The Best Practices Show

When you are running a world-class practice, one of the things that is inevitable is conflict. Katherine Eitel Belt is here today to share practices that we can embrace to deal with conflict. Katherine has been a practice management consultant for a couple of decades, but now focuses solely on the communication aspect of dental practices. She is a leadership communication coach passionate about unlocking human potential. Her company focuses on three lanes of dental communication. First off is patient facing skills such as the phone and financial. The middle lane is team communication, and the third lane is audience facing communication and training teachers. Katherine shares her knowledge and wisdom in handling the inevitable conflict portion of the communication process. You can find Katherine here: LionSpeak Katherine Eitel Belt on LinkedIn Katherine Eitel Belt on Facebook @Keitel1 on Twitter Show Notes [01:52] Katherine has been a practice management consultant for a couple of decades. She has now narrowed her focus to specialize solely on communication training. [02:06] She focuses on patient facing communication skills such as phone skills and financial communication. The middle layer focuses on team communication from leader to team, team to team, and conflict. [02:34] The third lane is audience facing where they train other speakers and other teachers. The overall umbrella is coaching communication skills in all three of these lanes. [03:21] How having a vision will get your business to its destination sooner. It also makes it a little more fun on the way. [04:15] Having a vision and making sure it's still on track is a nonnegotiable for small business. [04:35] The reason to create a vision is to clarify for ourselves what to say yes to and what to say no to. Owners need to write the vision. Then present it to the team. [05:52] Greater clarity can create greater concerns. Today's conversation is about managing the concerns and objections of the clear vision. [06:57] How conflict is everywhere and handling it in a healthy way could change the world and our environments around us. [08:22] Knowing a few skills and reframing the conversation can change everything when it comes to conflict in communication. [09:26] We are either faced with conflict when it comes towards us or when we have an issue. In each instance take in some internal beliefs and reframe the whole idea. [10:17] Change your view that someone has to win the conversation. [10:52] What if we just have a conversation to see what will or what won't work instead of having a wrong or right. [11:37] Trying to be right all the time isn't going to work. [12:56] Committing to your brand values.

Dr. Andrew Cobb is the director of core curriculum at the Dawson Academy. This is where they share the core concepts instituted by Pete Dawson decades ago. He also has a private practice and is an experienced clinician and teacher. Today, we talk about Drew’s method for visualizing the treatment plan from the wax-up to the definitive restorations. He has a method for breaking everything down into steps that he follows with each and every patient. He uses checklists for each of the stages and makes sure to share his treatment planning with other specialists that may be working on the case. Through thorough planning and presentation, the work can be done in an easy and predictable way that gets the results you promise your patient. This process saves time, money, stress, and heart-ache. You can find Dr. Andrew Cobb here: Andrew C. Cobb, DDS Dr. Andrew Cobb Dawson Academy Andrew C Cobb, DDS on Facebook   Show Notes   [02:09] Drew is the director of the core curriculum at the Dawson Academy. They share the core concepts that Pete Dawson instituted decades ago. [02:38] The core process of how we deal with patients who have a different need than the tooth by tooth process still stands. [02:46] It's a format and a protocol on how to deal with all of your patients. It's specifically to identify a process to find ideal treatment with long-term, predictable dentistry for these patients. [03:01] This process changed Dr. Drew's life as a dentist. [04:09] Treatment planning is where we live and breathe daily.We have to come up with treatment plans because that's how we fill our schedule. [04:28] Specialty patients have more advanced needs. We have a process to go through that makes these more complicated cases easier. [04:44] It's a repeatable process for each patient every time. We like a step wise process to get you from the beginning to doing the dentistry and to have a low stress, predictable outcome. [05:18] The potential for stress actually gets harder the better you get at dentistry. [06:47] How incredible it is to improve patient's life and appearance. [06:57] There are people who fix teeth and there are people who change lives. You just need to decide which one you want to be. [07:31] The would I do it on me phase. This is about doing ethical dentistry and taking the time to really evaluate your patients. You have additional records and models and photos. [07:43] You're going to work up the case and that's how you develop what the solutions actually are. The first step is critical. You can't do a good job without doing the first step. [08:15] The more you guess the more you will be wrong. You don't want to be wrong on the definitive restoration day. [08:41] The importance of slowing down and doing things right the first time.

Laura Hatch from Front Office Rocks is here today to talk about how it is not all about new patients and how to grow your practice without spending a ton of money. Laura is an experienced front office manager who has opened two successful practices. She soon discovered that there was a gap in training for front office team members and decided to fix that by opening Front Office Rocks.   Laura also has a new book out called Step Away From The Drill: Your Dental Front Office Handbook to Accelerate Training and Elevate Customer Service. Laura is a good friend of mine and an expert in customer service, phone, and front office best practices. We discuss how to use technology and a personal touch to keep your current customers happy, loyal, and well cared for while still creating a welcoming environment for new customers. You can find Laura here: Front Office Rocks @dentalrockstars on Twitter Laura Hatch on LinkedIn Front Office Rocks on Facebook Step Away From The Drill: Your Dental Front Office Handbook to Accelerate Training and Elevate Customer Service   Show Notes   [01:54] Laura Hatch is an office manager who got into dentistry in 2002. She is in San Diego and opened a practice in a very competitive market. [02:35] She realized that there was no real training for office managers. She has had to hire employees and reteach them over and over. [03:09] She saw a pain point that there needed to be a way to teach new hires instead of insisting on hiring people with experience in a certain software product. [03:19] She started an online resource that offers training on how to do everything that is done at a front desk. She started this business about 5 years ago, and it has really took off. [04:12] Laura does everything online and also recently just wrote a book called Step Away From The Drill. [04:45] How dentists often throw team members into the role without any real training. [06:14] Front office people are the first and last impression for every patient. They are front office rock stars. [06:52] Investing in a team member is not a cost it's an investment. [07:20] As a team member, investing in yourself is one of the best things that you can do. [07:28] Complementing and respect also goes in both directions. Your doctor needs to complement you and you also need to complement the doctor. [07:50] The importance of getting the communication started. Dentists aren't actually trained in communica

Dr. DeWitt Wilkerson is here to talk about the new frontier in dentistry. This is one of the most exciting times to be a dentist, the future is looking bright for so many reasons. One of those reasons is how dentistry is evolving into the forefront of total healthcare for patients. Dentists spend longer periods of time with their patients than MDs and build ongoing relationships. Dr. Wilkerson is on the forefront of this exciting dental revolution with his super popular Dawson Academy CE classes. We talk about how dentistry has shifted to focus on things that affect total health like airway health, prevention of inflammation, and pathogens from gum disease that can get into the bloodstream and create future problems.   You can find Dr. DeWitt Wilkerson here: Dupont & Wilkerson Dupont & Wilkerson on Facebook Dr. DeWitt Wilkerson Dawson Academy DWilkerson@thedawsonacademy.com   Show Notes [01:47] Dr. DeWitt Wilkerson has been working in the practice of Peter Dawson since 1982. He has seen the Dawson academy evolve from three seminars to many seminars and hands-on courses and classes all over the world.[03:17] How this is such an exciting time to be a dentistry, and how dentistry is going to be the leader in medical healthcare.[03:42] How dentists spend so much more time being with patients than regular medical doctors and how it's an amazing opportunity for dentistry to aid in medical care.[05:57] How there's a relaxing of the cosmetic revolution. The one thing that people are interested in in this country is help. People want to be healthy. [06:48] We have a health care crisis, but it is a solvable one. [07:10] Solving the healthcare crisis. Rationing healthcare or we could get rational and take personal responsibility for our own health. All of the answers are available. [07:46] It's exciting to see dentistry related to the subjects of overall health in relation to what we do. [08:03] The airway symposiums have been selling out. [09:10] How dentistry has been making oral appliances in place of CPAP machines. [09:54] How airway inbreeding is not a sleep problem but a 24 hour a day problem. [10:07] Many children are born with airway problems. [11:58] How esophageal cancer is the strongest growing cancer in the United States and there is a strong correlation with acid reflux. [12:40] A common reason for acid reflux is a blockage in airway. [13:00] Breathing in airway is critical for oral health and total health. Dentists can be on the front line to identify these problems. [14:00] The

I am live at the Seattle Study Club Symposium Legacy Tour with Bill Robbins and Bob Margeas. They are both great dentists and amazing educators. Dr. Robbins has a full-time practice and is an Adjunct Clinical Professor at San Antonio Dental School. He has also authored two textbooks. Dr. Margeas is known as the dentists dentist. He also has a private practice, and he believes in dentistry built on relationships, honesty, and trust. He is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Iowa and has written numerous articles on esthetic and implant dentistry. The three of us have a great conversation about the symposium, the importance of mentors, communication, and the extremely bright future of dentistry.   You can find Bill and Bob here: Bill Robbins Bob Margeas   Show Notes [02:09] Bill Robbins is a restorative dentist in San Antonio, Texas. [02:30] Bob Margeas has a full-time practice in Des Moines, Iowa. He has been practicing for 32 years. [03:21] Bill thinks the legacy tour is an interesting program because there are amazing lecturers. The content has been leaning towards the heart side of dentistry. [04:20] The people here are our mentors. The ones we grew up looking at. It's almost surreal to be on the stage with them. [04:46] It's important to be a continual student. You can't think that you know everything. [05:26] Bill likes to go to study clubs and get his CE in small doses. [06:19] How going to the Seattle Study Club is like going to a big family reunion. [07:27] There has never been a more exciting time to be a dentist especially with airway and other things going on with orthodontics. [08:08] What orthodontists can do today actually allows us to do less dentistry. [08:18] We can be conservative and think about what's right for the patient. [09:36] Using bonding and minimally invasive dentistry. [10:32] How are thinking gets challenged. It's not just the technology but it's also the thinking. [10:58] The implications of the ortho and restorative interface. We can now intrude posterior teeth. [13:38] Simple high-quality restorative and telling the truth really works. [14:29] How the patients decide when they want the crown done. Don't biopsy a patient's wallet. [15:46] Diagnosis is neutral. Sometimes when we try not to overwhelm a patient, we actually underwhelm them. [16:19] The importance of communication and how leaders aren't born they are created. [17:09] The importance of spending your CE money on leadership training and communication skills. [18:00] Getting into the arena with the best thinkers and not getting overwhelmed. [18:25] How young dentists a

I am live at the Seattle Study Club Symposium 2018 speaking with Dr. Jeffrey Boone. Dr. Boone is a cardiologist who believes that cause of death by heart disease is largely preventable. He runs the Boone Heart Institute where they perform exams and patented tests to provide a comprehensive view of your cardiovascular function. Once you know what your risk factors are, you can start working on risk prevention factors. Dr. Boone believes in using the latest prescription medicines along with supplements and lifestyle change which includes diet, exercise, stress reduction, and a healthy mindset. He is sometimes controversial, but if you really want to live a long quality life he sheds groundbreaking information that not everyone knows or accepts.   You can find Dr. Jeffrey Boone here: Boone Heart Institute   Show Notes [01:39] Dr. Jeffrey Boone is a cardiologist who runs the Boone Heart Institute. Their focus is on the complete eradication of heart attack and stroke. [02:02] Their goal is for no one to have heart attack or stroke and to further prevent dementia, cancer, and other issues. [02:09] Unfortunately, most healthcare and funding is at the end of life when things are already going on. [02:16] Our whole practice is based on the early anatomic biologic and physical identification of abnormalities and correcting them. [02:59] How disease prevention takes an entire different mindset and goal set. [03:05] I went to medical school with the dream in mind to eradicate heart attack and stroke. [03:10] It's very complicated to fix and save heart issues once the damages done, but it's very easy to implement things that will help prevent heart issues. [03:32] Dr. Boone defines significant disease as detected abnormalities that need to be embraced early. Aggressive care is to reverse those identifies problems. [04:13] Patients want to be told that they are healthy. I will find things wrong with you. Embracing abnormalities and correcting them reverses the process. [04:56] Our treatment plans improve every six months and keeps getting better and better. [05:06] We are on the way to eradicate heart attack and stroke, and the next frontier is working on the aging brain. [06:42] Misconceptions with heart health include not diagnosing or recognizing problems early enough and beginning treatment before the problem becomes life-threatening. [08:50] Attacking plaque and not letting it grow and actually shrinking it or reversing it a person will never have a heart attack or stroke. [09:14] The brain can be saved while saving the blood vessels and the heart. [09:25] Statin drugs reverse plaque. Plaque causes heart attack and strokes. [10:45] Blood pressure medicines, aspirin, and clock controlling medicines also help. Along with diabetic medicine, and lifestyle changes. [11:03] If the individual embraces all of that they will have a fabu

I am live at the Seattle Study Club Symposium 2018. Today, I am joined by six good friends and amazing oral surgeons. Dr. Matt Koepke, Dr. Daron Praetzel, Dr. Robert Naples, Dr. Marty Wade, and Dr. Richard Oakley are here to talk about the present and future state of oral surgery. There has never been a better time to be a dentist, and this is an amazing time to be an oral surgeon. There are things happening in the future with genetics that will allow us to grow teeth and do amazing things. The impact of how we change people’s lives is also expanding. This is an awesome episode with six oral surgeons who share their unique perspectives.   You can find the panel here: Dr. Matt Koepke Dr. Daron Praetzel Dr. Robert Naples Dr. Marty Wade Dr. Richard Oakley   Show Notes [01:35] Dr. Matt Koepke is an oral surgeon practicing in Morgantown, West Virginia at his Appalachian Oral Surgery Center. [01:42] Dr. Daron Praetzel is an oral surgeon in Hot Springs, Arkansas. He does a lot of facial surgery and oral surgery. He also owns a firetruck. [02:07] Dr. Robert Naples is an oral and maxillofacial surgeon in Round Rock,Texas. [02:17] Dr. Marty Wade practices at True North Oral Surgery & Implants in Maplewood, Minnesota. He has been in practice for 32 years. [02:37] Dr. Richard Oakley is an oral surgeon who practices in Kansas City, Kansas. He has been in practice since 1993. He has also been the director of the Seattle Study Club for 20 years. [04:09] The importance of the team approach and the value of what everyone can offer. [05:28] We keep coming back to the Seattle Study Club because of the people and the feel of the place. There are a lot of places where you can take classes, but this place is special. [06:08] How important it is to build relationships along with hearing world-class speakers. [06:23] The evolution of the study club and the referring doctors based on the information that we bring back. [06:43] By working together, there is huge Improvement in the overall dental community. [07:19] What an honor it is to build true relationships while gaining that important experience. [08:53] How being an oral surgeon is the best profession in the world. We get to work with great people. It's also amazing the way we change people's lives. [09:44] In the future we will be able to take a genetic seed and grow a tooth. [11:11] The future of what we can do is limitless, and we are also fascinated with digital dentistry. [12:04] How being an oral surgeon allows you to get your medical fix. We are all dentists, but we just have a little more of a whole body type of avenue. [14:28] All of our practices are unique, and we all have different training. [16:33] How being a solo practitioner and working fewer days in a year works for some oral surgeons. [17:49] The different dynamic of practicing solo and practicing in a group. [19:10] How amazing it is to come to a common agreement and work together. Seeing different techniques and having open minds while working with diverse practioners. [20:59] Interdisciplinary versus multidisciplinary dentistry. B

It has been an incredible week at the 25th Anniversary Legacy Tour of the Seattle Study Club Symposium in Palm Springs, California. Today, I have three amazing clinicians here to talk about the perio aspect of dentistry. They are all three periodontists. Jason Stoner is a periodontist in Columbus, Ohio. Pat Allen is a periodontist in Dallas, Texas. James Woodyard is a periodontist in Newburgh, Indiana. We talk about the future of perio and how technology is changing everything. We discuss the importance of having a mentor and belonging to a study club. We talk about taking a holistic view of dentistry and incorporating medical into the practice. This is a great discussion where we get the point of view of three unique practitioners.   You can find the panel here: Dr. James Woodyard Dr. Pat Allen Dr. Jason Stoner   Show Notes [01:34] Jason Stoner is a periodontist in Columbus, Ohio. [01:34] Pat Allen is a periodontist in Dallas, Texas. [01:35] James Woodyard is a periodontist in Newburgh, Indiana [02:01] Today, we talk about the future of perio and uniqueness that each different doctor brings to the practice. [02:08] Dr. Allen has been in practice for more than 40 years. He has seen a lot of changes. He has noticed that technology is pushing forward and changing what is done in the office. [02:53] Dr. Stoner thinks that the new technologies and diagnostic tools that are coming in the next decade are unbelievable. [03:09] The focus is coming back to saving teeth again. Stem cells and biologic agents from our own bodies are going to make this a very different landscape. [03:57] When Dr. Woodyard first read about these new technologies, they were too expensive to implement for most patients, but as the technology increases the cost actually goes down making a bright future for perio and advanced technology. [04:36] Dental implants are wonderful, but nothing we do lasts forever. Teeth are easier to fix than anything, so maybe we need to spend more time trying to save the tooth. [05:06] We are lucky to have a specialty system. Being able to collaborate with specialists opens a whole new opportunity. [06:08] Multidisciplinary care means treating more than one discipline on a patient. Interdisciplinary is interacting and coordinating with other disciplines. [06:37] Common knowledge is important even if you're not the one actually doing the procedure. [07:00] Creating an interdisciplinary team takes work and communication. [07:21] Introducing medical into the dental interdisciplinary team is part of the future. [08:25] Everything that we do is really about inflammation. Inflammation is the enemy. [09:55] In the 80s there was a multidisciplin

I am at the Seattle Study Club Symposium with Dr. Steve Carstensen. Steve is on the forefront of one of the most exciting things happening in dentistry today. We are going to talk about the importance of the airway in dental and medical health. We talk about how the airway can affect someone’s health, airway health for children, and how a young dentist can get started on this today. Steve has been treating sleep apnea and snoring since 1998. He specializes in sleep education and airway health. He lectures and directs sleep education at notable institutes and universities. He is a good friend of mine, and it’s really exciting to have him here today to talk about one of the hottest topics in modern dentistry. You can find Steve here: Pankey Institute Spear Aesthetics Dental Sleep Practice Magazine Seattle Sleep Education Show Notes [01:50] Steve is a restorative dentist. About 20 years ago, he started paying attention to the airways. He started helping people breathe better at night time. [02:18]  He became an educator about airway and dentistry. [02:37]  Now I see patients and write and teach about airway health & dentistry. [02:46] Why is airway such a big topic in dentistry right now? [03:29] When there is a problem we now start looking back in the patient's history and try to find the cause. [03:45] It frequently focuses on the airway issue. [04:51] With airway health we get a chance to improve how everybody feels. [05:38] When patients have chronic conditions often asking them how they sleep at night is the first step to getting to the root cause. [09:11] The importance of sleep and breathing and how they are interconnected. [09:31] Melatonin makes us sleepy. Bluelight interrupts our production of melatonin. [10:19] Sleep deprived children. Kids should get 12 to 13 hours of sleep during the night. Lack of sleep combined with medications is not good for kids. [11:46] It's likely that the kids aren't sleeping well at night because they're not breathing well because of a closed airway. [12:12] Not breastfeeding starts a child off at a bad position. Feeding kids soft foods is another factor that leads to more narrow pallets. [13:14] Children should be breathing through their nose. If they are breathing through their mouth that is something that needs to be looked at. [14:05] How would a young dentist incorporate airway health into his practice? How would he monetize this? [15:36] We don't need a sleep test to know that a kid's jaw isn't developing correctly. [16:03] Young dentists should start to pay attention to the kids in their practice and be on the lo

This is day three of the Seattle Study Club Symposium Legacy Tour. This is the place where dentists get to learn, grow, and network with some of the best clinicians in the world. Today, I am speaking with Dr. Jeff Rouse a prosthodontist in San Antonio and Dr. Greggory Kinzer who is a prosthodontist in Seattle.  We talk about some of the great things about the Seattle Study Club Symposium experience. For instance, being a dentist can be a lonely solo experience. Even though, you are surrounded by staff and patients having another clinician to weigh in on your cases and bounce ideas off of is really useful. The Seattle Study Club Symposium is the perfect place to get new ideas and fresh perspectives from peers and colleagues.     You can find Jeff and Gregg here:  Jeffrey S. Rouse, DDS  Greggory kinzer, DDS, MSD  Spear Aesthetics    Show Notes    [01:29] Jeff Rouse is here today he's a prosthodontist in San Antonio.  [01:36] Greggory Kinzer is also here today and he is a prosthodontist in Seattle, Washington.  [01:58] Today, we are going to talk about key moments in Jeff and Gregg's can careers when they were the most productive.  [03:37] How having another person or a forum to bounce ideas off of really makes the job of being a dentist easier.  [04:36] Using a study Club format enables you to get different viewpoints and ideas.  [05:20] You have to find mentors. You have to get into a club and an environment where you can find people to mentor you.  [06:13] Everybody has a voice with the true Study Club format.  [06:23] When you're setting up a new study Club you have to go into it with the right idea. They shouldn't be set up by an authoritarian or person looking to gain a personal benefit from it.  [07:09] The importance of engaging with your teachers.  [08:00] Life is about experiences and you need to be in the moment and get as much out of the moment as you can. Especially, as a dentist.  [09:31] Jeff shares how he has become a better dentist by observing Gregg work on his patients.  [10:05] You don't have to be in a partnership just find opportunities to pick up pointers by osmosis.  [10:55] Gregg points out how Jeff is actually changing dentistry with his new work with oxygen and airways.  [11:22] The four pillars of diagnosis are different now.  [13:42] How the airway peace actually needs to come before the generalized treatment plan.  [14:36] You need to understand how the airway piece will impact your treatment plan and how you converse with your patients.  [15:54] There has never been a more exciting time than now to be a dentist.  [16:27] How they have an airway mockup to show patients how they will feel after their treatment.  [17:08] Treating towards airway and the importance of evaluation.  [18:08] Airway is the piece that brings the dental field and the medical field together.  [18:58] Make yourself better than you w

Dr. Christian Coachman and Dr. Kyle Stanley are here with me today broadcasting live from the Seattle Study Club Symposium. Today, we are talking about the lip factor. We all know that Christian is the man behind Digital Smile Design. His unique digital techniques has made dental aesthetics easier and more possible when doing restorative work. Dr. Kyle Stanley has a practice in Beverly Hills. He also works with Christian and Digital Smile Design and focuses on the lip factor and the Orofacial Club. Often times with a full mouth makeover the relationship between the teeth and the lips are focused on. When a more holistic focus that includes the entire face and the position of the lips would give a better result. We discuss this and more in this interview. You can find Christian and Kyle here: Digital Smile Design Christian Coachman on Instagram Dr. Kyle Stanley Dr. Kyle Stanley on Instagram Show Notes [01:52] Dr. Kyle Stanley has a practice in Beverly Hills California. He works on the surgical and restorative side of dentistry. He was trained in Brazil and has close contact with Christian. He has also been involved with Digital Smile Design for a while. [02:19] Kyle is also focusing on the Orofacial Club where they focus on full facial aesthetics. [02:29] Christian is from São Paulo. Brazil. He is the developer of the Digital Smile Design technology. He is a dentist and a technician. [02:38] He's trying to go beyond teeth and gums and focus on taking care of the patient as a whole. [02:46] The need for differentiation and outside the box thinking. [03:00] How human behavior, the world of dentistry, and people are changing. [03:08] Consumers want harmony between all of the facets, so dental offices will become orofacial clinics. [03:22] First we become facial experts and improve our relationships with plastic surgeons. We need to know everything we can to improve harmony on the face. [03:49] This new area is like an empty canvas. We are not going to learn from others, we are going to create solutions. [04:00] This is a clinically  exciting time for dentists and an emotionally beautiful time for patients. [05:27] Have a plan and the business after dental school. [06:04] It's Kyle's vision to understand the face better. [08:14] Digitally we can do all of the movement before actually touching the patient. [09:00] We want to kill a patient virtually on the computer instead of killing them for real. We want to virtually simulate the solutions before working on the patient. [10:04] The lip factor and the missing link in beauty is the lip. Bringing the lip into the correct position and then planning traditionally.

I talk with three dental experts Dr. Christian Coachman, Dr. Rucardi Mitrani, and Dr. Jeff Rouse about the future of dentistry. We are at the Seattle Study Club Symposium in Palm Springs at the La Quinta. At the Symposium, I am surrounded by some of the best clinicians in the world and these three guys are amazing. We talk about the amazing opportunities in dentistry today. We also talk about how young dentists have to decide whether they want to work for a corporation or if they want to have their own practice. We touch upon the all-important topic of dentists needing to understand how to run a business. Along with the opportunities provided by amazing new tools and technologies. Plus, the expense involved in acquiring or getting access to all of these new tools.   You can find our panel here: Dr. Christian Coachman Dr. Rucardi Mitrani Dr. Jeff Rouse   Show Notes [01:02] Day 2 of the Seattle Study Club Symposium. [01:25] Dr. Jeff Rouse is a prosthodontist from San Antonio, Texas. Dr. Rucardi Mitrani is a prosthodontist from Mexico City. Dr. Christian Coachman is from Sao Paulo, Brazil, and he is a dentist and the developer of Digital Smile Design. [02:16] Dr. Jeff Rouse has had great mentors and as always have the opportunity to be around what is cutting-edge. [02:51] Dentists today not only have an opportunity to change people's lives aesthetically,we have the opportunity to create treatment plans at a higher level. The challenges they have are deciding what tools to actually use. [03:31] In order to implement something like Christian's Digital Smile Design you have to practice at a much higher level. [04:06] There are a ridiculous amount of opportunities for new dentists today. We have been trained similarly, but our focuses are different. A young dentist would be excited with all of the cool possibilities, but overwhelmed and scared with all of the new information they need to learn. [06:38] Building a career for a young clinician on their first year out of school. [07:02] Young dentists will often join corporate dentistry because of dead. This is a demanding and tough way to go. They could also go deeper in debt and buy a practice. [08:23] The importance of giving back. Finding mentors and practices for young dentists to spend time in and watch and learn. [09:09] How there are people everywhere who are willing to train. [10:32] Everyone on stage challenges us to be a better dentist. It's exciting but scary. [10:54] Choices we have today teach us to be better clinicians and better operators. [11:44] Tools and technologies do help, but there is an additional cost to all of these new technologies. [12:03] We need more centers providing support for dentists, so they can incorporate this type of technology into their practices.

This is a very special edition of the Best Practices Show. We are at the Seattle Study Club Symposium in Palm Springs at the La Quinta. It is incredibly gorgeous, and I have an amazing team of experts here today. This is the 25th anniversary of the symposium and some of the best clinicians in the world are here. If you haven't been to the symposium, you should definitely check it out.   I have three very special friends and guests today. Dr. Joshua Austin practices in San Antonio, Texas and loves how special the symposium is. Dr. Brian Schroder Has a practice in San Antonio, Texas, and he is the director of The Alamo Collaborative Dental Forum. Dr. Robert Ritter has a practice in Jupiter, Florida. He has been coming to the Seattle Study Club for 10 years. Today, we share a small portion of our symposium experience with you. You can find my expert panel here: Dr. Brian K. Schroder Dr. Robert Ritter Dr. Joshua Austin   Show Notes   [01:42] Dr. Joshua Austin practices in San Antonio, Texas. He says that everything about this event is special. There is no better continuing education. There is a vision behind the way this great Symposium is put together. [02:33] Dr. Brian Schroder Has a practice in San Antonio, Texas and he is the director of The Alamo Collaborative Dental Forum. He likes the Seattle Study Club concept so much that as a general dentist, he took over the directorship of a club. [02:45] The concept is very special it's based on excellence and relationships. It's also based on friendships when you come to these meetings you get to catch up with people that you haven't seen in awhile. [03:06] The phenomenal clinical education is special to Dr. Brian Schroder, but one of the things that has stood out to him is the non-clinical education. We focus so much on the clinical aspect of dentistry when we need a lot of help in the non-clinical aspects. [03:47] Dr. Robert Ritter has a practice in Jupiter, Florida. He has been coming to the Seattle Study Club for 10 years. [04:41] Dr. Ritter explains how dentists need help with the acquisition and business phase of dentistry. [04:45] Dental business is a challenging environment and the Seattle Study Club provides that business acumen that we need. [04:56] A lot of other meetings don't have all of the components that this Symposium has. [05:09] The Symposium is like going on a cruise and whatever you want to learn can be done for you here. [05:21] There is also so much willingness to share information here at the symposium. There are so many knowledgeable people in the industry that are willing to share without judgment. [05:56] If you want to know something about one procedure or one idea that person is usually here, and you can ask them right to their face. [06:32] It's great to be together and get to see the people that we actually interact with.

Dr. Drew Cobb of The Dawson Academy is here today to talk about why your redo isn't the lab's fault, and how to communicate better. If you don't know who Drew is, he has a practice in Washington DC, and he is an amazing dentist. Drew's father was a faculty member at Georgetown and taught Drew on his first day of dental school. You could say dentistry is in his blood, and it shows in his practice and his teaching. After practicing dentistry for 10 years, Drew realized that there were still things he needed to learn. He went to the Dawson Academy and learned how to treat more complex cases in a predictable way. He also learned how important continuing education is. Now Drew teaches at the Dawson Academy, and he uses those methods in his practice for treating complex cases in a predictable way. The basics start with good communication with your lab, and Drew shares the exact methods to do this and have great outcomes. You can find Dr. Drew Cobb here: Cobb Dentistry Dr. Andrew Cobb The Dawson Academy Show Notes [02:18] Dentistry runs in Drew's family. His father even taught him on his first day of dental school. He had a great foundation and practiced that way for about 10 years. Drew realized that his work wasn't lasting as long as he wanted and some complex cases were more than he could tackle. [03:10] He read Pete Dawson's book and wanted to go to one of his lectures. It was about predictability, being a better dentist, and stopping the rat race. [04:00] It was the best thing he ever did. Post Dawson is a lot more fun and he is hugely more profitable than before. [04:47] Pete Dawson changes the way dentists think. Getting better as a dentist is being able to solve more complex problems. [05:30] How dentists need to give the lab technicians the right information to do their jobs. Most only get a fraction of the information they need. [06:17] The foundation for restorative work is based on communication. If you don't start with that, you don't get a good result. [06:47] What's the most important step for any procedure? The one you are working on. You have to take good impressions with good materials. [08:12] You need an accurate team member to make sure everything is measured right. [08:34] You have to have a great team and take them on the journey with you. [10:29] Ask what a remake costs your practice? You want to known for solving problems and predictability. [11:56] The would I do it on me rule when making treatment plans. It's not about talking people into dentistry they don't need. It's about identifying their problems, finding solutions with the least amount of dentistry, and then providing them with that care predictably. [13:35] Start with accuracy and accurate materials and models for good predictive dentistry. Have good clean impressions. You have to have the whole anatomy of the patient to make accurate decisions. [14:57] Start with accuracy. [15:57

Dr. Amy Doneen runs The Heart Attack & Stroke Prevention Center in Spokane, WA. She has academic appointments at the Washington State University School of Medicine  and University of Kentucky Dental School. She is also the author of Beat the Heart Attack Gene. We have had her on the show before, and it was so much fun we ran out of time. She is brilliant, and you will see how everything from medicine to dental ties together in this show. We talk about the connection between cardiovascular health and periodontal and endodontal health. Dr. Amy Doneen is extremely passionate about this subject and has the goal of knocking heart attack off the top of the list as the number one cause of death in the US by 2020. She emphasizes the importance of dental and medical practitioners working together and offers practical solutions.   You can find Amy here: The Heart Attack & Stroke Prevention Center Beat the Heart Attack Gene Bale Doneen Method Dr. Amy Doneen on LinkedIn   Show Notes [02:31] How Beat the Heart Attack Gene is written for everyone from patients to doctors. This book will actually have patients wanting to come to the office more often once they realize how important dental health is for stroke and heart attack prevention. [02:57] Heart attacks and strokes are claiming lives at alarming rates. Our passion is to remove heart attacks as the number one cause of death by 2020. This would be impossible without the help of our dental colleagues. [04:04] We are passionate about nurses, doctors, and dentists talking to each other and realizing that this is connected to the entire body. [04:35] The high risk of periodontal pathogens and how they affect the heart health. Patients are left vulnerable if you ignore what is going on in the mouth. [05:45] No one spends more time proactively with human beings. This is an incredible dental opportunity to slow things down and make an impact to the people to you serve. [06:34] How the medical system is broken because it picks people up after they have already failed or had a heart attack or stroke. [07:05] People slowly develop plaque in the wall of the artery. The bodies natural response is to heal it with a scab. If the scab blocks the flow of blood it is a heart attack in the heart or a stroke in the brain. We look at the causal effects of vascular disease including periodontal pathogens. [08:31] There are many causes of heart disease, but periodontal and endodontic problems are major causes. Dentists and hygienists deserve huge praise in the world of cardiovascular health. [09:42] Read the literature and become your own expert. Make this a conversation instead of a challenging topic. The gum line and