Dentistry Uncensored with Howard Farran

Howard recently spoke to members of the Connecticut State Dental Association and gave advice for new dentists entering the profession in the wake of COVID-19.

Dr. Sulman Ahmed is the Founder and CEO of DECA Dental. He is instrumental in shaping and overseeing DECA Dental’s growth, strategy and culture. In 2008, Dr. Ahmed opened his first dental office and set out to create a truly patient centered model. His belief in putting patients first is the fundamental backbone of DECA Dental’s core values and patient care delivery model. Ensuring adequate training for doctors, the very best materials being placed in the patient’s mouth, weekend hours and multiple specialists working under one roof are just the beginning of his vision. On a more personal note Dr. Ahmed has achieved many honors and awards, one of the more notable ones being named as a finalist for the 2016 EY Entrepreneur of the Year, and winner of the 2017 EY Entrepreneur of the Year. He is a sought-after speaker at several leadership, entrepreneurial and motivational conferences. Dr. Ahmed obtained his Doctor of Dental Medicine degree from the Tufts School of Dental Medicine in Boston.

Emmet Scott is CEO and co-founder of Community Dental Partners™ a DSO supporting the dental practices, Smile Magic Dentistry and Braces™ – a Chuck E. Cheese like dental practice for kids. His business partner, Dr. Chad Evans, has been his best friend since they were 2 years old. Emmet is also the host of DSO Secrets, a podcast focused on building the best DSOs and group practices in the industry. He created a Facebook group by the same name for leaders in the dental group industry to discuss some of the most difficult components of running a DSO.

Shawn Zajas is Founder of Zana, the electric toothbrush program, redefined.  Shawn is also the cofounder of The Authentic Dentist – a company he started with his partner Dr. Allison House.  At the core of The Authentic Dentist is the belief that the answer to the current challenges in dentistry, is dentists discovering that their greatest asset is their personal brand – and that forming that brand out of their authentic selves is the best strategy for success in dentistry today.

Jenn Rhoades is the CEO & Co-Founder of Smile Virtual. Born and raised in San Diego where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Marketing from National University. She has over 20 years of experience in Marketing, 10 of those being in the dental industry. Back in 2012 she joined the team at Harris Dental in Phoenix, Arizona and became their Marketing Director. She helped grow their practice and expand it into multiple locations. After years of working with Dr. Brain Harris and collaborating on innovative ways to attract and convert ideal patients, they came up with the idea of virtual consults. Jenn has been able to organically grow Smile Virtual from an idea on a whiteboard to a virtual consult software company helping hundreds of dentists do more of the dentistry they love. She currently lives in Phoenix with her husband, 2 kids and a yellow lab.

Dr. Robert James Bray attended the University of Maryland School of Dentistry where he earned his Doctorate in Dental Surgery. Dr. Bray went on to obtain his Certificate of Orthodontics at the Eastman Dental Center in Rochester, New York, completing his M.S at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry with a major course in genetics. An active member of the community, Dr. Bray has served on Shore Medical Center’s, Howard S. Stainton Society and Shore Tomorrow fundraising campaigns for over 16 years. Dr. Bray is the current C.E.O of the Schulman Study Group and AAO Foundation National Planned Giving Chair. He has served on the Brigantine Board of Education, including working as the president of the Board for eleven years. Dr. Bray continues to serve as an Associate Clinical Professor at the Temple University Kornberg School of Dentistry in the Orthodontic Department and a visiting professor at the Eastman Institute of Oral Health, Rochester, New York. Chris Vranas, CAE, is the Executive Director of the SG Management LLC formulary known as the Schulman Group. Chris is well known in the orthodontic/dental space having served as the Executive Director for the American Association of Orthodontists for 17 years. Under Chris’s management, the AAO grew from 9000 to 18,500 members with 90% market share and retention. Chris oversaw the fundamental changes impacting orthodontics during the early 2000’s and prepared the members for a profitable future. Chris also worked within the Dental Specialty Group to bring the profession together toward a strong lobbying and working relationship with the ADA, ADEA and others within the dental and healthcare space. During Chris’s time at the Association of Dental Support Organizations, membership increased by 15% and developed their strategic plan designed to be all inclusive of DSO’s and small group practices and work in collaboration with traditional dental organizations.

Dr. Howard Farran stopped by the studio to visit Drs. Phil Gordon and Justin Moody, and it turned into a room full of doctors joining in - Drs. Chris Barrett, Wade Pilling, Steven Vorholt, James Sanderson, Raj Sheth, and Chris Epperson. Just a great group of docs talking dentistry.

Dr. Kwang-Bum Park graduated from dental college of Kyungpook National University in 1985 and received his PhD degree in 1995 with the thesis about ‘the periodontal regeneration’. In 1993, he started seminars for private dentists to teach clinical periodontics and implant dentistry. Until now, more than 1,500 dentists completed this course in Korea. From 2000 to 2001, he went to the department of periodontics, school of dentistry, UCLA as a visiting scholar. After he came back from UCLA, he opened the biggest dental hospital called “MIR dental hospital” in Korea with 70 operatories and more than 20 dentists and 120 employees at Daegu, Korea in 2002. With great success of the first “MIR dental hospital”, many dentists wanted to join and share the know-how and brand name. So he made a dental hospital network named “MIR Network”. Now it has 22 branches and more than 1000 employees and doctors in South Korea in 2009. Almost at the same time with the opening of MIR dental hospital, he began a company called “MegaGen” to produce dental implants. In a short period of development, MegaGen took the leading position in the field of dental implant in Korea. He is an active member of Academy of Osseointegration (AO) and also an international member of American Academy of Periodontology (AAP).

Hillary's first job was in a dental office. Both of her parents were dentists and she grew up filing, sterilizing, mowing the lawn and answering phones at her parents' practice in the Twin Cities metro area. Almost every family vacation was wherever the ADA conference happened to be that year and has spent her entire life surrounded by dentists. After helping her parents with their transition, Hillary founded Pine Lake Dental Law & Transitions in order to help other dentists through the transition process among other legal struggles they may face including employment and business law issues and reviewing & drafting associate contracts. Pine Lake is now one of the fastest growing dental specific law and transition firms in the Midwest, participating in around 20-25 transitions per year in Minnesota alone. Hillary has spoken at dental conferences across the country, presented for podcasts and webinars and has written and contributed to several articles in dental magazines across the country including Northwest Dentistry and Dental Entrepreneur Woman. Hillary is a licensed attorney serving the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin and South Dakota.