Dentistry Uncensored with Howard Farran

Brett Wells is a practicing dentist and owner of Wells Family Dental Group in Raleigh, NC. An entrepreneur at heart, he opened a restaurant venture in 2014 called Tasty 8s gourmet hotdog company, partnered to launch a Twitter-based software service called Tweetbox, and most recently, in response to the growing need for dental insurance alternatives, launched DentalHQ. DentalHQ revolutionizes dental practices by helping them create, customize, and automate the tracking and payments of in-house dental membership plans. In his ever-dwindling spare time, Brett enjoys spending time with friends and colleagues, traveling, Carolina sports, and cooking. Do you share a passion for food? Join his Facebook group, Dental Foodies.

Dr Steven Roth grew up as a first generation American in New Haven CT watching his Hungarian holocaust survivor family build businesses and become successful because of opportunity and hard work. He Graduated Columbia University with a BS in Psychology and The University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine in 1985. After a one year residency Dr Roth jumped around working as an associate with several dentists before becoming an associate and then a partner on the upper east side of Manhattan. He has 3 children, loves golf, working out and yoga, and listening to all kinds of podcasts  Dr Roth learned how to do high quality operative and prosthetic dentistry by co treating patients for 2 years with his senior dentist which allowed him to become a confident practitioner that was not afraid to treat most dental problems. Dr Roth is proud to say he has restored the mouths of 2 Oscar Winners, several famous pro athletes, and many other wonderful and interesting people!. Dr Steve as his friends call him went through all of the Dawson Center, Frank Spear curriculum multiple times. He also studied with the Esthetic Advantage , Larry Rosenthal Esthetics courses, Dr. Bill Strupp, and numerous other courses. He tries to do at least 100 hours of CE every year and became a Faculty member at Spear Education. Dr Roth has worked to bring Myntsmile toothpaste to market and is currently helping build Bridge Solution, Greensky Patient Financing as the best possible solution for all patients.

As a leading practitioner, and speaker, David Landwehr, D.D.S., M.S. serves as a frequent teacher at events focusing on endodontics and oral pathology. Dr. Landwehr’s ongoing work as an opinion leader has positioned him at the forefront of modern endodontic treatment. Dr. Landwehr’s teaching focuses on techniques used daily in his clinical practice that are efficient, evidence based and attainable for any practitioner. A Wisconsin native, Dr. Landwehr studied as an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and went on to earn his D.D.S. at the University of Minnesota. From there, he earned an M.S. degree and certificate in Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology at The Ohio State University followed by specialty training in Endodontics at the University of Michigan. Since returning to Wisconsin in 1999, Dr. Landwehr has provided exemplary care to patients in a private practice setting

Dr. Howard Farran speaks with the students in Nova Dentalpreneurs at Nova Southeastern University

Anna Cowdin grew up in Boerne, TX, graduated from Wake Forest University with a major in Psychology and Minor in Chemistry. Worked as a dental assistant then in dental real estate before attending Roseman University College of Dental Medicine in South Jordan, UT. She is a mother of almost 2 year old Emerson and 3 month old Dillard. Anna and her husband, Adam, started Nomad Dental, a dental office built in a tiny house, during her last year of dental school. They are now up and running with 4 location in downtown Dallas. Anna also just launched Flossy Fix, a subscription box where she chooses dental hygiene products specifically for each subscriber.

Robbie Kellman Baxter is the leading expert on how to apply membership and subscription models to build engagement, loyalty and recurring revenue in nearly in business.. As the Principal at Peninsula Strategies LLC, she has advised organizations across over 20 industries on how to leverage subscription pricing, digital community and freemium content to build deeper relationships with the people they serve.  Her clients have included health care organizations and professional services providers as well as industry leaders such as Netflix, Electronic Arts and the Wall Street Journal.  As the author of The Membership Economy: Find Your Superusers, Master the Forever Transaction & Build Recurring Revenue, a book that has been named a top 5 Marketing Book of the Year by Inc.com, Robbie coined the popular business term, Membership Economy, which is now being used by organizations and journalists around the country and beyond. A sought-after writer and keynote speaker, Robbie has presented to alumni organizations at Stanford, Harvard and Haas, associations including the American Nurses Association, the American Society of Association Executives, and the American Board of Internal Medicine.  She has been quoted on business issues in the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Consumer Reports, and has had pieces published in HBR.org, CNN.com, and the Journal for Quality & Participation.  

Patrick Kircher is an experienced Chief Executive Officer who partners with Dental Professionals, Salespeople, and Executives, to maximize the potential of every business and client. After spending more than a decade working in Sales, Marketing, Business Development, and Management, Kircher truly knows what drives the Dental business and its’ Professionals. A coach at heart having been involved in college baseball and professional scouting has continued his passion for helping people maximize the opportunity at hand. The practice of building lasting relationships that ultimately change patient’s lives through practices and products has always been the goal Kircher has spent the last six years developing his own Dental Service Organization. Having hands on experience across several specialties has provided experience of what it takes to own and operate a dental business. This experience has given him a truly unique perspective in almost every aspect of the dental business that is quite uncommon. Kircher recently took the opportunity to sell his business to an investment backed practice management company to become the owner of TruDenta Kircher holds a BA from Lyon College as well as a Master of Science from the University of Central Arkansas.

Dr. Sonia Chopra is a Board Certified Endodontist and founder of Ballantyne Endodontics in Charlotte, NC. When she opened her practice in 2008, her goal was to help patients understand the why and how of their procedure. She works with her local dental community to host seminars and learning events, and has recently launched an​ online education forum at soniachopradds.com, for general dentists worldwide. Her mission is to share knowledge on perfecting endodontic skills, focusing on thorough diagnoses, delivering compassionate solutions and considering whole patient care.​ ​Dr. Chopra is a ​Director for the College of Diplomates of the American Board of Endodontics, and on the CE Committee of the American Association of Endodontists.

Sean would refer to himself as a slow starter, but he eventually went on to gain his post graduate diploma in Maxillofacial Prosthetics & Technology at Manchester University whilst working in the Orthodontic & Maxillofacial laboratory at Sunderland Royal Hospital. In 2003 he achieved the only highest possible grade, pass with distinction to date in this speciality, earning him a coveted award from his national body in the process. Prior to this Sean had studied for four years to gain his Dental Technology qualification, and a further four years at Newcastle for his Advanced certificates in Orthodontic Technology and also Prosthodontic Technology. Sean has gained a reputation that is second to none in the field of Orthodontic Technology and he was appointed to the national council of the Orthodontic Technicians Association in 2012 in recognition of this. Sean established Ashford Orthodontics in 2001 due to specialist clinicians needing a laboratory specializing in Orthodontic technology rather than having to send their work to general laboratories which simply dabble in this speciality. Two new directors in Craig Stevens and Graeme Winyard joined in 2005 when Ashford became a limited company, and between them they have over 75 years’ worth of experience in this field. Ashford employs over 50 highly skilled members of staff and bases its success on the quality of the work they produce being directly linked to the quality & training of the staff they employ. Sean has been instrumental in steering the company though its recent successes, seeing Ashford invest heavily as an early implementer in Digital Technology, forming the retainerworld brand in the process, allowing Ashford to create and secure diverse income streams into the lab. This deliberate business model has resulted in rapid but sustainable growth in the last few years, and has firmly established Ashford as a leading light in this field. Ashford is now the Technical strength behind various other company’s, allowing it to expand into the field of 3D scanning and printing which in turn has allowed them to export to Scandanavia, Belgium, The Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand. The company continues to expand following it’s seventeen years of continuous growth since inception, and is currently in discussions to increase it’s income streams further with even more new and diverse partnerships.

Dr. Scott Brookshire is raising a family and practicing in one of North America’s most beautiful places, the Tongass National Forest of Southeast Alaska. Nestled amongst the fjords and misty coastline of Prince of Wales Island, is the small fishing community of Craig. Dr Brookshire has had to finely hone the art of running a small town practice. With an island-wide population of only 5,559, based on 2010 census, there is no room for error. Most everyone is related, so small things can become big problems. By knowing your customer, and having a relationship based philosophy, great things are possible. When not cutting teeth, Dr. Brookshire enjoys stream fishing the many salmon rivers or hunting deer in the rain forest.