The Dental Hacks Podcast

This throwback episode features Zach and Kevin talking to an adhesive dentistry pioneer!   Dr. Raymond Bertolotti is perhaps best known for introducing "total etch"  to North America in 1984. He has been credited with coining the phrase "adhesion dentistry" in 1985.  Dr. Bertolotti first used "Adhesion Dentistry" when he retitled his "Cosmetic Dentistry" seminar, reflecting the true nature of what he was using to achieve aesthetic results with minimal invasion. In America, Dr. Bertolotti  also introduced Caries Detector in 1984, Panavia in 1985,  cantilevered PFM adhesion bridges in 1986, intraoral tin plating in 1989, self-etching primers in 1992,  HealOzone in 2004, and all-ceramic zirconia adhesion bridges in 2017.  The sectional Contact Matrix system, "Microprime B",  Accolade PV,       "Microetcher" sandblasting,  and intraoral tin-plating are also his innovations. His materials and techniques continue to reflect a compilation of international knowledge which has been evolved into a "how to do it" semina

Social media has changed us. Social media has allowed us to add our opinions and commentary to anything and everything. I’m completely guilty of this.  What happens when you choose to not engage?  Some links from the show: Go get your ticket and your room for Voices of Dentistry 2023! 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!  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 veryde

Do you have advice that you've heard that you use on almost every single procedure? I do. And it came from today's guest, Dr. John Burgess. Dr. Burgess is the assistant Dean for Clinical Research at the University of Alabama at Birmingham as well as Director of the Graduate Biomaterials Program and was recently featured on the main stage at the Spear Summit 2022.  But I heard John at the Spring Vedder society meeting some years back and some of the things he said have stayed with me to this day. It was a true pleasure to get to talk with John about what he does, how materials research should be done and how dentists can be better at understanding materials. How does someone get in to biomaterials research? Clinical research at LSU How to find unbiased information...how do we evaluate literature? Is the research measuring what they think it's measuring? Bevels on posterior composites? How do we test this? (spoiler alert: don't bevel occlusal margins) The best material is "abuse tolerant." How do patients get

In this throwback episode Zach and Kevin are joined again by Dr. Nate Lawson to wax poetic on bioactivity. What is it? If these bioactive ions are released and no one is around to see them, did it really even happen? We discuss Activa, Glass Ionomers, pulp caps and liners, and much much more. Go get your ticket and your room for Voices of Dentistry 2023! 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!  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

Very Dental People...I give you an episode of the Alan Mead Experience from April 2018 featuring the one and only Dr. Frank Clayton!  In one of the greatest podcasts ever recorded, Frank and Al cover a bizarre range of topics: from pig farming, test taking, Spear and Kois, single tooth dentistry and hating removable dentures. Some links from the show: Go get your ticket and your room for Voices of Dentistry 2023! 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!  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

"Why can't I talk to my patients like Gary does?" -me, quite often Alan is joined by Dr. Gary DeWood for another really good conversation about communication, among other things. Some of the topics they covered: Staying in the question until the questions are coming from the patient  How the dental model is wrong People figure out a way to do the things that they have value for Assume that the patient thinks that they're healthy until you understand that they don't How aligners have made people value the position of their teeth Ask questions and then be quiet Why the hygiene op is the worst place to talk about dental health Having the hygienist "refer" the patient to the doctor Lawn mowers and believing it's possible The mindset change of financing/making payments Patients need to know that you'll make it financially possible "We're going to do whatever we can to make it possible" In office financing vs. outside payment plans...what's the limit that doc can be the bank? Gary on the "dead zone" in your pract

Kevin and Zach welcome back the one and only Dr. Colin Lathrop to talk about what's new in implant surgical education at the Implant Pathway!  Some links from the show: Implant Pathway The Voices of Dentistry 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!  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 a

Al discusses the idea of guard rails. Aka: boundaries. What are some things that you've chosen NOT to have in your life/practice/relationships that help keep things simple and on the straight and narrow? Some links from the show: The Voices of Dentistry meeting (January 20-21st, 2023 in Scottsdale, AZ!) 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!  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 c

Alan is joined by Dr. Darin Dichter for an in person interview at Spear Summit 2022! Spear Education is almost completely back to normal on campus! Adam's teeth Seminars are coming back! Lessons from virtual learning during the pandemic An invitation to the Vedder Society! In person CE is money well spent! (sorry/not sorry) Digital fabrication of occlusal guards! Find a lab to partner with to do the design or fabrication that you don't want to What printing enthusiasts don't want to talk about Two Spear guys go to the mountains (Darin's trip with Dr. Steve Ratcliff to Gannett Peak!) Find physical activites that you like to do! Some links from the show: Restoring the Edentulous Arch Primeprint from Dentsply Sirona 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!  Cosmedent has an amazing fall line up of continuing education! Coming up on September 22nd through the 2

This throwback episode features dental materials superstar Dr. Nate Lawson talking about how to bond ceramic materials to teeth! Nate has an awesome Instagram page! Check it out here!  https://www.instagram.com/dentinaltube/ Nate discusses how to prepare the intaglio of ceramic crowns, namely, Emax. Nate also discusses how to properly prepare the tooth for bonding. We discuss mistakes in ceramic bonding and zirconia cementation. Materials discussed in this episode : Emax Panavia Scotchbond universal Ivoclean Rely X Monobond Etch and Prime Monobond Plus Clearfil Ceramic Primer LiSi Press Celtra Duo Relyx Ultimate 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!  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 su

As a clinician practicing dentistry we're obliged to use evidence based approaches. But access to the literature (aka: the evidence) is kind of limited. Dr. John Burgess explains some options for those who want to dive into the literature but don't have access to a dental school library! 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!  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 ver

As you may have heard, everyone needs ortho. Specifically, many of your adult patients could benefit from some kind of orthodontic treatment. Once you start to see that so much of the pathology we see could be solved or at least improved with some orthodontic intervention, your mind goes to...should I be doing this? My guest today is Dr. Avi Patel. I first noticed Avi on his entertaining Instagram account. Avi is a clear aligner advocate and he told me about his journey using oral health to promote a clear aligner practice! Avi's story from New York to Austin, TX (short version: a lot of associateships) Once you see it, you can't miss the fact that everyone needs ortho. Because of how companies are marketing, clear aligners have changed the way adult patients see orthodontics. Patient understand crooked teeth better than any other dental pathology Orthodontists should LOVE general dentists doing aligners! General dentists doing clear aligners will refer way more ortho to orthodontists! Compliance and case se

Following the news of Zach's intraoral scanner epiphany, the guys discuss some options for the next step after incorporating a scanner! A lot of hot printing and digital workflow talk in today's ep! 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!  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 verydental

How do you let the patients that are a true pleasure to work on know that they are? In this episode Al rants about trying to be an excellent patient and what makes a patient be terrific to work on. Is it ethical to charge less on an easy patient? Perhaps you need to charge a difficulty fee for the ones that are a pain? Most importantly...what could you put in your "adult treasure chest" for adult patients that are a true pleasure to work on? 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 amazin

I've had the privilege to talk with Dr. Frank Spear and Dr. Gregg Kinzer on the podcast multiple times! The first time we ever had them on the podcast was June 2018 and I'm sharing it again for a very specific reason. I have the chance to record at the 2022 Spear Summit next week and I'll be featuring lots of content from the summit in the next months. I thought it would be interesting to hear these luminaries from a time before shutdowns, COVID protocols and before in person CE was gutted by the pandemic. In this throwback to June 2018 Dr. Frank Spear and Dr. Gregg Kinzer discuss all things Spear Education. Frank tells some stories about how he started presenting to dentists and how the Spear Center in Scottsdale came about. They also tell the story of how the two of became partners in dental practice. There's a lot to love in this podcast. We talk about the best way to bring new patients into your office ("what level would you like to be seen, Mrs. Smith?") and even how to transition patients you've been se

Kevin and Zach have returned from a short summer hiatus! Zach started using a Medit scanner and that's what the conversation centered on! How does an "analog" dentist change his technique to get excellent results with at scanner? Zach digs in to the new changes he's made and decides on whether he's going to stick with digital! "Yay Medit!" -Kevin 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!  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 wirele

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 c

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 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!  Cosmedent has an amazing fall

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!  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 Estheti

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!  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