The Dental Hacks Podcast

What is your comfort zone? At what point do you start to get nervous in patient treatment? Laying a flap? Removing bone? Finding the MB2? Sinus lifts? Every dentist has their own limits, but where do these limits start? Alan and Dr. Darin O'Bryan (classmates from the University of Minnesota class of 1997) discuss the roots of the dental comfort zone and how to push beyond where you're comfortable. You can find out more about Dr. O'Bryan at www.onemorereasontosmile.com. Have you ever noticed that often times patients hear what they want to hear instead of what we explain to them? The Brain Trust consisting of Dr. Dawn Kulongowski, Dr. Tiffany Lee and Dr. Tammy Bailey along with Alan continue their "bitch session" featuring passive/aggressive patients a heated argument about polishing teeth and other good stuff! 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

Dr. Darin O'Bryan is a wet fingered clinician and CEREC educator. If you saw his schedule, you might think he's the hardest working man in show business! Darin teaches many of the CEREC Accept courses outside of Scottsdale for CEREC Doctors and it just so happens that he's a classmate of DentalHacks host Alan Mead. In this episode, Darin and Al catch up on the cool stuff that he's gotten into since dental school including an interesting discussion on denturists in Oregon and a crossover discussion on mid-level providers! Episode 36 features the Brain Trust breaking some new ground! The Brain Trust decides that we're just going to have a good, old fashioned "bitch session." We're tired of it and we're not going to take it any more! We cover being sick at work, vaccinations, antibiotic prophylaxis and antibiotic overuse in dentistry. What starts out as complaining ends up being a pretty awesome discussion! Episode 36 also marks the first "ladies night" Brain Trust where we feature women only as guests! You'll

Laura Hatch can help your front desk collect more money, reduce patient cancellations and failures and fill your schedule. #notkidding In episode 35 we talk about some specific scenarios where the training videos produced by Front Office Rocks can help. 10 years from now, dentistry will look like... That's what the Brain Trust is discussing in episode 35. In this little time capsule we wonder if we'll have any more or less specialties in dentistry and how independent private practice may look like in 10 years. Some links we talked about in episode 35: The Future's So Bright by Timbuk3 Design Ergonomics dental practice design RevenueWell dental practice marketing and communication solutions 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

So how do you train your front desk staff? It's not like you know how to do all that stuff. Nor do you have time to learn it. That's where Laura Hatch comes in. Laura is the founder of Front Office Rocks, an online training site specific to dental front offices. In episode 34 we talk to Laura about how she became a front office rock star (FORS) and how she wants to help dentists create practices with office systems that run like a well oiled machine! What do you think dentistry will look like in 10 years? That's the question we asked the Brain Trust in episode 34. Dr. Lance Timmerman and Dr. Melissa Zettler join Jason and Alan to talk about what the future of dentistry looks like and where we'll be. (Hint: Timmerman mentions real estate. Twice.) 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

In today's episode we continue our discussion with dental coach/consultant/practice owner/podcaster Gary Takacs! Gary talks about why it is so hard to keep new and beneficial changes going in your office from the voice of experience! He's both a consultant helping with the changes and a practice owner dealing with similar difficulties in his own practice! Be sure to catch Gary's podcast, "The Thriving Dentist Show!" The Brain Trust continues our  discussion about practice systems. Dr. Tammy Bailey, Dr. Frank Clayton, Dr. Melissa Zettler and Dr. Brent Young do a little complaining, a little laughing and a little bit of inventing! Toward the end of our segment we invent a potentially cool way to make small changes in your office and coin the term "microconsulting."  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 play

In today's episode we talk with fellow podcaster and practice management coach/consultant, Gary Takacs! Gary's podcast is "The Thriving Dentist Show" and has over 150 episodes and has been ongoing since 2011! We talk about podcasts: what he listens to and how he got started. Then we move onto his practice. Gary is part owner of a dental practice in Arizona. He talks a little about how he and his dentist partner found a "fixer upper" practice and turned it into the practice that they wanted. It's very interesting to hear how a practice management consultant literally built his own "dental test kitchen" to benefit his clients! The Brain Trust features a discussion about practice systems. What are they? Why does it seem so hard to implement them? Dr. Tammy Bailey, Dr. Frank Clayton, Dr. Melissa Zettler and Dr. Brent Young discuss their own experience with developing and implementing office systems. It sounds kind of dry, right? Not when the Brain Trust does it! If you have any questions or comments for us ple

Whether you're an employer or an employee you'll get a lot out of episode #31! We spend the whole show talking with some Brain Trust all stars about their experience as employers and how to find, keep and fire employees! The episode was inspired by some recent HR changes at Dr. Matt Standridge's practice in Eureka, KS. He joins Jason and Alan along with Dr. Melissa Zettler and Dr. Lance Timmerman to talk about the best ways to find employees, how to know who to hire and when to fire. Help us get into "What's Hot" in iTunes!  Go to https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dentalhacks-podcast/id891079773?mt=2 and leave us a rating (5 stars is awesome!) or better yet, leave us a review! Your reviews help other dentists find the DentalHacks nation! 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.

In episode 30 we continue our interview with Dr. Barry Glassman. Dr. Glassman is a dentist and educator who gave up general practice to focus on treating patients with craniofacial pain and sleep disorders. We spend most of the interview talking about occlusion. Does occlusion cause disease? Does it cause pain? Does it really even matter that  much? The Brain Trust continues it's decidedly NSFW conversation about analogies that we use to explain complex ideas to patients. You might want to skip this one if there are kids in the car. Or if you're drinking anything...unless you want it to come out your nose! Alan wants to get into "What's Hot" in iTunes. To help, go to https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dentalhacks-podcast/id891079773?mt=2 and leave us a rating (5 stars is awesome!) or better yet, leave us a review! Your reviews help other dentists find the DentalHacks nation! 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.f

Who better to ring in the New Year than the DentalHacks Brain Trust! Episode 29 features some Brain Trust all stars talking all about "year end stuff" in a dental office. How does everyone else do holiday parties and gifts? How does everyone else handle last minute stragglers that want to use their benefits before the end of the year? What kids of goals does everyone have for 2015? It's all here. And it's all hilarious! Thanks for making the DentalHacks podcast a resounding success! If you have comments or questions be sure to email us at info@dentalhacks.com, catch us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dentalhacks or call us on our new toll free phone number: (866) 223-5257!

In this special episode of the DentalHacks podcast, we're doing something completely different. First, the DentalHacks are giving you their digits. There's a new way to reach the DentalHacks...by voicemail! If you have a question or comment or just want to say hello, you can reach us at a a new toll free number: [shadowbox](866) 223-5257[/shadowbox] Leave us a message and we may feature you on an upcoming episode! In today's episode, co-host Alan Mead walks you through some of the new stuff he's tried in 2014. He's kind of like a raccoon...attracted to shiny objects and all things new and weird. So you can feel free to let him buy untested dental gear and report back. [shadowbox]In the first ever installment of the DentalHacks gear reviews he covers 4 interesting items:[/shadowbox] Vista Dental's Therma-flo Composite Applicator:   Onpharma's Onset Anesthetic Buffering System:   Lumadent LED Headlight: video by listener Mark Frias RDH! Note: Lumadent now has a metal housing for their batteries

In episode 28 the DentalHacks talk with Dr. Barry Glassman. Dr. Glassman is a dentist and educator who gave up general practice to focus on treating patients with craniofacial pain and sleep disorders. In this amazing interview, we ask Barry what would be different if he were in charge of the dental world. The resulting conversation is brilliant and quite funny. Barry pulls no punches as he takes the whole dental world apart piece by piece! The Brain Trust takes on analogies that we use to explain complex ideas to patients. Or at least that's where we start. From there we come off the rails in perhaps the most profane yet hilarious Brain Trust segment yet! Have you reached the "sweat pants phase of your career?" 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. And Happy Holidays from all of us on the DentalHacks podcast to all of you!

This episode continues our interview of two current 4th year dental students. The discussion revolves around what it's like being a dental student in 2014. The episode will feel nostalgic for the grizzled veteran listeners but would be a GREAT listen for college students considering dental school! The Brain Trust picks up where we left off in episode 26. New dentists Dr. Scott Kollen, Dr. Josh Carpenter, Dr. David Scardella (www.cormierdds.com), Dr. Will Parrell, Dr. Dennis Frazee (www.frazeefamilydentistry.com) and Dr. Rich Weber (www.hamiltonfamilydental.com) discuss dental school debt, Monopoly money and professional regrets (no one seems to have any!) You'll hear what these new dentists feel are the best CE values for recent graduates and how some of them are paying for it! Finally we talk about where these new dentists see themselves in 10 years. There's a lot of good information here for new dentists and veterans alike! Some links mentioned on the show: The Prism Podcast The Passionate Dentist Pod

We've talked about dental school and being a new dentist a bunch of times. We've offered advice about what we might do differently as a student and new dentist. Now...we hear from some dental students and new dentists! This episode features two senior dental students, Caitlynn Haas of the University of Michigan School of Dentistry and David Jacobs of the University of Detroit Mercy School of Dentistry. They talk about what brought them to dentistry, their education and their debt in the first installment of this interview. This week's Brain Trust features six "new dentists" that have graduated within the last three years. You'll hear from DentalHacks listeners and new dentists Dr. Scott Kollen, Dr. Josh Carpenter, Dr. David Scardella, Dr. Will Parrell, Dr. Dennis Frazee and Dr. Rich Weber. In our first installment of this "new dentist extravaganza" each of these dentists shares a bit about the journey they've taken since finishing dental school and how things are looking for a new dentist. So join us for

Dr. Mike Melkers returns in today's episode to talk about an eclectic variety of topics! First, we finish our discussion of innovations in materials science and how the more things change, the more things stay the same. Then we move into a discussion about "soft skills." Mike teaches a lot of patient communication techniques that are second to none! He boils down a topic that seems complex into some very simple and useable tips. Finally, he discusses some clinical research on different isolation techniques (aka: the Isolite vs. rubber dam smackdown). The Brain Trust continues it's discussion of continuing education. Dr. Tarun Agarwal describes using shorter courses (for instance, at state dental meetings) as CE speed dating. They discuss treatment planning, endo, surgery, online resources as well as inexpensive CE options. Finally, they discuss DentalTown as the ultimate search engine for continuing education as well as a source of solid and inexpensive CE. If you want to hear about CE...this is your episod

It's the holiday season and the DentalHacks are in a giving mood! Feast your ears on this terrific DentalHacks extra! Could you use a way to help patients make excellent treatment more affordable? Would you like another easy way to create cash flow in your office while doing the dentistry that you've trained to do? Dr. Tarun Agarwal has a great suggestion for your office! T-bone has been using this in-house system for 3 years. He's offering interest free financing to his patients with little to no risk of default by patients. He describes the system he's using IN DETAIL in this podcast! There's no sales pitch, just helpful and tasty knowledge! So make yourself a leftover turkey and cranberry relish sandwich, sit back and enjoy this holiday gift from the DentalHacks!

In today's episode, we begin a discussion of continuing education. We bring together all kinds of CE junkies and talk about the good, the bad and the ugly of dental continuing education. In our interview segment, we talk to Dr. Mike Melkers. Dr. Melkers is a published researcher, teacher and admitted CE junkie. He's not ready to stop learning, but he assures us he can stop any time he wants. We discuss how new dentists (and experienced dentists who want to send their career in a new direction) should start their CE journey. What do you want to become? Where do you want to end up? What is the appropriate CE provider for you? In the Brain Trust segment, we bring together Dr. Lance Timmerman, Dr. Melissa Zettler and Dr. Tarun Agarwal to talk about their experiences for CE. How do you choose what you need to know? What's the best bang for your buck? GPR/AEGD? Or is T-bone's suggestion of a "PPR" (private practice residency) the best way to go. This conversation is really funny and really informative. If you're

Alcoholism. Addiction. Chemical dependence. Whatever you call it, we don't talk about it much. Even though upwards of 15% of dentists are directly affected, it's something we don't talk about. Until now, that is. Today's episode of the DentalHacks podcast is a bit of a departure from our typical format. In this episode we present a conversation between two friends (Alan and Dr. Brett Kessler) who have direct experience with addiction. Both of us have multiple years of recovery from drug and alcohol addiction and you probably have never heard two dentists speak so openly and candidly about what we've been through and what we've seen. If you have any questions about the conversation I hope you'll email us at info@dentalhacks.com.

Last episode, Dr. Rob Ritter explained what it's like to be a speaker on the dental CE circuit. This episode we get down to business. We discuss his DIY website for his speaking business and how almost anyone can have an amazing web presence for next to no money. Take digital photos and show the world what you're doing for almost next to free. Then we talk about who dentistry has transitioned into an almost completely digital experience. He discusses digital impression scanners in depth (he's tried all of them) and gives his recommendation as well as what we should be looking for in the near future. Rob is a font of knowledge on materials and techniques and we've only just scratched the surface! Look for him to be a guest again! Then we pick up where we left off with the Brain Trust's marketing round table. What are the keys to having a successful direct mail campaign? Can Facebook marketing work for dentists? How about TV and radio? Magazines? The Brain Trust weighs in on all of this. Join previous DentalH

This week, the DentalHacks podcast features Dr. Rob Ritter. Rob is a dentist in Jupiter, FL that focuses primarily on cosmetic dentistry. He's got a lot to share on both clinical and practice management issues, but today's episode went off on an interesting tangent. Rob has been speaking to dental groups for quite some time and at one time was doing 40 or more presentations per year! So we talked to him about how get got started being a featured CE speaker, what he loves about it and what he doesn't love so much about it. Anyone who's ever thought they'd like to get into speaking to dentists will find this interview very enlightening! Also in episode 21 the Brain Trust turns their incredible intellect and experience toward dental marketing. We welcome back our first two interviewees, Dr. Lance Timmerman and Dr. Ryan McCall as well as Brain Trust regulars Dr. Matt Standridge, Dr. Matt Garrison and Dr. Melissa Zettler! Have you ever wondered what marketing works the best? How important is your location and si

This week's show picks up with the second half of our interview with Kevin Henry. Kevin is the Group Content and Editorial Director at Advanstar Communications. Kevin spends some time talking about dental publishing, its history and its future. For instance, he thinks that there will always be a place for print (magazines) as most people won't take their iPad in the bathtub. We talk a little bit about how selling to dentists has changed and also how an aspiring dental writer could have their writing published. Finally, Kevin weighs in on who's up and coming in the dental education world. Another DentalHacks interview not to be missed! In today's Brain Trust segment we continue talking about the question: "if you could only do one procedure for the rest or your career, what would it be?" They talk about new patients and delivering bad news along with the near universal love of immediate dentures. Then the Brain Trust moves in a different direction. If you could choose a procedure to NEVER do again, what woul