The Dental Hacks Podcast

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 h

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!  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 pe

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!  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! -- 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 scanne

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 se

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 Dent

A riff on mountain biking and how comparing yourself to others can be pretty negative and is usually a waste of time. 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 verydentalpodcast.com/CEE! -- You know that our friends at Zirc are the organization people. With the Color Method and all the different storage and instrument sterilizations

Dr. Frank Clayton joins Alan for a rousing and wide ranging conversation about life and dentistry. Some of the topics include: Reminiscing about classic DentalTown days Where did the idea for a dental podcast come from? Al misses the Droid 2 Good bad food Salty or sweet? Which was worse: selling Velveeta of dental school? Timer vs. living dangerously with setting cement Speedcem by Ivoclar "In my hands" DSLR failures Photography is simply to make other dentists feel bad We hate phone calls Zirconia works just fine...in my hands Social media: net positive or net negative? Are there rednecks in the north? "Jimmy is One of My Jewish friends" commercial Would you rather have a tight interproximal contact or a loose-ish contact? Frank has made a pact with Mac Jones to never get an intraoral scanner for C&B Carifree treatment rinse is worse tasting than "minty pool water." Don't care more than your patients do Join the Very Dental Facebook group using the password "Timmerman," Hornbrook" or "McWethy." If you'

New dentists, take note! Not all dentists think that sealants are a wise preventive treatment! The very clinical guys, (Zach Meiners, Kevin Fryer, and Alan Mead) all have one thing in common...all pretty much dislike sealants! What? Aren't they preventing decay? Enjoy what's likely an unpopular take on sealants. Highlights include: - Do sealants prevent decay? - Can sealants "cause" decay? - What conditions should be met for sealants to be effective? - Is adding sealants into your hygiene program a revenue booster? - When did 3 experienced clinicians turn sour on sealants? - How does a microscope user view the sealant restoration? - Is the medium quality sealant the worst restoration? - Glass Ionomer sealants, do they have a place?   Fuji Triage 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! 

What metrics are you measuring? How does measurement affect long term outcomes? Whether it's tracking blood glucose, logging what you eat or checking on your office's production and collections, measurement can help keep you accountable. But how important is this measurement? Can you measure too much? What happens if you get bad data?  Al relates his experiences with a CGM (constant glucose monitor) and how it's helped improve long term outcomes with diabetes and wonders if there is an appropriate analogy with measurement of key performance indicators of your business! 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!  After the course I took at Cosmedent back in May, I realized that polishing restorations, especially composite restorations is an afterthought for most dentists. Getting a beautiful shine with lasting luster is just too much work, so why bother? But what if y

The Wonderist Agency is truly a one stop marketing solution. They take a personal and design centered approach to dental practice marketing. They've been supportive of dental podcasting and specifically for the Voices of Dentistry meeting and a partner to the Very Dental Podcast network. All of that said, my conversation with founder Michael Anderson was enlightening in a way that I didn't originally expect.   One of the problems with dental marketing is the inability to know if your spending is truly making a difference. Is the money I'm spending really bringing people through the door? I asked Michael about this consistent gripe from dentists and he had a really direct answer that I think you'll want to hear about!  A few highlights: Michael's take on dental meetings in a post-COVID world How are you capturing leads? How are you tracking them? Can dentists use lead lists in a subtle and effective way? How do you become the business that people remember when they're spurred to do something? (spoiler: drip s

New (and used) dentists rejoice! In this riveting throwback episode, Kevin, Zach and Al discuss their methods for doing basic crown and bridge temporaries. Highlights today include:  Kevin immediately one-ups the groups and says he's mostly Cerec and rarely makes temps, so the moral of the episode is... skip temps and mill yourself so that you can be as cool as Kevin.  Zach, per usual has both the least expensive way of doing it and the most complicated, 3 different temp systems for a variety of scenarios.. nightmare!  Alan, also per usual, describes the most expensive way to make a temporary possible, but also has some unique solutions for broken down teeth, listen close for some pearls! Kevin's Integrity Products on the show mentioned include: Zach: Safco Dual Arch Trays for Pre-impression Safco Nice Bite Fast Set for Pre-Impression Safco Nice Temp Metal Ion Crowns for "jacked" teeth GC Alike Acrylic for long span cases or heavy bruxers on 2nd molars Temp-Bond Generic Polycarboxylate (Durelon)   Ala

After a restful July, Al has some things you should check out! From bicycle stuff, to podcasts to a switchblade knife, there's a little something for everyone to check out! Al's local (Michigan) bicycles for sale Facebook group Al's new mountain bike (2020 Trek Fuel EX 5) Hot Money: Porn, Power and Profit podcast Al's new knife Al's new headphones 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!  After the course I took at Cosmedent back in May, I realized that polishing restorations, especially composite restorations is an afterthought for most dentists. Getting a beautiful shine with lasting luster is just too much work, so why bother? But what if you could make your patients happier and make your composite restorations last longer? You need to try Enamelize, the aluminum oxide polishing paste from Cosmedent that will change the way you look at composite polish forev

Alan is joined by Dr. Dawn Kulongowski, Dr. Lance Timmerman, Dr. Jason Lipscomb and Dr. Frank Clayton to grapple with weird and difficult hypothetical situations in a rousing game of "What would you do?" If you were an associate and your owner dentist's hands are starting to shake, what do you do? What would you tell yourself if you had a time machine that took you to your graduation day from dental school? This and many other dilemmas are hilariously discussed by a panel of all star Brain Trusters! 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!  After the course I took at Cosmedent back in May, I realized that polishing restorations, especially composite restorations is an afterthought for most dentists. Getting a beautiful shine with lasting luster is just too much work, so why bother? But what if you could make your patients happier and make your composite restoration

In this riveting throwback episode, each of the Very Clinical guys discusses their tissue retraction methods for crown and bridge impressions/scans. Highlights today include: There are a lot of different ways to retract tissue, how do we do it if we're impressing?   How about scanning? Medicaments?  How many chemicals can Zach put in the mouth simultaneously just to dry things up? Compression caps, an inexpensive way to get some pressure hemostasis. Products talked about in the episode: Zach Siltrax Plus Premier Retraction Caps Quick-Stat FS (generic of Astringedent) Quick-Stat Free (generic of Viscostat Clear) Alan Traxodent Aquasil Ultra Cordless Knit-Pak+ Cord Astringedent X Kevin Gingi-Aid Z-Twist Viscostat Clear Lidocaine with Epi 1:50,000 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 spo

In this classic episode Dr. Bart Schultz joins Al to talk about medicine. Specifically some of the medical stuff that we've experienced in the last year and why they don't talk about money in medicine. We didn't figure out why. All we know is that dentistry could never get away with what they do in medicine. What we really wonder: can a patient give their informed consent without complete financial consent? 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!  After the course I took at Cosmedent back in May, I realized that polishing restorations, especially composite restorations is an afterthought for most dentists. Getting a beautiful shine with lasting luster is just too much work, so why bother? But what if you could make your patients happier and make your composite restorations last longer? You need to try Enamelize, the aluminum oxide polishing paste from Cosmedent th

Dr. Nazariy Mykhaylyuk is a phenomenon. He's a visionary microscope user, an amazing restorative dentist and he's changing how dentists learn restorative dentistry. In this classic episode Alan and Jason were able to see his exquisite presentation at the Spear Summit and soon sat down with him to talk. Nazariy is from Ukraine and he has a really great story. We had a chance to discuss: How he started using microscopes (spoiler: HE'S NEVER USED LOUPES!) Working in a truly family business Why microscopes are a necessity in his practice His transition from analog dentistry to fully digital His incredible, all-inclusive teaching center Documentation, both photography and video How important is the rubber dam for Nazariy? A really novel way to present treatment Nazariy's social media journey The team he uses to create amazing documentation and videos Digital veneer workflow 3 day turnaround for digital veneer cases! Some links from the episode: Nazariy's upcoming course in October 2022 in Las Vegas!  Canon 5D

This summer we're featuring "clinical basics" from the Zach and Kevin (and others) that will benefit new dentists and grizzled veterans alike! Today's episode features their take on class III composites! Highlights today include: We all walk through doing a #7 MBL restoration,  how different can 3 people do it? Everyday we're beveling.   Alan likes big bevels, and he cannot lie. Is Mylar dead?   We all learned Mylar in school, but do any of the hacks still use it? Alan describes the most expensive way possible to do a Class 3,  Zach 1/10th X's that, Kevin is our middle. Products talked about in the episode today include: Alan: Bioclear Anterior UltraEtch Snow Plow Technique (squirt flowable, plow it in with paste... hot!) Magic Mix Minnow Polisher Hi-Gloss   Kevin: Triodent Matrices Sof-Lex Discs Enhance Pogo Polisher   Zach: 330 Bur from DentalRee Garrison Blue View Varistrip 12 Fluted Polishing Bur from DentalRee One Step Composite Polisher   If you want to interact with us, head over to the Very Cl

Remember a couple years ago when EVERYONE needed high quality masks and none were to be found? This throwback episode of the Shorts podcast features Dr. Craig Harder and the masks he made for health care providers back in the beginning of the pandemic!  Original show notes: Alan talks with Dr. Craig Harder about his recent news exposure! Craig has been printing reusable masks for health care professionals in his town in Washington and has had several great news stories written about his efforts! Craig tells us how he’s printing them and how he’s customizing them for nurses and doctors in his area! We talk about how to print a 3D mask as well as whether our existing universal precautions were enough. Infection control in dentistry has always been a huge deal and we wonder if people are going to criticize what we’ve been doing! Some links from the show:  Moses Lake Dentist uses time, materials to help other medical professionals Moses Lake Dentist 3D Printing Reusable Masks for Healthcare Workers Bellus3D Bel

Zirconia is widely used. Many love it, some hate it. But there aren’t many people that know more about it than the one and only Dr. Mike DiTolla! In this classic episode, Mike joins Jason and Alan to answer questions about all things zirconia! Some topics we cover: Mike’s shoulder surgery experience and why you shouldn’t feel too bad about missing a block again. How Mike invented zirconia (Al’s word, not his) Is zirconia too strong? Can you bond zirconia? And how does that work? How does the lab approach zirconia (e.g.–die space, etc.) 30 micron margins! Crown margins = really narrow class V restoration Best ways to adjust zirconia (water on, very fine diamond)  Mike and Josh Austin’s AMAZING performances at VoD 2020! What is zirconia’s Kryptonite and why do we have to clean zirconia before cementing/bonding? Best way to open an access/drill a hold into a zirconia crown and how to repair Blended zirconia materials Will zirconia eventually take over? Cementing vs. bonding The Lipscomb Scale of how much it suc

This episode begins a summer series featuring the amazing back catalog of Very Clinical episodes! July is the beginning of the careers of many new dentists. We're featuring "clinical basics" from the Zach and Kevin (and others) that will benefit new dentists and grizzled veterans alike! We begin with their take on local anesthesia! Some highlights of the episode are: What kind of syringes, needles do we use? What brands of anesthetic do we carry? Topical? How do we numb maxillary teeth?   How does it change for operative vs. endo vs. surgery? How do we numb mandibular teeth?  Differences between anterior and posterior? How do we troubleshoot a difficult to numb tooth? Septocaine for blocks, do we do it? Buffering?  Is it needed? Why does Zach suck so much with anesthetic and what can he do about it? 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 Dent