The Very Dental Podcast Network

Latest Episodes:

Shorts: Phoning it In Sep 05, 2022

Show notes

Who's paying attention to the patient experience at your office? Al rants about the fact that this often overlooked factor is mostly unimportant in a medical setting. NO ONE is looking out for the patient experience in most medical offices because no one cares and it doesn't matter.

But it does matter in your practice. You can and should do better. We owe it to our patients and our teams.

Join the Very Dental Facebook group using the password "Timmerman," Hornbrook" or "McWethy."

If you'd like to support the Very Dental Podcast Network then you should support our sponsors!

Our friends at CAD-Ray want you to know that there has never been a better time to get into intraoral scanning! They sell and support all kinds of digital dentistry products from scanners, to printers and even cloud based software! For instance, the Medit i600 itraoral scanner is priced at just about $13,000! And if you didn't know, CAD-Ray now distributes 3Shape scanners and the amazing Trios 4 wireless just had a $10,000 price cut! It comes in under $25,000. And all these options come with CAD-Ray's unbeatable support! Go check it out at verydentalpodcast.com/cadray!

If there is one thing that's changed the way I look at teeth the most, it's probably the headlight I use with my loupes. Our friends at Enova make amazing loupes and distribute Zumax dental microscopes, both the best you can buy. But the amazing, weightless and cordless Qubit, Quasar or Quantum headlights (all others are just toys) are the biggest game changer. But be careful…if you try one, you're going to buy one! Why haven't you checked out Enova Illumination yet? You can get a killer deal on all things Enova by using the Very Dental link you'll find at verydentalpodcast.com/Enova!

Have you been looking at your supply bill lately? Prices are REALLY going up on all the things you use every day in your office. Our friends at Crazy Dental understand and are here to help! Very Dental listeners can get 10% off their orders from Crazy Dental by using coupon code "VERYDENTAL10"! Go check out their amazing catalog and save yourself 10% off of their already amazing prices at verydentalpodcast.com/crazy!

If you're looking for a one stop dental marketing solution, then look no further than the Wonderist Agency. Wonderist can help you with branding and a killer website. They'll design ad campaigns no matter how you want to get your name out there. But maybe most importantly, they'll show you how your marketing plan is working! They have industry leading analytics that help you understand what works and what doesn't in your area and they'll help you spend your marketing dollar in the wisest way possible! Go check out the Wonderist Agency at verydentalpodcast.com/Wonderist!

Cosmedent has an amazing fall line up of continuing education! Coming up on September 22nd through the 23rd is our friend Dr. Artie Volker teaching "Composite Power 101!" Dr. Corky Willhite is offering his legendary "Ultimate Esthetics" course! Both courses have lots of hands on exercises and as always they're limited to 15 people which guarantees lots of individual time with instructors! Don't miss your chance to learn in the greatest classroom in dentistry with some legendary instructors using the best of materials! Go check it out at verydentalpodcast.com/CEE!

Very Dental: Shrinking Dental Teams with Dr. Natalie Ballas Sep 02, 2022

Show notes

Dr. Natalie Ballas is a dentist and practice owner in Canby, OR. Nat came out to Michigan to experience the Vedder Society last September and it's taken me a year to get her to come onto the show! The two of them had a wide ranging conversation and some of the things they talked about are as follows:

Is September the busiest time for dental events? (DS World and Spear Summit are the same weekend)
Dental friends vs. IRL friends
Work means "always being on" and using the commute to unwind
Talking (or not talking) with nondental spouses about work
Tiny teams and shrinking teams
Getting the right number from a DSO = retirement
What is the best thing you've bought for the office? (Al and Natalie answer in very different ways
Having a flat facsimile (cardboard cut out) of employees for your office

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If you'd like to support the Very Dental Podcast Network then you should support our sponsors!

Very Clinical New Dentist Spectacular episode 8: Immediate Dentures! Aug 30, 2022

Show notes

More hot denture talk courtesy of our special guest Dr. Russell Schafer

This time we get into immediate dentures and printed dentures. Hot takes abound!

Highlights of things Russell talked about:

Shining Path Scanner

Nextdent priting resin

Bosworth Soft Liner (sticks to resin well)

Locator Attachments

Soft Liner is way better than Tissue Conditioner per Russell

Rebases are under-utilized vs. relines

Repair your broken denture teeth with composite - for retention add a titanium pin plus some potholes in the acrylic

If you want to interact with us, head over to the Very Clinical Facebook Group!

Join the Very Dental Facebook group using the password "Timmerman," Hornbrook" or "McWethy."

If you'd like to support the Very Dental Podcast Network then you should support our sponsors!

Shorts: Everyone Needs Ortho Aug 29, 2022

Show notes

If you're looking for it you realize that a vast majority of your adult patients would benefit from some kind of orthodontic intervention. Most of the potential "big cases" that walk into my office would become smaller or at least a lot simpler if they had some kind of ortho. And with payment plans and aligners you might find that the obstacles to getting your patients to say "yes" are lower than you think.

Join the Very Dental Facebook group using the password "Timmerman," Hornbrook" or "McWethy."

If you'd like to support the Very Dental Podcast Network then you should support our sponsors!

Very Dental: FriedRiceTacoPizza with Dr. Gary Holtzclaw Aug 26, 2022

Show notes

Dr. Gary Holtzclaw is a dentist and practice owner in Simpsonville, SC. Alan holds a special place in his hear for Gary because he was one of the very few people who attended Alan's presentation at the Dentsply Sirona World 2017. In Las Vegas. At 8am. On the topic of addiction. So let's be honest...Gary is a peach.

The guys had a wide ranging conversation that could have gone on a lot longer and some of the topics they discussed are as follows:

Gary indulges Al in a college marching band story because both of them were in the marching band back in the day.
Gary and Al are both old school podcast listeners. (Rio 500 mp3 player in the house!)
Gary and Al both share a history of buying a "diamond in the rough" kind of practice. We're not sure those kind of practices are out there much any more, but if you find one you should buy it!
Gary got into Spear Education/CEREC around the time you could buy CE on DVD!
Reality Ratings changed Al's dental life
Gary explains his FriedRiceTacoPizza approach to immersing himself in CE and recommends others approach it a little differently. When he dove in to treating sleep apnea and airway he took courses from Erin Elliott at 3D Dental, Jamison Spencer and Jeff Rouse at Spear. All amazing teachers and courses, but they all have a little bit different approach. This made implementation much more difficult.
Instructors don't realize how special they are and often how their practice is.
Adults need ortho. A lot. How did Gary get in to moving teeth?
In the first three years of practice try and figure out what you DON'T want to do.
Gary and Al both threaten to give up a lot of procedures
Experience means understanding what's a "Hail Mary" and how to explain that to a patient.
Gary on newer dentists..."they're hungrier."

Join the Very Dental Facebook group using the password "Timmerman," Hornbrook" or "McWethy."

If you'd like to support the Very Dental Podcast Network then you should support our sponsors!

Very Clinical New Dentist Spectacular Episode 7: Dentures! Aug 23, 2022

Show notes

The Very Clinical guys reached out for help to talk about dentures. Apparently Zach, Mac and Kevin aren't red hot on full uppers and lowers. So they found someone who is! Dr. Russell Schafer joins the guys to explain how he does it and how he's simplified it to make it profitable and even (gasp) enjoyable!

Links from Russell:

Russell's lab: Cynosure Dental Lab, Tim Lane

FB group: Oral Architects of Removable Prosthodontics

If you want to interact with us, head over to the Very Clinical Facebook Group!

Join the Very Dental Facebook group using the password "Timmerman," Hornbrook" or "McWethy."

If you'd like to support the Very Dental Podcast Network then you should support our sponsors!

Shorts: He Won! Aug 22, 2022

Show notes

Just a little riff how much dentistry costs vs. how long it typically lasts.

Join the Very Dental Facebook group using the password "Timmerman," Hornbrook" or "McWethy."

If you'd like to support the Very Dental Podcast Network then you should support our sponsors!

Very Dental: Is the Grass Greener? with Dr. Vince Buscemi Aug 19, 2022

Show notes

Dr. Vince Buscemi is a dentist and podcaster from Michigan. He does his podcast with a partner, Dr. Jessical Gaul and it is called "ToothFaced the Podcast." You can find the podcast on Youtube and Spotify and it's a great listen! Vince has what most would consider a "dream practice" in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan! Vince and Al had a chance to talk about a variety of topics and the conversation went in an interesting direction. Poor Vince barely got a word in edgewise...sorry Vince! Some of the topics they covered:

Why start a podcast? Who is the audience?
Vince records live in his office!
People have weird emotions about consult rooms.
Vince misses the "Alan Mead Experience" podcast!
How Al started telling his story publicly
Vince's practice is completely FFS/insurance free in Bloomfield Hills! (Bloomfield Hills is a very wealthy Detroit suburb)
You might think you want a practice like Vince's, but there are downsides!
How do you tell weathy/important people "no" when they're used to hearing "yes?"
Vince sends much specialty work out because his patients know that they'll pay for "the best."
Vince was "sink or swim" in his current practice...the guy he bought from was gone in 3 days!
Vedder Society meeting is September 23-25th in Bellaire, MI!
Paperclip turns
Northern Michigan vs. Southeastern Michigan
Al brought a laptop to class in dental school in the mid 1990's
Dental school requirements in the COVID era
Al's implicit bias course gripes

Join the Very Dental Facebook group using the password "Timmerman," Hornbrook" or "McWethy."

If you'd like to support the Very Dental Podcast Network then you should support our sponsors!

Very Clinical New Dentist Spectacular Episode 6: Extractions! Aug 16, 2022

Show notes

In this throwback episode we feature Zach, Kevin and Dr. Mac Jones, the "Chuck Cunningham" of the early Very Clinical podcast!

Highlights today include:

Mac and Kevin are talented at extractions and do it all
Zach's not a huge fan of extractions, can the guys give him some tips to up his game?
The gang each share how they'd take out a tooth #19 from start to finish
Opioids? Are we part of the solution or contributing to the problem?

Products or techniques discussed by each hack:

Kevin

Double block with Septocaine

#23 Forceps

PGA Sutures

Dr. Pimple Popper

Mac

Block with Lido, Septo infiltration

301T Elevator

A. Titan forcep

Benacel

600 mg of Ibuprofen + 1 Extra Strength Tylenol = great pain relief

PTFE Suture

Make the Root Smaller or the Hole Bigger

Zach

Proximators

Learning Minor Oral Surgery

If you want to interact with us, head over to the Very Clinical Facebook Group!

Join the Very Dental Facebook group using the password "Timmerman," Hornbrook" or "McWethy."

If you'd like to support the Very Dental Podcast Network then you should support our sponsors!

You know that our friends at Zirc are the organization people. With the Color Method and all the different storage and instrument sterilizations options, they'll keep your processes streamlined and efficient! But they're not JUST the organization people. Every dental office should check out the amazing products that Zirc has to offer for organization, isolation and visualization at verydentalpodcast.com/Zirc!