Brews and Tiny Teeth, The Unfiltered Pediatric Dentistry Podcast

Dr. Johnny Johnson is a pediatric dentist from Florida who joins us on the podcast today. Dr. Johnson practiced full time as a pediatric dentist until a bicycle accident in 2002. Over the next 6-7 years he continued to practice while undergoing multiple surgeries on his wrist. He eventually hung up the handpiece when his wrist needed to be totally fused. We spend some time talking about disability insurance and what that journey looked like for Dr. Johnson. Dr. Johnson now spends his time advocating for public water fluoridation. He is a leader in the American Fluoridation Society and fights every day all around the country and world to promote the benefits of community water fluoridation. I try to challenge Dr. Johnson with the current evidence of fluoride, and some of the conspiracy theories and claims that anti-fluoride parents present to us. Dr. Johnson gives us the evidence and rebuttals to counter these claims.  He encourages any listener to reach out to him at drjohnnyjohnson@gmail.com for personal help in advocating for community water fluoridation in their own community, as he is very passionate about his work. 

Let’s be honest, 99% of our patient encounters are awesome and end with happy kids and happy parents. But then there’s that 1% of the time when things don’t go as planned and you end up with angry parents. We've all gotten those unwarranted one-star reviews, so now it’s time to share them to remind each other that you just can’t make everybody happy. This episode took a lot of time to put together, so thank you to all the anonymous pediatric dentists who took the time to share their stories!

Dr. Aaron Bumann is a pediatric dentist practicing in the Kansas City, Missouri area. He's is an active member of the Missouri Academy of Pediatric Dentistry and has been the leading voice advocating for improvements to our state Medicaid to provide better access to dental care for kids. Dr. Bumann and I talk about his background and what his practice is like in the Kansas City area. We talk about the benefits of being an associate dentist, and how you can create a healthy professional work environment when you find the right office and surround yourself with good team members. The focus of our conversation deals with the recent Medicaid fee increases that have been approved in Missouri. The governor recently approved a budget increase that will nearly double the current fees for dental services. To give context, a typical pediatric recall appointment that historically reimbursed around $90 will increase to around $180. This historic increase will allow more kids to have access to quality dental care in our state. Dr. Bumann discusses his role in making these fee increases happen, and gives some insight on what actions providers can do to advocate for changes in their own states. 

Even with a broad interest in practice ownership, giant student debt is negatively influencing future practice ownership. This was the summarized conclusion from a recent cross-sectional study in the AAPD journal evaluating practice ownership intentions and educational debt. On today's solo episode, I wanted to do a quick review of this article and share my thoughts. I receive inquiries several times a week from young pediatric dentists who express interest in starting a practice. I can tell you first hand that there is a lot of interest in the subject. Some dentists commit and make it happen right away, and for others it takes more time due to additional barriers. Even with the stresses of running a business, I still encourage practice ownership and I think this article does a great job shedding some light on restrictions that come with it. Shoutout to Dr. William Alexander, Dr. Joel Berg, Dr. JoAnna Scott, Dr. Roger Sanger, and Dr. Zheng Xu on publishing this study. The study is title, "Practice Ownership Intentions of Pediatric Dentistry Residents and the Influence of Educational Debt." Pediatric Dentistry V 44, No 1. Jan/Feb 2022.

Dr. David Stanley is a pediatric dentist and partner at Wild About Smiles Pediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. He joins us on the podcast to discuss his career, and how things have changed since being diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer. We talk about trying to find balance between working hard to build a practice and pay off loans, while at the same time finding enjoyment in life, spending time with family, and learning how to sleep well at night after a hard day at the office. We also talk about how beneficial talking to a therapist or counselor can be to keep your mental well-being in check. Dr. Stanley and I also have a brief discussion about how his office was recently embezzled from by a trusted employee, so he reflects on things he could have done differently and gives advice to young practice owners on preventing this from happening to them. 

Sometimes it’s nice to have a podcast without a lot of structure where you can just ramble on unfiltered with your old coresidents. In this episode, myself and three close friends and pediatric dentistry coresidents drink a few beers, talk shop, and share crazy stories from residency. Dr Bryce Evans is the owner of Penguin Pediatric Dentistry in Iowa, Dr Kirsty Gratz is the owner of Good to Grow Dental Center in Indiana, and Dr Nate Green practices as an associate in Denver Colorado.

After a lot of interest from listeners, we decided to do an episode focusing on 401ks and retirement plans for pediatric dentists. Jeff Wherry and Shawn Johnson from Treloar and Heisel join us to take a deep dive into 401ks. Shawn has been a guest on the show previously, and Jeff is the director of planning and research who specializes in helping doctors develop retirement plans for their practices. In this episode, we discuss: - What are the different type of retirement plans that a pediatric dentist should consider? - When is the right time to start thinking about a 401k for your practice? - Understanding the tax savings of a 401k, and how much money can you put in? - What is a third party administrator and how do they help the process? - Understanding terms such as safe harbor, profit sharing, vesting schedules, and open architecture plans - What is a defined benefit plan, and how does that layer over a traditional 401k for somebody ready to save more money? For anybody interested in getting more information or looking to start the steps in setting up a retirement plan for their practice, I would recommend contacting Jeff at jwherry@treloaronline.com

A lot of money is wasted in our profession on marketing that doesn't produce a high return on investment. Practice owners need to learn to market smarter, not harder.  In today's episode, Minal Sampat joins us to discuss creative and affordable ways to market and grow a pediatric dental practice. Minal is an RDH and worked for 10 years in a pediatric dental office. She is a national speaker and marketing strategist, along with author of Why Your Marketing is Killing Your Business.   Some of the topics we discuss: - Making your website better than your competition - Better dentist bios - Internal referrals and community outreach - Facebook vs Instagram and how the algorithms have changed - Hiring help to develop Tiktok videos Minal's website and more information about her can be found at https://minalsampat.com/

Dr. Justin Stevens is a pediatric dentist and practice owner in Bozeman, Montana. His wife, Joni, is also a pediatric dentist. Together they acquired a practice and have grown it to the point of constructing a brand new 10-op building. I invited Dr. Stevens to be on the podcast after spending some time in Bozeman after my annual September elk hunt. Montana is a beautiful state and I wanted to learn more about what the pediatric dentistry scene is like out there. Dr. Stevens is also an advocate for using a Solea hard tissue laser. He and his wife have two of them in their practice. We discuss the efficiency of lasers, reducing chair time with less local anesthesia, how to complete specific preps such as class II's and SSC preps, and also how the cost breakdown is more achievable than you may think. This was a great discussion for any pediatric dentist interested in practicing in Montana, building a practice from ground-up construction, or anyone interested in investing in a hard-tissue laser.  https://gvpediatricdentistry.com/

Dr. Yoshita Patel is a pediatric dentist and the owner of Viera Pediatric Dentistry on the east coast of Florida. She has grown a relationship-based FFS practice and has had a ton of success in her community. Her 700+ 5 star reviews speak to that. You can tell by the way she talks about her practice that Dr. Patel emphasizes the patient experience and relationships she has with her patients and families. In this episode we review: - How a FFS office can grow just as quickly as a PPO office - Giving back to your community can accelerate a FFS office - Dental insurance challenges and how to overcome them in a FFS office - Focus on the relationships, and the numbers/money will come - When looking at a start-up, determine your goals and what YOU want, and then structure the practice and your mission statement around that - Implementing tongue and lip ties into your practice, and understanding the struggles that new mothers face