The Dental Hacks Podcast

World renowned author, lecturer, and innovator Dr. Ray Bertolotti joins the show this week. 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" semin

Al is joined by Dr. Darin Dichter and Dr. Doug Benting, the instructors of a course Al took at Spear Education in Scottsdale last week! Some of the topics they discussed: Why doesn’t one size fit all for someone who loses all of their teeth? Why should dentures be the basis for all cosmetic dentistry? Why is removable the red-headed stepchild of dentistry? How can you start planning for a “terminal dentition” earlier to make a transition to edentulous easier and more predictable. Losing teeth is a grieving process! Informed consent and practicing “slow dentistry” Do you hate dentures because you’ve bought into the “short cuts?” All-on-4 is appropriate for some cases. Not all. Pay in dollars or pay in bone? Can a patient give informed consent for bone removal like All-in-4? They’ll NEVER get that bone back! Let’s talk about “terminal” dentition! Some teeth are hopeless, but not useless What has Spear done to keep people safe and comfortable in the COVID era Some links from the show:  Restoring the Edentulou

Al sat down with Dr. Jeff Rouse during a recent trip to Scottsdale! Jeff was teaching "Airway Prosthodontics" concurrently with the course that Al was taking and they had a chance to catch up an all things airway! Jeff's first job might surprise you! How COVID (temporarily) killed in person CE and what the folks at Spear learned from it How Frank Spear changed Airway Prosthodontics for Jeff Why the best airway team members have a personal connection to airway problems "Airway Aware" and "Airway Directed" When a grinding appliance is actually an airway appliance? Are airway problems a modern phenomenon? Who are the best people in the world according to Al? Some links from the show: Airway Prosthodontics Spear Online

Sorry not sorry, but this show starts off with a giant 10 minute rant about Saturday morning cartoons.  Listeners over 50 will delight in Kevin's re-telling of the early ages of 70s cartoons while Zach enjoyed the boys commercial cartoons of the 80's. Dr. Alan Mead joins us to talk about electric handpieces and tries to sell Kevin and Zach on making the move.  You can't see it, you've gotta feel it...it's electric! Alan tell us that he preps harder, faster, better, and stronger with the electric handpieces. He praises the torque, lightweight features, and variable speed. Downsides include that they are more expensive to buy and maintain. Kevin actually did a demo on an electric and disagreed on the lightweight feature, if anything he thought it was heavier and the difference in the way it cut didn't jive "in his hands". Zach hasn't bothered trying electrics because he's cheap and has a good system with handpiece repairs on his Star handpieces. Have you tried electric handpieces? Are they better? Worse? Weigh

Dr. Dawn Kulongowski, Dr. Rich Rosenblatt and Dr. Tammy Bailey join Alan for the "maiden voyage" of the Group Function podcast! We talk about a topic that most Very Dental people can relate to...change! Some highlights: Passive-aggressive ADA talk Hiring in the time of COVID. Procrastination and how to lean into change Askholes and asking the perspective of others Going with your gut Change vs. "zooming" Some links from the show: The Very Dental Facebook group Al's email "Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway" by Susan Jeffers "Survival is not Enough: Zooming, Evolution and the Future of your Company" by Seth Godin

The first episode of the new podcast (The Very Dental podcast) starts the same way that the old podcast did! With Dr. Lance Timmerman!  Lance once again graces us with his presence for Al to explain where the podcast is heading. The two of them hop in a time machine to the day after the graduated from dental school to offer their past selves some ideas that might make their lives a bit easier. Some highlights: try a lot of different ways of practice get reps you don't have to do everything if you don't want to It's hard to dabble in specialty procedures...so be careful before jumping in Magnficiation...just do it You probably can't afford the stuff you think you deserve yet Some links from the show:  the Very Dental Facebook Group Al’s email address Denovo bands The Very Dental Recommendation Engine:  Lance: Viscostat, Viscostat Clear, Dryz Al: Invincible on Amazon Prime

We open up the podcast with a fitting tribute to DMX (maybe only marginally fitting). As an aside Zach would also like to use this space since we won't talk about it on the podcast to also give a tribute to the passing of Shock G from Digital Underground, as the Sex Packets album was his first "Parental Advisory" cassette as a youth. After a cringe-worthy DMX vs. Shakespeare discussion we immediately get into our clinical topic: Routines How do you settle on the way you do a procedure?   I suspect 10 different dentists would do the same procedure 10 different ways... why?  And how do you decide on what you do? Well that's what we talk about. Crowns, operative..and much much more. 3 dentists, 3 completely different systems. Fully digital, semi-digital, analog. There's room for everyone. Thanks for listening and we'll see you next week.

The Dental Hacks Podcast is being rebooted to become the "Very Dental Podcast Network!" Your host and benevolent leader Dr. Alan Mead explains the changes to come and what to expect from your favorite dental podcast feed! Some links from the show: The Very Dental Facebook Group (password: Timmerman) Al on Facebook Al's email

In this Encore Edition of the Dental Hacks Dr. John Khademi and Dr. Eric Herbranson join Alan to talk about the state of endodontics, conserving dentin and how we know what we know. I got to know Dr. John Khademi in the mid-2000's from Dental Town. I was introduced to Dr. Eric Herbranson in 2011 at the Academy of Microscope Enhanced Dentistry where he talked about the 3D Tooth Atlas he had created. Both are influential endodontists who have controversial ideas about how we've been treating teeth over the years. Today's episode features a journey from patient based outcomes to case selection, access openings to how we know what we know. There's a fair amount of hero worship here I've been a huge fan of these guys for quite some time. And a bonus...the one and only Dr. David Clark of Bioclear sits down at the end and talks endo! If you like endo (or even if you don't), this interview will change the way you look at saving teeth! Links from the show: The only way you can really learn the Bioclear method is direc

Last year during the COVID shut down, it was requested that I read some bedtime stories. This is an encore of that episode. Llama Llama Red Pajama, written and illustrated by Anna Dewdney Goodnight Moon, by Margaret Wise Brown with pictures by Clement Hurd Go the F--k to Sleep, by Adam Mansbach, illustrated by Ricardo Cortes (listener advisory for language)

We welcome back Dr. Pamela Maragliano-Muniz of DentistryIQ.com fame! We talk cats! We talk glass ionomer! Glass ionomers have come a long way! Curing light or auto polymerize? Resin modified glass ionomers requires a light. Pure glass ionomer is a restoration with benefits. We talk about the oral environment and wash out! We talk about clinical situations to use GI We talk about GI as a build up material. We talk about shades. Kevin is a hater. Join our Clinical Hacks Facebook group!

An Encore episode of the Dental Hacks Shorts featuring the one and only Dr. Kevin Fryer! We recorded this gem at VoD 2020 and it holds up!  The Voices of Dentistry is a great dental meeting, but it's also a great chance to get together with your internet friends! Dr. Kevin Fryer (just call him Kevin) joined Alan before the meeting kicked off to talk about a bunch of fun stuff: What's the story with being called "Doctor" Yea or nay on keyboards in rock music Patients that "fly in to see me" Materials expiration dates Pinewood Derby Our friends at Microcopy Dental have been making Damn Good Burs for more than 50 years! You need to give their single patient use burs a try! You need to request a free sample of their damn good NeoDiamond 1116.8C. It's a work horse round end taper coarse bur for crown preps and operative. It's a terrific bur by any standard, but the fact that it's single patient use means there's no risk of cross contamination and you always get a great cutting, brand-new-out-of-the-package bur.

Dr. Mike Skramstad and Dr. Meena Barsoum are part of the team at CEREC Doctors and they sat down to talk with Jason and Al! We talk about the history of CEREC and education in the chariside CAD/CAM world. This history is very interesting and the future is even more so! Some of the topics we discussed: Is German a harder language to learn than Spanish? Does Rich Rosenblatt thing Meena is the worst student he's ever had? How many CEREC mills do they actually have at CEREC Doctors (spoiler alert: it's 36!) What's the sweet spot for length of video? When did the hands on courses switch to Primescan? Is now the very best time to be a CEREC dentist? What's the future of CEREC software? Will it ever be separate from the hardware? Will milling outside of the CEREC ecosystem always be for experts? Implant workflows in the CEREC system (milling custom healing abutments anyone?) How has seeing CEREC failures helped with preparation styles? What is a "ghost contact?" How much are user concerns/suggestions taken into ac

"You get the rough with the smooth." --Dr. Jason Smithson on having a specialty Alan and Jason continue their conversation about specialization. This episode is where we get to the good stuff where we really dig into the pros and cons of specialization and how generalists that long to be known for a particular kind of work might have it wrong! Jason debunks some of Alan's preconceived notions about how having a referral base makes a patient choosing treatment almost automatic. And Alan is mildly crushed. Also we discuss the excruciating problem of having a 20+ year old practice/patient base and the ups and downs of having a "history" with people. Finally, we open the door to a potential next podcast to talk about an ideal way to do group practice. You should have a system for polishing. Our friends at Microcopy Dental have just the thing! You've got the surface, they've got the polishers! The new Neoshine polishing system is simple and color coded but gives amazing results in the least amount of time! Go chec

We welcome Dr.  Pamela Maragliano-Muniz of DentistryIQ.com fame! Pam tells her origin story. We talk about yoga! We talk about preventive dentistry specifically silver diamine fluoride (SDF) First we talk about SDF as a desensitizer. We then talk about using SDF as a caries arresting agent. We talk about using SDF with a glass ionomer base. We get interrupted by a cat! Kevin remains a skeptic! Have a bottle in every room! Delegate! Join our Clinical Hacks Facebook group!

Dr. Jason Smithson joins Alan this week to talk about specialization. Jason has taken a pretty interesting path to the career he currently has. His first focus was going to be going through a fixed pros residency in the US with a plan to teach at a University in London along with having a cushy private practice gig to boot. Then things changed and Jason began to train in oral surgery, but once he realized the commitment he'd be making to more education, he switched plans again. He found himself in a General Practice Residency and actually stayed in that practice for upwards of 20 years!=== While he was here, he actually began training in a perio residency as well. Jason is a good person to discuss specializing with, but I think you'll find this conversation goes in directions you aren't expecting. We'll follow this conversation up with the second half next week! You should have a system for polishing. Our friends at Microcopy Dental have just the thing! You've got the surface, they've got the polishers! The

Dr. Michael Gunson is an oral surgeon who does just one thing. Orthognathic surgery. He joins Jason and Alan to talk about his understanding or the TM joint, occlusion and how that's changed over the years. Some of our topics include: Treating the TMJ is complicated. No two joints are the same. No two patients are the same. What is temporomandibular dysfunction? Does the literature measure what we think it's measuring? How is treating TMJ troubles like understanding schizophrenia? How does communication, listening and empathy relate to treating pain and dysfunction patients? Nose breathing and pattern recognition Pathology isn't in the thing, the pathology is in the relationships of the things Adaptation and asking the wrong question Hormone imbalances and classic presentations of TM dysfunction/facial development The checklist gets longer and longer (like a CVS receipt) What is interdisciplinary treatment? Where do dentists fit in facial esthetics? Mike will be teaching in a new, updated interdisciplinary t

The patient is choosing a treatment compromise...so how do you make sure that THEY own the compromise? Alan discusses these tricky situations that every dentist runs into and it's worth thinking through how you discuss and educate patients about it!  If the podcast means anything to you, Alan could use a little shot in the arm. Email him at alan@meadfamilydental.com to let him know you're listening! You should have a system for polishing. Our friends at Microcopy Dental have just the thing! You've got the surface, they've got the polishers! The new Neoshine polishing system is simple and color coded but gives amazing results in the least amount of time! Go check out Neoshine polishers at dentalhacks.com/neoshine!    

Jason "Jlips" Lipscomb is back this week as promised and he knows things about the internet that you don't. We start off by talking about concerts and discover that Jason and Kevin have tasteful broad ranges of musical interests that are compelling and rich.   Meanwhile, Zach is excited about his hair band concert and reminisces about a Kid Rock/Tenacious D concert from the early part of the century. If you are a Spear Online education member, Jason has his courses up now! On to the not-so-clinical topic of the week - Jason is back to talk about your website - highlights include: Do you have to be on Word Press? How do you choose a theme? Who's your ideal customer? What do you own?  Super important. Can you update it yourself?  Is that important? NextDoor app How important is your website vs socials and ancillary apps? Take pictures, do stuff!   Video stuff.   Quantity can trump quality in some cases Thanks for listening and if you aren't in the Clinical Hacks Facebook Page, why the heck not?  It's free!

Alan has some post-spring-break thoughts regarding the freedom to travel and personal fitness. He's a thoughtful one, that guy.  You should have a system for polishing. Our friends at Microcopy Dental have just the thing! You've got the surface, they've got the polishers! The new Neoshine polishing system is simple and color coded but gives amazing results in the least amount of time! Go check out Neoshine polishers at dentalhacks.com/neoshine!