Dentistry Uncensored with Howard Farran

Fred Sagester was a software developer consulting for Fortune 500 companies when a colleague asked if he would install the computer system in his new dental office. 18 years later, Fred now leads a dental technology company regarded as one of the Midwest’s most talented and respected. A native of Batesville, IN, Fred holds a B.S. degree in computer science from Franklin College of Indiana. After graduation, he worked 15 years for various technology consulting firms, specializing in writing database management systems. Fred’s significant experience in dental technology and computer integration has led him to be noted as one of the foremost system designers and troubleshooters in the field. He has exceptional knowledge in virtually all of the leading practice management software packages and digital radiography systems. A number of manufacturers, suppliers and even some competitors consult Fred on some of their most challenging technology issues. Under Fred’s leadership, Sagester Associates Group, Inc. now supports dental offices in six states and maintains bases of operation in Indiana. Kentucky, and Ohio. Recently married, Fred and his wife Tami have 6 kids between them. Add in husbands, soon to be wives, boyfriends, and girlfriends and things can get really crazy. Their kids range from high school to going off to college in every corner of the U.S., soon to be married, and married almost 4 years. With a big family, Fred can always be sure of one thing…life is never boring.

Clayton A. Chan, D.D.S. is a general dentist, clinician, teacher, world class educator, mentor and is considered by many to be the pre-eminent educator and authority on neuromuscular and Gneuromuscular (GNM) dental occlusion. Dr. Clayton A. Chan is a trained gnathologist, who has combined expertise in both gnathology and neuromuscular approaches which is a rare combination of skills in the dental field to treat complex occlusal problems as well as handling difficult craniomandibular/ TMJ cervical dysfunction cases. His clinical knowledge and understanding on dental occlusion and its relationship to craniomandibular dysfunctions/TMD, orthodontic/orthopedic and complex restorative/prosthetic problems is what helps him convey a unique three-fold clinical message to thousands of dentists, specialists, technicians and dental leaders nationally and internationally. His training and experience as a general dentist and dental laboratory technician along with training in the areas of gnathology, TMD, orthodontics and mastery of neuromuscular instrumentation has led him to convey a unique three-fold clinical message to dentists, specialists, technicians and dental leaders nationally and internationally who are seeking clinical answers to their occlusal and diagnostic challenges. Dr. Chan has provided more than 4,100 hours (over 404 days) of continued education since 2009 to the present August 2019. He has given over 202 courses on the subjects related to dental occlusion, TMD, restorative, orthodontics and advanced electro-diagnostic instrumentation (K7 kineseograph, Myotronics). He has presented to dentists from all over the world including the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Cambodia.

Dr. Brady Smith is a general dentist and graduated from The University of Pacific in 2009 in the top seven-eighths of his class. Right out of school he purchased a Comfort Dental franchise in Pueblo, CO. He now owns and operates two successful Comfort Dental franchises in Vancouver, WA that he started from scratch in 2014 and 2016. Both practices grew quickly and now produce 1.8-2M a piece annually. In 2019, Dr. Smith created The DRILLED Podcast Network. A non-profit podcast that delivers life-changing dental transformations to some pretty amazing people who need a helping hand. The podcast discusses dental topics in a way for non-dentists to understand and appreciate and gives away $500 of free dental work every weekly episode to a listener. Dr. Smith is married and has four children ages 1-9. He plays guitar in a very mediocre cover band. He enjoys privately documenting all his experiences with crazy dental patients in a personal diary that he only shares with a select few.

Alamin Uddin is the CEO and cofounder of NexHealth, a patient experience management platform. After working at a doctor’s office during his college undergrad years, Alamin decided to start NexHealth to modernize the patient experience. NexHealth has raised $7M in venture funding, supports over 4M patients monthly, and works with some of the largest DSOs around the country.

Since graduating dental school in 1992, Dr. Krieger has been committed to staying on top of the newest and most innovative aspects of dentistry. A fellow of the Academy of General Dentistry and a practicing orthodontist, Dr. Krieger understands the challenges faced by clinicians on a day to day basis. Having drawn upon a lifelong love of photography, Dr. Krieger sought out the best resources to help him understand the role of clinical images for increased case acceptance. With the arrival of digital technology in the photographic world, Dr. Krieger merged his knowledge of traditional photographic technique with the advantages of digital cameras. The result was the revolutionary “Digital Co-Diagnosis” process, where patients play a much larger role in their dental health choices through better education. The cornerstone of this process is exceptional clinical photography. Dr. Krieger has worked with numerous consultants and has spent hundreds of hours in business training including “The Dentist as CEO”, year long course at the prestigious University of Washington Business School and another full year at the Schuster Center for Professional Development in Scottsdale Arizona. Dr. Krieger has presented to tens of  thousands of dentists around the world and has been published in textbooks and dental periodicals. He has created two DVDs to assist dentists with clinical photography and has designed a revolutionary set of mirrors and retractors too assist with image capture. Dentistry Today has named him “Top Clinician in Continuing Education” 11 times. Most importantly, Dr. Krieger believes that in today’s competitive world the orthodontic and dental communities should be collaborative and everyone should contribute to helping one another succeed. His hope is that this blog, and those who contribute to it, will help practices around the world reach their visions when it comes to growing their market share and delivering care to patents.

Michael Pontrelli joined Memorial Park dental group as their chief operator in 2015 to help with the expansion of their dental group. In 2015, the group consisted of 1 practice, which was acquired in 2006, and today the group has 8 practice locations in the greater Houston, Dallas/Ft, Worth & Austin areas. Their group sets themselves apart by deploying a doctor-centric partnership model with an entirely bespoke purchase arrangement. They are willing to purchase up to 200% of the value of the practice.

Dr. Justin Bhullar earned his DMD degree in 2010. He realized there was only one way to get 5 years experience in 2.5 years so he started working 70+ hours per week. After a while that wasn’t necessary anymore and he now practices only 2 days per month focusing mainly on implants, wisdom teeth and IV sedation. He has completed 5 dental office acquisitions, 4 start-ups and has helped multiple dental colleagues acquire, transition from, or start practices of their own. Currently he owns and operates 6, 7-Figure dental practices all with high profit, negligible team turnover, and thousands of happy patients. He is known to be straight up and transparent about what it really takes to succeed in this competitive and ever changing dental market place. The path to success in business and practice ownership is never a straight line. He has encountered every failure you can imagine in pursuit of his goals. Everything from major financial losses to poor health to suffering relationships but ultimately created financial freedom and is more fulfilled than ever before. He attributes his success to many things…..but reframing failure as an opportunity to learn and grow, coupled with shear persistence were huge components. Be prepared for roadblocks, detours, and the occasional bridge collapse along the way. He says, “If you plan to succeed you must be prepared for failure”…..Learn from those failures, course correct, and move on quickly without loss of momentum. He is an speaker and loves to inspire, engage, and share knowledge with others. He believes leadership, a bullet proof mindset, great habits, and consistent execution are the key to attaining your personal and professional goals. Dr. Justin has invested over $1,500,000 in his personal and professional development. As well, has had the privilege of receiving mentorship from numerous Millionaires and two Billionaires in his short career. He believes the fastest way to 10x your results and grow your business is to model the success of those that have done it already. He has been married to his beautiful, talented, and loving wife Dr. Nav Bhullar for 12 years. Dr. Justin, his wife and their 3 children currently live outside of Tampa, Florida and manage their 6 dental offices from 2000 miles away. He is the author of “High Performance Practice: Management, Marketing and Leadership” and a contributing author of “Greatness 2018”, a book he wrote with ABCs Secret Millionaire James Malinchak and other successful entrepreneurs. He is the co-host of the High Performance Practice Podcast where they talk about everything from Leadership, mindset, relationships, wealth creation and the drivers of practice/business growth. Dr. Justin is also the Founder and Lead Coach of High Performance Practice, a dental coaching organization that helps dentists go from where they are to where they want to be in their practice and life. In addition, he is the co-founder of DentalBusinessMentor.com, a premier online training platform “For Dentists By Dentists.” His wish for you is for you to have the freedom to be in places, with people, and do work that bring you joy!

Marc Novak graduated from the University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine in 2018 and is now a practicing dentist between two practices in Northern New Jersey. He was born and raised in East Windsor, CT. With his mother and father both being successful teachers, he entered the University of Connecticut in the education program before transitioning his studies to biochemical research. After completing a research and development summer internship at a pharmaceutical company the summer before his senior year, he knew that a life stuck in a laboratory was not for him, and he chose to again transition to dentistry after observing his local dentist Dr. Pete Coombs of Suffield, CT. While applying to schools his undergraduate research advisor convinced him to continue his work and stay for a Master’s degree. His research project focused on increasing the chemical stability of proteins that could be used for functional purposes. He published several peer reviewed journal articles pertaining to the increased functional stability of Glucose Oxidase, acting as the building blocks to a biocompatible glucose sensor that has the potential to send electrical Bluetooth signals through an app to register live blood-glucose readings and limit the pain and annoyance of patient’s using drops of blood from their fingers. Upon completion of Dental school, he was selected to attend the highly competitive GPR program at Morristown Medical Center in Morristown, NJ, ranked the #1 hospital in New Jersey and a top 30 hospital in the United States. He received advanced training of complex dental cases, including oral surgery, endodontics, dental implants and esthetic cases. He received a formal education on management of medically compromised patients as well as patients with special health care needs. Becoming a more well-rounded and confident practitioner afforded him to opportunity to enter private practice as an associate under the tutelage of Dr. David Paulussen of Hackettstown, NJ and Dr. Michael Gruber of Parsippany, NJ both of whom are annually recognized as two of New Jersey’s top dentists. When not splitting his time between the two offices, Dr. Novak is passionate about continuing education to become the best practitioner possible as well as staying physically active and traveling. He hope to use his experiences to provide the best possible care to his patients in a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere and make patients an integral part of their own treatment by educating them to the fullest extent as to the care they will be receiving.

Dr. Crispin is one of the only dentists in the world that is both a Diplomat of the American Board of Prosthodontics and an Accredited Member of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. He has been an international educator for over 40 years and founded the UCLA Center for Esthetic Dentistry in the late 80s and Esthetic Professionals Dental Education Center in the late 90s. His focus in education is creating comprehensive hands on and clinical programs that are the highest quality and exceptional value.

Attorney Matthew W. Odgers is the owner and founder of Odgers Law Group, a dental specific law firm based in San Diego, California. The practice services dentists throughout California with an emphasis on practice purchase and sales, associate employment agreements, dental office leases, partnerships, and estate planning for dentists. After graduating from Purdue University in three years with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, Matthew Odgers spent a year in Seoul, Korea teaching English. From there he moved back to San Diego where he started law school and developed a passion for healthcare law. In 2013 Attorney Odgers decided to branch out and start up his own firm to better serve the legal business needs dentists. Odgers Law Group works regularly with young associates and new dentists by making sure they are legally protected as they pursue the career of their dreams. He regularly lectures on dental related topics at dental schools and through online CLE courses and Webinars. In 2016 Odgers Law Group was named one of Entrepreneur Magazines top 365 best Businesses in the Nation and Attorney Matthew Odgers is recognized as a Rising Star by Superlawyers.