Podcast appearances and mentions of howard farran

In this two-hour roundtable recorded at a global airway, breathing, and sleep conference, Howard Farran sits down with three of the field's most passionate voices: Dr. Toshi Hart, Diplomate and President-Elect of the American Sleep and Breathing Academy; Dr. Kimberly Ann Meyer, current President of the American Academy of Craniofacial Pain; and Dr. Mark Levi, a Sydney-based diplomate who turned his own severe sleep apnea diagnosis into a career treating children. The conversation centers on a provocative idea: that the malocclusion, crowded teeth, and breathing problems flooding modern dental practices stem from generations of underdeveloped jaws — driven by softer diets, less nursing, and mouth breathing. Dr. Hart shares how a single 45-minute lecture on craniofacial epigenetics redirected her career, leading to a study in which guided growth appliances produced a 76% reduction in decay. Dr. Levi makes the case for early intervention in children as young as three, explaining why the window to influence facial growth closes far earlier than most clinicians realize. Dr. Meyer connects the dots between nasal breathing, nitric oxide, tongue posture, tonsils and adenoids, and the cascade of downstream effects on sleep, behavior, and long-term health. Along the way, the group tackles the fierce professional pushback they face, why mothers — not journals — are driving change, the relationship between bruxism, airway, and even implant failure, and how a single-chair, drill-free practice can outperform a traditional one. The episode closes with practical guidance for young dentists on where to begin, why education matters more than expensive machinery, and how building thriving children builds a thriving practice.   Episode #1709 : Dentistry Uncensored with Howard Farran, Howard sits down with a powerhouse airway roundtable — Dr. Toshi Hart, Dr. Kimberly Ann Meyer, and Dr. Mark Levi — three leaders changing how dentistry thinks about jaw development, breathing, and sleep. From why 80% of kids have underdeveloped jaws, to a 76% reduction in decay through early intervention, to the pushback these "myofunctional quacks" proudly embrace — this is a candid, eye-opening conversation about treating the root cause, not just the cavity.

In this episode, Howard Farran is joined by Ellen Bösl, Vice President of Research and Development at Solventum, where she leads the strategy and execution of the Global Dental Solutions R&D organization. A chemical engineer by training with a 25-year career spanning Solventum and 3M — including R&D leadership across MedSurg, Transportation, and Electronics — Ellen brings a systems-level lens to one of the profession's most stubborn problems: oral health inequity. The conversation confronts why oral health remains one of the most unequal corners of healthcare despite unprecedented advances in technology, materials, and knowledge. Ellen and Howard dig into the root causes that rarely get discussed, whether inequity is best understood as a clinical, business, or policy challenge, and which innovations genuinely broaden access versus those that merely sound impressive. They also explore the gaps between urban, rural, private, public, and corporate dentistry, what frontline providers actually need, and what realistic progress could look like decades from now.   Episode #1708 : Dentistry Uncensored with Howard Farran, Howard welcomes Ellen Bösl — Vice President of R&D at Solventum — to tackle a question the industry doesn't ask often enough: with more technology and knowledge than ever, why is oral health still so deeply unequal? Drawing on 25 years of innovation leadership, Ellen separates the technologies that truly expand access from the ones that just make good headlines.

In this episode, Howard Farran sits down with Tobias Richter, founder of TRI® Dental Implants and a dental entrepreneur with two decades of experience at the cutting edge of the implant industry. Tobias traces his journey from launching product innovations like SLActive at Straumann, to co-founding Implant Direct Europe and building the business across 25 markets before its sale to the Danaher Group, to eventually founding TRI® as an innovative digital implant company. Beyond TRI®, he is also a co-founder of the German dental clinic group DENTABENE, a partner in the e-learning platform Dental Campus, and a board member of the dental lab group DELABO.GROUP. The conversation explores the digital dentistry revolution and the trends shaping its future, why workflow thinking has become mandatory for everyone in the industry, and how no-abutment implant innovation aims to fundamentally improve the experience for both patients and clinicians by reducing pain, time, and cost.   Check out their website: www.tri.swiss    Episode #1707 : Dentistry Uncensored with Howard Farran, Howard sits down with Tobias Richter — founder of TRI® Dental Implants and a 20-year veteran of the global dental industry. From launching innovations at Straumann to building Implant Direct across 25 European markets, Tobias has spent his career pushing implant dentistry forward — and now he's rethinking it entirely with no-abutment innovation designed to save patients and clinicians pain, time, and money.

In this episode, Howard Farran sits down with Dr. Jack Hahn, a pioneering figure in implant dentistry whose career spans more than 58 years — 54 of them dedicated to implants. Dr. Hahn takes listeners through a remarkable journey that began with placing bilateral blade implants in 1970, evolved through subperiosteal and early root form implants, and ultimately led him to design four distinct implant systems, including the Steri-Oss, the Replace Tapered Implant, and the Hahn Tapered Implant now manufactured by Glidewell. Along the way, he shares stories of treating patients and teaching dentists across the globe — from Russia to Saudi Arabia — the skepticism he faced early in his career, and the lessons he learned both in clinical innovation and in business. A recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award and past president of the American Board of Oral Implantology, Dr. Hahn offers a rare firsthand account of how implant dentistry grew from a fringe idea into a cornerstone of modern care — along with candid advice, including the mistakes he made selling his own practice.   Episode #1706 : Dentistry Uncensored with Howard Farran, Howard sits down with Dr. Jack Hahn — a true living legend of implant dentistry with over 58 years in practice and 54 of them devoted to implants. From placing his first blade implants in 1970 to designing four implant systems — including the Hahn Tapered Implant — Dr. Hahn has quite literally helped shape modern implant dentistry as we know it.

Part two of Kiera's conversation with Howard Farran on the Dentaltown podcast. As a business owner, the greatest gift you can give yourself is to get systems in place so you are not dependent on core people. This second part of Kiera's conversation with Howard is about determining your weaknesses as a practice, building systems to fix those weaknesses, and letting your practice hum regardless of who's sitting in the seats. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:02) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and quick heads up, today's episode is a special repost from a podcast I joined as a guest. It is a great conversation for practice owners who want to progress without carrying everything. I cannot wait for you to hear it. Let's dive right in.   speaker-0 (00:16) And you know, I was doing a million dollars in the eighties, a million dollar practice, and I went to two and and I I thought I actually think I had a higher treatment plan acceptance rate than my buddies on just measuring the same day. My clothes is always like, you don't want to come back. I mean, we could you know, I'm when I'm doing the hygiene check, I'm gonna say, I'm gonna leave. The hygienist gonna Denise Missy, they'll numb me up.   speaker-1 (00:21) They're like eight million now there, Howard.   speaker-0 (00:44) And and then and then move her to room eight and we'll we'll we'll knock this out in 30 minutes because you don't want to drive all way from work and then kid and school. You just pulled your kid out of school, now you want to do it twice. It I just always s insisted on just the same day because if we do this because from my perspective, if we do this filling a day, it's two fifty. If you walk out that door, half of you never come back until it hurts, and then it's a twenty five hundred dollar root connected crown.   speaker-1 (00:50) Amen.   speaker-0 (01:12) It's only one tenth the price to do the filling. I got a room. The hygienist can numb you up. And then I always hit the hygienist on the show and said, You should have numbed her up before I got here and I could be doing it right now. And she laughed and she said, but that's illegal. I said, I'm not a lawyer. I'm a dentist. Let's get this done. But just by really leaning on same day. And I really think that was a huge part of our success.   speaker-1 (01:37) Well, and Howard, I think what you said is like going back to the COVID crank, I think so many business businesses right now have lost that like customer service and let's make it easy. Like, as you said, one of our core values in Dental A Team is ease. And I'm always like, How can you make it easy for everybody? Because that's what people want. Like you said, like no one wants to take time off for the dentist. I'm switching dentists right now and they're like, So you're gonna come in for a hour appointment and then we'll bring you back in like three months for your hygienist. And I told my assistant, I was like, just call them back. I was like, tell them no, no, no, like   Make it easy. I don't want to come back. And so I think when offices take on the mentality, I have grown practices 10, 20, $30,000 a month just by same day treatment. Like just get it done. Let's train our team. Like, let's be quick. Let's have that quick turnaround time. Now, of course, doctors, you've got to be like Howard can get that done and he can rock it out and he's great. If you're a dentist that is not quite that quick, like we do not want to scale back all your patients. So maybe you do like add, add on an extra filling that's already in the quad that you're getting numb.   Like, where can we do it? Can we add that fluoride in today? Can we add in this thing? Can we take the scan today? Because you're right, no patient wants to take time off of work to come to the dentist. So like let's just rock it out, make them a raving fan because we went above and beyond to make them happy.   speaker-0 (02:49) And and and it also is a good variance counterbalance to no shows and cancellations. You know, she said yes, and then your next patient didn't show up as opposed to reschedule this one a week from now and then then this doesn't show up. But hey, I want to ask you, I'm gonna hold your feet to the fire on this. True. Would you rather build a dental office on rock star employees or rock star systems?   speaker-1 (03:16) ⁓ this one is I think the this it's ⁓ it's interesting because I think that there's space for both. However, Rockstar employees can walk out that door and then you are left. And I say that this to me is where as a business owner, you're shackled and you're always going to feel scared. You're gonna feel scared to hold accountability, you're gonna feel scared to ask people to do their job because you're so afraid of them leaving. Whereas if you have systems, I'm not here to say be a jerk, like that's not what we're here for, but it becomes so much easier to just   plug and play. And then also for team members, they tend to stay longer because they understand they've got clear systems. And people get really weird on systems, Howard. And I think they feel like systems are so hard. And it's like, I'd rather just bring someone in who knows what they're doing. And I'm like, but make that repeatable. So if they're out and I make my rock stars go on vacation for a week. I'm like, absolutely. And people are like, no, no, no. I don't want them to leave. And I'm like, you need them to leave because you need to see where it breaks down and you need to build systems. But I will say as a business owner, the greatest gift you can give yourself   is to get systems in place where you are not dependent on those core people. Like I want great team members that love my patience and do what they have, but I want it to be a repeatable process that every time, no matter if I've got Susie, Sarah, Jenny, Mike, John, anybody, we're giving the exact same experience. Like I look at Chick-fil-A and it's the same amazing experience. Every time I walk in there, they say the same thing and none of us are annoyed by that. And teams are super happy and thriving. I interviewed a guy who's a big wig in Chick-fil-A and I was   Fascinated by the culture. I was like, tell me more about this. And he's like, we have systems. We have buddy systems. We have it built on systems. That is the core to great success. And it's the core to like less stress in your business. Like obsessively, I am so obsessed about simple systems. I've been called the Dr. Seuss of systems. Make it so simple that anyone can do it. And then hire amazing talent that treats your patients with the great culture that you want.   speaker-0 (05:08) Yeah, and if the systems are so good, they don't even have to have dental experience. I mean, I the best receptionist I had was the the teller at Chase Bank next to me and I absolutely said her, I said, You are so dang good. You're always happy, always you remember my name. I said, What do I have to do to get you to work for me? And she she told me and she's been here for you know, over a decade. just the same things.   speaker-1 (05:36) Howard, I want to highlight, I hope dentists listen to you. ⁓ there are not a lot of dentists that are scrap like you. And that's something I love about you. And this is just like a little, it's not intentional, like boost your ego, but like please take it. Like it's a good boost. You are so scrap, right? It's like, let's just get that done. Like again, like let's do same-day treatment. My best employee in the company was my next door neighbor. I knocked on her door. She like took care of my plants when I traveled. She's like, those things are gonna die. I was like, the fact that someone as a neighbor just watered my plants to be nice to me.   She's been amazing. She's been with me five years, best incredible EA I've ever had. You ask the bank teller. We look for great talent. You build on systems. And I just hope the dentists realize like, just saying yes and GSDing, like, let's just get it done. That is something that I think so many people have like lost that art. And truly, that's what impresses me with your podcast, with who you are. And I just hope that people here, you don't have to go for perfect. You don't have to find this perfect person. You just gotta be scrappy and gritty.   And your practice will grow and you'll have great team members with you. Like it's not actually hard. And I think we make it hard, but just hearing your examples, I hope people listen as a dentist, this is what makes successful dentists in dental offices and great team culture as well. That is the core vote values that he's got. And it is why he's so successful. And I hope dentists can learn from that.   speaker-0 (06:53) Well, thank you. And I got did I ever tell you a story about the third hygienist they hired? I I already had my two full time hygienists, everything was great. And ⁓ this ⁓ young girl walked in, just graduated straight out of hygiene school, and I could hear someone giggling up front and they said I was busy, you know, she wanted to talk to me and then she just took it upon herself just to just to walk through the office and I I er and anyway, long story short, I finally got done. I broke, I met her.   speaker-1 (06:57) Tell me, I'm ready.   speaker-0 (07:20) And had no opening for hygiene, and she was so into the office, and she's asking all the right. I can just feel her energy, she's like sucking out my soul. And I and the first thought I said is she's from Alwatukee, she lives in Alwatuki. Do you want to compete against this girl for the next 40 years? Or you know you want her on your team, you don't have room for her on their team, but she ain't gonna end up across the street. I hired her and told everybody we'll just have to figure it out because this is a rock star personality.   I mean, you know, she just walking through like she owned the place and probably probably one of the top two or three, her and Jan, probably the best employees I ever had. I mean, unbelievable. ⁓ how do you get the dentist to stop being the limit to his own growth? I mean, it's it seems like I don't know about dental school curriculums, and it seems like shooting yourself in the foot has got to be the first and the last course they teach you there. How do you get the dentist to quit being the ceiling to their own practice?   speaker-1 (08:21) Think it's a I actually want to just like shout out a lot of the dentists. I feel that the new generation of dentists coming through actually are very prone and open to understanding business and recognizing there's so many books out there that talk about like CEOs and owners of businesses are the bottleneck to their success. And so I just want to say, like, I think a lot are starting to recognize that, but I think that there's still a lot that don't. And I I usually help people say, like,   When the pain is bad enough is usually when people change. Or you can recognize that you need to get yourself out of the weeds. You need to become the CEO of your business. You need to be working at the highest level of your ⁓ license. And everybody in your practice needs to be doing the same. And if you're not, like I do a delegation exercise. I just did it with our doctors on Tuesday. I was like, write down everything that you're working on right now, everything on your to-do list, everything there. And then I want you to go back through it and I want you to literally look at that and like only things that you can do. And like, please don't like   Boost your ego, but what are the things that only you could do? And I had a group of 50 doctors the other night and they were like, really, it's like vision, culture, and profitability. Like everything else can be someone else can do. And so when doctors recognize like that is your sweet spot and no one else is doing that, you need to have other people in there. Like you're welcome to hold it all yourself. But there's also another path where you can elevate people around you. You do great dentistry and you own the visionary and the CEO seat. Be obsessive in there.   But I think so many of them want to just do everything. I'm like, that's great, but you're gonna run right into burnout really quickly. So it's a helping them realize, go look at your to-do list. Honestly, of that, who can you delegate this to? Who can do it better than you? And who's gonna be somebody that's gonna light up and be excited about it and get yourself continually moving towards that CEO seat? I think so many dentists don't realize that they are a CEO of a multi-million dollar business. And I think, like, look at Jeff Bezos, look at some of these really prominent people.   That are great CEOs. What are they doing all day long? They are not answering emails. They're not responding to these things. Like they're not doing any of that. They've got teams around them that are incredible at that. How can you get yourself closer to that? Because that is where the practice flourishes. But if you're sitting there doing every single thing, you're stopping it constantly. It's truly a bottleneck. ⁓ and I think that's when people are ready for it, when people actually recognize that, there's there's two types of dentists. There's the one who calls when they're absolutely burnout, exhausted, and they can't see like past like one foot in front of them.   There's the other dentist that realizes I don't want to be that. I've seen too many dentists like that. And I want you to coach me into how to become like not there. And I say, like, life's so much easier. I have a dentist hired us two months before he started his practice. As a brand new practice owner, this year he should be clearing 2.5 million. And I'm like, why? Because he recognized, get out of the way, have these other people do it, train my team. I'm going to bottleneck this. I don't want to be burnt out. I want to be present for my kids.   Teach me how to be the CEO of my practice and empower my team. And so I'm like, again, it's choose your hard. Which path do you want to live? It's all in Wonderland. There's both, there's paths. It's just what path do you want to go on? And also what mentors and what people be the CEO of your practice. Do not be the operator that's doing it all.   speaker-0 (11:35) You know, I always call a great idea is I always call them a giraffe. I'll never forget when I took my kids ⁓ to a ⁓ Serengeti and the guide was so funny, he would he would all of a sudden he'd stop. Well he stopped for a reason. He's giving us a guide and and it was one of these long tour to trucks where you'd stand up in the middle and you look out, and after about five minutes, we just said, What? What? And he's like, It's right in front of you and we're just like, Well, we're looking all around, my boy, everybody's gonna find it.   And he says, Are you kidding me? Look at that tree. Look at to the left of that tree. And it was a giraffe standing right next to the tree. Totally camouflage. And that that's what I mean when I say, you know, they can't see the giraffe. And here's a missing giraffe for 40 years. Remember the great Jennifer D. St. George? She's still out there. I love her to death. And she had this lecture on schedule. It's called Rocks, Sand and Water. She goes, You gotta schedule your rocks first. Do all your rocks. And then she'd fill up a glass with rocks.   And then she say, Then you can do your sand. And she'd pour like a half glass of sand on top of the rocks and you still didn't have a full. And then she'd say, and then the water, then she'd take like a full bottle water and pour it in the sand and and it was still full. And I already know when you talked about block scheduling, I already know that at least fifty to a hundred and fifty percent of the dentists said, ⁓ I don't care if I do a root canal in the morning or night. I they they don't understand block scheduling.   They don't understand rock, standing water. They haven't for 40 years. Jennifer lectured for 40 years and and I still don't think anybody saw the giraffe. Can you just slow down and talk about you just made the example about how all you did was change the scheduling and you got the it up. So show that giraffe. What what does that giraffe look like?   speaker-1 (13:23) Well, thank you, Howard, because I do love giraffes. I do have freckles and have I've definitely been like and have a very long neck and I'm very tall. So I do love giraffes in and of itself. So thank you. Like let's just talk about it. ⁓ but I I agree. It's so I don't know. I think as a team member, you just get obsessed with making puzzles. And like for me, I'm like, how can I maximize and squeeze more juice out of your lemon tree? Like, let's just do it. It's gonna be a great time. ⁓ and so what I love to do is.   Like, let's just go through and build you a perfect day. And I love to build my rocks. And I used to do like high production. And then I learned it was even more fun if I put a dollar amount on those high production blocks. Because as a team member, like, hi, Kiera, I'm Kiera. I sit up front. I am now looking for puzzle pieces that are coming through my puzzle. And instead of just filling your day with a bunch of water, aka no production, I'm actually able to like fill you full.   Make sure I've got you up to production and then I move on to my next day. And then as I have my little water that comes through, I just fill in the gaps. And you, doctor, are so happy. And I did this with an office and the doctor was like used to making five, seven thousand dollars a day max. We got him to a twelve thousand dollar day and he walked out the door at four o'clock. And normally he was there till 536. And he's like, Here, how'd you do it? And I was like, Because we actually put in blocks, we actually scheduled it of what's the most efficient way to use your time.   And it's playing seduco in a schedule is how you really do it. It's like perfect. Where is the doctor? And then where does doctor need to be for hygiene exams? What does my hygienist need to be producing? How much period do I have? How many new patients do I have? Let's block those so I can get those people in on our schedule. Make sure my hygienists are up to goal every single day. So, like, what are they supposed to be producing? Usually three times their pay is typical. And then on the doctor side, doctors, what do we want to be producing for the year? What do we need to be producing per day? Let's build in those dollar amounts.   That is going to make you feel so easy to get through to get to exams where you're not running behind. And now let's figure this out. And when we go through, and I look to see how much procedures cost, how much like on average, how many new patients we need, how many SRPs we need, how many perio maintenance we need. And then you take those pieces, those are your rocks, and I'm gonna go build a schedule to where it actually flows really, really well. And then from there, I'm gonna duplicate that over every single week.   And what's crazy about it is when you do this, people realize they're gonna be walking out with $10 to $12,000 days, getting out on time. We're doing the easy stuff in the afternoon, the harder stuff in the morning or whatever you like to work. I don't care. And when people see how much they can produce with minimal effort, no extra patience and no extra time, like usually that's how it builds. You're able to, like you said, see the draft, but it's crazy because you're a happier dentist, you're not running behind all day long, and you're actually profitable. We hold those blocks, I usually say for 24 hours as team members.   And me as a treatment coordinator, I am scanning my canvas, I'm scanning my own scheduled treatment to find something of that dollar amount or that rock to fill in my blocks. And I'm not gonna put multiples in there. We're gonna make sure if you only have one root canal system, we're not putting two next to each other. If you have one implant system, I'm not doing two back to back. Like you just have it to where the day flows and 85% of your days will be great. And the other like, you know, 15% are like, shoot, we couldn't get anybody in it. We just fill it with whatever we can, get you up to that, put emergencies in there.   But that's how you do it. And it's so, it's so satisfying. I've got an office that they lost two doctors. So I've only got two doctors. We are producing as much as they were on four doctors with better blocks, better scheduling. And it's just incredible to see how much more efficient you can be with your time without more patience, more effort. And it's very, very fun and fulfilling. And when people follow it, they're shocked at how much their practice grows without any, like hardly any extra effort.   speaker-0 (17:07) Tell me, tell me this. Why do my DSO buddies, who have hundreds of office locations, tell me that that when someone calls their office, they can convert 70 to 80% of the people on the phone to getting their butt physically measured in the chair? And that in private practice, it routinely shows up at about 42%. How can Heartland   close seventy to eighty percent of the callers as measured by you called on the phone and now your butt is sitting in a chair in private practice forty two percent. What do you think explains that the most?   speaker-1 (17:44) I think Howard, it's they're obsessive about numbers. I have an office that works for Aspen and I've just watched like they are obsessive about KPIs and tracking and measuring. And I feel like in private practice, we don't track and measure nearly as much as they do. Like they've got metrics, they've got numbers, they're looking at it. And so what they do in Heartland and corporate, they're smart businesses. They look to see where is our leaky hole and how are we going to fix it. So I know what they're doing is they're watching their call conversions.   They're talking to their offices and they're setting this of like your goal is 75%. And this is the training and the verbiage. And we're going to track this and we're going to measure it because what we track and measure improves. And I like tell me a private practice out there that's like, we know our call percentage rate. None of them could probably tell us, but you ask a DSO and you better believe they're going to know all their metrics. And that's where I love like so many offices are obsessed about systems and what system do I put into place and how do I grow my practice? And I'm like,   Number one, let's figure out where you want to go and what's your vision. I call that why. And then E is earnings and profitability. Like based on those two things, based on where you want to go and what the profitability and our our numbers are, then you determine the systems. And then we look at those metrics of the profitability and our KPIs and the metrics, and you put systems into place for that. So these DSOs are so good at tracking and measuring. And like I've got a practice doing 29 million. And what we do is we have a scorecard. They know.   We just hit the most important things that are going to drive the needle forward and we watch those numbers like a hawk and that's all we coach and focus on. You coach and focus on those items, your practice will grow. But I promise you it's because they're tracking, measuring, and training to that and having metrics of what they need to hit. They're not better than us. They're just better at measuring and then improving those numbers.   speaker-0 (19:24) Well, they they say that just by weighing yourself at the same time every day will start bringing your weight down just because you're focusing on it. Totally. And things like that. ⁓ I want you to do the same thing to treatment plan. Why do you think most patients are saying no? And what's the draft that one of my homies could listen to right now that could help him increase his treatment plan acceptance rate?   speaker-1 (19:46) I think the no is just surface level. And what you gotta hear is what they're not saying. And I also would say a lot of people, they're like, it's about money. And I'm like, again, you're looking for reasons and you're gonna continue to find that. So for me, my mantra, and this is a great thing for the homies out there, my mantra is everybody says yes to me and everybody loves me. Like, no joke, I say that every time I'm going into a treatment plan. Why am I sitting here thinking about my gosh, they can't afford it or they can't do this? You're creating more of that.   Rather than going in with a confidence, they're buying your confidence. Like hands down, I can I can close a fifty thousand dollar case same day. Let's swipe a credit card, like let's buy a boat. But it's confidence. And I'm walking in there of like, we're doing this, we're doing it now. My job is just to figure out how you're paying for it. And so when we look at that case acceptance, I've coached an office and we've added, I've got five locations. All I do is train their treatment coordinators. I just rep them. We are constantly going through reps. We add   One to two million annually amongst those five offices just by focusing on it. And I'm like, it's 80% psychology. What are you thinking about? You walk in there, everybody loves me, everybody says yes to me, and let's make this happen. And I do it in a way where I love them. I give them like a warm virtual hug, like I'm not actually hugging. I want them to feel so comfortable, so confident. But then I also say, like, watch out. How are you using words? Words are free, Howard. Like, I'm not going to lead with, do you want to get this done? No, I'm going to assume they want to get this done.   Hey Howard, let's get that treatment done. So I'm gonna schedule you. Doctor is really busy. So I'm gonna do Monday or Wednesday, which works best for you. ⁓ Kiera, I want to talk about fees. Howard, absolutely, I'm gonna talk about fees. Let's just make sure we get this time locked in. I've got Monday or Wednesday, which do you prefer? We schedule you on Wednesday. You're already halfway there for me. I've got you scheduled. Perfect. So treatment's gonna be this amount. This is what the total will be. This is what our insurance estimates are, this is what our total will be when I see you on Wednesday. What questions do you have for me? Howard then asked me. I'm not gonna say I'm like, so do you want to talk about money? Do you want to get scheduled?   Like, why? Why am I bringing this up? Like, let them come up with it. Give them the time. Have the things. Don't bombard them, but be so confident. If I've got a great dentist that I know has great dentistry, they diagnose my job is to close and let's have that type of attitude. Walk in their doctors, don't be like, I don't know if they want to do this. Like, what if they can't afford? No, be the freaking clinician that's like amazing and like they all love you. They say yes to you. Diagnose them. Stop scrimping on them. Like morally, that is your job is to tell me what's going on.   Your job is to diagnose for me and then I get to make the decision from there. But truly it's eighty percent psychology. What are you thinking about? What's your mantra? And then twenty percent is skill, but get that confidence because they're buying your confidence, they're not buying dentistry.   speaker-0 (22:18) Then I want you to pontificate on ⁓ this. ⁓ I watch this in my own eyes. ⁓ every American I know that's as old as me, ⁓ or by the time they die, has bought one new car in their lifetime. Am I right? You know any do you know anybody that lived to be 80 that never bought a new car? Yeah, yeah. And right now the average new car is 50,000.   speaker-1 (22:41) They all do it.   speaker-0 (22:45) And I would say ninety-five percent of all the dentists go to retirement and they never sold one case for the price of a new car, which would be fifty thousand dollars a day. And then I watched Clear Choice, my favorite DSO, because they rolled out a hundred locations, and the only thing they sell is fifty thousand dollar two arcs all on fours, twenty-five thousand dollars an arch. They rolled into Phoenix and all the world surgeons and paradox, like, I don't know, I don't know if I like this.   And they start doing all these infomercials. Remember, remember, orthodontists have always been ahead of general dentists in advertising. All the orthodontists were advertising before 10% of the flipping general dentists were. And when the general dentists finally got to like two or three percent, the orthodontists were at five. And now all my two million dollar dental orthodontist offices on up are spending eight percent on marketing. Here's clear choice.   You go through the channels, they got all these 30 minute infomercials and and all this stuff like that. No, I never I never had heard of an all on four until I heard it on a clear choice deal. And then all my paces were coming in saying, Do you do all on four? I'm like, what are you even talking about? Then then they tell me, and then because I I would have called it a you know, four implant. You know, I didn't think of four, say whatever. And and then the next thing you knew.   Every oral surgeon and peridonist in the valley of Arizona was doing more cases because they were selling it to so many people that our pace that we were benefiting from it. So I just want to hold your feet to fire. How come ClearChoice with a hundred locations? Don't tell me it's demographics. They're in the hundred biggest cities in America. And and in each one of those cities, 95% of the dentists will retire without selling a single $50,000 case. And ClearChoice is doing it in their backyard.   Every single day of the week. Explain that to me.   speaker-1 (24:42) gosh. I I don't disagree with you. And I think there's I I ⁓ to me it's kind of like the four minute mile, right? Like so many people did not think that they could do it. And then once the four minute mile broke, it was like, my gosh, now all these people can do it. I still cannot run a four minute mile mark. Like I'm still working on that, Howard. So I get it. There's like limitations still. But I think a lot of dentists I watch, a lot of them get weird. Like they get uncomfortable. They feel like, well, do they really need it? Should I really offer this? Like   They get into this weird space in their head rather than just like, why don't I just offer it? Like I have a dentist who literally presents $250,000 treatment plans consistently. And they do all like full cosmetic. I have another doctor. It's 75 per arch, 75k per arch, and they're closing them consistently. And I think there's a space of like, why are we not doing this? And like you said, clear choice is doing it in their backyard. I think there's a   My background's marriage and family therapy as well. So I studied that when I was in college. And so I love the psychology of it. And I think so many people are truly afraid of rejection. And so they're like, I'm just not going to offer it. And they like justify it in their brain of why, like, I don't need to do that. Like other people can do that. Like, I want to make sure I'm taking care of my patients. And they live in this world that's their own reality. And I think that we all create our own reality. And clear choice is like, no, there are patients out there that do this. My client that does 250,000 consistently.   My other client who does 150,000 consistently, that's just their level of comfort, right? And so, how can dentists get to a higher level of comfort? I think one, be confident in your clinical skills. If you know you're the best dentist out there and you can do this, like for me, I feel like that's my moral obligation to make sure that patients are getting the best dentistry because they don't know if Howard or John or Sarah or Tom is a better dentist than you. So if you aren't confident that you are a dang good dentist,   Your job is to make sure that those patients know that. The second thing is get more confident presenting larger cases. and I tell all the offices I coach on these large cases, like please drop the mindset of a large case. I think we psych ourselves out by being like, ⁓ it's like a $30,000. Like, no, it's just a case. There's no big, there's no small. It's just a case. And I'm going to present what this patient needs and I'm going to present it to them. And I'm going to believe that they want this and I'm doing the best thing. And then we get to decide from there. And our job is to make this to where it's easy. We follow up.   There are so many people that want to do this, but I think people hold themselves back and they live in lies that they choose to tell themselves, but they believe are truth. But they're only the truth to you because there's other people doing it just like the four-minute mile, and you can too. So I think it's a matter of why not? And so when dentists are nervous about this, the way I usually am able to break it is like going from a $5,000 treatment plan to a $50,000 treatment might feel a little scary.   And so I'm like, perfect. Let's just diagnose one more thing or let's present one treatment that we normally wouldn't. And let's start to like build that confidence for you. And whether they choose to say yes or no, you just got to work on your presenting, like presenting skills. It's not like they're not saying yes or no to you. It's just how are we presenting it? How are we using the words? Are we assuming the yes? Are we assuming that they want to do it? There's so many ways that you can present treatment better. Like it's an art, it's not a skill. But I think people choose like Howard, they   They just want to live in this world and they believe that that's the world. And so I'm like, until you choose to get uncomfortable, it's like we've got a little thermometer in our world and in our world. Like if I say that I am comfortable at 75 degrees, if the temperature goes up to 78, I'm like, this is out of control. Get it back to 75. If it drops down to 70, I'm like, it feels uncomfortable. So how can we take it to where I can get comfortable getting out of my 75 degrees and move me to the next level of whatever that is, to where that becomes my new norm. And then I move myself up to the new norm.   There are people doing 35, 75, 150,000. And I don't say that for you to like belittle yourself, but to see that's possible. Other people are doing it. Believe in yourself. If you're the best dentist, be confident in that. And then truly, please, for the love of everything, I am a patient. No hygienist offers me fluoride Howard. No dentist offers me emphasizaline. I would say yes to both of you, but you are selfish. And I'm saying this with like love and respect. You are selfish by not giving me the chance to say yes or no to you.   And I would say give more people the opportunity to say yes to you, offer it, get better at it, check to see why they're saying no to you, refine that and keep offering. I love my offices that set it a 35% case acceptance because I know that they're presenting 50, 2000, like they're sending 10,000, 15,000, $50,000 cases consistently because they know that the more things that they say yes to with great dentistry and great confidence, the more people will say yes to them. But like get out of your own way.   nudge it up a little bit more, get uncomfortable, but truly do great dentistry, offer to patients and stop like holding back and assuming that they don't want to do it because more patients want to than you believe that they do.   speaker-0 (29:37) And you know, a lot of dentists don't like the blood and guts. They don't want to place implants. They don't want to play certain modes. I get it. But you know what? I know a handful of dentists, at ⁓ five at least. I think the sixth one might have retired, but one of the reasons they're probably so big, they didn't they didn't like blood and guts either. But they would always tell ladies, they go, Well, I'll tell you what, before you go back to your twenty fifth wedding ⁓ school high school anniversary or or whatever, I mean tell you what, you always remember   For 50 grand, the price of a new car, what we do here is we take everything out, every filling and crown comes out, we put it all back in in the most beautiful portion. You'll leave with a Hollywood movie star smile. I know it's a lot of money, it's 50 grand, but you gotta think about that. And he and they both tell me they say, Well, you know, if you say that 10 times a month, yes, someone always always says it. And they go, Really? I'd have a movie star smile, and I'd say,   Absolut flipping Lutley, man. We take all that old crap out and veneers, inlays, onlays. I mean, when you're done, you'll look like a movie star. And and and I got a a a couple that is in not so rich areas of town like Tempe and Chandler Mesa. And they say that they have to say that about 10 times ⁓ to get one or two to do it. And in North Scottsdale Paradise Valley, ⁓ boulder area, ⁓ they they they say it's about a one in three close rate. If they just say it right like,   Be because when when someone gets a new car, what do they do? They drive around, they show it to everybody, you know, they just they they just love it. So I we're over an hour and we try to keep it under hour. So I wanna ask you one question. But first you said your background's a marriage advice and I just wanna tell you the best marriage advice you can have. Just like you're saying, it's all in your attitude. You don't you know, you start every day. When you wake up, the first thing you do is you tell your wife, I love you. Not you again. And ⁓   speaker-1 (31:35) I agree.   speaker-0 (31:35) If you if if you just drop the U again and it's so last question. What are ⁓ the one or two KPIs that ⁓ you think every dentist should be reviewing every single week? And what should they stop tracking? That's my final question.   speaker-1 (31:49) Hmm, this is a great one. ⁓ KPIs for dentists to be tracking specifically. ⁓ I really feel like the things that are gonna move you forward on a weekly basis are we've talked a lot about them. Your case acceptance is gonna drive you fast, like forward the best. Like track that, look at that, review it, get really good with that. And then I also really like to look at my hygiene. How is my hygiene doing? What's my what are they producing?   And then if you wanna add a third, like look at your schedule maximization and optimization. Like those are gonna be like really big, like heavy hitters for you constantly. And then I'm gonna throw in one on a monthly basis because I'm really big on I prefer weekly, but I get most aren't obsessive with me. I call it like my mind and my money. So every morning I meditate and I look at my money. So that's like my mantra of how I do it. But if you wanna do it at least monthly, you've gotta be looking at your overhead and your PNL and like what you're producing, what you're collecting, and what you're spending. ⁓   Just if you look at it alone, you're gonna get better. So it's like weighing ourselves. Now things for them to stop tracking. Gosh, there's like to me, I actually feel like really I don't want to say everything, like keep tracking, but I actually think people over track on a lot of things that don't move the needle forward. Like we want to track on, I don't know, I just see people like, well, we're gonna track on this and this and this. And like it's just like it feels like it's such a smorgasborg of items. But I'm like, what really is gonna move your practice forward?   Production collections, new patients, case acceptance, our scheduling optimization or overhead. Like those things and like sure you can look at like dollar amount per patient if you want, like so our marketing ROI. But like that's like really the core. And the more you can simplify it down, the easier it is for you. Cause like you can get lost in data, like buried in it, and actually not be able to execute on what really is gonna move you forward. And I'm like, I've got offices and I'm just a broken record. I say profit and production, profit and production, and that ties to collections. If you focus on that, your practice will grow.   So those would be the things that I'd end with.   speaker-0 (33:42) Garrett, you are a gift to dentistry. Thank you so much for all that you do for dentistry and thank you so much for coming back on the show. You gotta promise you'll come back again before the dirt nap. Gonna come back on again.   speaker-1 (33:52) I will.   I will. Don't take a dirt nap anytime soon, Howard. The world needs you and I'm grateful to be a part of it. So thank you.   speaker-0 (34:00) ⁓ thanks for all you do. It was an honor to podcast you.   speaker-1 (34:03) Likewise, thank you so much.   The Dental A Team (34:05) And that wraps up today's guest interview. If you liked this style of episode, let us know and we'll be sure to share more of them. For more resources, events, next steps, head on over to TheDentalATeam.com. And as always, thanks for listening. We'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.  

Part one of Kiera's conversation with Howard Farran on the Dentaltown podcast. They discuss how many details a dentist should know about their business, what about the COVID-19 pandemic still haunts practices, the AI of dentistry and the human care of patients, hidden gaps draining profitability, 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 we are sharing a guest interview I did on another podcast. And it was too valuable not to bring you guys here.   this episode, you're gonna hear this host lead the conversation and then I'll wrap us up at the end. I cannot wait. It was truly one of my most   episodes and I truly hope you enjoy.   The Dental A Team (00:17) It's just a huge honor for me today to bring back Kiera Dent. How are you doing, Kiera? my gosh, Howard. It's so great to be back. I remember my very first podcast with you. I was actually at an office in Alabama and I went like hid in this room because I was starstruck podcasting with you. So to be able to be back on the show with you ⁓ several years later is just fun. I love what you guys are doing. I love Dentaltown. I love your posts. so it's really fun to be back. So thank you. ⁓ the honor is all mine. Just remember Kiera likes Shakira.   And Dent is just her nickname. The full name is Dental Queen Goddess. So thank you. And ⁓ she is the founder and CEO of the Dental A Team, committed to elevating dentists and their teams to their highest level through customized in-office and virtual consulting and training. Her vast experience ranges from the front office to assistant, regional manager, and dental practice owner, giving her a perspective few consultants can claim.   She and her team work with hundreds of dental practices nationwide and confidently say we don't just understand you, we are you. Among her many accomplishments, Ciara has grown a practice from 500,000 to 2.4 million in just nine months with a doctor straight out of dental school. She's coached hundreds of practices, authored numerous articles, and designed a customizable operations manual manual that serves as a roadmap for systems and team success.   Her Dental A Team podcast has amassed nearly 2 million downloads, making it one of the most impactful resources in all of dentistry. Kiera lives every day by her core values. Do the right thing, ownership, passion for excellence, ease, grit, innovator, die, and fun. Her motto says it all. There is always a solution. And my gosh, I just want to tell you the truth. And the reason I was so excited to bring you on. It seems like dentistry has turned into two groups of dentists.   There's all the old farts like me who, you know, we had, you know, we had great practices, great lives, great careers. And then you got these younger dentists that look at us and say, ⁓ man, you graduated in the good old days. You know, you didn't have five hundred thousand dollars of student loans, you didn't have DSOs, Delta hasn't given us a raise in four generations, and and and they're mad at the ADA. I think they're even mad at their mom. I I they're I think so and they're not happy. Do you have any good news?   For these dental graduates with $500,000 of student loans, or did they make the wrong decision and should have become a plumber? I mean, you know, plumbing is always a backup plan if dentistry doesn't work. So I think you're like at least in that realm. Like, you know, there's always options. But I love dentistry and I actually, ⁓ I think we're actually in the best time of dentistry. And I know that yes, there's the good old days. Then Howard, those were great days for you. But I think like, how many options do people have now? We have AI, we have these innovations, and I mean.   Your my example of a student straight out of dental school, we actually had one million. So I actually called her 2.5 because we had $2.5 million. So from student debt to practice loan debt to buying another location, all within a couple of months of us starting the practice. And so I called her 2.5 every time I walked past her. I was like, get that back straight, girl. Like we got 2.5 mil of debt on us. but to be able to grow our practice in nine months was   Absolutely incredible. And I think that that's where dentistry is amazing. There is no cap, there is no ceiling, and you have a way to truly impact and change people's lives. And I'm like, you have DSOs as options. Like there were not the times where you were getting the multiples that you get today. You also have like there are so many avenues that dentistry can afford you. but I think it's a it's a matter of what you choose to focus on, is what you're going to find more of. If you want to sit here and say, ⁓ my gosh, it's awful. We have 500,000 of debt. And I'm like, Yeah, but guess what? My husband had   Not quite the same, but we had several hundreds, thousands of dollars of debt. And he's a pharmacist. And so I understand what it's like to come out of school and have hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt on us. But guess what? He's making, you know, hundred, hundred and fifty. If we're lucky on a good day, we're capped out. It took us forever to pay back our student loans. But as dentistry, you have untapped and uncapped potential. And so for me, you get to change people's lives, you get to give them confidence, you get to help them have better health, and you're able to make people smile like.   I can't think of a better opportunity to be a part of. And I'm not just Pollyanna over here. I coach hundreds and thousands of offices. I've seen the good, the bad, the ugly, and the in between. But I'll tell you, depending upon how you choose to view this, you can either find the good or the bad. And I'd recommend like, let's find the great because it's a gold line of opportunity if you want to see it. What what do you say to dentists who say, Mm-mm, you know, I I really don't want to complain really a bit. I mean, on paper my   My practice looks perfect. I got two hygienists. I do a million dollars. I do all this, but just internally it just feels chaotic and stressful. So it looks like on paper he's doing everything right. But she says, I still feel like chaos and stress. What's what's that about? I think like welcome to being a business owner. I think that there's two sides of success. In the word success, there's literally the word suck. Like there are parts of success that are going to suck. Like that's just how it is, guys.   And so that chaos and internal turmoil, I think I there I have lots of offices where you don't have to be that way. And I think going from like operator doing all the pieces, being stressed out into like a CEO of a business. ⁓ I think sometimes dentists are such gunners doers, they're so hands-on that they have this internal chaos. But there there are paths again that don't have to be that way. But I also think this is part of the game of business that we signed up for. And I think when you get to the level like Howard.   You've seen, I've seen over our career, we've got the gunners and the doers and the like zero to two year business owners. Like it's freaking chaos. It's psycho. Like you're learning these things just like you're back in dental school. But as you mature, you start to realize that the chaos is just part of the game. And the more you're able to learn to weather it, to see it, and to not do all the pieces, elevate your team, get great people, do like hire it out. You can hire, I mean, a practice is doing a million and you got great profitability and overhead.   You can hire a lot of great people to take away a lot of your problems. And so like, let's get some of those things done. And then you actually become happier and you make more money. So that you don't have to sit in that chaos. I think that there's a part of it that will always suck. but there's also a part that can really be the successful part too, that's fulfillment and enjoyment. But you got to make the steps and take the steps to do it rather than just sit and complain about it.   Love it, love it, love it. ⁓ what do you what do you say about the ⁓ the dentist who got out of school, goes and works for a major DSO, say say he's working for Rick Workman, Heartland, and he works there two years, and you know, he you know, he's working for a guy that owns eighteen, nineteen hundred dental offices, but he can't tell you the code for a profit. Can't he'll say, like, you know, are they paying my pay right? Really? You can't check at you. I mean, it it's like   It's like they'll listen to a forty hour lecture on the difference between two different composites, but they did I mean th they worked through two years, they don't know insurance codes, they can't check out a patient, they don't know the software. I mean, I had one guy tell me, ⁓ the only thing you could tell me about the practice manager software is the brand name. He couldn't tell me and then he's asking me, you know, it what which one you know, but anyway, do you think do you think a dentist doesn't need to know all the business details?   Or do you think that's a blind spot and you can't delegate anything till you can do it and master it? I think that there's two types of owners. And I think that there's some that are really great at hiring people that they are great at hiring people, knowing it, listening to podcasts, hiring coaches, training the team, and like having somebody spot check for you. Then there's others that like they've got to know the ins and outs. But I think that like Howard, there's   To me, there's also a middle ground where I think that you can go sit with your biller for one day and just like say, like, walk me through your process. So you have a general idea and an understanding of what they do. Go watch to see how they schedule. ⁓ I think when it comes to billing, I do think the dentists have a very big blind spot. And to me, that is like as a business owner, not to know how your money comes to you. To me, that feels like a pretty big blind spot of like even just understanding that knowledge. And so   If I were to say, I don't think you need to know the ins and outs. I love like I recognize this. I was a business owner of it. I own practices. I worked with hundreds of dentists at Midwestern University's Dental College. Like, I hear what you guys are taught. Plus, I'm a team member on the other side. And so I created a billing course and an office manager course because I just want a dentist to know like, what should I be able to expect? And I think like if you want to just have a general overview so you don't get blindsided, you you can have it. I think you can quickly within like a week.   Know the bulk of like everything you need to know in a practice very simply, very easily. So that way you can delegate. That way you can have it. You're not gonna be perfect. but I think just having a general awareness. And then I love to give doctors just a quick checklist, like once a month, go spot check, go grab an EOB. Even if you don't know what the heck that EOB is, go ask your front office for it, check it. And just the more you learn that language, just like the language of business, I think it doesn't need to be an overnight sensation.   But I do think the more you're aware of it, I don't think you have to do every single role though to be a successful practice owner. And I mean, shoot, if Heartland can do it, I think it's a good example. But I think who are you? And are you a hands-on tactical person? Are you somebody who's really good at hiring people, t trusting other people, getting the checklist and spot checking? I think you can do it either way. But my recommendation is like just like one week, go like sit in every seat of your practice and get a general awareness and educate yourself on the things that you don't know. I'm really big on money, understanding at least how insurance works. And then also how do we like   present cases, what are kind of the flow that way those big zones that really impact your financials, you can you can be aware of. So those courses, those online CE courses, your website is The Dental A Team. The Dental A Team. Now I think the A Team, you need that guy with the Mohawk and all the bling. I mean that's who I am in my like spare time. This hair is just a facade. Like, you know, I hang out as Mr T. Mr T. Mr T, Mr T, yeah.   That's why I was thinking the A Team, but is that on your on your website, the th those courses? Yeah, they are. So we have an online library, it's all C E. We've got downloadable checklists, we've got operations manual. You got it. That's exactly right. And Howard, in real time, I'll have our marketing team actually put together a code. If you guys put in Dentaltown, since you're listening, we'll make sure that you guys get a coupon code for that as well. Well, since it's my compass podcast IRS that you just put Fabio.   you want Fabio? Okay. well in that case. So ⁓ so is I also see you have a ⁓ Summit twenty twenty six is live on Friday, April twenty fourth. Grab your ticket. Where's where's that show gonna be? Is it Reno where you are? You know, that's actually virtual, Howard, and it's one of our like favorite comebacks constantly. And the reason I do it virtual, people have been asking me for years, like, why don't you do it in person, Kiera? And what I found is   Because it's so like again as a team member, I really struggle to get my team ramped up, amped up, and have it be financially affordable. So what I found is if we can have it virtual in your practice with your full team, you guys are able to get this boost and surge of energy and have a good time. So it's for leadership teams, it's for doctors. ⁓ we've been doing it for six years strong and we tend to have hundreds of offices. You get your whole office there, you have a good time.   But yeah, it's virtual and it's C E and it's a great time. ⁓ I attend a lot of Tony Robbins, a lot of Brendan Bouchard, Rachel Hollis. So we've learned how to do people have told me the online experience is so fun. ⁓ we just get continual people coming back year after year after year. So yeah, come join us. It'd be a great time. I love Tony Robbins because ⁓ you know, my boys they wrestled year round from age five to fifteen.   Yeah. Made our garage. I got two real wrestling mats from the manufacturer in Pennsylvania delivered by an AJ Miller. So I never ever parked in my garage ever. And we would we were listening to that Tony Robbins 30 day, 30 day personal power. Yep. And then I and then I bought my first laptop when I went to MBA school. And so I took notes on it. And then when I was done, I I ⁓ closed down Saturday and I went to a studio Saturday, Sunday, and I ranted out my notes.   And I said, this has got to be 30 hours because I mean it's still Tony Robbins 30 day personal power. And that was the 30-day dental MBA. ⁓ and it worked out to be about thirty hours. But I'm telling you, the pandemic changed everything. That was when ⁓ online CE at Dentaltown just went through the roof and it hasn't come back and dental meetings haven't come back. Cause why do I need to fly to Chicago to listen to you if I got a Zoom call or   or streaming video or this event. I mean, I mean, just think of the plane ticket, the hotel, the sitting and attending. If you're in Phoenix, you know, just to get to New York is a five hour flight. I mean, why I I gotta fly five hours each way when I could see you on YouTube or a podcast or or whatever. But I wanna but I want to go back to that pandemic because that pandemic, I really think the reason you can really do this so successfully today is because of that pandemic. That's why we realize   I don't have to be in the flesh to learn knowledge. And and like I I I feel fine talking to you. I me too. The only thing I regret is teaching my mother how to do that. I got her FaceTime and all that kind of stuff. And because she calls to tell me about ever every one of her exciting things is junk mail she has. She's eighty seven and she believes every piece of junk mail. I love it. She's always free freaking out on her junk mail. But but I want to talk about the pan the dark side of the pandemic.   And that is a lot of people think about 20% of the hygienists left to practice. Before, you know, when I got out of school, your labor was supposed to be twenty percent, your overhead was supposed to be fifty percent. And by the time it was it didn't even take 10 or 20 years, and and due to insurance, I think not keeping up, ⁓ overhead went to basically two thirds. It went to about sixty-five percent and labor went to about twenty five, sometimes twenty-seven percent.   I'm hearing thirty percent labor all the time. And I mean I mean I'm talking about serious dudes who know the business of dentistry. And I don't I don't want to get my buddy Rick Kirstram out of me. He owns a hundred comfort dentals and he said he can't he said he's got the mean and lean where labor is twenty. He says he's got mean and leans with labor at twenty-eight, twenty-eight and a half. So so the the pandemic is ⁓ it that was five years ago. Why do you think it   seriously impacted labor cost of the pandemic. I do, Howard. And I think I think we kind of have this perfect storm, right? Like I think we've got multiple waves coming at us that have impacted. I think the pandemic pushed out those that were like, you know, I'm done. Like, like I'm good. I'm at the end of my career. I don't really want to do that. ⁓ a lot of hygienists are female and I think a lot of them realize they did not need two incomes anymore. And so it's like, you know, I want to be with my kids. I want to be home.   And then hygiene schools don't pump out a lot of hygienists and it's usually like a two year span. So yes, I have actually seen like hygiene is it really did, and then it clicked up. So the cost of hygienist has gone up astronomically. I mean, I think the highest I've seen of a hygienist being paid was 85 an hour. And to me, I was like, at that point, that was up in ⁓ it was up in Washington, up by Bellevue, Mount Vernon, that area. And I literally saw the the posting for 85 plus a a bonus, and I was like,   Screw that at that point. Like in all respect to hygienists, I'm gonna hire a dentist for that cost. Like I truly will. And that's not being disrespectful. It's just like a dentist is a more multifaceted. I understand they are not great hygienists, but if I have to and I'm gonna be putting this number up, like we've got to get to a space where it does work. So yes, I do. However, there are more hygienists coming onto the market. I still know that this is one of the hardest things, but ⁓ I have a practice that's out in Maui, rough life, huh, Howard? I get to fly to Maui to go do work, like.   You know, shout out to that office. ⁓ but what we found is we were able to find a way to get the hygienist to be paid exponentially higher by doing assisted hygiene. And so I think I'm seeing people innovate. I think I'm watching them create. I think I'm seeing people do some more outsourced costs in the front office. And so they're able to then offset the costs of the clinical team. ⁓ I think that people are just getting innovative and creative. And what I want to highlight is while this feels annoying, this is also business. And if we don't innovate and if we don't continue to evolve,   We actually decay and decline as an as an organization and as an industry. And so I know it's annoying and I absolutely empathize. And you're right. Like for me on our payroll, we're at 30%. Like I've had that as our metric for our clients for the last five years because payroll costs have gone up. But I'm like, but just because they've gone up, like let's look at several other industries. I mean, we're not here to like love on or hate on McDonald's, but I'm like, they have kiosks. They figured it out.   I checked in at a hotel in downtown San Francisco. There was no person there when I checked in. It was literally a person on Zoom just like this. I clicked in, they said hello to me. They took my information, but they didn't have to have a physical body in the office. And I think with AI and technology, dentistry is going to evolve, but I think the art and the care of patients does not need to evolve. And so, like, let's put our dollars where that matters and let's be able to look and innovate in other ways that keep our costs low. ⁓ I still think dentistry, I mean, why is there a one percent default rate on loans? Like,   Banks are still lending. We had the first down year of DSOs last year and the first uptick of private practice last year. And so when I look at these things, like it is still a great business to be in, even though labor costs, like, guys, again, it's just another flavor of business. So like let's figure out how to innovate. Let's figure out how to do it. And like, yes, I'm gonna pay for great people. I see team members as assets, not liabilities. And I'm gonna cut and chop on other areas that I can, but I'm also gonna be smart with my labor costs and make sure each person hitting their KPIs, they've got numbers that they're driving.   We are running this as an efficient business while like loving and taking care of our patients at the same time. I'm glad you mentioned bank loans because it's less than one percent default rate. Yes. All the defaults have the same thing in common. They all had their license taken away. Right. Always. And and if it's for drugs or alcohol, they now treat that as a medical disease. And the dentists still say, Screw you, I'm not gonna quit doing biking. And then they run south of the border. And that's why whenever you find a dentist down there that looks like me.   They're running for free Vicada. They they they said I'm not peeing any. So unless you, you know, do something just horrible. I mean, and you know, you have you have to get your it licensed in your way. But I w I wanna tell you about you know, there's just so many other things that you can focus on besides labor, like increasing their productivity. ⁓ I know dental offices. you can get a full if you pay a dentist in the Philippines five dollars an hour.   You get the best dentists in the Philippines. And I and there's dental offices that with Zoom and things like that are doing all their insurance and their claims and all that stuff. I mean, ⁓ so the with with with ⁓ with the internet, I mean you can literally have someone ⁓ be at the front desk ⁓ on a on a kiosk that's actually a dentist from the Philippines from five dollars an hour who when he's not busy can be calling your insurance companies all that. I I want to ask you another thing that's really hot on Dentaltown.   today. Everybody keeps talking about these dental insurance EFTs versus virtual credit cards. but basically everybody's reporting that major dental companies like even Delta are gonna stop sending paper checks and you gotta do it all electronic. And I guess that that electronic could be free, but it could be you know it could be another three and a half or three percent credit card fee on all your claims. Or what or what are your thoughts on all that? I'm hard on that   I have and I'm a hard no on the credit cards. Like, why? Why are you doing that? EFTs are so fast. Like there's absolutely no reason to be paying this. Explain to my home. A lot of them don't even know what a EFT. Mo I I bet 80% of the the dentists listen don't even know what we're talking about. Will you explain it? Will you explain it like I just graduated from dental school eight minutes ago? Of course. Well, I think that this is also where going back a little bit where you said, like, do dentists need to know the business? To me.   You don't even have to know that much, but I want to just challenge you that if you're getting a three, three and a half percent cut on your payments for quote unquote ease, that's a real big hit. And I would just challenge you to think about like for what and why. And so coming in, there's different ways the insurances are going to pay you. So they're gonna pay you via paper check, they're gonna pay you via EFT, which is a electronic fund transfer, or they've got this new thing where they're gonna pay you via credit card. And like honestly, to me, the credit card is so scammy.   And I've talked to so many people and like educate me, like, why would anybody do this? Like, I cannot comprehend. Like, I'm already taking a cut on insurance as is. Like, thank you for my marketing fee to be an insurance. Like, that's how I view that that write-off. Like, I know you hate it, but you're also gonna, you're either gonna have to do that, or you're gonna have to pay for marketing to bring in fee for service patients. So, like, again, let's just think about that. But I'm like, so I've already got a cut there, but I'm then gonna take another hit in addition to that for a credit card ease.   So as we're talking about that electronic fund transfers, they deposit straight into your bank account. The reason that some offices don't care for electronic fund transfers is because like trying to match it up is a like it kind of dumps and chunks into your bank account. So all you need to do is help your team members. Like there's ways that you can have it where it automatically emails your team when that comes through. So then they can go online and they can find out what the EFT was, so then they can balance and like enter it in.   I do think dentistry software is so dated because what happens is when we get paid from the insurance company, we get either like it's called an EOB, it's an explanation of benefits, and it's like batch checks. So when they dump this money to you, Delta's gonna give me like 20 grand. But like, who do I allocate that 20 grand to of all these patients? So that's I think where some people have like, well, electronic funds are so annoying and this and that. But I'm like, they're very quick, they're very fast, they're a lot safer than paper checks. Paper checks people do get embezzled on.   That I literally see no reason. Like, I don't care if you get it like one day sooner with a credit card, you are paying a huge hefty fee on that unnecessarily when electronic fund transfers are pretty much just as fast. Like maybe a like smidgey of a delay. But to me, that's a that's a very worthwhile smidgey of a delay. Because you're getting your payments so much faster. And as long as you're staying on top of it, you should still be able to maintain a 98% collections rate, even if you do checks or if you do electronic fund transfers. It just is so.   So dumb. I've yet to see a reason. But to me, I'm like insurances are so smart because it's just another way for them to take a chip out of what they're paying you and to have it come back to them. So again, think of the motive as to why they're offering. These people are not dumb. Those insurance companies, if you've ever gone to a business who's the biggest building in the entire city, it's your insurance companies. They're not dumb businesses. And I think we need to be smarter business owners that out think that. They always but Delta always says, we're   Yeah, so is Rolex Watch. Rolex Watch is a non profit. And and some of the CEOs of some of the anyway, we won't go there. But ⁓ yeah, ⁓ so what other ⁓ besides you know, when when someone tells me about their overhead, I tell them, look, I can't call the government and have my tax rate lowered. I can't call the nuclear power plant SRP or APS and tell them to lower my electric bill. I mean, something I i if the hygienists can   Wants a dollar an hour and if I say no, I'll give you 75 cents and she can go get a dollar across the street. I mean the market sets many, many prices. So the only way to fight that back is to ⁓ increase your productivity. You know, I mean if if if you have a dollar in labor and they do a dollar in dentistry, your overhead is a hundred percent. But if your dollar in overhead can do two dollars in dentistry, now it's down to fifty percent. So how so ⁓ are there other   ⁓ hidden gaps that are quietly draining profitability, or has it just come down to production? Or is it both I like I'm so glad you brought this up because I think like it's so easy to sit here and say, like, dentistry's not profitable. But I'm like, go find me another business that has a one percent fell rate that usually can run twenty to thirty percent profit margins if you run a business right. And this is not just Kiera sitting here fluff. This is like I got real clients running at these margins consistently. They've got large practices, small practices.   And so when I look at this and I'm like, okay, how do we make this more efficient? A lot of people want to go to the first thing of like, let's cut insurances. And I'm like, yay, pop the confetti, but be real smart. Because again, you're gonna then increase marketing fees, you're gonna lose a lot of your patient base. Like, let's just think through the ramifications. And so there's lots of different ways that we can increase productivity and not have to go for the cut. So I look at three levers that I found that can increase a practice. So one is we can increase our production. We're talking net production, not gross, like please feed your family, not your ego. So that's number one.   Number two is what's your collection percentage? Cause half the time doctors feel like they're broke and they don't have money, but your money's sitting in AR, which is your aging reports or your accounts receivable. We're not collecting the money and we don't have a good billing process. We got to get our collections up to 98%. And then the third thing is like we cut costs. And so looking at that, a lot of people want to go to just cut costs. I'm like, but in dentistry, let's break it down. If I want to add 10 grand more to my practice.   I love to help teams. Most offices are working four days a week. So if we're wanting to add 10 grand to a practice, working four days a week, let's do 10,000 and we're working 16 days a month. That's an extra six twenty-five a day. Well, how can we make six twenty-five in a dental practice? Let's think about our fluoride applications. Let's think about FMXs. Like I'm just talking, this is your lowest hanging fruit for you. Let's talk about could we add one or two fillings? Could we add like same-day dentistry, which is going to make more raving fans for our patients? There is so much ease in there.   Now, to increase our production, we can also look at our case acceptance. Doctors have so much case acceptance. And also, what are we diagnosing? I'm like, doctors, if you want to be producing 100 grand a month, the statistics are you need to be diagnosing three times that amount. And then we need to make sure our treatment coordinators are really good at diagnosing explaining treatment to them. They're not diagnosing, but they're explaining the treatment. They're presenting it in a way. We're not using insurance as our main driver. We're using it as like a coupon. And then we're really good at our follow through and our follow up.   Gotta have a right person, right seat in your treatment coordinator seat that's obsessive with hitting the right goals. And so there's like so many little ways. Like you can in I have added block scheduling, which I know is like a consultant's number one favorite thing to talk about, but like make it really make sense and easy for your team. I've added a million to a practice with no extra days, no extra work. We literally are just being more strategic with how we schedule. And so there's just so many little ways that I want dentists to realize like,   To me, I get really excited. This is where I geek out as a consultant. I geek out and I love to help that is because I'm like, how can I like squeeze more juice from the lemon you're already in? Like, let's just make more lemonade. Let's figure out ways to do it. And then let's make sure our costs are effective. So we teach your teams how to look at the business as a business. We teach each team member about their one KPI that's really going to drive it forward. We help them track. I just did this with an office manager this week and she's so lit up to look at her numbers, to look at her metrics, to see how she can do it.   And when they start to see how they can click it through, it's not you trying to push and drive more money. Like doctors, I tell everybody, every team member, you want your doctor to be so freaking profitable. Because if they're profitable and they're like they're secure, your life is so much better. So like I'm like dentists, we got to get you profitable, we to get the cash flow, we got to get you less stressed because you're gonna be a better dentist and a better business owner. But how are there's so many little easy ways where it's just low-hanging   Typically I'm able to add 10 to 30% of production in usually 90 days to an office, like very consistently with just small little reps, no real extra work. How are we doing our exams? Are we being directive in our treatment planning? Are we using like, okay, next visit I want to see you for this? And when do I want to see you back? And how much time is this going to take? Like, let's break down the barriers of treatment planning. There's so many little simple things that if you just implement, you can be very profitable very easily.   And then look at your P L. If you're not looking at your P and L every single week or month, like just being aware, getting into the language of business, that's also gonna help you too. So yes, cut. ⁓ but I found that it's always a lot easier to make sure our collections match, our production matches, and we use those little low hanging fruits. ⁓ and it's there. Like dentistry is such a magical, like, like it's a great lemon tree. You can make a lot of lemonade out of a dental practice. I want you to tell me if I'm right or wrong or or   I think I think there's two threes to double your price. Number one, if three people call your front desk, one is going to come in because they're smart and they need to they know they need to get their teeth clean. One isn't gonna come in for anything and you can hear them vaping and smoking and drinking beer and eating Cheetos on the call. But one out of three needs a little extra push. And if you train the person answering the phone, they can close that one out of three. And if they do, they doubled your practice. Then when they get in, you still got the now you got three people in chair.   One's gonna do what you say because you're a doctor and they've done their their author search and and you say they got a cavity, they're not gonna argue with you. One's not gonna do anything. In fact, in fact in fact I was like I had about a dozen patients that in the middle of my treatment plan, they asked me if they could just take a cigarette break ⁓ from my presentation and they went outside, had a cigarette, came back. They're gonna do it. But the other one in three needs some some closing skills. And so if you if you can close on the phone   You doubled your practice. You you got two butts in instead of instead of one. And if you fix your treatment plan presentation, you're gonna do two cases at one. And I think it's so funny now because the dentists have never let their hygienist or assistant, let alone receptionist, do any diagnosing treatment plan. But now AI, Pearl, and Overjet diagnosing all the cavities. So you wouldn't let your hygienist while she's in there for an hour.   Diagnose and treatment plan and sell the dentistry, the assistant while they're taking FMX, they they can't point out, yeah, see, that's a cavity, you don't need a filling and a root now. yeah, they couldn't do it because they were humans. But now Pearl and Overjeck can do it all day long and you're good with that. I mean, so so what how do you how do you double the close rate from one out of three to two out of three on the phone? How do you double the treatment plan acceptance rate from one to two out of three? Yeah. Do you do you agree those are possible goals?   Absolutely, Howard. I think again, this is the low hanging fruit that people are like, but that feels so hard. And I'm like, choose your hard. Like, is it harder to spend a little time with a front office and train them how to do this? Is it a little like, or is it harder to be cash flow negative? Like you choose what's your hard to me? Absolutely. Let's go after that. And I agree with you. Like teaching a team to preheat an oven, I call it what would doctor do. And so like, let's train our hygienist.   Like I tell all hygienists, doctor should be the second opinion, not the first opinion. And you got Pearl and you got Overjet. And so just spending a little bit of time with your team. So what we typically do for case acceptance, like let's go hit that one quick and then we'll talk about scheduling. Is I'm really big on let's get the whole team where we're talking the same language. So we recommend, like, what would doctor do? I recommend you run this over the course of six weeks, is typically how long it takes, anywhere from six weeks to maybe three months.   but we're gonna sit there and we're literally going to go through. We're gonna pull up an FMX. We're gonna do it one day over lunch. Hygienists, doctors, and if you want front office and dental assistance, rock on. But really, I want my like people that are seeing the bulk of my patients with doctor and hygiene. We're gonna look there and I want all of our hygienists to start like if we have an FMX up there and the interaurals, what is doctor going to recommend and how is doctor gonna talk about it? We're not just gonna sit here and have a nice little chit-chat. We're each gonna write it down because I wanna make sure every hygienist starts to get very, very comfortable. And the goal that I tell all hygienists is   Your goal should be at the end of this, what would doctor do training over six weeks? And if doctors are really consistent with it, I'm like six weeks of training to be able to double your practice and increase your case acceptance to me is a very good use of my time. So if I can do that, doctors and hygienists, you should be able to have 95% accuracy with your doctors at the end of this. And they do it. So hygienists get really lit up and they get very excited about it because now they're able to preheat the oven. They're able to talk to patients about it, use Pearl, use Overjet.   And then doctors, when they tee it up to you, and I say like hygienist, you've got to be the ones who first like introduce it, talk about it with the doctor as soon as they come in, but be real quick. So we introduce the patient, we compliment the patient on something, we recap the treatment that's discussed and we say something personal. Hygienist, you do that, your doctor exams will be much shorter for you and doctors will love it because it's very quick. If we can get that dialed in, and then doctors, you have a very like confirm the treatment.   then recommend exactly what needs to happen. And then we take that same baton up to the front office and front office, we schedule first. We then present the treatment. We use insurance secondary. I'm never leading with insurance. You do these little items which seem like, ⁓ no, that's like very quick, easy things. You're going to rapidly be able to help those ones. And then I do a two two two follow-up. So if they did not close for me and I'm going to go through it and I'm going to work through and I'm going to track all the people that didn't say yes to me and all the people that did say yes to me.   I'm gonna look for patterns. What are people saying yes? Like those are easy ones. Those are the gimme's. Those are the easy patients that Howard said. I'm looking for the people that say no and what's my pattern in there? And how do I change my verbiage? Because treatment planning is 80% psychology, 20% skill. So like what are you thinking? How are we presenting it? What are the words we're saying? One or two little changes usually will close that. What are the patterns and how can I get that number up higher? And I follow up with them in two days, two weeks, two months to make sure that they don't follow off.   People are like, Kiera, you really make your treatment coordinator do that? And like, yeah, I was your treatment coordinator that closed $50,000 same day. And this is exactly what I did. This is how I've trained co offices across the nation to do it. You just have these simple little things that help them out. And then you flip over to our scheduling. Like, I think scheduling's easy, Howard. I genuinely do. I'm like, half of it is just be nice. Like you got the COVID crank, and so many people are so grumpy and so like.   Annoyed when they pick up the phone, then I'm like, you can already leap your ahead by just being nice and being excited to welcome a patient. Then take like charge of that conversation. So let's take the ownership of that conversation. If someone's Do you take my insurance? I'm going to quickly redirect and say, my gosh, how did you hear about us? I'm going to answer that, but I want to find out how did they hear about us? If it's our Google reviews, if it's a referral, if it's somewhere else, I want to like say, my gosh, you're so lucky to be here.   We love our patients. We love our reviews. I can't wait for you to be a great raving fan too. let's talk about this. I can everything can be overcome. Please do not let being out of network stop people. It's a thousand dollar coupon and we're turning people away over that. No, no, no. We are better than that. And if we are the best dentist, they need to be coming to us. We need to win these patients over, make them feel so loved. Let's get them scheduled. Let's make this a great experience for them. Let's make them feel so excited. I did it with PT called like six offices.   And the office I chose, like so many people were annoyed I was calling. Can I put you on hold? Can I do this? And I was like, no one really wants my business. If you're just nice and you take control of that conversation, you can easily turn and transform your practice. So hopefully that was like not too much. I like I love these things. I love training treatment planning. I love training how to like take control of a phone call. I love helping teams overcome those little simple objections because it's very, very simple things.   that make massive leaps and bounds of change. And it's a great way to double your practice very easily, like you said.   The Dental A Team (36:13) All right, Dental A Team listeners, that was the guest interview that I absolutely loved. And I hope that if there was one idea that stood out to you, don't just agree with it, but actually go implement it this week. And if you need help setting this up in your practice or you need help just navigating or need a friend, head on over to TheDentalATeam.com and I'll be able to help you guys out. Click on the book of call or any way that we can support and serve you. That's what we're here for. That's what we're obsessed with. And as always, thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.

In this episode, Howard Farran sits down with Dr. Jay Reznick, a Diplomate of the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and one of North America's earliest adopters of fully-guided, prosthetically-based implant surgery. Trained at Tufts, USC, and L.A. County-USC Medical Center, Dr. Reznick holds both a DMD and an MD — and has spent the last two decades at the forefront of 3D digital technology in dentistry, becoming the first specialist in the U.S. to integrate CBCT and CAD/CAM into clinical practice. He is a co-founder of OnlineOralSurgery.com, a leading educational platform for practicing dentists seeking to expand their surgical skills, and a frequent lecturer and live-course instructor for dentists around the world. The conversation draws on his extensive clinical and teaching experience, exploring the evolution of implant surgery, the impact of digital workflows, and what it takes to bring advanced surgical techniques into everyday dental practice.   Episode #1705 : Dentistry Uncensored with Howard Farran, Howard sits down with Dr. Jay Reznick — oral and maxillofacial surgeon, DMD, MD, and one of the true pioneers of digital implant surgery in the United States. The first specialist in the country to integrate CBCT and CAD/CAM in practice, Dr. Reznick has spent two decades teaching dentists around the world how to think bigger, operate smarter, and deliver better surgical outcomes.

In this episode, Howard Farran sits down with Drs. Jessica and Richard Marn — a wife-and-husband team whose combined expertise in pediatric dentistry and anesthesiology has led them to a mission-driven focus on sedation safety in dental and oral surgery practices. Jessica is a board-certified pediatric dentist and private practice owner with over two decades of experience in New York City, while Richard is dual board-certified in anesthesiology and pediatric anesthesiology, with over 18,000 anesthetics delivered and faculty experience training Harvard Hospital anesthesiologists in crisis resource management and performance under pressure. Together, they developed the Boring Sedation Method — a systems-based approach built on the belief that sedation is a practice capability, not just a provider technique. The conversation explores what most practices are missing even when they have the right permits, monitors, and emergency drugs in place, how stronger systems make routine sedation smoother and deviations less likely to become emergencies, and what dentists and oral surgeons should assess first if they want to know how solid their sedation systems really are. Episode #1704 : Dentistry Uncensored with Howard Farran, Howard sits down with Drs. Jessica and Richard Marn — a pediatric dentist and dual board-certified anesthesiologist who together are redefining how dental practices approach sedation safety.  Their concept? Boring Sedation. The goal isn't dramatic rescue — it's building systems so reliable that problems get caught early and cases stay predictable. 

In this episode, Howard Farran sits down with Shreyas Parab, co-founder and CEO of DayDream, an AI-powered dental revenue cycle company serving hundreds of practices nationwide. Shreyas opens up about growing up in his mother's dental practice — and how watching real inefficiencies play out every day ultimately inspired him to build what she never had. The conversation is candid and wide-ranging, covering what Shreyas looks at first when assessing the true health of a practice, where dentists are overcomplicating things that have simple fixes, and where AI in dentistry is genuinely overhyped right now. He also shares what he would do differently if he could design a dental practice from scratch today — a question that draws on both his insider upbringing and his outsider perspective as a tech founder building solutions for the profession.   Episode #1703 : Dentistry Uncensored with Howard Farran, Howard sits down with Shreyas Parab — co-founder and CEO of DayDream — who grew up in his mother's dental practice, saw the broken systems up close, and built the solution he wished they'd had. From spotting hidden revenue leaks to cutting through the AI hype, Shreyas brings a refreshingly honest outside perspective on what's really holding dental practices back.

In this episode, Howard Farran sits down with Dr. Bob Marcus, retired San Diego dentist, dental office coach, and co-founder of Kick Your Apps, Inc. — the company behind DDS GP, an award-winning iPad app that helps dentists explain conditions and treatment options through simple, patient-friendly visuals. Dr. Marcus brings a psychologist's eye to the treatment planning conversation, exploring why so many offices feel busy but fail to convert that activity into real production. The discussion covers what a great treatment plan presentation actually looks like, why case acceptance is about trust and clarity more than price, and how shoulder-to-shoulder communication transforms the patient experience. Dr. Marcus and Howard also dig into smarter ways to stay profitable within insurance networks and share the story behind DDS GP — now used by over 15,000 dental professionals across 65 countries.   Episode #1702 : Dentistry Uncensored with Howard Farran, Howard sits down with Dr. Bob Marcus — retired clinician, dental coach, and co-founder of DDS GP, the award-winning iPad app used by over 15,000 dental professionals in 65 countries. From the psychology of treatment planning to why busy practices still struggle with production, Dr. Marcus breaks down what case acceptance really means — and how better patient communication changes everything.

In this episode, Howard Farran sits down with Sarah Beth Herman, CEO of Dentistry Support®, Dentistry Support Academy, and a nationally recognized leader in dental operations, staffing, and team development. Armed with an MBA earned Summa Cum Laude and over two decades of real-world experience, Sarah Beth brings sharp opinions and practical solutions to some of the most overlooked problems in dental practice management. The conversation covers why percentage-of-collections pricing models misalign incentives and penalize growing practices, why insurance verification should be treated as a standard of care rather than an add-on service, and how clean AR is achievable at any size with the right staffing and systems in place. Sarah Beth and Howard also dig into what makes a schedule truly profitable versus just full, and why SOPs — far from being a corporate bureaucracy — are the single greatest tool a dentist has for removing themselves as the bottleneck. Sarah Beth also shares the story behind Dentistry Support's 2025 BBB Torch Award for Ethics and what building a global team across nine countries has taught her about leadership done right.   Episode #1701 : Dentistry Uncensored with Howard Farran, Howard sits down with Sarah Beth Herman — CEO of Dentistry Support®, 2025 BBB Torch Award winner, and one of dentistry's most candid voices on leadership, systems, and back-office operations. From percentage-based billing models she disagrees with, to AR aging, scheduling structure, and why SOPs aren't corporate — they're freedom — Sarah Beth doesn't hold back.

In this episode, Howard Farran sits down with Kiera Dent, founder and CEO of The Dental A Team, whose nearly 2 million podcast downloads and hundreds of coached practices speak for themselves. Kiera cuts straight to the heart of why so many dental practices feel stuck — not because they lack patients or production, but because they lack systems. The conversation covers the hidden gaps that drain profitability even in high-producing practices, why dentists often become the ceiling of their own growth, and how to build a team that supports the doctor instead of depending on them. Kiera and Howard also dig into scheduling as a revenue lever, the real reasons patients say no to treatment, the KPIs that actually drive decisions, and the difference between a nice culture and an accountable one. Whether you're feeling chaotic, stalled, or simply ready to level up, this episode delivers both the clarity and the practical tools to move forward.   Episode #1700 : Dentistry Uncensored with Howard Farran, Howard sits down with Kiera Dent — founder and CEO of The Dental A Team — for a straight-talking conversation on why busy practices still struggle, and what it actually takes to build a profitable, system-driven dental business. From scheduling and case acceptance to culture, accountability, and breaking the "rockstar employee" dependency — Kiera brings the energy and the answers.

1699 The Irreplaceable Dental Team - Heather-Dawn Lawson-Meyers : Dentistry Uncensored with Howard Farran   In this special episode, the tables are turned — Howard Farran joins Dr. Heather-Dawn Lawson-Myers as a guest on The Irreplaceable Dental Team Podcast. Dr. Lawson-Myers, a transformational speaker, Maxwell Leadership Certified Trainer, and Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach with over 30 years in dentistry, brings a sharp set of questions that pull some of Howard's most direct insights to the surface. The conversation covers Howard's foundational framework of People, Time, and Money — and the order in which practices should prioritize them. Howard shares counter-intuitive business rules most dentists ignore, what it really means to empower a team member in a single day, and why collecting payment upfront doesn't just improve cash flow — it actually strengthens the patient relationship. The episode also tackles the metrics that matter most in a healthy practice, the systems that are overcomplicated and how to simplify them, and the one non-negotiable trait Howard hires for beyond clinical skill. The conversation closes with a reflection on building community — locally and globally — and the single piece of advice Howard would give his younger self on day one.   Episode #1699 : Dentistry Uncensored with Howard Farran, This time, Howard Farran is in the guest seat — joining Dr. Heather-Dawn Lawson-Myers on The Irreplaceable Dental Team Podcast for a candid, no-holds-barred conversation on people, money, leadership, and what it really takes to build a thriving dental practice. From hiring for character over skill to getting paid upfront and building community, Howard brings decades of hard-won wisdom in true uncensored fashion.

In this episode, Howard Farran sits down with Dr. Tesa Jolly, a rural practice owner based in Pulaski, Tennessee, whose career has been defined by service, resilience, and a willingness to think differently. From unexpectedly becoming a practice owner shortly after graduation, to founding one of Tennessee's longest-running Free Dental Day events, Dr. Jolly has built a practice and a life around long-term impact. Today, her focus is on how dentists can harness AI not as a productivity shortcut, but as a genuine thinking partner — one that turns scattered thoughts into structured decisions and invisible stress into visible, actionable systems. The conversation explores why dentists are uniquely wired for AI, how Dr. Jolly uses it daily to stress test decisions and build workflows, and where most dentists are getting it wrong by asking too little of the technology available to them.   Episode #1698 : Dentistry Uncensored with Howard Farran, Howard sits down with Dr. Tesa Jolly — rural practice owner, national award winner, and one of dentistry's most compelling voices on AI and operational clarity. Her take? Dentists aren't behind on AI. We're already wired for it. This episode is about stopping to use it like Google — and starting to use it like a thinking partner.

In this episode, Howard Farran sits down with Dr. Nigel Kennedy, affectionately known as "No Pain Nigel," who retired in 2025 after a remarkable 46-year career dedicated to transforming the experience of anxious dental patients. Nigel shares how a simple A-frame board outside his practice became the unlikely spark that launched a movement, and how his partnership with Anthony Gedge helped turn a personal clinical philosophy into the Pain-Free Dentistry Institute. The conversation covers his 15-step pain-free protocol, why emotional safety and trust matter as much as technique, and how that work later inspired dentist Mark Skimming to build the Pain Free Dentistry Group, now spanning over 14 clinics across the UK. Nigel also reflects on receiving praise from Professor Stanley Malamed, his MBE nomination, and the motivation behind his book, Painless Dentistry? Yes Please, a patient education resource born from decades of listening to people who were simply too afraid to seek care.   Episode #1697 : Dentistry Uncensored with Howard Farran, Howard sits down with Dr. Nigel Kennedy — aka "No Pain Nigel" — the retired UK dentist whose gentle, patient-first approach helped spark the pain-free dentistry movement across Britain. After 46 years in practice, an MBE nomination, and praise from Professor Stanley Malamed himself, Nigel shares the story behind the movement, the protocol, and the simple A-frame sign that started it all.

1696 Practice Ownership : Dentistry Uncensored with Howard Farran   In this episode, Howard Farran sits down with Dr. David Weber, a third-generation dentist practicing in Michigan City, Indiana, and co-founder of Restore Dental Lab, Restore Dental Education, and Clever Dental Co. Dr. Weber shares the lessons learned moving from associate to owner, and from solo practice to group model — including the unexpected challenges of each transition. The conversation digs into the rewards and pitfalls of hiring new graduates, what it takes to build a strong team culture, and why so many dentists are stepping back from ownership just as corporate consolidation accelerates. Dr. Weber makes a compelling case for dentist-owned regional groups as a meaningful alternative to private equity — and asks a harder question: why are dentists forfeiting control of their own industry?   Episode #1696 : Dentistry Uncensored with Howard Farran, Howard sits down with Dr. David Weber — third-generation dentist, AGD Fellow, and co-founder of Restore Dental Lab, Restore Dental Education, and Clever Dental Co. — to talk about what it really takes to build and grow a dentist-owned practice in today's market. From solo owner to group practice, hiring new grads, and pushing back against PE consolidation — this is an honest conversation about protecting the soul of private dentistry.

Welcome to the Irreplaceable Dental Team podcast brought to you by DAME - Dental Assisting Made Easy. A safe space to be mentored, empowered, and equipped. We are here to discuss the hot topic of how we as dentists can connect with AI, courtesy of Dr. Howard Farran. Let's learn and stay on the grow! Please remember to subscribe, rate, and share. DAME - Dental Assisting Made Easy. We are better together!A big thank you to local Jamaican artist, Owen Pinnock, for the original music on our podcast.

In this episode, Howard Farran sits down with Dr. Sonia Szamocki, Oxford-trained physician and Founder and CEO of 32Co, a UK-based AI-powered health tech platform bringing specialist-level care to high street dental practices. Dr. Szamocki shares her journey from emergency medicine and ophthalmology to Boston Consulting Group and ultimately to founding 32Co — driven by a conviction that technology, not more specialists, is the key to solving access in healthcare. The conversation explores how 32Co is tackling two major areas — orthodontics and sleep medicine — by connecting general dentists with specialist oversight, AI-driven workflows, and full compliance infrastructure. With 90% of the UK population within 30 minutes of a 32Co dentist, the platform is also pioneering the bridge between dentistry and mainstream medicine through its patient-facing sleep brand, Aerox Health. Howard and Dr. Szamocki also compare the UK and US healthcare landscapes and what each can learn from the other. Episode #1695 : Dentistry Uncensored with Howard Farran, Howard sits down with Dr. Sonia Szamocki — Oxford-trained physician, founder, and CEO of 32Co — to talk about using AI to bring specialist-level care to everyday dental practices.  From clear aligners to sleep apnea, 32Co is quietly reshaping how dentistry and medicine connect — and why that gap has cost patients for far too long.

In this episode, Howard Farran sits down with Dr. William Cliff, practicing endodontist and Founder and CEO of Asesso Health. With over 28 years of clinical experience, Dr. Cliff shares how repeated frustration with undiagnosed TMJ and bruxism patients led him to create a first-of-its-kind integrated solution — combining a dentist-designed grind guard, a proprietary sensor module, and a mobile app that tracks grinding intensity, sleep quality, and jaw pain over time. The conversation explores the gap between tooth pain and jaw pain, why traditional night guards fail patients, and how real-time data is changing the way dentists and patients approach treatment and accountability.   Episode #1694 : Dentistry Uncensored with Howard Farran, Howard sits down with Dr. William Cliff — endodontist, founder, and CEO of Asesso Health — to talk about one of dentistry's most underserved problems: TMJ and bruxism. After 28 years of watching patients struggle with ineffective night guards and undiagnosed jaw pain, Dr. Cliff built something new — the first integrated solution that tracks real-time grinding data and measurable improvement over time.

In this episode, Howard Farran sits down with Arun Mehra, Founder and CEO of Samera Business Advisors and a UK Chartered Accountant with over 20 years of experience advising dental businesses. Together they tackle some of the most pressing questions in modern dentistry — from the state of global DSO consolidation and the hidden back-office costs killing margins, to workforce shortages, practice valuations, and whether the solo-owner model still has a future. Arun brings a sharp international lens to the conversation, drawing on insights from both the US and European markets to explore what it really takes to build a dental business that lasts.   Episode #1693 : Dentistry Uncensored with Howard Farran, Howard sits down with Arun Mehra, Founder & CEO of Samera Business Advisors, for a sharp, no-nonsense conversation on the global business of dentistry. From DSO consolidation and back-office automation to workforce shortages, practice valuations, and the future of solo ownership — this episode is packed with insight for any dentist thinking seriously about growth and longevity.

Episode #1692 : Dentistry Uncensored with Howard Farran, Victoria Peterson of Productive Dentist Academy shares powerful insights on building a practice that's not just profitable—but truly sustainable. From honoring the legacy of co-founder Dr. Bruce Baird to navigating private equity, AI, and the evolving role of ownership, this episode dives deep into what it really takes to create a durable, people-first practice in today's landscape. Victoria Peterson is Co-Founder and CEO of Productive Dentist Academy and a nationally recognized dental entrepreneur, speaker, and author. With more than 30 years of experience in dentistry—beginning as a registered dental hygienist and later owning five practices through Neighborhood Smiles, LLC—she blends real-world business expertise with a unique background in Spiritual Studies to help dentists build profitable, purpose-driven practices. An award-winning leader, including the 2013 Silver Stevie Female Entrepreneur of the Year, she is the host of the Investment Grade Practice™ podcast and an advisor to Dental Entrepreneur Women. Victoria is known for championing long-term ownership, strong leadership, and building durable practices that are both financially successful and deeply human.

Episode #1691 : Dentistry Uncensored with Howard Farran, Dr. Tony Schicktanz and Dr. Alex Besmer bring a fresh, next-generation perspective to the profession. From building clinical skills in implants and prosthodontics to navigating early career decisions, business growth, and patient psychology, this conversation is candid, insightful, and packed with real-world lessons for young dentists.

Dr. Kartik Antani is a Top 40 Under 40 dentist with expertise in sleep dentistry, TMJ therapy, dental implants, and group practice operations. Having purchased and scaled multiple practices, he brings a rare blend of clinical insight and operational strategy, with a focus on reducing inefficiencies, improving profitability, and creating sustainable practice models. He frequently writes and speaks on patient education, leadership, burnout, and the evolving role of AI in dentistry, drawing from both personal experience and real-world implementation. Passionate about helping dentists think bigger while maintaining balance and fulfillment, he offers a grounded perspective on building high-performing practices without sacrificing well-being. Episode #1690 : Dentistry Uncensored with Howard Farran, Dr. Kartik Antani shares real-world lessons on scaling dental practices, avoiding burnout, and building smarter systems. From buying and growing multiple practices to identifying inefficiencies and improving profitability, Dr. Antani dives into what actually works—and what doesn't—when it comes to sustainable growth. Plus, insights on leadership, AI in practice, and managing the pressures dentists face every day.

Episode #1688 : Dentistry Uncensored with Howard Farran, three industry leaders—Dr. Edward Rossomando, Dr. Gordon Christensen, and Chuck Cohen—come together for a wide-ranging discussion on the present and future impact of AI in dentistry. From clinical innovation to practice management and education, this roundtable explores how students, new grads, and experienced dentists can stay ahead of the curve as technology rapidly reshapes the profession.

1688 Jay & Flint Geier : Dentistry Uncensored with Howard Farran Jay Geier is the founder of the Scheduling Institute, Practice Growth Institute, and Net Worth Institute, and author of New Patients Now. Since 1997, his training organizations have helped more than 35,000 doctors and teams grow private practices through proven systems for new patient acquisition, case acceptance, and business value creation. He also hosts The Private Practice Playbook podcast. Flint Geier is the President of the Scheduling Institute, where he leads strategic growth, operations, and implementation of programs focused on patient experience, marketing, and treatment acceptance. Together, Jay and Flint work to help independent dental practices scale sustainably, improve profitability, and build long-term enterprise value.

Episode #1687 : Dentistry Uncensored with Howard Farran, Howard sits down with Jaclyn Nona, CEO & co-founder of Clever Dental Co., to talk about a smarter, more sustainable way to market your dental practice. This episode breaks down why internal marketing beats outsourcing, how your own team can build trust, culture, and patient loyalty, and why authenticity and consistency matter more than polished agency content. If you've ever felt stuck between doing nothing or overpaying an agency, this conversation is for you.

1686 Wesley Read - PracticeCFO and Practice Orbit : Dentistry Uncensored with Howard Farran   Wesley Read, CPA, CFP®, is the Founder and CEO of PracticeCFO and Practice Orbit, and a nationally recognized financial strategist for dental practice owners. A former Big 4 accountant at Ernst & Young, Wes left corporate accounting to focus exclusively on helping doctors run more profitable practices and build long-term financial independence through CFO-level guidance. Through PracticeCFO, Wes provides dentists with integrated accounting, tax, payroll, and financial planning services, pairing each client with a dedicated CFO Advisor who understands both their business and personal finances. He is also the creator of Associates On Fire, a free financial education platform for dental associates, and the host of The Dental Board Room Podcast and The Dental Practice Sale Podcast. Wes holds both bachelor's and master's degrees in accountancy from Brigham Young University and is Series 65 licensed.  

Episode #1685 of Dentistry Uncensored with Howard Farran explores 12 Practical Tips for Practice Management with Bill Rossi. Bill Rossi is a nationally recognized dental practice management consultant with over 35 years of experience helping dentists grow more profitable, efficient, and sustainable practices. Through Advanced Practice Management, Bill and his team are actively involved in the ongoing management of 250+ dental practices across the Upper Midwest. Each month, Bill analyzes more than $30 million in dental activity and conducts 600+ on-site consultations annually, giving him a uniquely deep and practical perspective on what truly works in real-world dentistry. His approach is tactical, data-driven, and focused on delivering measurable results dentists can implement immediately.

Episode #1684 of Dentistry Uncensored with Howard Farran explores Finding Your Niche in Dentistry with Dr. Priya Mistry — aka The TMJ Doc. Dr. Mistry shares how focusing on TMJ/TMD, head & neck pain, and dental sleep medicine transformed her practice, and how social media can help dentists clarify their niche, attract the right patients, and grow with purpose. From what to film and post, to why specialization matters more than ever, this episode is packed with practical insight.

Dr. Christian Stanfield is a dentist, entrepreneur, and the founder of Elevate Dental Consulting where he helps dentists turn their practices into high-profit, low-stress businesses that actually support their lives.  After graduating in 2020, Dr. Stanfield went all in, buying and merging three practices (soon to be 4) into one thriving location: Glendale Gentle Dentistry. Paving a way in one of Arizona's most saturated markets, that bold move helped him hit seven-figure profitability while cutting stress and building a model that dentists can replicate in ANY market.  Today, he's on a mission to teach practice owners how to build wealth, reclaim their time, and fall back in love with dentistry through smarter systems, leadership, and strategy, not just more chair time. Website: elevateyourdental.com Instagram: @elevatedentalcoaching Elevate Dental Academy on Teachable: The Profitable Dentist Academy Practice: glendalegentledentistry.com

Evan Sampson is a practicing attorney with the law firm, Post and Schell.  Evan has been representing dentists and dental organizations for over a decade in transactional, regulatory, and litigation matters. Not only has Evan counseled dentists in an outside counsel capacity, he has also served in-house with multi-site organizations including the largest dental support organization in New Jersey. Given Evan's in-house counsel background, he brings a pragmatic and business-minded approach to help dentists achieve their goals. Episode #1682 of Dentistry Uncensored with Howard Farran dives into the legal side of dentistry with attorney Evan Sampson of Post & Schell — a seasoned expert who has spent over a decade guiding dentists through transactional, regulatory, and litigation challenges. From practice transitions and corporate practice rules to billing risks, employment law, HIPAA, marketing compliance, and more, Evan breaks down the real-world legal issues dentists face every day — and how to reduce risk with practical, business-minded strategies.

Arjan de Roy joined Dentsply Sirona in 2015. In his position as Group Vice President of Essential Dental Solutions (EDS) he leads the Global Business Unit including Endodontics, Restorative and Preventive. Before that Arjan served as GVP Lab Strategy Commercialization, GVP of the Commercial Organization DACH (Germany/Austria/Switzerland) and General Manager at the VDW Division.   Prior to Dentsply Sirona, Arjan earned his first accolades in the dental industry with Ormco Europe, where he served as their Country Manager Germany/Austria/Switzerland. He is a graduate of Erasmus University Rotterdam and Michigan State University.  

In this episode of the Dental Boardroom Podcast, host Wes Read, CPA and financial advisor at Practice CFO, and Dr. Howard Farran, Founder of Dentaltown, delve into the evolving landscape of dental ownership from the rise of private equity in dentistry to the challenges and opportunities facing today's practitioners.They explore how cheap financing and investor enthusiasm fueled massive consolidation in the dental space over the past decade, and why the focus is now shifting from quantity to quality. As interest rates rise and capital tightens, DSOs and private equity groups are becoming more selective, prioritizing well-run, profitable practices over sheer scale.The discussion also contrasts private equity-led DSOs with those founded and guided by dentists, examining how leadership, culture, and long-term vision shape patient outcomes and professional integrity.Dr. Farran passionately defends the importance of dentist-led organizations, transparency, and long-term patient relationships, emphasizing that dentistry is a “sacred profession,” not just a business. Wes complements this view with a grounded financial perspective, offering practical advice for dentists who aspire to grow sustainably, without losing their clinical focus or personal balance.Key TakeawaysThe PE Boom and Shift: Low interest rates and abundant capital fueled a buying frenzy in dental practices, but the landscape is changing with higher borrowing costs.From Volume to Value: DSOs are now focused on high-quality operations and sustainable cash flow rather than mass acquisitions.Dentist-Led vs. Investor-Led DSOs: Dr. Farran stresses that DSOs led by clinicians, not “suits,” create better care models and stronger trust with patients.Operational Mastery First: Before expanding, dentists should perfect one successful “prototype” practice much like McDonald's perfected its first store before scaling.Liquidity and Transparency Matter: Private equity's lack of transparency and illiquidity pose risks; publicly traded or dentist-owned models offer more accountability.AI and Dentistry: Both see promise and potential pitfalls as AI expands into diagnostics and insurance, cautioning that technology can empower or restrict clinicians depending on who controls it.

In this episode of the Dental Boardroom Podcast, host Wes Read, CPA and financial advisor at Practice CFO, sits down with Howard Farran, founder of Dentaltown and one of the most influential thought leaders in the dental industry. Together, they explore the evolution of dentistry from emerging AI technology to the rise of DSOs, the challenges new grads face, and the skills needed to thrive in today's rapidly shifting landscape. This episode delivers raw insights, bold perspectives, and practical lessons for dentists at every stage of their careers.Key PointsAI & the Future of DentistryAI is transforming dentistry at historic speed—comparable to the rise of the internet.Dentaltown is building AI tools to unlock insights from 10+ million dental conversations.AI won't replace dentists but dentists who adopt AI will replace those who don't.Example: Robotics like Yomi are enhancing implant surgery, not eliminating the surgeon.The Real DSO LandscapeNot all DSOs are massive corporate chains.The real competition for private practices? Local 4–9 location DSOs scaling smartly across small regions.These local groups win by leveraging:Shared marketingCentralized operationsBetter purchasing powerStructured systemsAdvice for Young DentistsStudent debt is real, but so are lifestyle choices that amplify it.Early career focus should be:Clinical reps and speedLearning practice systemsStrong mentorshipThe best first job is one that teaches:Business operationsFull-scope clinical carePatient flow and case acceptanceThe Competitive Edge for Private PracticePatients choose loyalty, trust, and relationships.Private practices win when they deliver:Consistency in careStable teamsReal human connectionHigh staff and doctor turnover in corporate settings creates opportunities for private offices to stand out.Know Your Numbers With the Right AdvisorA general accountant isn't enough in dentistry.Dentists need advisors who understand:PPO strategyOverhead benchmarksPractice-specific financial planningGrowth vs. profitabilitySpecialized financial guidance is a competitive advantage.Insurance is Not the Whole MarketHalf of patients don't have dental insurance.Present multiple treatment paths:Basic → Mid-tier → Ideal careNever assume what a patient can or can't afford—let them choose.Who Should Listen?✔ New dentists navigating debt and career choices ✔ Private practice owners competing with DSOs ✔ Clinicians curious about AI adoption ✔ Anyone wanting unfiltered industry truth

Max Milz is Group Vice President Connected Technology Solutions at Dentsply Sirona, leading its digital healthcare portfolio, which includes imaging, CAD/CAM, surgical equipment, and AI-based clinical software. A passionate tech leader, he previously spent 12 years at Siemens AG, including five years in China. He serves on the Advisory Board of the Value for Good Foundation and holds degrees from Harvard and Cambridge.   David Ferguson joined Dentsply Sirona as Senior Vice President, Global Business Units in March 2025. David Ferguson is a seasoned executive with extensive leadership experience in the medical device and healthcare industries. He has a strong track record of driving revenue growth, strategic transformation, and operational excellence across multiple global businesses. Most recently, he was President of Gore Medical, a unit of W.L. Gore. Previously, as EVP at Philips and President & CEO of Philips Respironics, he managed a global team of 6,000 people. At Baxter Healthcare, he led the global infusion therapy, IV solutions and patient monitoring business. He also held leadership roles at GE Healthcare. Mr. Ferguson is a Graduate of the Advanced Management Program of University of Chicago Booth School of Business and holds a PhD in Chemistry from Texas A&M University and Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from David Lipscomb University. He has served on multiple boards, including AZBio, Philips PAC, and Baxter International Foundation, and is a co-inventor of two U.S. patents and author of ten peer-reviewed publications.

Identifying and living your core values is the most important thing you will ever do. In this episode, Miranda Beeson, ACT's director of education, brings in ACT's founder, Kirk Behrendt, to share the story behind their core values, how they came to be, and why core values matter to a dental practice. To gain insight and inspiration for your core values, listen to Episode 967 of The Best Practices Show!Learn More About Miranda:Send Miranda an email: miranda@actdental.com Follow Miranda on ACT's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/actdentalSend Courtney an email to learn more about ACT: courtney@actdental.com More Helpful Links for a Better Practice & a Better Life:Subscribe to The Best Practices Show: https://the-best-practices-show.captivate.fm/listenJoin The Best Practices Association: https://www.actdental.com/bpaDownload ACT's BPA app on the Apple App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/best-practices-association/id6738960360Download ACT's BPA app on the Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.actdental.join&hl=en_USJoin ACT's To The Top Study Club: https://www.actdental.com/tttGet The Best Practices Magazine for free: https://www.actdental.com/magazinePlease leave us a review on the podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-best-practices-show-with-kirk-behrendt/id1223838218Episode Resources:Watch the video version of Episode 967: https://www.youtube.com/@actdental/videosWatch Episode 4 with Howard Farran: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMMaSIrhv2QRead Traction by Gino Wickman: https://benbellabooks.com/shop/tractionRead books by Patrick Lencioni: https://www.tablegroup.com/booksMain Takeaways:Identify your core values. It's the most important thing you will ever do.Core values are your compass. Use it as a filter for your decisions.Attract the behaviors and people you want with core values.Weave your core values into the fabric of your practice.Your team is the secret sauce to success.Snippets:0:00 Introduction.1:52 Kirk and Miranda's journeys with core values.13:39 Core values: Give > Get.19:27 Core values: Walk the Talk.25:38 Core values: We Before Me.29:58 Core...

Howard was the keynote speaker of the ICCMO back in September to discuss all things business and dental in light of the AI wave. Join Dentaltown.com today to learn great dentistry from great dentists!

Joining just prior to the launch of the SOLO sensor in 2016, Aaron brings over 30 years of sales, sales management, and marketing experience between Silicon Valley startups, virtual training, and dental imaging technology to JAZZ Imaging. Aaron's first experience in digital radiography was with DEXIS in 2002 as a District Sales Manager and eventually a Regional Sales Manager for the West. His experience at startups like gForce, Docent and VirTra have helped shape the JAZZ brand and its sales and marketing efforts into the fastest growing sensor company in the US.   jazzimaging.com   Join Dentaltown Today! Dentaltown.com

Dr Edward Rossomando DDS, PhD is presently an emeritus professor at the University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine. Dr Rossomando earned a DDS from the University of Pennsylvania and a PhD from the Rockefeller University. He is the author of more than 200 research papers and two books. He is the founder and emeritus president of the Center for Research and Education in Technology and the founder of the dental discipline Biodontics. He is also the Editor in Chief of the e-journal Dental Hypotheses. He has started several companies around the patent to recover biochemicals from the gingival crevice. He has received several awards, including the Alumni award of Merit from the University of Pennsylvania.    During his nearly 50 year career he has been an educator, scientist, inventor, and entrepreneur, but he would like to be remembered as a loving father of two outstanding daughters and husband of the most wonderful wife, Nina.   Join Dentaltown.com today for more great dental content and discuss great dentistry with great dentists!

Howard joins UNLV's Advanced General Dentistry Fall 2025 class to share straight talk on what life looks like after graduation. From the impact of AI on dentistry, to the myths and realities of DSOs, to why private practice is still a strong path. This episode is packed with advice for new dentists!   A special thanks to Dr. Karen Kucharski for facilitating the discussion!    Want Howard to lecture your class for free? Email him at howard@dentaltown.com Join Dentaltown.com today and discuss great dentistry with great dentists!

Joe Lynch is the Head of Customer Success at Dandy, where he leads teams that help dental practices thrive through digital transformation. Before Dandy, he built his expertise in healthcare strategy and operations at Bain & Company, advising Fortune 100 companies on Go-to-Market and Post Merger Integration.    A graduate of the Naval Academy and Columbia Business School, Joe also served 7 years as a U.S. Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal officer, where he led special operations teams and defused bombs underwater and on land. Outside of work, he's a father to two girls, an avid squash player and runner, channeling the same energy and focus into parenting and sports as he does into his career. meetdandy.com   Join Dentaltown! dentaltown.com

With over 30 years of experience in dentistry, Dr. O'Malley developed a deep passion for minimally invasive, biological, and holistic care - an approach he continues to practice at his California-based office.    Throughout his career, he noticed a recurring pattern: most of his patients were suffering from gum disease and tooth decay. This inspired a growing conviction that the dental field needed more advanced, holistic, and preventative oral health solutions.   Motivated by this need Dr. O'Malley began collaborating with leading research facilities across the U.S., developing innovative products and protocols to address what he calls the “silent epidemic” of oral disease. “We are changing the face of oral health across the planet, one smile at a time." And with that vision, Great Oral Health was born.   http://greatoralhealth.com/

Dr. Jack Dillenberg, Dean Emeritus of the Arizona School of Dentistry and Oral Health and the former Mayor of Jerome, Arizona, has a lifetime of funny stories. In his travels on behalf of public health and dentistry programs, he's met everyone from Bob Marley and Stevie Wonder to Mother Teresa and Richard Nixon.   There's much more to Dr. Jack than meets the eye. Go a little deeper beyond the wild run-ins with famous people, and you'll quickly learn that he's a compassionate, lifelong public health servant who has changed lives and made lasting friends all over the world. Join Dentaltown! https://www.dentaltown.com

Today, we're joined by someone who's been a trusted name in the East Valley for almost two decades — Dr. Paul Kelly. Dentists, physicians, and patients all know him not just for his skill, but for the genuine care he puts into every interaction. Year after year, his peers have voted him a Phoenix Magazine Top Oral Surgeon.   Dr. Kelly's a board-certified oral and maxillofacial surgeon who handles everything from wisdom teeth removal and dental implants to treating facial pain and injuries. His journey took him from the University of Utah to the University of Louisville, and then to a residency in Wisconsin.   But beyond the surgical precision, he's a proud father of four, a Gilbert local, and someone who truly connects with his patients on a personal level. I can't wait for you to hear his insights today.   Join Dentaltown! https://www.dentaltown.com/

Dr. Matthew Vogt started his practice The Dentists at Gateway Crossing in 2018 (signing the lease the week after graduating dental school). Today, the practice has grown to a team of nine employees and associate, becoming a pillar of the greater Indianapolis community. In 2023, Matt Vogt joined The Lifestyle Practice with partners (and Townies) Derek Williams and Steve Van De, focusing on coaching and working with other dentists 1-on-1 to elevate their lives and careers through practice ownership, while still practicing clinical dentistry himself. Outside of coaching and practicing dentistry, Matt is a competitive amateur golfer, competing at the national level, recently making headlines qualifying for the 2025 US Open at Oakmont Country Club in Pittsburgh, PA, the course where he caddied as a high schooler and college kid. Join Dentaltown! https://www.dentaltown.com/

Dr. Vivian Roknian, is a Beverly Hills-based dentist known for her expertise in dental implants, laser surgery, and full-arch digital dentistry. At her private practice, she delivers same-day smile transformations using in-house 3D printing and the PerioLase® MVP-7™—her go-to for LANAP®, LAPIP®, and advanced regenerative care. A respected educator, Dr. Roknian has trained more than 2,000 dentists in implantology, laser protocols, and surgical efficiency. She lectures nationally for major dental organizations and advises emerging tech companies like Flaus, helping shape the future of oral health innovation. Beyond the operatory, her work with the Innocence Project allows her to restore not just smiles but dignity—providing implant and prosthetic care to those wrongfully incarcerated. A Fellow of the International College of Dentists, an honor awarded to fewer than 3% of U.S. dentists, Dr. Roknian is widely recognized for her clinical leadership, business acumen, and deep commitment to advancing ethical, patient-centered dentistry. Watch on Dentaltown! https://www.dentaltown.com/blog/post/22952/1670-lets-talk-lasers-implants-and-more-with-dr-vivian-roknian-dentistry-uncensored-with-howard-farran

TUSK Practice Sales (“TUSK”) provides sell-side advisory services for dental practice owners. With an in-depth understanding of the marketplace and access to 100's of buyers nationwide, our seasoned team of professionals helps our clients confidently pursue M&A transactions that maximize their long-term value. TUSK has completed over $1B of transactions across all specialties. With our significant collective experience of over 40+ years of practice transactions, we offer our clients solutions that help them achieve their strategic and financial objectives. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dentistry-uncensored-with-howard-farran/id916907356  Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7iUSwjAVb0ktd4j50wYeho  Join Dentaltown! https://www.dentaltown.com/ And follow Dentaltown on social media! YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DentaltownMagazine LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/farran-media-llc/ Twitter/X: https://x.com/dentaltown TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dentaltown4 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Dentaltown/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dentaltown/

Dr. Bruce B. Baird is a 1980 graduate of the University of Texas Health Science Dental school in San Antonio. After graduation, he spent 4 years in the U.S. Army in Korea and at Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio. After leaving the service he built a scratch dental practice in the small town of Granbury, Texas. Over 36 years, he grew the practice into a multi doctor multi-million-dollar business with revenues in 2019 of over 5 million dollars.   Dr. Baird has lectured across the U.S. and Internationally for over 30 years. His topics include leadership, cosmetic dentistry, dental implants, communication skills and the business of dentistry. He taught at the Implant Preceptorship at the University of Texas Health Science Center Dental School in San Antonio and to the seniors at Baylor Dental School.   He founded Productive Dentistry Academy 18 years ago which has grown to a world-class organization with doctors from all 50 states and 19 countries attending their workshops. With his business partner, Dr. Victoria Peterson, they have grown the company to 32 employees providing seminars, coaching, and marketing to thousands of dentists across North America.   In 2011 Dr. Baird founded Comprehensive Finance Inc. a company that helps businesses across the U.S. do their own in-house financing. They have helped originate over 300 million dollars in financing across multiple industries. They rapidly became one of the largest financial tech companies in healthcare. CFI was sold in June of 2021 to AKKR, one of the largest private equity firms in the world. Dr. Baird has continued with the company as a key opinion leader and investor.   Join Dentaltown! https://www.dentaltown.com/   And follow Dentaltown on social media! YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DentaltownMagazine LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/farran-media-llc/ Twitter/X: https://x.com/dentaltown TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dentaltown4 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Dentaltown/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dentaltown/

In this episode of Dentistry Uncensored, Howard sits down with two industry leaders, Jason Goodchild, DMD, Vice President of Clinical Affairs at Premier Dental, and Paul Mondock, President of North America & Global Sales Services at Septodont. Together, they dive into the science and innovation behind BufferPro, a cutting-edge buffering solution that enhances the effectiveness of local anesthesia.   They discuss the game-changing benefits of buffering anesthetics, why it matters for both clinicians and patients, and how BufferPro stands out from other buffering methods. Learn about the collaboration between Premier Dental and Septodont, how BufferPro is used chairside, and how to integrate it into your practice.   Join Dentaltown! https://www.dentaltown.com/ And follow Dentaltown on social media! YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DentaltownMagazine LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/farran-media-llc/ Twitter/X: https://x.com/dentaltown TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dentaltown4 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Dentaltown/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dentaltown/

Dentistry wasn't designed to be fun, fulfilling and the source of your identity and a mansion in Beverly Hills. Your team didn't get jobs in dentistry with the goal of obtaining a bunch of new best friends. But so many dentists want dentistry to be more than it is, and thus also expect the patients and staff to be more than they are. Read more on the Dentaltown website: https://www.dentaltown.com/ Follow Dentaltown on social media:  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Dentaltown/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/farran-media-llc/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dentaltown/ Twitter/X: https://x.com/dentaltown