningful future that helps prevent the drift leading to burnout. It's a reminder that living intentionally isn't reserved for moments of crisis or the end of a career; it's a practice available right now, guided by the simple discipline of knowing where you want to go.

Elevated GP - Click here to join Elevated.GP Follow @dr.melissa_seibert on Instagram Dr. Peter Milgrom is Professor of Oral Health Sciences and Pediatric Dentistry in the School of Dentistry and adjunct Professor of Health Services in the School of Public Health at the University of Washington. He directs the Northwest Center to Reduce Oral Health Disparities. He holds academic appointments at Case Western University, University of Rochester, and University of California, San Francisco. He maintains a dental practice limited to the care of fearful patients and served as Director of the UW Dental Fears Research Clinic. Dr. Milgrom's work includes research on xylitol, the effectiveness of fluoride varnish and iodine in preschoolers, clinical efficacy and safety of diammine silver fluoride, motivational strategies to increase perinatal and well child dental visits in rural communities, and studies of cognitive interventions in pediatric and adult dental fear. The NIH, Maternal and Child Health Bureau, HRSA, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation support his work. Dr. Milgrom is author of 5 books and over 300 scientific articles. His latest book, Treating Fearful Dental Patients, was published in 2009.   Dr. Milgrom was Distinguished Dental Behavioral Scientist of the International Association for Dental Research for 1999. In 1999, and again in 2000, his work was recognized by the Giddon Award for research in the behavioral sciences in Dentistry. He received the Barrows Milk Award from IADR in 2000, recognizing his work for public health including the development of the Access to Baby and Child Dentistry (ABCD) program in Washington State. In 2003, Dr. Milgrom received a Special Commendation Award from the National Legal Aid and Defenders Association and the University of Washington Medical Center Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Service Award. In 2010, he received the Aubrey Sheiham Research Award for his work on xylitol. He serves on scientific review committees for the NIDCR, NIMHHD, NINDS, Center for Scientific Review at NIH and as a consultant to the FDA. In 2005, Dr. Milgrom was appointed the SAAD Visiting Professor of Pain and Anxiety Control at the King's College Dental Institute, University of London, UK for a six-year term. In 2008 he was awarded the degree of Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of Bergen, Norway in recognition of his work in social and behavioral dentistry. In 2012, he received the University of California, San Francisco Dental Alumni Gold Medal for his contributions to Dentistry. In 2012 he was also awarded the Norton Ross Award for Excellence in Clinical Research by the American Dental Association. In 2013, he was appointed to the Council of Scientific Affairs of the American Dental Association. In 2014, he received the Irwin M. Mandel Distinguished Mentor Award from the IADR. In 2015, he served as HMDP Expert in Dental Public Health for the Singapore Ministry of Health. Dr. Milgrom received his DDS from the University of California, San Francisco in 1972 and had a previous position at the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. In the last few years, Dr. Milgrom has spoken to dental associations in Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Philippines, and USA and at major universities in USA and abroad.

How familiar are you with THE American Dental Association? Do you sometimes feel as though it's hidden behind a veil? In this episode, Dr. Pam and Dr. Brian sit down with Dr. Brett Kessler, past president of the ADA and get to know the dentist (and human) behind the mask. The conversation is vulnerable, but steady, honest, and quietly courageous, moving through themes of personal reinvention, the discomfort of looking beyond the present moment, and the surprising power of giving yourself permission to dream again. Dr Kessler shares what brought him to the forefront of our profession and what's possible when you choose to design a life with intention.

Send us Fan MailI want you to ask: Who's making these decisions in my office to “hang up” on effective training opportunities? What power do they hold? And what opportunities are we missing? One of the most surprising things we encounter is when dental offices hang up on our team before hearing a single sentence about the training. Think about that for a moment. Here is a training program specifically designed to help dentists and their teams understand laws that directly impact their profitability, patient communications, and insurance interactions, and some offices choose to end the conversation before learning what is being offered. This was a free training opportunity sponsored by the UDA, and taught by those writing and passing dental insurance reform legislation, meaning Tracy and I at MPMB.Support the show

In this powerful two part episode I sit down with Brett Kessler, D.D.S. for an honest and deeply reflective conversation about recovery, leadership, and living with intention. Dr. Brett shares two key lessons that continue to shape both his personal and professional life: the importance of moving through challenges “one mile at a time”, and the power of intentionally designing a life aligned with your personal values, mission statement, and long-term vision. While a vulnerable topic, Brett reflects openly on how overcoming substance abuse nearly three decades ago became the foundation for mindfulness, humility, discipline, and purposeful leadership.In Part 1, Dr. Brett shares his story of being a young dentist struggling with substance abuse, recognizing he needed help to make a change. While in recovery he was taught the practice of meditation and mindfulness. Not only does this practice help maintain his recovery but he has also seen exponential leadership growth opportunities by setting an intention for his life through mindfulness and a personal mission statement. Brett also shares his journey from private practice dentist to president of the American Dental Association, including leading through the unprecedented challenges of COVID-19 and advocating for wellness initiatives within the dental profession. In addition, he highlights lessons learned while competing in multiple Ironman races, including the importance of resilience, adaptability, and focusing only on “the mile you're in” during difficult moments.In this Part 2 of 2, the conversation ultimately serves as a reminder that meaningful transformation happens through intentional daily choices rather than overnight change. Brett encourages listeners to know that you deserve to live your best life and can reach that with intention and dedication. This episode offers valuable insight for anyone seeking to lead with authenticity, embrace growth through adversity, and create lasting impact both personally and professionally.Links & Resources:The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change by Stephen CoveyGood to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don't by Jim CollinsStart With Why by Simon SinekStrong Ground: The Lessons of Daring Leadership, the Tenacity of Paradox, and the Wisdom of the Human Spirit by Brené BrownEmail Brett Kessler, D.D.S. at: bikodds@gmail.comFollow Suken on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sukenjain/Email Suken at: suken@synergysyncsolutions.comSynergy Sync Solutions Website: https://www.synergysyncsolutions.com/This episode was brought to you by Pivot Ball Change.

In this powerful two part episode I sit down with Brett Kessler, D.D.S. for an honest and deeply reflective conversation about recovery, leadership, and living with intention. Dr. Brett shares two key lessons that continue to shape both his personal and professional life: the importance of moving through challenges “one mile at a time”, and the power of intentionally designing a life aligned with your personal values, mission statement, and long-term vision. While a vulnerable topic, Brett reflects openly on how overcoming substance abuse nearly three decades ago became the foundation for mindfulness, humility, discipline, and purposeful leadership.As a young dentist struggling with substance abuse, Brett recognized he needed help to make a change. While in recovery he was taught the practice of meditation and mindfulness. Not only does this practice help maintain his recovery but he has also seen exponential leadership growth opportunities by setting an intention for his life through mindfulness and a personal mission statement. Brett also shares his journey from private practice dentist to president of the American Dental Association, including leading through the unprecedented challenges of COVID-19 and advocating for wellness initiatives within the dental profession. In addition, he highlights lessons learned while competing in multiple Ironman races, including the importance of resilience, adaptability, and focusing only on “the mile you're in” during difficult moments.This conversation is filled with a myriad of valuable takeaways, so we split it up into two easily digestible episodes. Thanks for listening to Part 1 with Dr. Brett - Part 2 is also live, where we dive into his plans post ADA presidency and his last messages for our listeners. Links & Resources:The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change by Stephen CoveyGood to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don't by Jim CollinsStart With Why by Simon SinekStrong Ground: The Lessons of Daring Leadership, the Tenacity of Paradox, and the Wisdom of the Human Spirit by Brené BrownEmail Brett Kessler, D.D.S. at: bikodds@gmail.comFollow Suken on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sukenjain/Email Suken at: suken@synergysyncsolutions.comSynergy Sync Solutions Website: https://www.synergysyncsolutions.com/This episode was brought to you by Pivot Ball Change.

Daily Dad Jokes (22 May 2026) The official Daily Dad Jokes Podcast electronic button now available on Amazon. The perfect gift for dad! Click here here to view! Shower Thoughts Podcast: We have another podcast called Daily Shower Thoughts, showcasing random, amusing and mind bending epiphanies. Search "Daily Shower Thoughts" in your podcast player or click here Email Newsletter: Looking for more dad joke humor to share? Then subscribe to our new weekly email newsletter. It's our weekly round-up of the best dad jokes, memes, and humor for you to enjoy. Spread the laughs, and groans, and sign up today! Click here to subscribe! Listen to the Daily Dad Jokes podcast here: https://dailydadjokespodcast.com/ or search "Daily Dad Jokes" in your podcast app. Jokes sourced and curated from reddit.com/r/dadjokes. Joke credits: punkr0ckpapa, clars1909, Healthy_Ladder_6198, Sad_Refrigerator3, contraries, DownLikeALeadZeplin, Steppyjim, Pretty-Counter-5553, MurkyUnit3180, Billyeggs, berkleysquare, NoDragonsPlz, , songsofadistantsun, MyColdAirBalloon, avisilver, DrPaleontologus, Cishuman, Normal-Internal164 Subscribe to this podcast via: iHeartMedia Spotify iTunes Google Podcasts YouTube Channel Social media: Instagram Facebook Twitter TikTok Discord Interested in advertising or sponsoring our show? Contact us at mediasales@klassicstudios.com Produced by Klassic Studios using AutoGen Podcast technology (http://klassicstudios.com/autogen-podcasts/) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Daily Dad Jokes (22 May 2026) The official Daily Dad Jokes Podcast electronic button now available on Amazon. The perfect gift for dad! Click here here to view! Shower Thoughts Podcast: We have another podcast called Daily Shower Thoughts, showcasing random, amusing and mind bending epiphanies. Search "Daily Shower Thoughts" in your podcast player or click here Email Newsletter: Looking for more dad joke humor to share? Then subscribe to our new weekly email newsletter. It's our weekly round-up of the best dad jokes, memes, and humor for you to enjoy. Spread the laughs, and groans, and sign up today! Click here to subscribe! Listen to the Daily Dad Jokes podcast here: https://dailydadjokespodcast.com/ or search "Daily Dad Jokes" in your podcast app. Jokes sourced and curated from reddit.com/r/dadjokes. Joke credits: punkr0ckpapa, clars1909, Healthy_Ladder_6198, Sad_Refrigerator3, contraries, DownLikeALeadZeplin, Steppyjim, Pretty-Counter-5553, MurkyUnit3180, Billyeggs, berkleysquare, NoDragonsPlz, , songsofadistantsun, MyColdAirBalloon, avisilver, DrPaleontologus, Cishuman, Normal-Internal164 Subscribe to this podcast via: iHeartMedia Spotify iTunes Google Podcasts YouTube Channel Social media: Instagram Facebook Twitter TikTok Discord Interested in advertising or sponsoring our show? Contact us at mediasales@klassicstudios.com Produced by Klassic Studios using AutoGen Podcast technology (http://klassicstudios.com/autogen-podcasts/) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Bill Claytor, a dentist, educator, and Executive Director of North Carolina Caring Dental Professionals, joins host Dr. Mike Chupp and co-host Dr. Bill Griffin, CMDA’s Senior Vice President, for a conversation on what so many in healthcare quietly wrestle with: the perfectionism, isolation, and burnout that can take root when the drive to serve others becomes something heavier. A nationally recognized voice on clinician wellbeing and recipient of the American Dental Association’s 2025 Distinguished Service Award, Dr. Claytor brings both professional expertise and personal insight to a topic the profession doesn’t always make room to discuss openly.

Send us Fan MailOrganized dentistry has a choice:            -Either listen to your remaining members and tackle insurance reform, or            -Continue with platitudes over principlesEvery ADA administration, every ADA leader, every state dental association has said the same thing over and over again, “you signed a contract, there's nothing that organized dentistry can do for you.” This statement has been a false narrative for as long as I've been in practice, and it's why Tracy and I finally said, “enough is enough.” It's why the two of us have lobbied, written dental insurance reform bills, and got them passed into law. It's why Utah leads the nation with dental insurance reform. Yet, the ADA has remained silent on what Utah has done, or more specifically, what Tracy and I have done for dentistry here in Utah, and in other states.Support the show

Send us Fan MailI had so many titles for this podcast. But, I think you'll get the point...“The Dentist Who Feels Guilty Charging Patients… And Why It's Destroying Their Practice”“Why ‘Being Nice' Is Costing You Hundreds of Thousands in Your Dental Practice”“The Hidden Reason Some Dentists Struggle Financially (It's Not Insurance)”Support the show

Send us Fan MailThe dental profession is facing a quiet but growing crisis, one that many practicing dentists feel every day but few leaders are addressing effectively.At the heart of the issue is a disconnect between current economic realities and the leadership guiding the profession.Support the show

Send us Fan MailToday we talk about the code changes we requested for the CDT Code Book, and what we requested to be removed in the CDT Code Book. What followed was not what we thought would happen.The individual who placed the anesthetic verbiage at the head of each category admitted he should have never placed it there, and why the ADA coding department shelved it to next year.Are they worried about the fallout?Support the show

This episode with Robert McNeill is truly one of the most unique journeys I have encountered on this podcast to date. Bob is an oral and maxillofacial surgeon at The Dental Specialists, a healthcare regulator in Texas, a strategic advisor for the American Dental Association, and on top of all of that, he is now a 1L at Northeastern University School of Law in their FlexJD program, along with his wife, who is also a surgeon and in the same law school class as him. Yes, you read that correctly.What makes Bob's story so fascinating is his commitment to being useful. He has a DDS, an MD, an MBA from a healthcare management program, and a public policy fellowship from the Harvard Kennedy School, and he is adding a JD to the mix in his 50s. But as Bob himself says, this isn't about collecting credentials, it's about changing the lens through which he sees problems at the intersection of policy, systems, and patient safety. Between studying for his criminal law final, writing his legal writing memo from a cafe in Fez, Morocco, during spring break, and climbing Kilimanjaro right before starting 1L, Bob is the definition of enjoying the journey.This was a fantastic and wide-ranging conversation with a man who keeps pushing the envelope at every stage of life. Bob's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobddsmdBe sure to check out the Official Sponsors for the Lawyers in the Making Podcast:Rhetoric - Empowers your teaching and training with AI that strengthens learning, protects integrity, and proves authentic understanding, for students and professionals alike, with CICERO. Find them here: userhetoric.comThe Law School Operating System™ Recorded Course - This course is for ambitious law students who want a proven, simple system to learn every topic in their classes to excel in class and on exams. Go to www.lisablasser.com, check out the student tab with course offerings, and use code LSOSNATE10 at checkout for 10% off Lisa's recorded course!Start LSAT - Founded by former guest and 22-year-old superstar, Alden Spratt, Start LSAT was built upon breaking down barriers, allowing anyone access to high-quality LSAT Prep. For $110, you get the Start LSAT self-paced course, and using code LITM10, you get 10% off the self-paced course! Check out Alden and Start LSAT at startlsat.com and use codeLITM10 for 10% off the self-paced course!Lawyers in the Making Podcast is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Lawyers in the Making Podcast at lawyersinthemaking.substack.com/subscribe

Longtime CMDA members Dr. William Kane and Dr. T. Bob Davis  were recently honored by the two most prominent US dental organizations, the American Dental Association and the Academy of General Dentistry with their respective humanitarian awards in 2025. Out of over 200,000 active dentists in the US, it's truly amazing that both of these award winners are a part of our CDA membership.  Their common goal is to honor Christ through the dental profession, and the Lord has greatly blessed their efforts in multiple areas of personal and professional ministry.

Send us Fan MailThis episode isn't just the end of our 10-week campaign, it's the beginning of a conversation that the American Dental Association needs to start having.Because if the ADA truly exists to unite the dental profession and advocate for providers and patients, then it's time to prove it.Utah has led the nation in dental insurance reform. We've passed laws that protect patients, empower providers, and hold insurance companies accountable. And yet, silence. Not a word of recognition. Not a mention. Not a single update from the ADA.”Support the show

Dr. Brett Kessler joins the show for a third time, and the first after his role as President of the American Dental Association. After a year in which he spent 200+ days on the road, we discuss his new endeavors, the current state of dentistry, the ADA Presidency and so much more. Enjoy the episode!Connect with Dr. Kessler on instagram at @bikodds and email him at kesslerb@ada.orgFollow KJ & NuArt on Instagram at @lifeatnuartdental, you can also reach us via email: kj@nuartdental.comLearn how dentists can get a brand new Lumina Scanner for FREE via the Denbright Scanner Program 2.0. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apply⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for your Lumina scanner before it's too late, these will go fast! https://denbright.com/scanner-applyLadies & Gentlemen, you are listening to "Confessions From A Dental Lab" and we're happy you're here.Subscribe today and tell a friend so we can all get 1% better :)Learn more about the lab at https://www.nuartdental.com

A new long-term study shows fluoride in drinking water has no effect on IQ or brain function despite recent claims by some. We'll break it down with Scott Tomar, Head of the Department of Population Oral Health at the University of Illinois Chicago College of Dentistry and a spokesperson for the American Dental Association.

Send us Fan MailThe Link Between Fair Pay and Team ProsperityWhen insurance companies dictate fees and force write-offs, the first people to feel it aren't the executives in corporate headquarters, it's the dental teams.When practices lose thousands every month due to unfair reimbursements, that's money that can't go toward staff raises, bonuses, continuing education, technology, or cotton rolls.But when we passed laws that protect fair pay, from ending forced write-offs to banning bundling, that money stays where it belongs. Practices can finally reinvest in their people.We've seen offices increase wages, offer benefits, and even shorten workweeks because they're no longer working twice as hard just to break even. That's a win for everyone.Support the show

Teaching one kid to brush their teeth is a project. Teaching two at the same time? That’s a whole different level of logistics, patience, and toothpaste on the mirror. But here’s the good news: with twins, you actually have a built-in secret weapon. They have each other. And if you play it right, that sibling dynamic can make the whole learning process a lot smoother than you’d expect. ⚡ Quick Takeaways: Start brushing as soon as your twins’ first teeth appear Model the behavior yourself, side by side with your kids Use the twin dynamic to your advantage with friendly competition and mimicking Establish a consistent routine so brushing becomes automatic, not a battle Supervise brushing until around age 7-8, even when they think they’ve got it When Should You Start Brushing Your Twins’ Teeth? The answer is simple: as soon as those first little teeth show up. I started brushing my girls’ teeth right when they began coming in. Even if it’s just one tiny tooth poking through, it needs to be cleaned. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, you should begin brushing with a small smear of fluoride toothpaste as soon as the first tooth erupts. That’s earlier than a lot of parents realize. Your pediatric dentist will tell you the same thing at your twins’ first dental visit, which should happen by their first birthday. Yes, that means you’re doing all the brushing at first. Both kids. Every morning and every night. It’s a workout. But building the habit early pays off big when they’re ready to start doing it themselves. The Best Strategy: Model It Side by Side One of my favorite discoveries during the tooth-brushing years was this: showing my girls how to brush was a hundred times more effective than just telling them what to do. Instead of standing behind them and directing traffic, I’d get right there at the sink with them and brush my own teeth at the same time. They’d watch me, copy me, and actually enjoy it. There’s something about seeing Dad do it that makes kids want to do it too. Monkey see, monkey do is basically the twin parenting playbook for the early years. We had one sink, so we’d take turns, but I always made sure I was brushing alongside them during the learning phase. It turned a potential nightly struggle into a little routine we actually shared together. If you have two sinks in your bathroom, even better. You can line all three of you up and go at it simultaneously. How Twins Actually Make This Easier Here’s something singleton parents don’t get to experience: the twin mimicking effect. Your twins watch each other constantly. If one of them picks up the toothbrush and starts going to town, the other one almost always wants to do the same thing. Use that. When one twin is doing a great job brushing, point it out (gently, without turning it into a shame situation for the other). Your twins might naturally push each other to do better just because they’re wired to keep pace with their sibling. A little friendly competition can work too. “Who can brush the longest?” or “Let’s see who can get all the way to the back teeth!” can turn a mundane task into a game. Just keep it lighthearted. The goal is enthusiasm, not anxiety. Age-by-Age Guide: What to Expect at Each Stage 12-24 Months: You’re Doing All the Work At this age, you’re brushing their teeth for them. Both kids. Get a soft-bristled infant toothbrush and a tiny smear of fluoride toothpaste (about the size of a grain of rice) for each twin. Let them hold the toothbrush first so it feels familiar, then take over and do the actual brushing. Your twins might squirm, fuss, or clamp their mouths shut like little safes. That’s normal. Keep it quick, keep it consistent, and keep your sense of humor intact. 2-3 Years: Let Them Try First Around age two, your twins will probably want to brush themselves. Let them. Give each twin their own toothbrush and let them go at it for a minute. Then you go in and finish the job. This is the “you get a turn, then I get a turn” phase. The American Dental Association recommends using a pea-sized amount of fluoride toothpaste starting at age three. Before that, stick with the tiny smear. 3-5 Years: More Independence, Still Supervised This is when the side-by-side modeling really shines. Brush your teeth right along with them every morning and night. They’ll imitate your technique without you having to narrate every step. Make it part of the routine and they’ll start asking to brush on their own. Your twins might get competitive with each other at this age, which works in your favor. If one twin is enthusiastically brushing, the other one usually follows suit pretty quickly. 6-7 Years: Building Real Independence By this stage, your twins can handle most of the brushing themselves. But don’t disappear yet. Most dentists recommend supervising brushing until around age 7 or 8, because kids’ fine motor skills aren’t fully developed enough to do a thorough job on their own before then. You’re still the quality control department, even if they’re running the show. How to Supervise Two Kids at the Same Time Without Losing Your Mind Managing two kids at the sink simultaneously takes a little choreography. Here’s what tends to work well: Stagger the turns if you have one sink. Let Twin A brush while you help Twin B with rinsing or getting their toothbrush ready. Then switch. It keeps both kids engaged without a traffic jam at the faucet. Give each twin their own clearly labeled toothbrush. Different colors, different characters, whatever helps them know which is theirs. Shared toothbrushes are a germ nightmare and also a source of surprisingly intense sibling conflict. Use a two-minute timer. A simple sand timer or a toothbrushing app on your phone gives both twins a visual cue for how long they need to brush. It takes the argument off the table. Lots of kids’ electric toothbrushes have built-in timers too, which makes this even easier. Do your own brushing at the same time. When you’re modeling alongside them, you’re naturally supervising both kids while also getting your own routine done. Efficiency at its finest. Do a “check” at the end. Make it a fun ritual where you inspect each other’s teeth. Let them check yours too. It keeps the atmosphere light and gives you a chance to spot any spots they missed. ⚠️ Dental Health Reminders for Twin Parents: Schedule your twins’ first dental visit by their first birthday Brush twice daily, every day, no exceptions Use fluoride toothpaste in the right amount for their age (smear for under 3, pea-sized for 3 and up) Never let twins share toothbrushes Replace toothbrushes every 3-4 months or after illness Always consult your pediatric dentist about your twins’ specific dental needs. What to Do When One Twin Cooperates and the Other Doesn’t It’s going to happen. One of your twins will open wide like a champ while the other clamps their mouth shut and turns it into a full negotiation. This is one of those classic twin parenting moments where having two kids the same age is equal parts hilarious and maddening. A few things that help: Let the cooperative twin go first so the reluctant one can watch and (hopefully) get on board Avoid making a big deal out of the resistance, which tends to make it worse Try a different toothpaste flavor. Sometimes that’s genuinely all it takes Give the resistant twin a choice: “Do you want to brush the top teeth first or the bottom?” Giving them some control can defuse the standoff Stay calm and consistent. The routine will eventually win Of course, if one twin is consistently refusing and it’s becoming a daily battle, it’s worth mentioning to your pediatric dentist. They’ve seen it all and usually have great ideas. Making It a Routine That Sticks The single biggest factor in getting twins to brush well is consistency. When brushing happens at the same time, in the same place, as part of the same sequence every single day, it stops being something you have to convince them to do. It just becomes what happens after bath time and before bed. No debate required. Tie it to something that already happens every day. Morning: wake up, get dressed, brush teeth. Night: bath, pajamas, brush teeth, books, bed. When it’s part of a predictable sequence, your twins will almost start doing it on autopilot. (Almost.) The side-by-side modeling I did with my girls was a huge part of why the routine stuck. They weren’t watching me brush from across the bathroom. We were right there together, doing the same thing at the same time. It felt like something we did as a family, not a chore I was forcing on them. The Right Tools Make a Difference You don’t need much, but having the right gear helps. Here’s a simple list to make sure you’re set up well: Soft-bristled toothbrushes sized for their age (infant, toddler, child sizes are all different) Fluoride toothpaste appropriate for their age A two-minute timer (sand timer, app, or electric toothbrush with built-in timer) A step stool so both twins can reach the sink comfortably Two separate cups for rinsing to avoid the inevitable cup-sharing argument Electric toothbrushes can be a great motivator once your twins are old enough to handle them (usually around age 3). Many kids love the buzzing sensation and the built-in timers take the guesswork out of how long to brush. Just make sure each twin has their own brush head. Teaching twins to brush their teeth is one of those parenting tasks that seems daunting at first but really does get easier once the routine is locked in. Getting down there at the sink and doing it alongside your kids is the move. They learn faster, they enjoy it more, and honestly, it becomes one of those small daily rituals you end up looking back on fondly. The post How to Teach Twins to Brush Their Teeth appeared first on Dad's Guide to Twins.

Host Dr. Joel Berg is joined by Dr. Juan Yepes, a distinguished professor and AAPD 2026 featured speaker, for a discussion focused on Dr. Yepes unique journey to become both a pediatric dentist and medical primary care physician. Dr. Yepes shares his stories from studying in numerous programs around the globe and how they each played a role in his growth and network, highlighting how all of the experiences and relationships have shaped him as a teacher and professional. Guest Bio: Juan F. Yepes DDS, MD, MPH, MS, DrPH is a full professor in the Department of Pediatric Dentistry and the associate dean for graduate education at Indiana University School of Dentistry and an attending at Riley Children Hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana. Juan F. is a dentist (DDS) and a physician (MD) from Javeriana University at Bogotá, Colombia. In 1999, Juan F. moved to the USA and attended the University of Iowa and the University of Pennsylvania where he completed a fellowship and residency in Radiology and Oral Medicine respectively in 2002 and 2004. In 2006, Juan F. completed a Master in Public Health (MPH), and in 2011 a Doctoral Degree in Public Health (DrPH) both with emphasis in Epidemiology at the University of Kentucky College of Public Health. In 2008, Juan F. completed a residency program in Dental Public Health at University of Texas, Baylor College of Dentistry. Finally, Juan F. completed a residency program and a master in pediatric dentistry at the University of Kentucky in 2012. Juan F. is board-certified by the American Boards of Pediatric Dentistry, Oral Medicine, and Dental Public Health. He is an active member of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, American Academy of Oral Medicine, American Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Indiana Dental Association, and American Dental Association. Juan F. is a fellow in dental surgery from the Royal College of Surgeons at Edinburgh. He is a member of the editorial board of Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology, and Oral Radiology. Finally, Juan F. is the associate editor of the Journal of the American Dental Association (JADA) and one of the directors/examiners of the American Board of Oral Medicine. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Send us Fan MailWhen we started this 10-week series, our goal was simple, to help dentists bill for what they do and get paid fairly for what they do.And the reason that's so important goes beyond money. It's about honesty. It's about transparency. It's about patient trust.Every law we've discussed, from bundling protections to timely filing, was built around one central belief: that patients deserve to know what their care costs, and providers deserve to be paid fairly for delivering it.Support the show

We're taking a look into ADA advocacy: the wins, the hurdles, and the real behind‑the‑scenes work that is shaping oral health now.  Featured Guest: Dr. Laurie Rosato  Special Guest: Dr. Sara Stuefen  For more information, show notes and transcripts visit https://www.ada.org/podcast Show Notes  In this episode, Dr. Laurie Rosato joins us to explain how advocacy shapes daily dental practice, why it's essential for protecting patient care, and how the American Dental Association is advocating for the profession.  Dr. Laurie Rosato is a practicing dentist in Concord, New Hampshire. A long-standing member of the American Dental Association, and an active member of her state and local society. Her passion has always been to be involved with shaping the profession, and she advocates every year at the NH Statehouse on current issues. She has served her state level Government Affairs team as Chair for over 10 years and currently serves on the Council for Government Affairs at the ADA. Dr. Rosato currently is also President Elect of the New Hampshire Dental Society. She is passionate about teaching and brings students every semester into her practice to learn about dentistry; several have gone on to become dentists; many have become assistants and hygienists.  Dr. Rosato shares her journey from becoming interested in advocacy, to testifying at the New Hampshire statehouse, and serving on the ADA Council on Government Affairs, highlighting how grassroots action informs national strategy.  Some of the biggest misconceptions around advocacy, Dr. Rosato explains, are about seemingly "slow" progress, with Dr. Rosato detailing the complex process of bill sponsorship, education, and persistence on Capitol Hill.  The conversation spotlights some recent wins for dental advocacy, including the Massachusetts MLR bill as a case study in patient‑powered advocacy and how it sparked nationwide reform efforts.  Dr. Rosato shares examples of the work ADA advocacy is doing now, and that they've been able to introduce or support 26 bills in Congress over the past two years.   Dr. Sara Stuefen, a general dentist in Iowa, a Tenth District Trustee of the American Dental Association, and Vice Chair of the Iowa Dental Political Action Committee, joins us to explain the latest developments in dental insurance reform, ERISA, and how the ADA is pushing Congress on this issue.  The conversation closes with a call to action and an explanation on why dentist voices matter at every level- local, state, and national.       Resources  Learn more about ERISA Plans.  Find out how the latest Insurance Reform Bill Upholds State Regulations.  Read about Legislation introduced to apply state dental insurance laws to self-funded plans.   Take a look at the 2025 ADA Advocacy Highlights.  Listen to this Dental Sound Bites episode to learn more about dental insurance. Or, watch the video on our YouTube channel.  Get involved in ADA Advocacy!   Learn how to take action.  Stay connected with the ADA on social media! Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok for the latest industry news, member perks and conversations shaping dentistry. 

This week on Dentistry Unmasked, Brian and Pam  sit down with Dr. Jason Auerbach—better known to many as @bloodytoothguy. With a schedule that seems nonstop, we finally ask the question everyone's wondering: does he still see patients? (Spoiler: you'll have to tune in.)  Beyond the social media persona, Dr. Auerbach dives into serious clinical ground—highlighting the critical importance of thorough diagnostic documentation, smart medical billing strategies, and how proper records protect both patients and practices. He also references the American Dental Association recommendations on CBCT use, sparking a thoughtful discussion on imaging standards and clinical responsibility. Insightful, practical, and refreshingly candid, this episode blends real-world dentistry with behind-the-scenes perspective from one of the profession's most recognizable voices.   Resources: https://www.ada.org/about/press-releases/new-recommendations-confirm-dental-x-rays-most-effectively-used-in-moderation   https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212440325013252

In dentistry, many problems aren't caused by the procedure itself—they come from what wasn't discussed before treatment started. In this episode, Kirk Behrendt brings back Dr. Dennis Hartlieb, a general dentist and educator, to share four communication tips that help you set expectations, reduce misunderstandings, and protect the practice before you ever pick up a handpiece. You'll learn how to give patients clearer choices, document risk the right way, talk through outcomes without creating fear, and spot red flags before they become bigger problems—listen to Episode 1019 of The Best Practices Show!Main Takeaways:Give patients two options to simplify decisions and prevent overwhelm.Explain material choices in simple terms (composite as “plastic,” porcelain as “glass”) and connect each to tradeoffs.Set yourself up for success by having the key conversations before you start treatment, especially on higher-risk cases.Sell the benefits of the recommended treatment before you explain what can go wrong.Use photos and brief chart notes (like “reviewed photograph of crack with patient”) to document the condition and the conversation.Watch for red flags like patients who fight you on treatment, arrive with multiple splints, or evaluate dentistry with magnification.Manage expectations for single-tooth esthetics by defining “social distance” success and planning for follow-up adjustments.Snippets:00:00 Why communication before treatment matters.01:00 Meet Dr. Dennis Hartlieb and what he teaches.02:10 Dennis explains his practice focus and Dental Online Training.04:10 Dennis shares his connection to Buddy Mopper and composite dentistry.06:10 The two-option framework for a chipped anterior tooth.07:20 “Plastic vs. glass”: how to explain composite vs. porcelain in patient language.09:35 What Dennis says when patients ask, “What would you do, doc?”12:45 Managing cracked teeth: using pre-op photos to document unpredictability.16:25 Sell the benefits first, then discuss the risks.18:05 Missing tooth conversations: step-by-step options without overwhelming patients.20:35 Why Dennis limits choices to two options at a time.25:10 Red flags: patients who resist treatment or “know dentistry too well.”28:05 Splints, magnifying mirrors, and when to step back from treatment.31:20 Setting expectations for single-tooth matching in the esthetic zone.34:45 Fee levels based on esthetic difficulty and patient expectations.36:20 Why Dennis prefers composite veneers for control and predictable revisions.39:00 Final lesson: ask questions, truly listen, and pull on the thread.41:15 Where to find Dennis: Dental Online Training and YouTube.Guest Bio/Guest Resources:Dr. Dennis Hartlieb is a graduate of the University of Michigan School of Dentistry. He maintains a full-time practice, Chicago Beautiful Smiles, in the Chicago suburb of Glenview, Illinois. Dr. Hartlieb is an instructor at the Center for Esthetic Excellence in Chicago and is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Marquette University School of Dentistry in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He lectures extensively to dentists throughout the U.S. on the art and science of anterior and posterior direct resin techniques. Dr. Hartlieb is an Accredited Member of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. He is also a member of the prestigious American Academy of Restorative Dentistry, and the American Dental Association. He is the president of the Chicago Academy of Interdisciplinary Dentofacial Therapy, and officer for the Chicago Academy of Dental Research study club. His dentistry has been seen in many dental publications and he has contributed articles on his techniques in restorative dentistry.Dental Online Training: https://www.dothandson.com/Dr. Hartlieb's email: hartliebdds@dothandson.com Dr. Hartlieb's Facebook: / dennishartliebdds Dr. Hartlieb's social media: @hartliebddsMore Helpful Links for a Better Practice & a Better Life:The Best Practices Show: https://www.actdental.com/podcast/Best Practices Association: https://www.actdental.com/bpaUpcoming Events & Workshops: https://www.actdental.com/events/Smile Source: https://www.smilesource.com/Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.comSubscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com

Send a textBefore this law, we started noticing something troubling — insurance companies were trying to shorten the timely filing period to just three months.Three months might sound fine on paper, but anyone who's ever worked the front desk knows that's barely enough time to process complex claims, wait on coordination of benefits, or deal with slow insurance responses. As a dentist and owner, you need to better understand what your front office team members deal with each day.Sometimes patients take a few weeks to give updated insurance information, or you're waiting on primary insurance to pay before submitting to secondary. In many cases, that process can easily stretch past three months.So that shorter window wasn't just inconvenient — it was setting offices up to lose legitimate reimbursements.Support the show

Send a textIf you've ever done the right thing for your patient and then been told you have to write it off — this episode is for you.In 2025, Utah passed one of the most important laws in modern dentistry — part of HB 495 — that made it illegal for insurance companies to force write-offs for services that were already rendered.Support the show

Send a text“HB 495: Dispensing Practitioner Status — Restoring Common Sense to Dentistry”It took months of discussions, revisions, and clarifications, but in 2025, Utah passed HB 495, officially adding dentists to the list of approved dispensing practitioners. Support the show

A clinical conversation about the updated recommendations to enhance radiography safety in dentistry.  Special Guest: Dr. Erika Benavides  For more information, show notes and transcripts visit https://www.ada.org/podcast   Show Notes In this episode, we are having a clinical conversation about the updated recommendations to enhance radiography safety in dentistry.   We explore the major changes from previous guidelines, the rationale behind discontinuing patient shielding, the importance of patient‑centered imaging, and practical implications for dentists and academics.   Our guest is Dr. Erika Benavides, a Clinical Professor and Associate Chair of the Division of Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology and Radiology, and the Director of the CBCT Service at the University of Michigan, School of Dentistry. She is a Diplomate and Past President of the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology (ABOMR). She also served as Councilor for Communications of the American Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology and Chair of the Research and Technology Committee. Dr. Benavides is a Fellow of the American College of Dentists and has published multiple peer-reviewed manuscripts in the multidisciplinary aspects of diagnostic imaging. She has been a co-investigator in NIH funded grants for the past 10 years and recently served as the Chair of the expert panel to update the 2012 ADA/FDA recommendations for dental radiography. Her clinical practice is dedicated to interpretation of 2D and 3D dentomaxillofacial imaging.    The two-part recommendations were updated by an expert panel which included radiologists, general and pediatric dentists, a public health specialist, and consultants from nearly every dental specialty.  Dr. Benavides shares some of the main takeaways and new updates is that that lead aprons and radiation collars are no longer recommended. This recommendation includes all dental maxillofacial imaging procedures and applies to most patients.  Also, a recommendation to avoid routine or convenience imaging, and focus instead of patient-centered imaging, based on the patients' specific needs. And, when possible, previous radiographs should be obtained.   Dr. Benavides shares that imaging must be patient‑specific, not protocol-driven, and encourages dentists to ask the following questions before dental imaging: "Do we need this additional information? Is this additional information going to change my diagnosis, or it's going to contribute to the diagnosis and treatment planning?"   The group discusses some of the possible challenges, and opportunities, to implement these new recommendations.    Resources:    This episode is brought to you by Dr. Jen Oral Care. Learn more about Dr. Jen.  Read the full clinical recommendations American Dental Association and American Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology patient selection for dental radiography and cone-beam computed tomography  Find more ADA resources on X-Rays and Radiographs.  Stay connected with the ADA on social media! Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok for the latest industry news, member perks and conversations shaping dentistry.  

Send us a textThe sky is falling according to some of the numbers reported by the ADA and Health Institute. The numbers they report are somewhat misconstrued and don't add up. Having said that, Tracy and I give a narrative on the numbers, and are happy to report that 2026 is looking great for dentistry.Support the show

Kiera is joined by the tooth-healer himself, Jason Dent! Jason has an extensive background in pharmacy, and shares with Kiera where his pharmaceutical experience has bled over into dentistry. This includes the difference between anti-quag and anti-platelet and which medications are probably safe, what to do to shorten the drag time in the pharmacy, how to write prescriptions most efficiently, and more. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and today is a really awesome and unique day. It is, think the second time I've had somebody in the podcast studio with me live for a podcast and it's the one and only Jason Dent. Jason, how are you? I'm doing well. Good morning. Thanks for having me. It is crazy. I I watch Instagram real like this all the time where people are like in the podcast and they're hanging out on two chairs and couches and now look at us. We're doing it. Cheers. Cheers.   That was a mic cheer for those of you who are only listening, but yeah, Jace, how does this feel to be on the podcast? It's weird. Like I was not nervous at all talking about it. I got really nervous as soon as you hit play. So if I stumble over my words, please forgive me ahead of time. Well, Jason, I appreciate you being on the podcast because marketing had asked me to do a topic about teledentistry and I was like, oh shoot, that's like not my forte at all. so   You and I were actually chatting in the hot tub. call it Think Tank session and you and I, we have a lot of good ideas that come from that Think Tank. A lot of business. no phones. That's why. We do leave our phones out. But I was talking to Jason and this is actually a podcast we had talked about quite a while ago. Jason has a lot of information on pharmacy. And if you don't know, Jason isn't really, we were going through all of it last night. It's kind of a mock in the tub. And I think it's going to be great because I feel like this is an area, I'm working at Midwestern and   knowing about how dentists, pharmacology was surely not your favorite one. Jason actually helps a lot of dentists with their clearances. And so we were talking about it and I like it will just be a really awesome podcast for you guys to brush up on pharmacology, different things from a pharmacist's side. So Jason, welcome. Thank you. Yeah, no, we were talking about it and here's like, what should I talk about on the podcast next? I have all these different topics and she's like, what do you know? And the only real interaction I have with dentists is doing clearances for procedures. We get them all the time, which makes sense.   Lots of people are on blood thinner, I've always told Kiera, like, hey, I could talk about that. Like, that's kind of a passion of mine. I'm not a dentist. Or my name is Jason Dent. So in Hebrew, Jason means tooth. No, no, no, sorry. Nerves are getting to me. Jason means healer and Dent means tooth. So my name means tooth healer. So, here's a little set. Hold on, on, hold Can we just talk about? I brought that up before you could talk about it more. So.   My name means tooth healer but I did not become a dentist. I know you wanted me to become a dentist. did. I don't know why. I enjoy medicine. I know what you're going to get to already. The things you're going to ask me. There's been years of this. But nevertheless, that's my name. We'll get that out of the way. But you did give me a great last name. So I mean, it's OK. You're All is fair and love here. SEO's up for that. But yeah, Jason, I'm going to get you right into the show. And I'm going to be the host. And we're going to welcome to the podcast show. Jace, how are you?   Good, good, good. Good, good, good. So by getting into clearances, right? This is what you're kinda talking about with you know, before we get to clearances, I actually wanted Jason, for the listeners who don't know you, who haven't talked to you, who don't know, let's kinda just give them like, how did you go from, Kiera wanted you to be a dentist, to now Jason, you are on the podcast talking as our expert on pharmacy. fantastic. I've always really loved medicine, a ton. As a kid getting headaches and taking Excedrin, like you just feel like a miserable pile of crap.   and then you take two pills and all of a sudden you feel better. Like that's amazing, like how does that happen? Also getting ear aches as a kid, just being in so much pain and then taking some medicine and you start feeling a lot better. I always had a lot of appreciation for that. I've always been mechanically inclined. I went to, started doing my undergrad and took biology and learned about ATP synthase, which is a spinning enzyme that's inside the mitochondria, like a turbine engine. I used to work on small engines on my dirt bike and thought that is so cool. So I really got wrapped up into chemistry.   All the mechanics of chemistry really pulled me in. I'm not getting goosebumps. checking. I usually get goosebumps when I think about chemistry. But it's so cool. You think an engine's awesome, like pistons and camshafts and pressures, the cell is the same thing. It's not as loud, so it's not as cool. But it's fascinating. that's why we're like. ⁓   chemistry and really got into coagulation. So I did my residency after pharmacy school. we went to Arizona for three years. ⁓ You did and your main focus, you were never wanting to be the guy behind the counter. No, I haven't done that. Yeah. No, I love them though. I've always really want to go clinical. ⁓ But I love my retail ⁓ pharmacists. They're amazing resources. And ⁓ I use the retail pharmacist every day still to this day, but I went more the clinical route, really love the chemistry aspect of it.   did my doctorate degree and then I did my residency in Reno. Reno's kind That's how we got here everybody. Welcome to Reno. Strategically placed because I was really interested in critical medicine and where we're located we cover a huge area. So we pull in to almost clear, we go clear to Utah, clear to California, all of Northern Nevada. We get cases from all over. So we actually are kind like the first hub of care for lot of areas. So we really get an eclectic mixture of patients that come in that need-   all kinds of different cases that are coming to them. So it's what I really wanted. So I did my residency in critical care there. And then for the next 10 years, I worked in vascular medicine with my final five years being the supervisor of the clinic. Ran all the ins and outs of that. So my providers, two doctors were on our view. So when we talk about dentistry, talk about production, those kinds of things, totally get it. My doctors were the exact same way, my vascular providers. ⁓   There's some pains there, right? You wanna be seeing patients as much as possible, being able to help as many people, keeping the billing up. And had other nurse practitioners, four practitioners, a fleet of MAs, eight pharmacists. We also had that one location we had, going off the top of my head, I think we had eight locations running as well. And we took care of all the different kinds of vascular cases that came to us. Most common was blood clots, ⁓ which is just a...   which is an easier way of saying VTE. There's so many different ways to say a blood clot. Like you might hear patients say, I've had a PE or a DVT or a venous thromboembolism or a clot in my leg, right? They're all clots, but in different locations. Same with an MI, and MI can be a clot as well. ⁓ there's a lot of, everybody's kind of saying the same thing, but sometimes the nomenclature can make it sound hard, but it really is actually pretty simple.   No. And Jason, I love that you went through, you've been in like, and even in your, ⁓ when you were getting your doctorate, you were in the ER. You also worked in retail pharmacy. remember you having a little sticker on your hand. And retail pharmacy, I have a lot of respect for those guys. They have a lot of pressure on them. and then you also, ⁓ what was that test that you had to take that? I don't know. You were like studying forever for it. ⁓ board certification for, ⁓ NABP. Yeah. So I did that board certification as well.   And now you've moved out of the hospital side onto another section in your career. Now in the insurance, right? So it's really, really interesting. So now I'm on the other side reading notes and evaluating clinical appropriateness and trying to help patients with getting coverage and making those kinds of determinations. So yeah, I've really jumped all over. Really love my clinical days. I know. don't I don't I do miss them. But yeah, kind of had a good exposure to a lot of.   pharmacy a lot a lot of dentists actually with all the places that come through which Jason I really appreciate that and honestly I know you are my spouse and so it's fun to have you on but when I go into conversations like this I don't know any of this information and so finding experts and Jason I think here's me talk more about dentistry and my business than I do hear about him on pharmacy so as we were chatting about this I really realized you are a wealth of knowledge because you've been on the clinical side so you've done a lot of patient care and you've seen how   medications interact and I know you've had a few scares in your career and ⁓ you've known some physicians that have had a few scares and ⁓ you've seen plenty of patients pass away working in the ER and gosh in Arizona drownings were such a big deal. I remember when you were in the ER on your rotations I'd be like who died today? Like tell me the stories and you've really seen and now going on to the insurance side I felt like you could just be such a good wealth of knowledge because I know dentists are sometimes so   I would say like maybe just a little more anxious when it comes to medications. I know that dental students from Midwestern were like here was like four months and we had to like pass it, learn it. And Jason, you've done four years plus clinical residency, plus you've been in it. And something I really love about Nevada Medicine is they've been so collaborative with you.   like your heart, your cardiologist, they diagnose and then they send to you to treat with medicine and... Yeah, I've been really lucky being here in Reno too. The cardiology team has been amazing to work with. We started a CHF program, sorry, congestive heart failure program for patients. So we would collaborate with cardiologists. They'd see the cardiologists and then they send them to the pharmacist to really manage all the medications. So there's pillars of therapy ⁓ called guideline directed medical therapy and the pharmacist would take care of all that. So that's gonna be your...   your beta blockers, your ACEs, your ARBs, your Entresto, which would be a little bit better, spironolactone. So just making sure that all these things are dosed appropriately, really monitoring the heart, and make sure that patients are getting better. we've had real positive outcomes when the, sorry, this is totally off topic. do, talk about that study. When we looked at when patients were coming to see our pharmacists in our clinic that we started up, the patients were half as likely to be readmitted. And this was in 2018, and our pharmacists,   We're thinking about all the medications. We're usually adjusting diabetes medications too at the same time. Just kind of naturally just taking care of all the medications because we kind of got a go ahead from the providers, a collaborative practice agreement that we could make adjustments to certain medications within certain parameters. So we weren't going rogue or maverick, but we were definitely trying to optimize our medications as much as possible. And then years later, some studies came out with, I'm sure you've seen Jardins and Farseegh. not trying to, I'm not.   I don't get any kickback from them. I have no conflicts to share. But because our pharmacists were really optimizing that medication, those medications were later shown to reduce hospitalizations and heart failure, even though they're diabetes medications. Fascinating. So it wasn't really the pharmacists. It was just the pharmacists doing as much as they can with all the tools that were in front of them. And then we found out that the patients were going back to the hospital.   half as much as regular patients. So, yeah, being here, it's been so amazing to work with providers here. the providers here want help, want to help patients, don't have an ego. I mean, I just, it's awesome. I love it. I do love how much I think Jason sees me geek out about dentistry and I watching Jay's geek about his pharmacy and how much he loves helping patients. And ⁓ really that was the whole idea of, all right.   Dentistry has pharmacy as a part of it. And I know a lot of dentists are sending in clearances and I know working in a chair side, it would be like, oh no, if they're on warfarin or on their own blood clot, you guys, honestly don't even know half of what I'm talking about because this is not my jam, which is why Jason's here. But I do know that there was always like, well, we got to talk with their provider. And so having Jason come in and just kind of explain being the pharmacist that is approving or denying or saying yes or no to take them off the blood thinners in different parts, because you have seen several dental   I don't know what they're called. What is it? Clarence's? that what comes to you? don't even know. All day my mind, it's like, here is the piece of paper that gets mailed to you to the pharmacist and then you mail it back. So whatever that is. But Chase, let's talk about it because I think you can give the dentist a lot of confidence coming from a pharmacist. What you guys see on that side. When do you actually need to approve or disapprove? Let's kind of dig into that. Yeah. Well, first of all, I think I'm not a replacement for any kind of clinical judgment whatsoever. Every patient's different. But the American Diabetes Association, you   I work with diabetes a lot. American Dental Association has some really great guidelines on blood thinners and I would always reference them. I actually looked at their website today. Make sure I'm up to speed before I get back on this again. They have resources all around making decisions for blood thinners. And I think the one real important thing in putting myself in the shoes of a dentist or any kind of staff that's around a patient that's in a chair, if they say I'm on a blood thinner, right, a flag goes up. At least in my mind, that's what goes up.   Like, okay, how do we get across this bridge? And I think the important thing to really distinct right then when they say they're on a blood thinner is that is kind of a slang word for a lot of different medications, right? Like it's the overarching word that everybody pulls up saying, I'm on a blood thinner. It's like, okay, but I don't know what say. It's like, I have a car. You're like, okay, do you have a Mazda? Do you have?   Toyota, Honda, what do you have? or even worse it'd be like saying I have a vehicle, right? So when somebody says they're on a blood thinner, it opens up a whole box of possibilities of what they're Blood thinners are also, doesn't, when they're taking these types of medications that are quote unquote a blood thinner, it doesn't actually thin the blood, like adding water to the blood, if that makes sense, or like thinning paint, or like thinning out a gravy, right? It doesn't do the same thing. Blood thinners, really what they're doing is they're working on the blood, which.   which is really cool, try not to tangent on that. ⁓ When they're working on the blood, it's not thinning it per se, but it's making it so that the proteins or platelets that are in it can't stick together and make a cloth quite as easy. So whenever somebody's on a blood thinner, I usually ask, what's the name of the blood thinner that you're on? It's not bad that they use that slang, that's okay, on the same page, but it's really broken into two different classes. There's anticoagulant and antiplatelet.   And a way to kind of remember which is which, when residents would come through our clinics, the way that I teach them is a clot is like a brick wall. You know, it's not always a brick wall. Usually the blood is a liquid going through. But once they receive some kind of chemical message, it starts making a brick wall with the mortar, which is the concrete between the and the bricks, the two parts. When it's an anti-quagent, it's working on that mortar part. When it's an anti-platelet, it's working on the bricks part, right? You need both to make a strong clot or strong brick wall.   But if you can make one of them not work, obviously like if your mortar is just water, it's not working, right? You're not gonna make a strong brick wall. So that's kind of the two deviants right there. So that's what I do in my mind real quickly to find out because antiplatelets are usually, so that's gonna be like your Plavix, Ticagrelor, Brilinta. And hold on, antiplatelets are bricks? Good job, bricks. They're the bricks. And so the reason I was thinking you could remember this because I'm, antiplatelets, it's a plate and a plate is more like a brick.   And anti coagulant, I don't know why quag feels like mortar to me, like quag, like, know, it's like slushy in the blood, like it's coagulating. It's a little bit of that, like, honestly, I'm just thinking like coagulated blood is a little bit more mortar-ish. And so platelet is your plate, like a brick, and anti-quag is like.   the gilly between the bricks. Okay, okay, I got it. Yeah, so there's an exception to every rule, but when they're on that Don't worry, this is Kiera, just like very basic. You guys are way smarter listening to this, and that's why Jason's here. No, no, you helped me pass pharmacy school. When we were doing all the top 200, you helped me memorize all know what flexorill is, all right? That's a muscle relaxant. Cyclo? I don't know that part. It's a cyclo, because you guys are cycling and flexing. I don't actually know. just know it's a muscle relaxant, so that's about as far as I got. When we're looking at antitick platelets, so that's the brick part, so that's going to be your, you know,   Hecagrelor, Breitlingta, Clopidogrel is the most common one. It's the cheapest one, so probably see that one the most. Those, I mean, there's an exception to every rule, but that's generally being used after like a stent's placed in the heart. It can be used for VTE, there's some out there, but that's pretty rare. But also for some valves that are placed in the hearts, it can be used for that as well. So antiplatelet, really thinking more like a cardiac event, right? Like I said, there's always an exception to every rule, but that's kind of where my mind goes real quickly, because we're gathering information from the patient.   They're on anticoagulant. Those are like going to be the new ones that you see commercials for all the time. So Xeralto, Alequis, those are the two big ones right now. They're replacing the older one. And also we were supposed to do a disclaimer of this is current as of today because the ADA guidelines do change. this will be current as of today. And Jason, as a pharmacist, is always looking up on that. I had no clue that you are that up to speed on dental knowledge. so just throwing it out there that if you happen to catch his podcast,   a few years back that obviously check those guidelines for sure. But the new ones are the Xarelto and Eloquist. They're replacing the older ones of warfarin. Warfarin's been around for a really long time. We've seen that one. Those are anti-coagulants. So when you're looking, when a patient says that, generally they're on that medication because they've possibly had a clot in the past or they have a heart condition called atrial fibrillation. Those are kind of the two big ones. Like I said, there's always caveats to it, but that's kind of where my mind goes real quickly. And then,   as far as getting patients cleared, the American Dental Association has really good resources on their website. You can look at those and they're always refreshing that up. They even say in their own words that there's limited data around studying patients in the dental chair and with anticoagulants or anti-platelets. It's pretty limited. There's a few studies, some from 2015, some from 2018. There's one as recent as 2021, which is nice. But really, all of those studies come together and it's really more of an expert consensus.   And with that expert consensus, they have kind of simplified things for dentistry, which is really nice. ⁓ comparing that to, we have more data for like total hip replacement, total knee replacement. We have a lot of data and we know really what we should be doing around then. But going back to dentistry, we don't have as much information, so they always say use clinical judgment, but they do give some really great expert guidance on that. So if a patient's on an anticoagulant, ⁓   they generally recommend that it doesn't need to be stopped unless there's a high bleeding risk for a patient. as a provider or as a clinician in the practice, you can be looking at high bleeding risk. Some things that make an oral procedure a little bit lower risk is one, it's in the compressible site, right? Like we can actually put pressure on that site. That's the number one way to stop bleeding is adding pressure. It's not like it's in the abdominal cavity where we can't get in and can't apply pressure. So number one, that kind of reduces the bleeding risk.   is number one. Two, we can add topical hemostatic agents. Dentists would know that better than me. There's a lot of topical ways to do that. So not only pressure, but there's those things as well. And also, but there are some procedures that are a little bit more likely to bleed. And that's where you and dentists would come in hand in What's the word in APO? Oh, the APOectomy. I got it right. Good job. like, didn't you tell me last night that the ADA guideline was like what?   three or four or more teeth? great question. So you can extract one to three teeth is what their expert consensus One to three teeth without. Without really managing or stopping anticoagulation or doing anything like that. I think that's some good guidance from them. I'm gonna add a Jasonism on that though. So with warfarin, I do see why dentists would be a little bit more conservative or worried about stopping the warfarin because warfarin isn't as stable as these newer agents. Warfarin, the levels.   quote unquote levels can go really high, they can go really low. And if the warfarin levels are high, they're more likely to bleed. So I do think it makes sense to have a really recent INR. That's how we measure what the warfarin's doing. I think that makes a lot of sense, but the ADA guidelines really go into the simplification version of all these blood thinners. Generally, it's recommended to not stop them because the risk of stopping them outweighs the benefit of stopping them in almost every case. Almost every case.   ⁓ So when you're with that patient, right, they say I'm on a blood thinner, finding out which kind of blood thinner that they're on, you find out that they're on Xeralto, right? How long have you been on Xeralto for? I've been on it for years. You don't know exactly why, but if they haven't had any recent bleeding, you're only gonna remove one tooth. ⁓ You can do what's called a HasBlood score. That kind of looks at the bleeding risk that they'd have. That'd be kind of going a notch above, but in my mind, removing one tooth isn't a real serious bleeding risk. I'd love to hear from my dentist friends if they...   disagree, right, but ADA says one to three tooth removals, extractions, that's the fancy word. Extractions, yeah, for extracting teeth out. Is not really that invasive. Sure. It's not that high risk, so it's usually perfectly fine. So if a patient was on Xarelto, ⁓ no other, this is in a vacuum, right? I'm not looking at any other factors, which you should be looking at other factors. I would be perfectly fine to just remove one to two.   And when those clearances come in, because dentists do send them, talk about what happens. You guys were working in the hospital and you guys would get these clearances all the time. do. We get them so often. I mean, we get like four or five a day. We'd love to give it to our students, student pharmacists, and ask them what to do. And they would usually look up the American Dental Association guidelines and come up with something. We're like, yep, that's what we say too. In fact, we say it so many times a day that we have a smart phrase.   which just blows in the information real quickly and faxes it right back to the So it's like a copy paste real quick. So what I wanted to point out when Jason told me this is dentists like hearing this and learning this, this can actually save you guys a ton of time to be able to be more confident, to not need to send those clearances on. And we were actually talking last night about how I think this might be a CYA for dentists. like, as we were talking, I think Jason, you seeing so many other aspects of medicine, like you've literally seen patients die, you've seen other areas.   And so coming from that clinical vantage point, we were realizing that dentists, we are so blessed to live in an injury. I enjoy dentistry because possibly there's someone dying, not super high, luckily in dentistry. The only time that I have actually had a doctor have a patient pass away, and it was only when they were completely sedated and doing ⁓ some other things, but that was under the care of an anesthesiologist. And so that's really our high, high risk. And so hearing this, Jason,   That was one of the reasons I wanted him to come on is to give you doctors more confidence of do we have to always send to a pharmacist? I mean, hearing that on the pharmacy side, they're just sending these back and not to say to not see why a to not cover this because you might be questioning like, well, do I really need to? But you also were talking about some other ways of so number one, you guys are just going to copy back the 88 guidelines. So so 88 guidelines. Yeah. And I think that that gives a lot of confidence to a provider or a dentist is that you can go to the 88 guidelines and read them, right? Like you're listening to some   nasally monotone pharmacist on a podcast. Rumor has it, people love him at the hospital. were like, you're the voice, he's been told he has a good radio So for the clinic, I was the voice. Like, yeah, you've reached the vascular clinic, right? And they're like, oh my gosh, you're the voice. But sorry, you me distracted. That'll be your next career, Jace. You're going to be a radio host. OK. I would love that. I love music. But you're hearing from a nasally guy, but you can actually read the ADA guidelines. You just go right to the ADA, click on Resources, and under Resources, it has the   around anticoagulants, I think that's the best way to get a lot of confidence about it because they have dentists who are the experts making calls on these. I'm just reiterating what they say, but I think it makes a lot of sense to help providers. And the reason why my heart goes out to you as well is having the providers that used to work underneath me, they're always looking for our views, which is a fancy way of making sure that they're drilling and filling. Can I say that? Yeah, can say drilling and filling. They're being productive, right? They're being productive, right?   They're always looking to make sure if a patient's canceling, like get somebody in here. Like I need to be helping people all day long. That's how I, we keep the lights on. That's how I help as many people. And so if you have a patient coming in the chair and it has an issue, they say I'm on Xeralto. Well, you can ask real quickly, why are you on Xeralto? I had a clot 10 years ago. my gosh. Well, yeah, we're pretty good to go. Then I'm not worried. We're only removing one tooth or we're just doing a cavity or a cleaning. Something like that. Shouldn't be an issue whatsoever because there's experts in the dental. ⁓   in the dental society, the ADA guidelines that recommend three teeth or less, minimally invasive. They really recommend if it's gonna be really high bleeding risk. And clinically, that's where you would come in, ⁓ or yourself. know, apioectomy is one that's like on the fence line. I don't know where implants set. though, and like we were talking, implants aren't usually like a date of procedure. Most people aren't popping in, having tooth pain, and we're like, let's do an implant. Now sometimes that can be the case, but typically that one's gonna have   a few other pieces involved. And so that is where you can get a clearance if you want to. ⁓ But we were really looking at this of like so many dentists that I know that you've seen will just send in these clearances because they are. And I think maybe a way to help dentists have more confidence is because you know, I love routines. I love to not have to remember things. So why don't we throw it in, have the team member set it up where every quarter we just double check the ADA guidelines. Are there any updates? Are there any other things that we need to do on that? That way you can just see like   getting into the language of this, of what do I need to do? Because honestly, you guys, know pharmacy was not a big portion for it, so, recommending different parts, but I think this is such a space where you can have confidence, and there's a few other things I wanna get to, and I you- I some pearls too. Okay, go. I'm so when she get me into talking about drugs, I'm not gonna stop. So, some other things around that too is these newer blood thinners like Xarelto Eloquist, they now have reversal agents, so a lot of providers in the past were really worried about bleeding because we can't turn it off. We can turn those off. Warfarin has reversal as well, right?   So I'm looking at these patients. It's really low risk. It's in the mouth, generally speaking. Very rarely are they a high bleeding risk. Now if you're doing maxillofacial surgery, this does not apply, right? This does not apply whatsoever. you're like general dentist, you're pediatric dentist. Yeah, yeah, and it's kind of on the fly. So just trying to really help you to be able to take care of those patients on the moment, have that confidence, look at the ADA guidelines, have that in front of you. I don't think it's a bad thing to ever...   check with their provider if you need to. If you're thinking, I feel like I should just check with the provider, I would never take that away from you. But I just want to kind of steer towards those guidelines that I have to help. But what did you want to share? No, yeah, I love that. And I think there were just a few other nuggets that we were chatting about last night that can help dentists just kind of get things passed a little bit easier. So you were mentioning that if they were named to their cardiologist, what was it? was like, who is the last? Great question. Yeah, when a patient's on a blood thinner,   It could be prescribed by the cardiologist. It could be prescribed by the family provider or could have been punted to like a vascular clinic like where I was working. It can go to any of those. And when you send that fax, right, if it goes to the cardiologist and it's supposed to go to the family care provider, like it just kind of goes, goes nowhere, right, from there. So I think it's a really good idea to find out who prescribed it last. If the patient doesn't know who prescribed their blood thinner last, you can call their pharmacy. I call pharmacies all day long.   I have noticed in the last year, they are way easier to get a hold of, which has made my job a lot easier, working on the insurance portion. So reaching out to the pharmacy, finding out who that provider is and sending it to them, because they should be able to help with that. I thought that was a good shift in verbiage that you had of asking instead of like the cardiologist, because that's who you would assume was the one. But you said like so many times you guys would take care of them, and then they go back to family practitioner, and you guys would get the clearances, but you couldn't clear because you weren't overseeing. So just asking the patient.   who prescribed their medication for them last time. That way you can send the clearance to the correct provider. then- And they might not know. You know patients, right? They're like, I don't know, my mom's or else, I don't know who gave it to me. Somebody told me I need to be on this. But at least that could be another quick thing. And then also we were talking last night about-   ⁓ What are some other things that dentists can do when like writing scripts to help them get what I think like overarching theme of everything we discussed is one how to help dentists have less I think drag through pharmacy. ⁓ Because pharmacy can take a little while and so perfect we now know the difference between anti-quag and anti-platelet. We know which medications are probably safe. We know we can check the ADA guidelines so that we were not having to do as many clearances. We also know if they're on a medication to find out and we do need a clearance.   who we can go to for the fastest, easiest result. And now, in talking about prescriptions, you had some really interesting tips that you could share with them. Yeah, so with writing prescriptions, right, pharmacies are pharmacies. So I'm not gonna say good thing or bad thing. There are challenges working with pharmacies. I'm not gonna play that down at all. ⁓ If you're writing prescriptions and having issues and kickbacks from pharmacies, there's some interesting laws around ⁓ writing prescriptions. Say that you're trying to ⁓ prescribe   augmentin, you know, 875 BID, and you tell the patient, hey, I want you to take this twice a day for seven days, and then you put quantity of seven, because you're moving fast, right? You want it for seven days, quantity of seven. Quantity would actually be 14, right? It's not that big of a deal. Anybody with common sense would say if you're taking a pill for twice a day for seven days, you need 14 tablets. But LAHA doesn't allow pharmacists to make that kind of a change, unfortunately. They have to follow what you're saying there. So you're going to get a...   An annoying callback that says, you wrote for seven tablets. I know you need 14. Is that OK? Just delays things, right? So ⁓ I really like the two letters QS. That's Q isn't queen. S isn't Sam. Yeah. It stands for quantity sufficient. So you don't have to calculate the amount of any medication that you're doing. So for me, as a pharmacist, when I was taking care of patients, I hated calculating the amount of insulin they would need for an entire month. So I would say.   Mrs. Jones needs 15, I'd say 15 units ⁓ QD daily. ⁓ And then I say QS, quantity sufficient, ⁓ 90 day supply through refills. So the pharmacy can then go calculate how much insulin that they need. I don't have to even do that. So anytime you're prescribing anything, I like that QS personally. So that lets the pharmacy use ⁓ common sense, as I like to call it, instead of giving you a call. I think that's super helpful. I also thought of one thing too.   going back to blood thinners is when it's kind of like a real quick, like they're not gonna have you stop the blood thinner at all. like you're seeing if you can stop the blood thinner for a patient, there's some instances it's just not gonna happen. And that's whenever they've been, they've had a clot or a stroke or a heart attack within the last three months. Three months. Yeah, that's kind of like the.   Because so many people are like, they had a heart thing like six years ago. And so I think a lot of my dentists that I worked with were like, we got to stop the blood thinners. But it sounds like it's within three months. Yeah, well, I'm just the time. Like this is general broad strokes. What I'm just trying to say is when you want to expect a no real quick. Got it. Right. So because benefits of stopping a blood thinner within those first three months of an event is very, very risky versus the, you know, the benefit of reducing a little bit of blood coming out of the mouth. Right. Like that's not that bad.   when somebody's had a stroke or a heart attack or pulmonary embolism, a clot in the lung, like we can't replace the lung, heart or brain very easily. We can replace blood a lot better. We've got buckets of it at most hospitals have buckets of it, right? So I'm always kind of leaning towards I'd rather replace blood than tissue at all times. So that's kind of a quick no. If they've had one those events in the last three months, we are really, really gonna watch their brain instead of getting.   root canal, right? Like really worried about them. So you'll just say no. And they could the dentist still proceed with the procedure or would you recommend like a three month wait? Or is it provider specific way the pros and cons because sometimes you need to get that tooth out. Great question. think then it's going to come into clinical. That's that's when you send in the clearance, right? Like, and it's great to reach out to the provider who's managing it for you. But I think it's kind of good to know exactly when you get a quick no quick no is going to be less than three months.   ⁓ Or when it's going to be like a kind of a typical, yeah, no problem. If it's been no greater than six months, they're on the typical anticoagulants or alto eloquence. Nothing crazy is going on for them. You're only removing two teeth. This is very, very low risk. But again, I'd urge everybody to read the ADA guidelines. That way you feel more comfortable with it. I'm not as eloquent as they do. They do a real good job. So I don't want to take any of their credit. I think they do a real good job of simplifying that and making you feel confident with providing.   more timely care for patients. Which is amazing. And Jayce, one last thing. I don't remember what it was. You were talking about the DEA and like six month rule. yeah. Let's just quickly talk about that and then we'll wrap this because this is such a fascinating thing for me last night. Yeah. So when comes to prescribing controlled substances, most providers have to have a DEA license. OK. First of all, though, what's your take on dentist prescribing controlled substances? ⁓ I don't think, you know, I worked on the insurance side of things. Right. And I look at the requirements for the   as the authorizations, what a patient, the criteria a patient needs to hit in order to qualify for certain medications. A lot of times for those controlled substances, they have pretty significant issues going on, like fibromyalgia or cancer-related pain or end-of-life care versus we don't, in all my scanning thread, I don't have a ⁓ perfect picture memory. Sure. But I don't usually see oral.   pain in there. There is some post-operative pain that can be covered for those kind of medications but I really recommend to keep those lower and in fact in a lot of our criteria it recommends you know have they tried Tylenol first, they tried, have they filled NSAIDs or are they contraindicated with the patient. So really they should be last line for patients in my two cents but there's always going to be a caveat to the rule right? Of course. comes through that has oral cancer and you're taking   like that would make sense to me. Got it, so then back to the DEA. Yeah, okay. Okay, ready. So as a provider, you should be checking the, if you're doing controlled substances, you should be checking the prescription drug monitoring program, or sometimes called the PDMP, looking to see if patients are getting ⁓ controlled substances from another provider. So it's really just a check and balance to make sure that they're not going from provider to provider to getting too many narcotics and causing self harm or harm to others.   And so with checking that PDMP before prescribing, I think a lot of providers do that. A lot of softwares that I'm aware of, EMRs, electronic medical records, sometimes have links so that you can do that more quickly. However, I don't think it's as intuitive that they need to be checking that every six months in some states. And like here in Nevada, you're supposed to be checking it every six months, not for a patient, but for your actual DEA registration to see if anybody else is prescribing underneath you. Because if you don't check that every six months, you could get in some serious trouble with...   not only DEA, but even more the Board of Pharmacy and your state. Now, I don't know all 50 states, so I check with your state to see if you need to be checking that every six months, but set an alarm just to check that real quickly, keep your nose clean. ⁓ I've had providers, I've had to remind to do that. And if somebody was using your account, prescribing narcotics, you'd never know unless you went and checked that PDMP.   Yeah, I remember last night you were like, and if that was you, I would not want to be you. The Board of Pharmacy is going to be real excited to find you. So that was something where I was like, got it. So, and we all know I'm big on let's make it easy. And Jason, I love that you love this so much and you just brought so much value today. And like also for me, it's just fun to podcast. fun. Yeah. But I got a nerd out on my world a little bit. Bring it into yours. I work with dentists or at least you know, when I was working in Vascular Clinic all day long. Great questions that would come through. Yeah.   So I think for all of us, as a recap on this is number one, I think setting yourself ⁓ some cadences. So maybe every quarter we check our ADA guidelines and we check our, what is it, PDMP. PDMP. so each state, so they call it Prescription Drug Monitoring Program. We need that. Yeah, but there are different acronyms in different states, though. That's just what it's called in Nevada. I forget what it is in California, but you can check your state's prescription monitoring program, make sure that opioids aren't being prescribed under your name. Got it. So we just set that as a cadence.   We know one to three teeth most likely if they're on a blood thinner is According to the 88 as of today is good to go You know things that are going to get a quick know are going to be within the last three months of the stroke the heart attack or the Clot I'm thinking like the pulmonary embolus. Yeah, that's what we're trying to prevent   Those are gonna be quick knows and then if we're prescribing, let's do QS. We've got quantity is sufficient so that we're not getting phone calls back on those medications that we are. And then on narcotics, just being a bit more cautious. Of course, this is provider specific and in no way, or form did Jason come on here to tell you you are the clinical expert.   Jason's the clinical expert on medications. And if you guys ever have questions, I know Jason, you geek out and you want to talk to people so that anyone wants to chat shop. Be sure to reach out and we'll be able to connect you in. we've even talked about possibly, so let me know listeners. You can email in Hello@TheDentalATeam.com of ask a pharmacist anything. I talked to Jason. I was like,   We'll just have them like send in questions and maybe get you back on the podcast or we do a webinar. But any last thoughts, Jace, you've got of pharmacy and dentistry as we as we wrap up today? No, I think that's pretty much it. So check the ADA guidelines. I think it's really good to have cross communication between professions. Right. If you're working with the pharmacy, CVS, Walgreens or something like that or Walmart, I know that it can be challenging. Right. They're under different pressures. You're under different pressure. So I think ⁓ just coming in with an understanding, not being angry at each other.   you know what mean, is super beneficial and working together. When it comes to it, every dentist that I've talked to is actually worried about their patient. Every pharmacist that I've worked with is really worried about the patient as well. So we're trying to accomplish the same thing, but we have different rules and our hands are bound in different ways that annoy each other, right? Like I know Dr. Jones, want 14 tablets, but you said seven. And I know Common Sense says I should give them 14, but I've got to make that change.   knowing that their hands are tied by the law. They can't use as much common sense, which is aggravating. I mean, that's why I love what I gotta do here. I gotta just kind of help a lot more and use common sense and improve patient care. But those kinds of things I think are really beneficial as you work together and then not being so afraid of blood thinners, right? So I think those guidelines do a great job of giving you confidence and not worrying about the side effects. And there's a lot of things that you can do locally for bleeding.   You have a lot of control over that. I think that's pretty cool, the tools they have. Yeah. And at the end of the day, yes, you are the clinician. You are the one who is responsible for this. so obviously, chat, but I think collaborating, talking to other pharmacists, talking to them in your state, finding out what are the state laws, things like that I think can be really beneficial just to give you peace of mind and confidence. And again, dentistry, are maybe a bit more risk adverse because luckily we don't have patients dying That's great thing. Yeah, that's fantastic. I want my dentists to be risk adverse. I think so too. But Jason, I appreciate you being on the podcast today.   And for all of you listening, ⁓ more confidence, more clarity, more streamline to be able to serve and help our patients better. if we can help you in any way or you've got more questions, reach out Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. And as always, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.  

Send us a textHave you ever opened your insurance payment report and realized that money was taken from one patient's payment — to repay an ‘overpayment' on someone completely different?If that sounds familiar, you're not alone. Insurance companies have been playing this shell game for years, taking money from one patient's account to pay back another, sometimes without any warning.That's exactly why Utah passed House Bill 495 — the Overpayment & Recoupment Protections Law. And it's one of the most important reforms for every dental office to understand.Support the show

Send us a textI want to start today by talking about something that almost every dentist and practice owner I know has experienced at some point in their career.Frustration.Frustration with insurance companies. Frustration with contracts. Frustration with reimbursement. Frustration with feeling unheard.And when that frustration boils over, most dentists are told one of two things:“You signed a contract.” Or… “Just drop insurance.”I've heard that response from state associations. I've heard it from leaders in the dental industry. I've heard it from colleagues.And I struggle with it — not because it's always wrong, but because it has become the default answer, and default answers don't solve systemic problems.Support the show

Send us a textIn the last episode, we talked about why speaking up matters.Why silence isn't neutral. Why caring sometimes requires discomfort. And why staying quiet to preserve the status quo has not worked.But today's episode is different.Because it's one thing to say, “We need to speak up.” It's another thing to answer the question everyone is really asking:What does effective advocacy actually look like?Support the show

A conversation on leadership and what the future of our profession could look like. We're talking with ADA President Dr. Rich Rosato.  For more information, show notes and transcripts visit https://www.ada.org/podcast Show Notes  In this episode, listen to a conversation on leadership and the future of the dental profession with ADA President Dr. Richard Rosato.  Dr. Richard Rosato, a Concord, New Hampshire, oral surgeon is president of the American Dental Association. In addition to being a past president of the New Hampshire Dental Society, he's served on various ADA committees, councils, and task forces, later representing District One on the ADA Board of Trustees from 2019-2023. The married father of three is a graduate of Tufts University School of Dental Medicine.  Dr. Rosato reflects on transitioning into the role of ADA President, and shares his focus on unity, visibility, and action across the profession.  What are the key priorities of Dr. Rosato's leadership? He shares with our audience the philosophy and pillars of his ADA presidency, including the long‑term vision for shaping the future of dentistry through Oral Health 2050, a forward‑looking initiative designed to guide the profession. The effort includes the development of five expert panels focused on the topics that matter most to dentists and their patients.  The importance of dentists' voices at both the state and national levels is reinforced by Dr. Rosato, as he addresses declining membership numbers, while encouraging active engagement as a way for members to shape policy, direction, and the future of the profession.  The discussion reinforces the importance of dentist participation at both the state and national levels. Dr. Rosato encourages active engagement as a way for members to shape policy, direction, and the future of the profession.  Dr. Rosato underscores his trust in collective dialogue, diverse viewpoints, and allowing thoughtful processes to unfold by sharing his belief that the "smartest person in the room is always the room" itself.  How can effective leaders handle friction?  Dr. Rosato discusses one of his most significant leadership challenges and highlights the importance of leading with both short‑term realism and long‑term optimism. Rather than viewing limitations as setbacks, he explains how constraints challenge leaders to be more creative, innovative, and intentional in shaping meaningful solutions for members.    Resources  Read the statement on clinical autonomy referenced in this episode.  Learn more about advocacy and how you can join the ADA, America's leading oral health advocate, in fighting for what matters to you and your patients.  Connect with Dr. Rosato on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, or email at rosator@ada.org.  Stay connected with the ADA on social media! Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok for the latest industry news, member perks and conversations shaping dentistry. 

Send us a textThere's a difference between complaining… and caring enough to speak up.And today, that's what this episode is about—saying something because you care, not because you want attention, not because you want conflict, and not because you're trying to tear something down.It's about speaking up when staying quiet would be easier.Support the show

Send us a textToday's episode is… honestly, it's personal.Because bullying in dentistry isn't just “someone being mean.”Bullying in dentistry becomes:fear-driven decision-making,silence when people should speak,compliance when something is wrong,and retaliation when someone asks questions.And I want to say something upfront:This isn't an anti-insurance episode. This isn't an anti-association episode. This isn't an episode meant to create enemies.This is an episode about one thing:The bullying mentality—wherever it shows up—and how it holds our profession hostage.Support the show

Send us a text“HB 495: Virtual Credit Card Opt-Outs — Protecting Dental Practices from Hidden Fees”Support the show

Dr. Glenn Vo sits down with Dr. Brett Kessler, Past President of the American Dental Association, for a candid conversation about what really happens inside the ADA advocacy, budgets, member value, and why unified dentistry matters right now. They unpack: ⦁ How Dr. Kessler's leadership journey started (and why “getting involved” isn't a secret club) ⦁ What the ADA tackled this past year: wellness, advocacy, fluoride legislation, and organizational restructuring ⦁ Why member dues matter and what happens when dentists “check out” ⦁ How the ADA approaches DSOs, insurance, and professional autonomy ⦁ What's next: Oral Health 2050 and the future of oral health delivery

Send us a text“HB 359: The Law That Sparked a Movement”Support the show

Send us a text“Utah Leads the Nation: Why the ADA Isn't Talking About It — and Why We Are”Support the show

Send us a textWELCOME TO 10 WEEKS OF LEGISLATION HERE IN UTAH!But Rob and Tracy, I'm not in Utah, how does this apply to me? It's simple, if you're in another state, take this information to your state dental association and get them to pass legislation like we have here in Utah.If you've been following dental policy this year, you probably noticed that Utah passed more meaningful reforms than any other state… but you wouldn't know that from reading the American Dental Association's updates. And that's the problem. We worked for years to protect patient choice, fair reimbursement, and provider rights — and somehow, those wins didn't even make the ADA's 2025 legislative recap. And why do we care? Not for recognition, but to help guide and motivate other states to serve their association members, and the patients they serve.” Support the show

Send us a textInsurance companies allow — and even encourage — billing for non-covered services… Meanwhile, some association leaders accuse dentists of unethical billing for using the exact CDT codes the ADA created.You can't make this stuff/shit up.If your blood pressure isn't elevated yet, just wait.We're going to talk about:How dental associations became the enforcement arm for insurers instead of advocates for dentists.Why certain leaders have adopted insurer-aligned mindsets that actively harm the profession.How the ADA's own language contradicts what associations preach.And why it's time — long overdue — for dentists to say: Enough. Is. Enough.Support the show

Send us a textIn dentistry—as in life—leadership is not a title, but a responsibility. Too often, we imagine leadership as a rank to be achieved, a position to be claimed, or an office to be won. But genuine leadership is not defined by where you sit at the table; it's defined by what you do when you're at the table—and more importantly, what you do when you're not.At its core, leadership is action. It's the daily choice to step forward, to shoulder responsibility, and to serve others even when no one is watching. For state and national dental association leaders, this means moving beyond advocacy for oneself to a broader commitment: fighting for the profession, for patients, and for the future of oral health.Support the show

Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com. Episode 3154: Kayla McDonell examines the science behind coconut oil's role in oral hygiene, especially its traditional use in oil pulling. She separates myth from evidence, showing how this natural remedy may help reduce bacteria and plaque while reminding readers that it should complement, not replace, professional dental care. Read along with the original article(s) here: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/coconut-oil-and-teeth Quotes to ponder: “Coconut oil has been used for thousands of years as a natural remedy for many health conditions.” “Oil pulling is an age-old practice where you swish oil around in your mouth to kill bacteria and promote oral hygiene.” “While oil pulling with coconut oil may reduce harmful bacteria, plaque, and gingivitis, it should never replace standard dental care.” Episode references: American Dental Association: https://www.ada.org National Institutes of Health - Oil Pulling and Oral Health: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5198813/ Journal of Traditional and Complementary Medicine: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/journal-of-traditional-and-complementary-medicine Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices