The Dental Hacks Podcast

What starts as an innocent question about his family becomes a near tirade by Dr. Lance Timmerman! We hear what it's like working in someone else's practice from a guy who has owned his own practice since the beginning! This episode is hilarious and it touches on the fact that in most dentist's careers we will have to work in an office that we're not familiar with. If you've ever had to get used to equipment or treatment plans that weren't your own...you'll get a lot out of this one! Links from the show: Voices of Dentistry  The Working Interferences Podcast

Dr. Jason Smithson makes a triumphant return to the Dental Hacks Podcast! Jason and Alan spent an hour talking about what's going on in the life of one of our most requested guests! Jason tells us about: Being forced into a different practice (and practice model) as a mid-career dentist All the fixed/removable cases he's seeing (and what it must have been like to be a prosthodontist in 1968) How trying something completely new can beat boredom in practice How does working with other dentists and dental team members makes for better patient outcomes How does the financial security make for better patient outcomes?  What does mentorship look like to Jason Smithson? Who is ready to be mentored? Who is ready to be a mentor? The pros and cons of social media for dentists How do younger dentists learn differently from mid-career dentists Why do dentists forget the fundamentals? How does he handle working with compromise cases and still feel great about his results? Links from the Show: Dynamag Denture Attachments

Dentists hate hiring. We hate hiring so much we hang on to employees longer than we should. So what's the solution?  Kiera Dent is here to help! Kiera has a bunch of actionable ideas that you're going to love! writing an ad (be different) where (and when) to post (Craigslist...seriously) why do you care what an applicant's favorite ice cream is? how to interview (short and on the phone) how to get your team involved what are score cards and how do they work? Kiera's links: Kiera's Dental Consulting The Dental Masters Kiera's Employee Assessment form

Dr. Lance Timmerman joins Alan to talk about the pros and cons of sedation dentistry. Does marketing for sedation patients actually attract crazy patients? When would you want to use IV sedation vs. oral? You'll find this conversation interesting! Links from the show: Voices of Dentistry 

    In today's episode Jason and Alan are joined by 3 Brain Trust noobs and they CRUSH IT! We have long time friends of the show (and Dental Hacks Nation) Dr. Craig Harder, Dr. Rusty Fitton and Dr. Daniel Smith join us for this live to tape episode that went all over the place! In episode 221 we discuss: The Voices of Dentistry and why every listener of the Dental Hacks should be going! Dr. Craig Harder's security camera How much Christmas break is too much? Is there ever too much break? Dr. Rusty Fitton's commute and how he developed a mini-specialty by caddying for oral surgeons in a past life Dr. Daniel Smith's transition from mom and pop shop to a Heartland affiliate Triumphs of 2018 Intraoral scanners (Craig and Rusty just got Medit i500s!) Upcoming CE Some links from the show: Dr. Daniel Smith's episode of the "Alan Mead Experience" #whyVoD? Because the room block has been extended into January! Come meet all of your internet pals at the funnest and most innovative dental meeting ever and stay at th

Firing. Most everyone hates it, so often we don't do it as soon as we should. Kiera Dent has a different take on firing. Why not make it so the employee that needs to go understands exactly why they're going, expects it and maybe even thanks you? Does it sound too good to be true? You need to take a listen to how she does it!  Kiera's links: Kiera's Dental Consulting The Dental Masters Kiera's Employee Assessment form

Gino Andreozzi creates video. Essentially he's the guy that makes the Spear Online videos as good as they are. Alan had a chance to pick his brain about how he does what he does and more importantly...how can WE make better video for our office! You're going to find this interview with Spear's video guru fascinating! Gino's links: Spear Online

[caption id="attachment_1105" align="alignright" width="500"] Jason and Alan on stage at Spear Education, moments before they brought the hook[/caption] Jason and Alan do a wrap of to the year that was 2018! In this episode we discuss: What the hell is Jason doing? Practice sales, startups and where he's working. It's a JLips state of the union! Favorite new additions in our offices for 2018 Designs for Vision LED Daylite Wireless Mini Acteon Cube Piezo Dentotemp by Itena Foamies How can dentists avoid being targets by marketers, etc. What kind of CE are we looking at for 2019? Shaming Alan for not treating sleep apnea (#woke) Is Social Media good or bad? (or both?) Greatest professional regrets of 2018 Staff issues for 2018 Some links from the show: #whyVoD? Because the room block is closing by December 31st! Come meet all of your internet pals at the funnest and most innovative dental meeting ever and stay at the gorgeous Double Tree resort in Scottsdale! The Voices of Dentistry will be at the Double

Kiera Dent joins us again, this time to give us some specific "KPIs" (Key Performance Indicators) for your practice! We talk about: The most important things to track The number that feeds your ego vs. the number that feeds your family How to look at write offs How do you track attrition (spoiler: use a dashboard) How to track case acceptance and how your software might be fibbing to you Do you need new patients?   Kiera's Links: Kiera's Dental Consulting The Dental Masters Kiera's "Master Tracker" Excel sheet Kiera's "Master Tracker" protocol (Word Doc) Directions from Kiera: "Remember, don't write in the colors & you'll be golden!!! Always keep a "master" copy & make new copies of it weekly. I suggest having a new folder for each month & having the weeks listed out.   Here are the things you'll get from this: accurate % tracking for case acceptance you'll be able to see who (TC) is strong/needs verbiage training you'll be able to see who (HYG/DA) is strong/needs verbiage training AWESOME c

We spoke with Dr. Sameer Puri during our trip to Spear Education earlier this month. Alan has known Sam since the early days of DentalTown and they had a LOT to talk about. It turns out that Sam has created a lot of great stuff in dentistry since then! We discuss: How we first met online and old school DentalTown! How clueless Sam and Tarun were when they put the first Townie Meeting together, and how they "learned by doing." The difference between graduating from dental school in the late 90's to now. The importance of photography in dentistry. When Sam started with CEREC and how that blossomed into CEREC Doctors. How did Cdocs become involved with the Scottsdale Center and Spear Education Where is "home" for Sam...Southern California or Arizona? Sameer's links: CEREC Doctors Townie Meeting Some links from the show: Clinical Hack of the Week: user presets on DSLR cameras, specifically from Photomed! Go get your copy of the ebook "Improving Your Practice's Clinical Photography" from Spear Education. It's

Alan had a chance to speak with Dr. Kenton Ross about the importance of participating in a study club. Specifically his Spear Study Clubs While they visited Spear Education earlier this month the Dental Hacks ran into a lot of people who participate In Spear Study Clubs. Dr. Ross has been participating in study clubs for quite some time and is a leader of his own local Spear Study Club in Fayetteville, Arkansas. He explains how the group is smarter than any one member and how it's affected his career. Kenton's links: Spear Study Clubs Spear Online Podium Voices of Dentistry (time is running out on the hotel block!)

Today we feature Kiera Dent of Kiera's Dental Consulting. Alan had never had the pleasure of talking to Kiera, so while Al checked levels she told him how she got into consulting. What started out as a sound check turned into an awesome Daily episode! You'll be hearing a lot from Kiera in the upcoming weeks. She's going to give us her special take on hiring, firing and what KPIs you need to be keeping your eyes on. But in today's episode she explains how she got into the business and how she met her partner, our good friend Dr. Mark Costes! Kiera's Links: Kiera's Dental Consulting The Dental Masters Voices of Dentistry (sign up soon! The room block closes this week!) Podium for reviews!

Today's episode features Dr. Wayne Remington. Alan and Wayne have known each other for a long time as Wayne was one of the people who influenced Alan to get into dental operating microscopes! In today's episode we discuss: How Wayne first became interested in dental microscopes How can a microscope prolong your dental career? How can you let a patient know how skilled you are without having to tell them? Dental microscopes and the ROI in dental hygiene Quality vs. Ergonomics...which is more important (spoiler...it's a tie!) Dental cinematography...is it a thing? Why buy multiple microscopes? Training on the microscope at Wayne's learning center Wayne's links: Wayne's Microscope Training Courses video by Dr. Jorge Zapata Academy of Microscope Enhanced Dentistry Links from the show: Our "clinical hack of the week" features another tip from Dr. Vu Le, this time describing how he uses Kuraray Majesty Flow as a lubricating agent and wetting agent for composite placement! Go get your copy of the ebook "Improvin

We have a unique interview for you today! Alan had a chance to talk with Dan Kawabata who works with Spear Education to create 3D animation for Spear Online. So all of those amazing waiting room videos and patient education animations...those are Dan's! It was interesting to get a non-dentist's take on how to portray dental procedures in an informative, but not too graphic way. We think you're really going to like it! Dan's links: dentalhacks.com/Spearonline It's time to get your ticket for Voices of Dentistry! I just bought my flight and it was REALLY expensive and there weren't many seats left on the flight! Go to www.voicesofdentistry.com today and register for the most innovative dental meeting anywhere!

Shane Simmons of Crimson Media Group joins us again, this time to talk about video. Video gets more attention and frankly gets rewarded by Facebook and Youtube. In today's episode Shane shares with us three easy ways to use video! Shane's links: Nothing but the Tooth podcast Crimson Media Group Facebook Pixel Shane's email: ssimmons@crimsonmediagroup.com  

Dr. Gregg Kinzer took time out of his busy (insane?) schedule teaching on campus to speak with Jason and Alan! He's a dental education rock star who spends half his time How Spear Education really works...from big picture concepts to logistics of running 4 or more classes at once How important is photography for restorative dentistry? Is it important to show people biting fruit? For people who love big case restorative, would a prosthodontic residency be right for them? Why Spear Education isn't just for full mouth rehab How did the downturn in the economy in 2008 affect the way the Spear Education teaches? How to incorporate new concepts into existing practice How has adding airway considerations changed the way he treatment plans and executes dentistry? How is ortho becoming the most important part of restorative dentistry? Gregg's links: Spear Education Spear Aesthetics (Gregg's practice in Seattle) Links from the show: Our "clinical hack of the week" features tips from Vu Le that focuses on photo mirror

Today we feature the one and only Dr. Justin Moody! Alan had a chance to sit down in Justin's studio in Tempe, AZ to talk all about the Voices of Dentistry and Justin's amazing teaching clinic for Implant Pathway! Justin's links: Voices of Dentistry Implant Pathway

Dental Hacks Nation, welcome to December! The Dental Hacks Daily is back! Today we feature Dr. Martin Mendelson who is resident faculty of Spear Education. Martin is the "kickoff guy" for the "Treating the Worn Dentition" course at Spear and he likes to lead with a tool that helps  he calls "G.R.O.W." It's an acronym that helps you focus on how you can get past tasks that make you hesitate, like implementing new ideas in your practice that you've learned when you take CE! Martin's Links: Treating the Worn Dentition

Our guest for episode 216 is Dr. Chris Bowman! He's been on the Dental Hacks Daily and even recently gave us a terrific Clinical Hack of the Week a couple weeks back. But we just didn't think we had enough Chris Bowman, so we added 170% more Chris Bowman this episode! We cover a lot of topics including: What are some of the things Chris learned early in his career that set him on the path to success? Why does he feel so strongly that coaching can help dentists? What makes a good coach and how do you find one? Can someone have a "cosmetic only" practice and should they want to? Why is it important to look at "how we've always done it?" How can you choreograph your appointments to increase case acceptance? Why didn't he invent the composite instrument of his dreams? Chris's links: Dental Insider Links from the show: Our "clinical hack of the week" features tips from Chris, Jason and Alan on the dreaded closing of access openings in crowns that have had endodontic therapy through them! #whyVoD? Because it's t

The OGs[/caption] The Brain Trust has always been a huge part of the Dental Hacks podcast. We love to feature a round table of regular, "wet fingered' (ew) dentists talking about stuff that all dentists deal with. Episode 215 features three of our original panelists who have been featured over the years. We cover a lot of ground here, including: Are baseball analogies good for gauging where you are in your dental career? Would Rich recommend buying and merging a practice? How is Jeff screening kids and adults for airway? (note: it's probably not what you think!) How has coaching affected their careers? What technology has been worthwhile? For patient outcomes or simply marketing? Why are dentists training so much in high dollar procedures vs. the fundamentals? Are long haul truckers good patients? Is it truck o'clock? The OG's links: The Chicago Study Club Links from the show: Our "clinical hack of the week" features some new functionality for Invisalign. Jason discusses Invisalign's relatively new option