The Dental Hacks Podcast

Do you suffer from "busy but not productive?" Are there things that you're doing that kill your productivity that you don't even realize? In episode 115 the Dental Hacks feature Dr. Bob Margeas and returning guest Dr. Rob Ritter talking about this very thing! These guys are good friends and talk daily about the difference between being busy (barber shop dentistry) and being productive. Their suggestions are awesome and they aren't what you'd expect! Today's Brain Trust is kind of special. Jason and Alan received an email from a listener who described a dead end associateship and wanted some advice. So...we called in the Brain Trust! Episode 115 features Dr. Tammy Bailey, Dr. Richard Low of the the Shared Practices Podcast and Dr. Melissa Zettler breaking down this listener's situation and walking through some options. If you ever wanted the Brain Trust to give some opinions about your situation, feel free to email us at: info@dentalhacks.com and we'll be sure to take a look at it! Links from the show: How b

In today's Hackisode, Alan talks about his favorite thing to hate...antibiotic prophylaxis for joint replacements! The AAOS just released their new guidelines and I'm feeling very smug. Some links from the show: Sign up for the Voices of Dentistry! Today (Sept 30) is the last chance to take advantage of the early bird special! Use the coupon code "Hacks" at check out! Al's blog post from 2012 The ADA's January 2015 guidelines The AAOS's new guidelines on joint premedication If you have any questions or comments for us please drop us an email at info@dentalhacks.com or find us (and like us!) at www.facebook.com/dentalhacks. Or, if you prefer...give us a call at (866) 223-5257 and leave us a message. You might be played in the show! If you like us, why not leave us a review on iTunes? It helps us get found by like minded people and might even help us get into "What's Hot" in the iTunes store! Go to this link and let the world know about the DentalHacks! Finally, if you aren't an Apple person, consider reviewing

On Saturday, September 24th, the Dental Hacks made history! We recorded the very dental podcast at the Dental Economics Principles of Practice Management Conference! Jason and Alan were joined on stage by Dr. Dawn Kulongowski and Dr. Tammy Bailey for a terrific Brain Trust and then we featured Dr. Chris Salierno in the "Dental Hacks Cringe-fest" where we discuss some of our more cringeworthy mistakes in our dental practices! The Principles of Practice Management conference was an amazing success and we had a great time with the audience! We think you will too! We'd like to thank all the amazing folks at Dental Economics for having us and congratulations on bringing a new, amazing meeting into existence! Some links from today's show:  Cosmedent has some new all ceramic polishers and they are amazing! Please go take our dental podcasting summit survey This is your last chance to save $200 on The Voices of Dentistry dental podcasting summit! Go see the amazing line up and register right away! Be sure to use the

The Dental Hacks get email. Oh yes. We ask for it all the time and our listeners come through! So Jason and Alan have decided to set aside an episode to answer some email! We get into some pretty great questions from our amazing listeners! Some links from today's show:  The Dental Economics Principles of Practice Management Conference (Jason and Alan will be podcasting LIVE!) Sign up now and use the coupon code "HACKS" at checkout for a $395 discount on this amazing meeting! Please go take our dental podcasting summit survey The Voices of Dentistry dental podcasting summit is coming in January 2017! Go see the amazing line up and register right away! Be sure to use the coupon code "Hacks" for a $200 discount on the already amazingly low price! Go get yourself a 10% discount on Cosmecore, the official core material of the Dental Hacks podcast! (All podcasts have an official core material. That's a thing, right?) Bioclear GoDaddy Hover.com Salli saddle chairs RGP saddle chairs Go Hack Yourself: Jason: Adobe Sto

The mind behind "Dentists, Implants and Worms" makes his Dental Hacks debut with a conversation about how he uses CBCT and how someone who owns one can take scans for others and still avoid any liability. 

If I asked you about the kind of people that your office serves, you'd be able to tell me right? But how do you know for sure? Maybe the population of your office isn't representative at all! Scott McDonald returns to help us understand how knowing the demographics in our area can help us with marketing, attracting the kind of patients that we want to see and even what procedures that we should be providing! Scott McDonald is a special kind of genius that you need to listen to. You can see what he does at Doctor Demographics and even subscribe to his podcast on iTunes! The Brain Trust continues answering listener questions in episode 113! Dr. Matt Costa, Dr. Melissa Zettler, Dr. Pamela Maragliano-Muniz and Dr. Art Volker join Alan to talk all about cores. The discuss the pros and cons or margin elevation, immediate dentinal bonding and indirect pulp caps. There are some disagreements and contention in this Brain Trust along with a bunch of laughs! Some links from the show: Go get yourself some Renamel microfi

How do you know which places are going to be great for a dental practice? Which places aren't so hot? How much risk are you willing to take? Scott McDonald of Doctor Demographics is here to explain! In episode 112 Scott and Alan talk about the information you need to make a lot of important decisions about locating your practice. Most importantly, Scott dishes on some specific places that "suck hose water" and places that are booming! Be sure to check out Scott's own podcast here! In episode 112 we feature listener questions to the Brain Trust! Dr. Pamela Maragliano-Muniz, Dr. Arthur Volker, Dr. Matt Costa and Dr. Melissa Zettler come together to discuss contacts that open up over time, getting rid of paper charts as well as what are we going to do with the massive amounts of digital data that we can collect on our patients? Finally, we start to talk about the core restoration. Where, when and why! Some links from the show: Curve Cloud dental software The Dental Economics Principles of Practice Management Con

Trevor Maurer and Dr. Lance Timmerman join Alan to talk about Smile Source and what it does for dentists!

Dr. Rob Ritter is here to tell you that there is not a thing wrong with being a restorative dentist. Nothing agains the super dentist, but Rob makes a pretty compelling argument about profitability (especially if you use a digital workflow) and stomach lining for referring out "specialty procedures." Some things we talked about: restorative dentist vs. "super" dentist student loans and their potential effect on treatment planning digital photography for dummies intraoral: f25, flash: +⅓ extraoral: f22, flash: +⅔ full face: f stop 8-9 using your smartphone to assist your digital workflow Some links we talked about: The Dental Economics Principles of Practice Management Conference (Jason and Alan will be podcasting LIVE!) Sign up now and use the coupon code "HACKS" at checkout for a $395 discount on this amazing meeting! Please go take our dental podcasting summit survey The Voices of Dentistry dental podcasting summit is coming in January 2017! Go see the amazing line up and register right away! Be sure

In this Hackisode Alan talks with Dr. Wes Mullins about diode lasers, intraoral scanners and doing the right thing even when the right thing is hard to do. Ivoclar Odyssey 2.4g laser 3M Tru Def Scanner  

Why aren't you podcasting? Look, you don't have to be the next Adam Carolla to derive some serious benefits from creating audio and video content. DIY dentist Dr. Shawn Van de Vyver joins the Dental Hacks to talk about why he started creating content for his dental website and how easy it is to get started. If you're interested in hearing about a powerful DIY tool to crush SEO for your dental office you owe it to yourself to take notes on this one! The Brain Trust returns to discuss the good, the bad and the ugly of heroic dentistry. Is it ALWAYS a bad choice? How can you help patients know when they're making a choice that everyone is going to regret? Our panel includes endodontist Dr. Brooke Blicher, Dr. Ayesha Zarahullah, Dr. Paul Amato and Dr. Will Wyatt. They'll make you laugh and make you think about your treatment plan decisions in the short term and long term! Some links from the show: The Dental Economics Principles of Practice Management Conference (Jason and Alan will be podcasting LIVE!) Sign up n

Alan and Dr. Richard Low talk about the upcoming release of a new and innovative dental podcast. Be sure to look for it on iTunes and anywhere else podcasts are available and subscribe! The first episode is coming out next Monday, August 22! The Shared Practices website Get it on iTunes!  

What happens when you pay a company to handle your office's web presence way too much money and they screw it up? You figure out how to do it yourself! Or at least you do if you're Dr. Shawn Van de Vyver. In episode 109 we introduce you to Shawn Van de Vyver, a dentist who understands marketing better than anyone you know and who has learned to harness all the amazing tools available online to create and manage leads as well as automate almost any process you can imagine. He's a unique individual and he let Alan sleep on his couch. In today's Brain Trust we talk about "herodontics." Have you ever done something at a patient's request that you were pretty sure wasn't going to work? Do you ever find yourself treating a patient that you can just tell you should have sent on their way? The Brain Trust explores this bizarre tendency in some dentists (Alan is guilty, big time). Our Brain Trust features Dr. Brooke Blicher, Dr. Will Wyatt, Dr. Ayesha Zaruhullah and Brain Trust noob Dr. Paul (the Italian Smith) Amato.

Is preventing cavities as simple as changing diet? Is it all a lack of home care? In episode 108 we welcome back Dr. Pamela Maragliano-Muniz to talk more about what dentists and dental teams can actually do to prevent dental caries!  Her background is unique...and so is she. She's probably the only dental hygienist/prosthodontist you know. Pamela owns Salem Dental Arts in Salem, MA and is a column editor at www.dentistryiq.com as well! She is a featured lecturer on prevention and risk assessment in dentistry. In the second half of our endodontics focused Brain Trust segment we talk complications, irrigation, obturation and all kinds of good stuff. We feature endodontist Dr. Rebekah Lucier-Pryles from episodes 99 and 100 to engage with general dentists Dr. Mac Jones and Dr. Craig Heins along with your trusty co-hosts. The journey we take helps us understand that endodontists are people, too. Some links from the show: The Dental Economics Principles of Practice Management Conference (Jason and Alan will be podc

Dr. Pamela Maragliano-Muniz is not your run-of-the-mill prosthodontist. Nope. Not even close. She wanted to be a professional hockey player. But then decided on dental hygiene. After she became a hygienist, she found that she loved teeth so much that she wanted to go back to dental school! Her background is unique...and so is she. Pamela owns Salem Dental Arts in Salem, MA and is a column editor at www.dentistryiq.com as well! She is a featured lecturer on prevention and risk assessment in dentistry. She's got a lot to say about some stuff that some dentists gloss over. Can we really assess patients risks in such a way that we can prevent tooth decay? She sets the record straight in episode 107 of the Dental Hacks! In our Brain Trust segment we dive a little bit deeper on endodontics. We bring back endodontist Dr. Rebekah Lucier-Pryles from episodes 99 and 100 to engage with general dentists Dr. Mac Jones and Dr. Craig Heins (along with Jason and Alan) on all things endo. We talk hand filing, file choices and

There are a bunch of dentists that work with their spouse in the dental office. Dr. Mike Melkers is one of them. There are significantly less dentists that use tractors on a regular basis. Again, Dr. Mike Melkers is one of them. Very few dentists have created a disc golf course at their home. Dr. Melkers is one those, too. It's called "Thumper's Hollow." In today's episode, we discuss all this stuff. More importantly, we discuss the things that dentists need to do outside the practice of dentistry to keep themselves sane. You'll learn a few things (what is a catio?) and have a few laughs, guaranteed. Dr. Melkers returns to teaching this November in Waltham, MA teaching a course called "Occlusionists Now" with Dr. Lane Ochi! If you use the coupon code "HACKS" you'll receive a discount on your registration! Oil pulling? Figs for healthy teeth? The Brain Trust returns to discuss the craziest things that patients have said to their dentist. Join Dr. Dawn Kulongowski, Dr. David Scardella, Dr. Erin Elliott and Dr.

In this special episode the Dental Hacks Brain Trust talks CBCT. Specifically, three of the members of the Brain Trust panel explain the features, specifications and decisions that they made in selecting their CBCT machine. This Brain Trust, along with four other "decision trees" will be featured in an insert in the July 2016 issue of Dental Economics. The Dental Hacks worked alongside Dental Economics to help explain some of the decisions that real, wet-fingered (ewwww) dentists make about equipment purchases. If you find this podcast and the insert in Dental Economics useful, please let us know at info@dentalhacks.com!

How do you become better as a dentist? Is it as simple as taking a course? Or is there more to it. That's one of the topics we discuss with Dr. Mike Melkers in episode 105 of the Dental Hacks podcast. Mike is well versed in how we develop our understanding of new concepts. He's a teacher as well as a learner and he discusses the ups and downs of continuing to learn our craft. He also discusses the work he put in to become a master in the AGD this past weekend! Dr. Melkers returns to teaching this November in Waltham, MA teaching a course called "Occlusionists Now" with Dr. Lane Ochi! If you use the coupon code "HACKS" you'll receive a discount on your registration! In the Brain Trust things get a little lighter when we open with the question: what's the craziest thing a patient has done in your dental chair. Alan is joined by Dr. Dawn Kulongowski, Dr. Andy Hayes, Dr. Erin Elliott and Dr. David Scardella to tell stories that get very inappropriate very quickly. Some links from the show: The Dental Economics Pr

Dental Hacks listeners have let us know that they like our "Go Hack Yourself" segment where we talk about the "hacks" in our life. Products, instruments, books podcasts or anything else that makes our life easier and better. So when someone suggested a whole episode of "Go Hack Yourself" items we jumped on it! Alan joins Dr. Tammy Bailey, Dr. Brook Blicher, Dr. Mac Jones and Dr. James Heaton as they suggest all kinds of VERY cool "Go Hack Yourself" suggestions! Here's what they talked about: The Amazon Echo The Amazon Tap The Amazon Echo Dot The BFC Syringe (Better, Faster, Cheaper) Aquasil Ultra Cordless Aquasil Digit Impression Cartridge Connector Trauma Pathfinder What Implant is That? Blue Sky Bio implant treatment planning software Hightail File Sharing OperaDDS Zirc Crystal HD mirror heads G. Hartzell and Son  Ellman Frigi Dent spray Radio Shack component cooler "Air in a Can" TopGolf Voltron Legendary Defender Endodontics Unsponsored endo CE course Spiffies Baby Tooth wipes This was an amazing Brain

Dr. Chris Phelps spends most of episode 103 delivering actionable marketing content. Whether it's gift cards for nearby restaurants, wine and cheese parties or car washes he's giving you ideas for TONS of campaigns that you can use to drive new patient flow. He's also the originator of CallTrackerROI, an ingenious service that allows you to track how effective your marketing is. He's also one of the foremost experts on the science of influence. He's even studied directly under Dr. Robert Cialdini PhD, who is essentially the jedi master of influence marketing. All this gives Chris a very interesting and fascinating outlook on why some marketing works and some marketing doesn't. If you loved the actionable items that Chris shared in episode 103 then you're probably going to want to hear more. Here's how you can: check out the episodes that he did with Dr. David Maloley on the Relentless Dentist podcast. He did episodes on all six of the principles of influence. Check out Dr. Phelps' workshops coming up: August