Totally Oral Podcast (Drs Clinton Timmerman & Russell Schafer)

Clinton Timmerman and Russell Schafer talk with Matthew Hernandez, a third generation denturist from Texas who now resides in the lovely town of Mukilteo, Washington. Matthew has started and sold DSO's multiple times and continues to seek opportunities that can help boost the profession.

He has also hunted wild packs of hogs, which actually sounds somewhat dangerous, even when armed with uzis or whatever type of hunting item one chooses. 

This week Russell talks with Dr. Mustafa Shah Khan and Richard Offutt about their new platform and social group Simplifiy Dentistry.  Their goal is to bring clinicians together on a wide variety of topics from clinical skills to business discussions.  In our podcast we talk about how social media has evolved over time and how dentists have gravitated towards it.  We also talk about the downsizing of Align and Dentsply Sirona as well as why maybe that has happened.  Finally we discuss what might be done about the hygiene shortage.

If you want to go to their website it is simplifydds.com .  Also their Facebook page is active as well!

Frank Clayton joined Russ and Clint and was able to tell us the definitive answers to the big questoins we have had our entire lives.  Answers to questions like:

-What is the meaning of life? (42)

-How to make enough money in the stock market to retire in just one week

-Who really shot JFK?

-Who really shot JR?

-Where did Amelia Earhart land? (Hint: Not where she intended to)

And so much more.  However, we had some technical difficulty and the episode will be lost forever.  If you want to know what Frank said, call his office directly during business hours and ask to speak to him, even if he is in a procedure. 

We did, however, manage to have a chat about the latest top ten rankings of dental schools and what makes a good dental school. 

Russ and Clint talk with Baron Grutter this week.  Baron is a dentist out of Michigan who while doing all things bread and butter loves technology and teaching.  He also recently created two one day online classes Blue Sky Bio.  One focuses on ortho and the other focuses on surgical guides.  Both classes can be found on this Blue Sky University which is also where Russell's class is found.  Baron's class is more polished than Russell's but that is just how Baron rolls.  

In our podcast, we talk about Midwinter and Lab Day and how Lab Day is clearly superior to Midwinter.  We also talk about 3d printing and why so many more dentists are getting into the lab space and doing their own lab work.  Also we talk about why Baron is not going to be 3d printing aligners anytime soon.

If you want to see when Baron is giving in person courses, go to https://www.barongrutterdds.com to learn more.  

Russ and Clint interviewed Dr. Joshua Grenier.  Josh is an Air Force trained dentist who works as an associate in Rhode Island and also owns a small lab there as well.  We talk with Josh about his experience in the military as well as how he incorporates 3d printing as an associate and as a lab owner.  He also speaks for Pacdent and will be speaking at the upcoming Greater New York meeting.  If you want to reach out to Josh, his email is joshua.grenier@precisionremovable.com.

This week Russ talks with Dentscape AI co-founders Bill Chou and Sylvie Liu, DDS along with their VP of Business Development Ryan Axelson.  They've all been on the podcast before when Russ went to Smilecon in 2022.  On the previous podcast, they talked about PreTeeth AI Pro which does smile design using AI to simulate what is possible doing different treatment modalities. 

Dentscape AI is a web based software that currently can design bite splints and crowns using a simplified interface with the goal being to expedite the entire process so that labs can design units in a day and be more efficient.  We talk about the process of developing the AI as well as why they first started with bite splints rather than crowns as well as why humans are still needed to guide the AI.  If you are interested in hearing about how AI is "done," it is a cool conversation.

If you are a lab interested in partnering with Dentscape, contact Ryan.  His email is ryan@dentscape.ai or you can find him on Facebook as well.  If you prefer LinkedIn, his page is https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanaxelson/

Also as a disclaimer, they have given me Russell a few free credits to try out their software, but I am not being paid to endorse them at all.  These people are friends of mine.

Russ talks with Dr. Andrew Ip from Sydney, Australia.  Andrew is a second generation dentist who works in both his mom's practice and his dad's practice and teaches CAD-CAM dentistry as well.  We talk for the hour about what it is like to practice in a former British colony as well where the technology is taking us.  It is a cool discussion.

Links:
https://ai3dprinting.com.au/ for his website and reviews of printers

https://youtube.com/@ai3d676?si=KBbX64SSTvrRvdgU for his videos

#ai_ortho_implant for his Instagram

Clinton and Russell interview Dr Amy Nygren of Reno, Nevada, who is a Wolfpack fan as well as a lover of musicals.  Dr Nygren is known as the "Dr Amy Who Sings" in the office to distinguish herself from the other Dr Amy in the office, who is known as the "Dr Amy Who Boondoggles".  

Listen to her journey as a dentist since her time at UNLV as well as her passion for drama and performing in community plays. 

Russell and Clinton talk to Assen Dobrikov, owner of Dani Dental Studio. Listen and find out how he went from Eastern Europe to the Grand Canyon State. 

Clint and Russell talk with Travis Rodgers about his elctronic referral system that is simple to use thorugh dental operating softers.  Check out OneClickReferral.com and find out thow this system can benefit you!

Irene Iancu closes our Voices of Dentistry 2003 experience, discussing such topics as owning a dental office as a non-dentist, life in Toronto, and what duties she feels hygienists should have. Alan Mead even joins us to give an important announcement. 

You listened to his other half with Dr Caroline Michaels, now hear the rest of the story with Dr Shawn Rajendram, who runs a rural practice in central Ohio (sorry, THE central Ohio). Hear about all the challenges and successes Dr Raj has experienced in The Buckeye State. 

This week Russ and Clint talk about upgrading their offices. 

Russell is speaking at Cad-Ray's World Series of Digital Dentistry on Sept 5 to 7 2024.  It should be great.

A few products that Russ and Clint talk about.  We don't get a dime from any of these products

Yabangbang Handpieces

Tuttanaur Sterilizer

HDX CBCT

Apex Sensors

Handheld X-ray Units

Justin Shafer's Software that links cell phone photos to Dexis

Russell and Clint discuss marketing, future CE courses and hopes the future.  

Russ and Clint talk with Dr. David Sanders from Illinois this week.  David owns an office that focuses on IV sedation.  We discuss where he was trained and how he chooses his cases and when he decides to punt.  We also discuss family dynamics as he practices with his sister who is also a dentist and also practiced with his father who started offering sedation back in the 70's.  

So Clint and Russ didn't do as much podcasting as expected in Chicago but they had a lot of fun.  We talk about our experiences at both meetings and how we would fix Midwinter.  We talk about the technology that we saw at both meetings and our impressions.  The episode had to be editted down from 50 mintues to 44 minutes because Russell went on a 7 minute rant on how angry he was that resin was wasted.  

This week Russ goes solo with a dentist who graduated with him Dr. Sarah Bihm.  Sarah owns an office in Crowley, La but is active in the Louisiana Dental Assocation.  Russell wanted to get her on as she is so active as he wanted to hear her opinion on what does the Louisiana Dental Assocation do as well as why should dentists join the ADA and organized dentistry.  We also talk about her practice and what it is like doing dentistry in a small town where she literally knows the other three dentists who are all friends.   

Clint and Russ speak with Dr. Matthew McMasters this week who practices in Ardmore Tennessee which is literally on the Alabama-Tennessee border.  We start out discussing what it is like working in a small town and how he has changed over time from trying to offer Smithson composites to just "A2 make it work."  Finally, we talk about about how to choose CE courses that will bring the best ROI.

Clint and Russ come together to talk with long time listener Dr. Tyler Rumple.  Tyler listens to darn near all the different podcasts out there.  Tyler practices near Clint and is a busy PPO dentist who has quite a few hygienists and has merged two dental offices together to create a thriving office.  We talk about the joys of owning an office and also about his experience of being in the Navy.  Finally we talk about the importance of the ADA and about sectional matrix bands.  We reference Tor Matrix bands which are a cheap matrix that seems to work pretty darn well in both Russ's and Tyler's hands.

This week Russ and Clint interview Dr. Lane Ochi. Lane discusses his "retirement" and how he is transitioning out of dentistry.  We talk with him on debt, Fee For Service offices, Rolex ownership, and buying bikes.  He educates us on planning for retirement and where he sees dentistry moving towards.  Overall a great episode.

This week Russell talks with Dr. Graham Dersley out of Maryland.  Graham went to Colombia Dental School for undergrad and then did his Prosth speciality at Maryland.  We talk about Graham's journey from associate to buying an existing office to two scractch starts.  Graham has a love of full arch fixed implants and talks about how he incorporates certain new tech into his office but not everything.  We also talk about how his offices have made the switch from a more hygiene model to a problem focused model in marketing especially in a landscape where hygienists are harder to hire.  

Justin Morgan goes totally oral with Clinton Timmerman and Russell Schafer to talk about what both practice purchasers and practice sellers need to be mindful of when it comes to selling and buying a practice. 

Listen and find out what advice Justin may have for you!

justin@themorganadvisors.com

Reach out and seek his counsel!

This week Russ goes solo with a friend Dr. Brian Schweer.  Brian talks about how he has implemented technology in his office as well as how he has managed to determine what CE makes the most sense.  Finally we talk about his part time job and cash flow of a new dental office.
If you want to hear his latest podcast with Alan Mead, listen to Dr. Brian Schweers Contains Multitudes over at The Very Dental Podcast.   It is another great listen.

Russ talks with Dr. Marcus Cowan this week.  Marcus is a dentist who moved with his wife from sunny Georgia to Boston, Massachusetts as his wife goes to surgery residency at there.  We talk about his experience moving and starting a new job as well as doing a GPR. 

Also Marcus has started an implant planning lab called CowTech Dental Lab focusing on helping dentists place implants from consultation and treatment planning to execution.  We talk about the need for helping doctors plan out cases because most cases are not as easy as implant courses make them out to be.  We compare printers, resins, and softwares and talk about their pros and cons.

If you want to reach out and find out more about Marcus and his lab, you can find him on Instagram at MarcusCowanDMD and his email is marcuscowandmd@gmail.com.

This week Russ and Clint talk with Sam Katacic VP of Sales for Rapidshape.   We talk at length about the changes in the market for 3d resins and how automation is driving a lot of changes.  Rapidshape has validated over 200 resins on their platform and has processes to ensure that each print is routine and predictable.  This is really nice especially if you have staff turnover, it is easy to train new employees to your resin. Also Russ gets pretty excited to hear about their curing unit which doesn't need N2 to cure but rather uses a vacuum.  He will be looking into that product for sure.  
If you want to learn more about Rapidshape, go to Rapidshape.de.

The Godfather, Lance Timmerman, returns to discusses appropriate times to crown a tooth vs a direct resin restoration.  He argues that what sometimes may be viewed as aggressive may actually be conservative in the grand scheme of things. 

This week Russ and Clint talk with Talon Davis.  Talon runs an 8 op PPO driven office in Dallas, Tx.  We talk about how he has implemented systems to ensure that he always has a productive day as well as venture a tad into politics which is always fun.  We might also drop the F bomb a few times.  Sorry mom...

This week Russell talks with Jesse Flore, CDT out of Las Vegas.  Jesse runs a specialty business supporting dentists who want to get involved in the digital world.  Jesse got his start as a denture technician which obviously made Russell kinda geek out.  Jesse is also an authorized Exocad distributor and helps implement mills and printers into dental offices.  We talk for an hour about how the new MIDAS printer will likely go into dental offices as well as how milling and printing and designing should be implemented in offices.  If you are looking to expand your dental office into a lab, call up Jesse Flor.  He will be an excellent resource. 

This week Russ and Clint talk with Dr. David Yang who is the owner of True North Dental and runs The Real World Dentistry Facebook group.  David is a hygienist turned dentist who practices in Flagstaff, AZ and runs a Fee for Service office and essentially is a super GP.  The man does everything from teaching to 3d printing to all on X treatment to re treatment.  We finish the conversation talking about how he placed an implant on himself with his Yomi.  

This week Russell talks with Dr. Josh Nagao.  We talk about the importance of continuing education and how honestly... good CE kinda costs money.  We both love Pathways, and Josh teaches at Pathways.  Josh talk about the courses that he and Dr. Wade Pilling teach together.  The next one is an FP1 course being taught April 24-25.  If you want to sign up, reach out to one of them via Facebook.  We also talk about the importance of comprehensive treatment planning as well.

This week Russ and Clint get to talk with Dr. Artie Volker.  Artie talks about his recent residency he finished in Italy and we talk about how we enjoy taking courses and learning new things and talking with colleagues.  

If you want to see Artie speak, you can find him at Dig-A-Palooza 2024 in Oct 2024 and he will be speaking at the Greater New York meeting in 2024.

This week Clint and Russell interview Dr. Heather Gentry from North Carolina.  Heather runs a FFS office that focuses on holistic dentistry.  Heather practices practical holistic dentistry as a way to differentiate her office from others in her competitve market of Charlotte, North Carolina.  She is quick to point out that she still does regular dentistry with regular dental materials, but that she offers extra services to help her market for new patients like using ozone and biocompatablity testing for patients with allergies.  We also talk about how becoming a holistic dentist allow Heather to become a FFS dentist and drop all of the PPOs but also the challenges of being a FFS doctor compared to a PPO doctor. 

If you want to learn more about holistic dentistry, go to IAOMT.org and IAMBD.org for more information as that is the organization we reference.

Russell talks with Ashtyn Hoffer out of Vancouver, Canada this week. Ashtyn is a digital lab tech designer who focuses primarily on dentures.  We talk about his experiences as a young lab learning from his father who is also a denturist and also how he has seen Exocad grow in the past few iterations as well as milling vs printing.  Also Ashytn has a new lab focused on designing removable prosthetics.  If you are interested in his services, go to The Center of Dental Excellence to see what he has to offer.  He does great work and I highly recommend him.

This week Russ and Clint catch Steven Vorholt as he drives across the Phoenix desert going in and out of coverage and discussing his pathway from Ohio to Arizona to soon to be California.  We have discuss what it is like being a traveling surgeon, how to suceed at doing that, as well as why he decided to leave that role.  Finally we discuss clinical implant stuffs because of course we do.  Last but not least, go buy the book that Steven wrote a chapter in.  It is fantastic.

Russ interviews Dr. DeAngelo Webster this week on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  DeAngelo graduated from University of Michigan in 2016 and did his start up immediately after dental school against conventional wisdom for a fraction of what the normal cost of a startup.  His practice's name is White Pine Dental Health is located half way between Ann Arbor and Detroit.  His focus at his office is on "dental school" dentistry which he explains in the podcast.

DeAngelo goes through how he learned to run a dental business and how he went on to create Practice Biopsy which is his dental continuing education company that focuses on helping employee dentists become owner dentists.  He also runs an active Facebook group of around 5k dentists with the same name.

Last but not least we talk about DeAngelo's marketing strategy around branding and how his goal was to be the most famous person in a five mile radius around his office.

This week Russell interviews Eugene Royzengurt LD which Russell finds out stands for Licensed Denturist. Eugene is one of the few licensed denturists in Utah where he teaches at the GPR program.  He owns a small one man lab and lectures as well.  Russell and Eugene discuss various aspects of removable prosth for the hour as well as how removable has moved up in promenience in the world of dentistry (at least in our eyes).  

Russell was pretty badly prepared for this interview and he didn't even realize that Lance had Eugene on back in 2016.  If you want to listen to that interview, the link is here
https://totallyoral.libsyn.com/gene-royzengurt-cdt-dtg-is-all-about-tenacity

The link to Eugene's previous webinar that he did for Vita

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnCU4h0QV5A

The link for his upcoming course with Vita on August 4th and 5th, you can sign up online for only 400 bucks which seems like a darn good deal to me at a least.  

Implant Supported Removable Restorations Workshop

August de Oliveira joins Totally Oral to discuss his latest teaching endeavor: MOD Institute and the importance of 3D printed dentistry. 

August also hints at future trends in digital dentistry and if Skynet is inevitable given all the advances in AI.  

Clint had to take an unexpected trip to Gainsville, Florida, and attend a dental board meeting. He learned some pearls he thought he should share to help listeners avoid any potential trouble in the future.

Russell also shares going to the new Implant Pathways center in Arizona and how rad it is.

In summation to avoid problems with a dental board:

1) Shit’s gonna happen

2) Document, document, document

3) Contact your patient and show concern; document that you contacted your patient

4) Be honest—with your patient, your lawyer, in your notes, in your testimony to the board. Honesty is the best policy.

5) Refer when indicated. Referring and documenting that you referred can go a long way.

Clint and Russell interview Dr. Bridgett Jorgensen out of Sugar Hill, GA this week.  Bridgett ran a FFS office for many years and sold her office in 2018.  She started Dental Practice Matchmaker after trying to find an office for her daughter to purchase during Covid and looking to upend the broker model completely.  She and her company not only run the free Facebook page Dental Practice Matchmaker but also for 30 dollars a month you can be on her website and app Dental Practice Matchmaker to either look for a job, post a job, look to buy an office, or sell your office.  We also talked a bit about her husband who started LightHouse 360.

Russell Schafer and Clinton Timmerman interview Yoana Yurova of Lone Star Dental Arts. Check out her tricks of the trade to create better results when working with your lab.  Is cord better vs using a laser or Traxodent? What about Zirconia vs Emax for anterior restorations? Does cream cheese belong on hotdogs?  Listen and find out!

This week Russell talk to Dr. Nelson Mar who practices in Phoenix.  Nelson went to University of Nebraska for dental school and then did a GPR in Oklahoma.  We talk about his journey from San Francisco through the Midwest to the Southwest as well as about running a practice and dealing with crazy patients.

This week Clint and Russ talk with Dr. Nick Boyd.  Nick practices in Annapolis, MD at Boyd Family Dentistry and went to dental school later in life after a career in business.  While he was an associate for a while, he bought an office from a dentist who unfortunately took his own life.  We talk about that transition and how it actually went really well for him thankfully.  We go on to discuss how we remove stress from our lives by firing patients, working the hours we want to work, and having the office work us rather than the other way around.  Last but not least, stay on for arguably the best "Just the Tip" of all time.

Deren Flesher goes Totally Oral with Clinton Timmerman and Russell Schafer.  He has a private practice in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and has found a niche giving advice to dentists in various ways they can invest. 

Check out his podcast Wealth Beyond the White Coat  and his website for Legacy Point Group to find out what pearls and advice he can offer you. 

Russ talks with Dr. Rick Ferguson this week.  Rick and his wife are both dentists in Florida but on the side Rick teaches a few things.  He runs Implant Educators where he trains dentists on full arch as well as single units.  He also runs Digital Educators which is his platform to teach 3d printing technology and digital processes.  We talk at length about the different platforms from Asiga to Phrozen to Sprintray to Formlabs and Rick gives us his opinions of the pros of all of them as well as what made him decide to create the mini plate and heat plate for the Phrozen Mini 8ks which kinda makes the Phrozen equal to the Sprintray Pro 55S for a tenth of the cost. 

We surprisingly don't go political either!

Finally, we talk about the greatest part of the digital dental printing revolution which has really been the comraderie between dentists.  If you want to join his big Facebook group, Dental 3D printing group click on the link and join in the coversation.  It is a great group overall. 

This week Russell talks with Dr. Jay Siddiqui out of Chevy Chase, MD.  Russell reached out to Jay because Jay (like Russ) loves doing dentures in house.  We geek out on dentures for a while and then we talk about how Jay has bought a small office and transformed it into a great office that works for him.  He does almost all of his own lab work (outside of RPDs) and he talks about why he loves implementing digital dentistry into his office.  Last but not least Jay will be speaking in Cantonville, Maryland on January 17th, 2024 at the DMV 3D Printing and Digital Study Club .  If you want to learn more about digital stuffs, go take his course.

This week Clint and Russ interview Dr. Jesse McGuire an orthodontist out of Goodyear, AZ.  We talk about his journey from DSO medicaid orthodontist in Texas during the late 2000's and early 2010's and then moved to Phoenix to join another DSO to starting his own private practice office five years ago.  We talk about the challenges of running an ortho office and how he decides what to incorporate and what not to incorporate (hint it ain't Invisalign).  Overall it was a fun to talk with a dentist who isn't a GP and hear about how our worlds are pretty darn similar.

This week Russ talks with Dr Jeff Hoos who create the H&H technique.  He also runs the Dental Insights Facebook group and own a rather large office with 4 other dentists.  We talk about his career since he graduated in 1978 as well as how stuff has changed and go on various topics.  We end the conversation talking about Dentapreg as well which he likes.

This week Russ and Clint speak with Patrick Allen who is a denturist from Maine who teaches dentures to lab techs, denturists, and dentists.  Patrick and Russ geek on dentures because of course they do.  We talk about lower suction dentures and how they work.
Patrick is doing an upcoming course in Maine in June that Russ would highly recommend if you want to learn about dentures.  It is June 14th and 15th and is phenomenal.  Registation has been extended by a bit if you want to sign up.
https://trellis.org/bps-semcd-w-paul-mcnally-peter-anastasia

Also we talk about how the Maine Dental Board does everything public apparently.  If you want to listen in, you can hear it here.

https://mainestate.zoom.us/j/83015731890?pwd=QmhVTjRPNDZtLy9aRXZCS2VBOEJydz09   Meeting ID: 830 1573 1890 Passcode: 56815338

This week Russ talks with Dr. Robert Ramsey who runs the Facebook group Dentistry Gone Wild which offers a humorous non-political take on dentistry that we all often need in the world of dental facebook.  We talk for the hour about Robert's journey from JnJ to dentistry, and why we both left Corporate America to go do dentistry.  Robert talks about the DSOs he works for and his experience doing HMO dentistry (spoiler alert: it isn't all that bad).  Finally we discuss refunds and specialists.  

This week Russ talks with Dr. Joshua Wyatt.  Josh owns and runs a seven office DSO in Tampa, Florida call My Dentist Group and we talk about the challenges of ownership from ordering supplies, marketing, and staffing both hygienists and dentists.  

This week Russ and Clint talk with Jeff Gladnick who is the founder and CEO of Great Dental Websites.  We talk about how Jeff founded GDW and got into this dental advertising.  Jeff ran through Clint's prospective practice and what potential marketing goals should be.  He also outlines great tips for how to choose a marketer and what are some pitfalls for how to avoid black hat SEO scams so that Google doesn't black list you.  It is a great podcast if you want to learn more about Google advertising and how some of the stuff works behind the curtain.

In the interest of full disclosure, Russ has been a client of GDW since 2016 but they are not advertisers on our show.

Dr James Martin goes Totally Oral this week to discuss his perspective on how dentists can achieve financial success and be happier within the profession.  He also shares what pitfalls to avoid. 

Dr Martin has a podcast called "Dentists Who Invest", as well as online courses on his website dentistswhoinvest.com.  He also has some upcoming courses in person in London and possibly some other locations in the near future.  

Take a listen and find out what pearls Dr Martin may have to offer that could potentially help you thrive in your practice. 

Clint and Russ bring back Sandy Pardue to talk about her upcoming classes and pick her brain about managing dental offices.  Sandy talks about her two seminars Front Desk Pro where she covers scheduling and her new course called Office Management Pro where she covers how to run an office.  We talk about a variety of business topics from scheduling to collecting money to training employees.  

If you want to learn more about Sandy's upcoming courses and her consulting company, it is called Classic Practice Resources.  She also does a regular podcast called Dental Drill Bits as well.  Finally her Facebook group is Dental Gumbo.

This week Russ talks in person with Dr. Abraham Hoellerich and Dr. Lance Timmerman live at Pathway Symposium after hours.  We talk about a variety of topics such as how to fix CE events, how Abe built his office into the magnificient beast it is, bringing staffs on trips, as well as how sedation.  Lots of cursing as well... you have been warned...

This week Clint and Russ talk with Dr. Arthur Volker.  Artie practices out of Queens, NY and pretty much devotes his office to direct restorative.  The man just loves composite and we pick his brain about it for the better part of an hour from technique to patient management.  We talk about what he teaches and his courses at both Bioclear and Cosmodent.  Also we ask how the heck a dentist who loves composite bought a dental lab that does crown and bridge?  
If you want to take a course from Artie (which we highly recommend), you can either go to Cosmodent or Bioclear and look up courses coming soon.  

This week Russell interview Dr. Caroline Michaels is an oral pathologist based out of Columbus, Ohio who runs a private practice clinic called Capital Oral Pathology. She sees patients, accepts referrals, and reads biopsies.  If you want to email her, her email is CapitalOralPathology@gmail.com.  
We talk about her journey to becoming a oral pathologist as well as her experience opening an office.  We also talk about the advancements and changes in oral pathology in the past decades and where the future of oral path is.

Russell Schafer and Clinton Timmerman are joined by Mandy Arena, a Denturist in the Midwest leading the charge to make denturists legal in every state.  Surprisingly, only a handful of states have legalized denturists.  

Their next step is to put legalizing denturist on the ballot in Illinois.  Citizens of Illinois, get out and vote for a worthy cause and help legalized denturists.  Except for Russell, no dentist really wants to do dentures, so let denturists take them off of their hands. 

This week Russ talks with Dr. Steven Dold from Wichita, KS.  About a month ago, they both took a botox and filler course together and of course like good dentists, neither of them has done a single case.  We talk about how practices have peaks and valleys and good months and bad months.  We of course talk about removable and Dold talks about his removable lab Kaylor Dental.  Primarily at the end, we talk about how Steven actually does all of his own insurnace billing and why he started doing it was because he kinda needed to.  

At Voices of Dentistry, Russ and Clint met Derik Van Ness who owns Big Life Financial.  We initially begin discussing the Employee Retention Credit which neither of us knew anything about and moved on to other topics in financial advice and tax strategy.  While Derik is not a CPA, he works with CPAs to do a lot of the leg work to help make sure that you aren't paying more in taxes than you should.  If you want to learn more about Derik and his company, go to Big Life Financial.

Russell met Brandon Allison at Sprintray Next 2024 in Miami.  Brandon is practices in Mandeville, La with his wife and brother (both dentists) in a family office.  He and his wife took over from his father and has turned it into a bustling office to say the least.  Brandon bought both the Sprintray 2 and Midas printer but also has a VHF E5 mill and does a lot of his own digital designs.  We talk about his CE journey and about he strives to learn how to do excellent clinical dentistry while maintaining a good business.  

Delaney Spaulding joins Russell Schafer and Clinton Timmerman to talk about growing up in the field of dentistry, experiecing the Northeast after college at the Univesity of Georgia and purhcasing a practice in Birmingham, Alabama. 

Delaney ripped off the band-aid when she bought her office and went FFS immediately. Listen and find out how she has made her success in The Yellowhammer State, and how Dandy Lab has been a great asset to her business. 

Mohamed Abo-Basha is a second year dental student at Oklahoma University College of Dentistry and works with Alan Mead producing the Very Dental Student Podcast.  Russell and Mo talk for an hour about Mo's journey to dentistry as a first generation Egyptian-American and his experiences through dental school.  It is kinda funny how things haven't changed in dental school since forever. 

Clinton and Russell talk with Rand Luka, a dentist originally from Iraq who immigrated to Canada in 1999.  Listen to his origin story of going through the steps to becoming a dentist in Iraq to the training he received in Canada in order to practice in Ontario.  He also has some key advice for administering patient care. 

This week Clint and Russell talk with Dr. Andrew Turchin.  Andrew works in beautiful Aspen, Colorado and practices as a Fee For Service doctor focusing primarily on full mouth restorations and cosmetic cases.  We start out discussing how Andrew got his start as well as how Dr. Larry Rosenthal is a better cosmetic dentist than you are and why he moved from NYC to the Rockies. The conversation goes to continuing education as there as so many dentists who want to do cosmetics but really don't know where to start. Unbeknowst to either Russ or Clint prior to this interview, Andrew teaches an over the shoulder course called Cosmetic Coaching a few times a year where he shows his processes of diagnosing, treatment planning, and performing this level of treatment. 

Dr Matt Bickel goes Totally Oral and talks about being a dentist in "the good part of New Jersey". Most importantly, Matt shares his experience of being embezzled and what steps dentists can take to help decrease the chance of that happening to them. 

This week Russ interviews Allison Norris an RDH who pivoted to working in the industry.  We talk about her journey and how she founded the The Dentele Group which focuses on placing non-clinical roles in the dental industry.  She essentially helps everyone from FDs at small dental offices to dentists who want to work for major companies like Henry Schein.  We also talk about her app that she is developing called Cakewalk which is meant to be Indeed for Dentists to help with hiring new staff.  If you want to reach out to Allison, you can find her on Facebook or you can email her at AllisonNorris@thedentelegroup.com. 

Sunny Pahouja, who runs the Dental Investment Group on Facebook, joins Clint and Russell to talk about current market trends, inflation, where and how to invest your money, how to appreach spendign money in your practice and why Ohio State likes to emphasize the "THE" in their name so much. 

Clint and Russ talk with Dr. Jared Christopherson this week.  Jared is a dentist in Cheyenne, WY and talks about what brought him back to Wyoming after going to school in the Midwest and Pacific Northwest.  He also talks about his minor vice/passion of playing poker and how that brought him to Vegas to take Russell's course and learn how to start printing dentures. 

So we went to Chicago with the intention of doing a lot of interviews but we didn't really do much.  However, we did sit down for a late night/early morning interview with Matthew Standridge.  We discussed many topics from the American Equilibration Society  to patient expectations to running an office in this day in age.  Finally if you want to take a course from Matt (which I highly recommend), go to his website, go to 3d dentists, or go to The American Orthodontic Society.   

Anthoney Gonzalez returns to the show to talk about LANAP laser therapy and how it has enhanced the perio health of his patients.  He also goes into detail about DNA testing to determine the type of bacteria that is invading a given oral flora and how treatments through debridement, laser therapy and antibiotics and target specific pathogens afflicating a patient. 

This week Russell interviews Dr. Nolan Andrews.  Nolan owns Main Street Implant and Family Dentistry in El Dorado, KS right outside of Wichita.  He talks about his initial dreams of moving down from Nebraska and starting up a DSO, but that quickly fell apart as he realized that he just wanted to own one office.  He worked with Mr. Dan Giroux for negotating his contract to buy his current office.  

Russ met Nolan last year at Pathways and both share a love of technology.  Nolan shares how he's implemented August D'Oliveria's course from Pathway into his office for his All on X cases.  While August doesn't teach that specific course anymore, you can find out more about his course at the MOD institute which are fantastic as well. 

Finally we talk about the fun of owning a dental office and how Nolan trying to shoo away a meth head lead to him discovering embezzlement in his office.

This week Russell talks with Dr. Usa Bunang and Dr. Jay Siddiqui about their new study club called the DMV 3D Printing and Digital Dentistry Study Club.  They focus on teaching dentists about practical applications of digital dentistry in the DC, Maryland, and Viriginia area from all aspects of dentistry from surgical guides to ortho to restorative.  We talk about why they formed the study club and their goals.

Russ Morrow joins Russell Schafer and Clinton Timmerman at the VoD after party to discuss all things lasers.  Russell Morrow recently became the Cheif Dental Officer at Biolase and he tells us his journey from incorporating lasers into his practice into lecturing for a major company.  

Russ is also on the Arizona Dental Board and he tells us some common pitfalls to avoid as well as some stories of what it's like to review cases of his fellow dental peers.  

Check out our podcast then catch Russ Morrow at one of his courses. 

Clinton and Russell are joined by Bruce Smoler, who talks about getting involved placing implants and implant education.  

He, too, has also placed an implant on himself...

Clint and Russ talk Alan Mead in this very non dental podcast about his horse boarding business and farm life.  We have fun talking for an hour talking about various topics and let the conversation flow like it normally does.  

Alan's podcast is Very Dental and if well worth the follow if you like our podcast.

This week Clint and Russ talk with Dr. Eric Studley.  We discuss Eric's career from getting into NYU to starting a dental office in the 80's to founding Eric Studley & Associates Inc where he helps dentists with insurance.  Overall it is a wonderful conversation.

Pavlos Malonoukos, a lab technician out of Flushing, NY, goes Totally Oral to discuss all things digital when it comes to lab work, including AI. Pavlos gives his thoughts on AI taking over the world. His prediction: it's been a fun ride, human race.

This week Clint and Russ talk with Dr. Gina Dorfman the Founder of Yapi.  Full disclosure that while Russ has been a long time user of Yapi and Clint is a new user of Yapi neither are paid to do this interview.  We just both like Yapi a lot.  We discuss with Gina the importance of doing online scheduling, online payments, and how Yapi helps integrate patient communcation and automation into your office. All of these things help give patients a better experience and help you both attract and retain them.  Great and informative podcast.

If you are interested in learning more about Yapi go to www.yapiapp.com.  

Ericka Aguilar, The Dental Billing Coach, joins Clinton Timmerman and Russell Schaffer to share the secrets of getting claims paid when they are initially denied.  It turns out there's not much to it; it just takes knowing how to Google search for the state dental insurance commissioner and send a message to the right resource (and don't give up if it you're reffered to a federal agency!). 

Ericka also tells us her tricks to the trade for billing procesures we are most likely already doing but not including in our claims and ways she can negotiate insurance fees. 

You can find Ericka on Instagram or, better yet, go to HiddenDentalProfit.com and find out how she can help your office. 

Also, give her a listen at The Dental Billing Podcast.

Clinton Timmerman and Russell Schafer chat with Steven Dold of Wichita, Kansas, at Voices of Dentistry 2023 and ask him all the hard hitting questions we've all wanted answers to, such as giving Septo for blocks, if CR is a myth and if Han really fired first (he did). 

This week Clint and Russ interview Dr. Viraj Gadkar.  Viraj is a second generation dentist in New York City who with his wife has owned and operated a multitude of offices.  Viraj wanted to come on to discuss his opinion about PPO and medicaid offices and how he feels that they are misunderstood and that everyone overhypes FFS.  We talk for an hour about his journey from running a few medicaid offices, his foray into DHMO, his purchase of a high end FFS office, and how he bought a whale of an office that has some interesting connections to New York City...  

Clint and Russell talk with Dr. Chonway Tram this week.  Chonway practices in a little town just west of Los Angeles called Rancho Cucamonga where he owns a 4 operatory fee for service office and does a lot of digital dentistry.  We talk about Chonway's path to learning digital and why he loves digital dentistry.  We finish off talking about new graduates path to learning digital dentistry as well. 

Harry Wheeler and Alistair Stoddart, two dental students from The University of Glasgow in Scotland, United Kingdom, had a chance to shadow Clint at Blu Dental & Wellness in Marysville, Washington, for a week. 

Before they flew out, Clint had a chance to sit down and hear their story.  Listen, and find out how dental school and the dental world is on the other side of the pond. 

Jane Levy joins Russell Schafer and Clinton Timmerman to discuss her company, Plan Forward.  Plan Forward assists dentists who may have uninsured, cash paying patients who can benefit from an in-office plan which acts similar to insurance.  This creates patient loyalty for dentists while also easing some of the burden patients may experience from having no insurance.  Listen and find out if Plan Forward can be a great addition to your office!

Clinton and Russell had a chance to meet Vanessa Vitagliano and Jared Parente of Dental Warranty at Voices of Dentistry.  

Vanessa and Jared explain their business model that protects their client’s dental work by adding a fee for each procedure, similar to any other item a person may purchase and warranty.  Listen to what they have to say and see if Dental Warranty could be an added benefit for your office.

This week Russ and Clint talk with Paul Lowry about dental membership plans.  Paul created The Dental Menu to help a practice create dental membership plans with common sense bookkeeping techniques that offer an alternative to adjusting production/collections, while also adding ways to build value with your patients. While Russ will admit he was skeptical of Paul initially as we've heard a lot of dental membership companies with similar services, Russ was pretty impressed by the end of the interview and thought that Paul had some great points especially with the ideas from a business perspective. Give it a listen.

Dr. Kyle Shank used to own a dental office in Indianapolis but decided he needed a change of pace.  He sold his office, and he and his orthodontist wife moved to Montana.  He works as an associate in a couple different offices and runs a one person crown and bridge lab.  We discuss the common issues that Kyle sees given that he understands the clinical, lab, and business aspects of dentistry.  If you want to contact Kyle, you can find him on Facebook or email him ddscrafted@proton.com.  

Clinton and Russell speak with Stephen Trahan. 

Listen and hear his adventures in the Bayou, going to dental school in Louisiana during Hurricane Katrina, being a military dentist and how he ended up in The Lone Star State. 

A Lab Day 2024 Clint and Russ were invited to the Evolve party in Chicago where they met Jonny Jackson.  Jonny is one of the CDTs at Evolve Dentistry which is a dental supply company and lab out of Buffalo, NY that offers a full range of products and services for dentists.  Russ and Jonny talk about where Exocad is going as well as the importance of good training.  Finally we discuss the camaraderie that is found in dentistry and how honestly refreshing that is.  If you want to follow Jonny Jackson on IG, he can be found at @jonnyexocad for all of his latest and coolest stuffs or go to Evolution Dental Lab to learn more about everything that they offer.

Russell Schafer explains to Clinton Timmerman how he is able to make Medicaid work for his office through strategic scheduling and dentures. 

Learn Russell's simple 3 step denture technique at https://www.practicebiopsy.com/denture-magic-information-page/

Zach Meiners and Jason Lipscomb go Totally Oral at VoD 2023.  Just like any good superhero movie, Jason gives the origin story of Voices of Dentistry and how it all came together. Jason and Zach discuss insurance companies and how dentists could take the power back if everyone joined forces like the Wonder Twins. 

Zach laments how getting his dream car, a lowered GEO Metro, didn't give him the street cred he was seeking. If only he had taken up the keytar like Jason did. 

Kelly Tipple shares what it's like marrying into a profession she previously knew nothing about and all the many joys the field of dentistry bring her. 

Russell Schafer was presumably out 3D printer shopping but will be back with us next week. 

So Russell went to Sprintray's event and his SD card was corrupt and lost a great podcast with Vu Le...  Vu graciously came back on to talk with him for an hour about the cool new happenings in the world of 3d printing.  We discuss 3d printing, glidewell, and the MIDAS printer.  Finally we talk about his invention the VPR which is a great tool that every single dentist needs to take excellent photographs with their cell phone.  If you want to find out more about the VPR, go to Photodontist and buy one.  We don't get any money from it, but Russell owns a VPR 400 and uses it regularly.  They are great.

This week Russell talks wtih Dr. Parham Radmanesh who is an Iranian born Canadian dentist trained at Boston University who decided to leave the cold to move to Los Angeles.  Parham bought a struggling office and talks about his journey of buying a failing office that no one else wanted from an owner who just wanted out.  Parham then decided to buy 3 more offices.  Russell and Parham talk about Parham's journey and challenges of expanding so quickly and how Parham learned to scale.  Overall it is a cool story and one that challenges a lot of conventional wisdom.
Also we talk about Parham's SEO company as well and why he started offering his services to other dentists.

Russell and Clint speak with Erik Zundo of West Lafayette, Indiana, a Fee For Service dentist who has found success in the Hoosier State. 

They discuss insurance fees and reimbursement, the Overton Window and ADA meetings and associated fees. 

The beginning of the conversation got cut off, but it was mainly Clinton discussing vexillology in the Southern Hemisphere, so no loss, really. 

Russell and Clinton are joined by Mohamed Attia of Alexandria, Virginia, who recently lectured at the annual AGD meeting about clinical pitfalls he wants to help dentists avoid.  These suggestions come into play for every day practice, from working with a wife (try to avoid that) and taking an x-ray for emergency patients, even if one was recently taken. Take a listen and perhaps find a pearl or two that could potentially save your bacon!

Another VOD 2023 podcast where we interviewed Mr. Jay Glazer.  We discussed the company he works for Crazy Dental and DC Dental.  We talk his journey into dentistry and how the dental supply business has changed in the past few decades.  We talk about the business model of dental supply business from customer service to overhead to supply management and the cost of free shipping.  If you want to find out more about his company, go to www.crazydentalprices.com. 

This week Russell interviews Robert Duque from 3Disc.  Robert came down from New Jersey to NOLA to show off the 3Disc Heron scanner to Russell, and overall it was a good week.  Russell decided to wrap up the week with a podcast.  One of the cooler features of the Heron is the ability to size Kinder zirconia crowns which can be found on YouTube.  Also Russell was impressed that 3Disc paired all their scanners with a laptop that was spec'd appropriatedly with their scanner so that the dentist gets the right experience.  If you are interested in learning more about the scanner, you can either go to 3Disc.com or call Robert and he gives his phone number in the last two minutes of the episode.

To watch my video review of the Heron, you can go to my YouTube page an see it.

Russell Schafer and Clinton Timmerman find out just how soon-to-be Doctor Lisa Nelson makes her mark in the dental field and Doctor Kelsi Lewis discusses her scratch practice in Austin, Texas and how Texas is surprisingly behind the times in not letting hygienists anesthetize patients. The magical wonders of freeze dried Skittles is mentioned and everyone also wonders why Donald Ducks has no pants but puts a towel around his waste when stepping out of the shower. 

This week Russ and Clint talk with Dr. John Pasicznyk who is a dentist in Naples, FL who runs an implant focused office.  We talk about JP's journey from owning five dental offices and the awfulness of that to being a partner at a DSO focused on AoX and how much more he enjoys Florida over the midwest.  We also talk about the craziness about how he learned how to do zygomatic implants.  They involve an Italian company, a bank wire, and trip to Brazil. 
If you want to learn zygomas though, the information for the oral surgeon we talk about in the show is 

Joao Baptista Ilha Filho and his Whatsapp number is +55 44 99857-8788

He will hopefully be on in an upcoming episode.
Finally Russ and Clint pepper JP with other implant questions to round out the episode.
After the end song, JP and Clint talk about one of the cases JP did when he was in Brazil.  It is pretty crazy.