Everyday Oral Surgery

Building and maintaining a solo practice is a multi-faceted project, something that Dr. Michael Hall knows all about! Dr. Hall returns to the podcast today to drop a few pearls of wisdom and talk about the lessons he has learned running his office so far. Specifically, we get into the hiring process, smart ways to cut costs, and his philosophy towards patient care and treatment. Dr. Hall weighs in on the worthwhile investment of hiring the right person for the job, while also emphasizing the ability to do in-house training once someone appropriate has been hired. From there, we discuss how to facilitate the sharing of expertise within the different parts of the office and positions, before Dr. Hall talks about the importance of staying abreast of your business' numbers as the head of the company. The conversation also covers the need to constantly seek out the best and most affordable options for supplies and equipment for the practice. In dental healthcare, these expenses make up a big piece of the pie, so do not underestimate the power of finding a deal! To finish off we get into how to deal with patients, stay engaged with the goings-on in the office, and the ultimate value of patient loyalty. For all this and a bunch more, join us today!Key Points From This Episode:The emphasis that Dr. Hall places on hiring strong players and the lessons he has learned around this. How to determine the experience and suitability of a person during the hiring process.The best training for assistants and office managers in Dr. Hall's experience.Approaches to dealing with the exclusivity of office knowledge and systems expertise. Staying familiar with and on top of the numbers of your practice. The importance of seeking out the best-priced equipment and supplies for a business.The benefits of staying open-minded to different products and brands. Storytelling in dentistry; how Dr. Hall focuses on stories to build his practice's culture.Dr. Hall's advice regarding the opportunities for variety in the field of dentistry. Prioritizing the loyalty of a customer over small disagreements and issues. Thoughts on how general dentists can better serve the needs of oral surgeons. A round of quick-fire questions with Dr. Hall; books, previous work, and more!Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:Pueblo DentalChick-fil-AShut Up and ListenTilmanHouston Rockets

Today’s guest on the Everyday Oral Surgery Podcast is Dr. Michael Hall, a general dentist who practices in Pueblo, Colorado, and a close friend of your host, Dr. Grant Stucki. In this episode, Dr. Hall shares his perspective as a general dentist when dealing with an oral maxillofacial surgeon and reflects on his personal business experience, as a dentist who owns his own practice. Tuning in, you’ll hear what his top criteria are when referring out, why patient feedback is important, and how having an abundance mentality can make you a better teacher. So stay tuned, and enjoy!Key Points From This Episode:Hear a brief introduction for Dr. Hall, including his training and his current practice setup.He also shares a bit more about the demographic of dentists in Pueblo, Colorado.Dr. Hall’s top criteria when referring out to an oral surgeon, like competency, bedside manner, personality, and what they charge.Why he’ll send all his referrals to a specialist that backs him up and helps him out in a pickle.The importance of receiving feedback from the patient about their referral experience..How having a colleague to refer to can feel more like a real relationship or partnership.Why Dr. Hall chose to watch a surgery that the referral oral surgeon performed on a patient of his; gaining trust and familiarity.The abundance versus scarcity mentality that can make oral surgeons good teachers.Tweetables:“Whether it’s to an oral surgeon or to an orthodontist or an endodontist, basically, I have the expectation that whoever I refer out to has the competency to get the work done [and has] a great skill level. Better than myself, essentially.” — Dr. Micheal Hall [0:04:06]“It [is] great for me to know that I have that professional college within the area that we can work together on, because at that point, it feels like a real relationship.” — Dr. Micheal Hall [0:10:13]Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:Pueblo Dental

Significant anesthetic emergencies in oral and maxillofacial surgery offices are rare events. However, emergencies do occur, and being prepared is key for mitigating the impact of these events. Today’s guest is a board-certified oral and maxillofacial surgeon, Dr. David Salomon. He is on staff at Yale-New Haven Hospital, where he also serves as faculty for the Yale Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Residency Training Program. In today’s episode, Dr. Salomon shares how he stays prepared for emergency situations using what he calls ‘monthly familiarity drills’, quarterly emergency simulations, and implementing a 911 protocol, as well as making sure that his staff has clearly defined roles should an emergency occur. This episode is full of practical advice for keeping your office emergency-ready, so make sure to tune in today! Key Points From This Episode:How often the State of Connecticut requires that anesthesia certifications are renewed.What those renewals entail versus the initial certification; an evaluation of supplies and emergency scenarios.Learn about what Dr. Salomon calls a familiarity drill, which his staff does on a monthly basis. How regularly you should be simulating anesthesia emergency scenarios with your staff.The importance of having a 911 protocol in your office and involving your front desk.Why your front desk personnel should use a landline rather than a mobile phone to call 911.Why your staff needs to know what emergency equipment looks like, where it is, and what their individual roles are.You can create useful tools like laminated emergency cheat sheets; education is key!The importance of documenting everything in an emergency to avoid legal action.Tweetables:“We’ve actually created a schedule where, now, we’re at the point where we do a monthly what’s called a ‘familiarity drill’ and, at quarterly, we do actual emergency scenarios.” — Dr. David Salomon [0:07:54]“A front desk individual will be the one on the phone [with 911] because, if you take an assistant away to be on the phone, I think you’re taking away potential useful hands.” — Dr. David Salomon [0:18:06]Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:Dr. David Salomon on LinkedIn

Today we speak with Dr. Jay Lee, a maxillofacial surgeon with a knack for orthognathics. In this special episode, Jay shares his experiences in the field, as well as the shiny pearls he’s picked up during his years of practice. To open our conversation, we hear Jay’s professional and academic history, before touching on how he forged a path into orthognathics. Following this, Jay shares some of the challenges he and his contemporaries have faced, as he reminds listeners there’s no simple solution to adversity — it’s just about putting in the work to create a good reputation. As our conversation develops, we talk to Jay about how he approaches surgery, find out why he feels it’s best to have two surgeons in theatre and his reasons for performing his surgeries at separate hospitals. In the latter half of the show, we explore some of Jay’s favorite pearls which include finding strong mentors and programs to get involved in, patient selection, and virtual surgical planning. To wrap up, we ask Jay our series of rapid-fire questions. Join us today!Key Points From This Episode:We welcome today’s guest, Dr. Jay Lee.Jay fills listeners in on his academic and professional history.Find out why Jay enjoys orthognathic surgery.How Jay and his group of surgeons have coped with the challenges that come with moving into orthognatics.Jay shares how he has evolved since graduating.We ask Jay to describe how he approaches orthognathic surgery.Jay details his best pearls after working in private practice for several years.Hear what makes orthognathic surgery so unique to maxillofacial surgeons.We give Jay our series of rapid-fire questions.Stay tuned for some banter with Jay.Jay’s parting advice for listeners faced with deciding their path in life, post-residency.Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:Kaiser PermanenteUCLAParkland Hospital Cedasr Sinai HospitalNorthridge HospitalA Promised Land on AmazonSchool of Rock

Referrals can be the lifeblood of your practice. Today we welcome ‘The Implant Doctor’ Mulokozi Lugakingira onto the show to learn both about his practice and about his effective referral marketing strategy. After chatting about Mulokozi’s personal and professional history, we dive into the top lessons that he’s learned from running his practice. We discuss the business skills that you need, along with the challenges that come with taking over an existing practice. Mulokozi then unpacks what he does to earn doctor referrals, touching on the benefits of hosting ‘lunch and learns’ and covering your bases by advertising on most dominant media channels. A key insight, he talks about the importance of targeting a specific group of patients before telling listeners what they should look for when hiring a marketing company. Later, we explore Molukozi’s surgery process, why you should know your limits as a doctor, and the advantages of being personable. We wrap up the episode by asking Molukozi our final fast five questions. Tune in to hear more about getting referrals and building your practice from the successful Dr. Mulokozi Lugakingira.Key Points From This Episode:Dr. Mulokozi Lugakingira shares details about his training and professional history. Hear about Mulokozi’s practice and specialties. The top lessons that Mulokozi has learned from starting his practice.Reflecting on the early challenges taking over a practice. What Mulokozi does to land doctor referrals and get his name out there. Exploring the value of diversifying your referral marketing strategy.What to look for when hiring a marketing company.The secret sauce for referrals; knowing your limit and doing right by your patients.Molukozi unpacks his pre and post-implant surgery process.Advice for new oral surgeons looking for direction. Why transparency and being personable lead to a stable revenue stream.Find out Molukozi’s answers to our five rapid-fire questions. Whether doctors should tell patients what to do or leave their decision up to them.Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:Dr. Mulokozi LugakingiraFort Wayne Oral Maxillofacial Surgery & Implant CenterUniversity of Dar es SalaamUniversity of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Illinois at Chicago

Delivering an efficient and high-end service sounds like a challenging task, but Matthew Weber is here to tell you that it can be done. As today’s guest, we speak with Matthew about his experiences as a maxillofacial surgeon, what it takes to start your own practice from the ground up, and the virtues of taking digital impressions. To kick off our episode, we get to know Matthew by hearing more about his practice, as he touches on why starting from scratch is oftentimes better than buying a business. Following this, we dive into Matthew’s implant program and discover why this element of his practice has become so popular. He uncovers a range of detail, including his scanning process, torque checks, and impressions. Later in the show, we look at Matthew’s practice more closely and find out how he approaches patients who need cover-screws, where he fits into the communication chain with labs and dentists, and what types of equipment you might find in his surgery room. Wrapping up the show we ask Matthew some rapid-fire questions. We find out about the influential books he’s read this past year, his habits for success, and what his favorite tattoo-able is. Join us today! Key Points From This Episode:Introducing today’s guest, Matthew Weber.Matthew shares his professional history with listeners, as well as his current setup.Why Matthew decided to build a practice from the ground up.Some challenges Matthew has faced in setting up his practice.Hear what makes Matthew’s implant program dynamic and popular.How Matt deals with patients who have flat cover-screws.The benefits of taking digital impressions.Matt walks us through the scanning process.We discuss the second-stage visit and how Matthew approaches them.The biggest problems Matthew ran into when he started offering digital impressions.Matthew shares some of the equipment and tech he uses in his practice.How Matthew tackles full arch cases in his patients.Stay tuned for our rapid-fire questions.Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:Matthew Weber on LinkedInPrinciples on AmazonDiscipline Equals Freedom on Amazon 

Today we sit down with long-time friend and mentor, Dr. William Flick, to talk about the balance between working in private practice and part-time academics. To kick things off, Bill shares a brief summary of his training and current practice setup. After hearing about his stints at the University of Illinois and in the US Airforce, Bill sheds light on how to teach residents in a surgical setting. On this topic, he tells us why it is so important to allow students to learn with their hands, and why it can be difficult to not let them make crucial errors on patients. As our conversation develops, we ask Bill to share a little bit of information on giving back to the profession of oral surgery. He tells us about the importance of jumping at whatever opportunity comes your way, as well as the need to stick to it. Later in the show, we find out from Bill why private practice professionals are so useful to the academic setting. To conclude the show, we give Bill our rapid-fire questions where we find out about the best book he’s read in the past year, which forceps he uses to extract tooth number five, who has influenced his surgery career most, and much more!Key Points From This Episode:Introducing today’s guest and our host’s long-time mentor, Dr. Bill Flick.Bill gives a brief summary of his training and current practice setup.How to teach residents in a surgical setting.The importance of letting students learn with their hands.What Bill says to those who want to give back to the profession, but might not be equipped to do so.How one can stay in academics despite red tape and poor compensation.How to achieve a balance between private practice and academics.Ways Bill has changed his practice over the years.Finding ways to communicate on a patient’s level.We conclude the show with our rapid-fire questions!Tweetables:“It’s a lot more challenging teaching students in a surgical setting as opposed to a classroom. There is this tendency to want to jump in and demonstrate but the resident only really learns if it’s their hands doing the work.” — Dr. William Flick [0:02:44]“You have to jump at whatever opportunities are available to you. And then you have to be persistent and you have to stick with it.” — Dr. William Flick [0:04:41]“For full-time academics, it’s all about accomplishing the procedure the way it should be done. In the real world, it’s doing what the patient wants to have done and how to compromise what you can do to make both ends meet.” — Dr. William Flick [0:09:17]Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:Dr. William FlickUniversity of Illinois

Performing a sinus lift through the maxillary molar site is an intricate process. Today we sit with Dr. Michael Olabadu to talk about his techniques and the finesse required to perform a sinus lift. We open our discussion by finding out about Michael’s professional history, training, and current setup. After learning about his journey in maxillofacial surgery so far, Michael then opens up about some of the most valuable lessons he’s learned. He touches on providing comfort and knowledge to his patients in order to create the smoothest and calmest experience for them as possible. Michael also shares why he pays specific attention to referrals and communicating to ensure that no information is lost or misinterpreted. Later in the show, Michael informs listeners on how his sinus lift technique has changed. He adds further detail by describing the process behind his new technique. To become the successful and sought-after surgeon that he is today, Michael has relied on his life experiences. He mentions his own experiences as a young patient needing a tooth extraction, as well as learning the hard lesson that one tooth can kill. Concluding today’s show we ask Michael our rapid-fire questions. Join us today and find out which books are among his most influential, how he improves his practice, and who has influenced him the most.Key Points From This Episode:Introducing today’s guest, Dr. Michael Oladubu.Michael shares a quick breakdown of his professional history, training, and current setup.Some of Michael’s recent and most valuable lessons that he’s learned.How Michael has seen growth in his oral surgery practice.Michael touches on the intricacies involved in sinus lifts.How Michael performs his sinus lifts.Types of bone grafts used by Michael.Michael tells us his own tooth extraction experiences as a young boy.How Michael’s experience with a patient's death altered his approach forever.Hear about Micahel’s experiences becoming an American citizen.How Michael’s struggles ultimately led to fulfillment.We conclude the show with our series of rapid-fire questions.Tweetables:“Engaging patients in an informative way is something that has helped put patients at ease and helped them understand that they have a professional that is working with them.” — Dr. Michael Oladubu [0:04:11]“For patients who might otherwise need an external sinus lift, by getting some lift at the time of the extraction, you may find that you don’t need much when you come back to place the implants later.” — Dr. Michael Oladubu [0:11:40]“What I have found is that you should still have a four-wall defect. You want to make sure you have the integrity of the buckle and-or palatal walls.” — Dr. Michael Oladubu [0:15:59]“People talk about pain from a toothache. If we have never experienced it, we can empathize somewhat, but to experience is to know. It is to know the amount of suffering that that patient in the chair is experiencing.” — Dr. Michael Oladubu [0:22:07]Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:Howard UniversityUCLAJohns HopkinsGrit on Amazon

Despite decades of progress, diagnosing and treating nerve injuries remains a challenge for many oral and maxillofacial surgeons. Today we take a deep dive into the subject as we speak with experienced nerve microsurgeon, Dr. John Zuniga. After chatting about his professional background, we ask John how he developed his expertise in treating nerve injuries. In answering, he shares a roadmap to success that all upcoming surgeons should follow. While unpacking details about his practice, we touch on the improvements that John has seen in the field, including innovations such as nerve allografts. We then discuss the checklist that John uses when determining if a patient requires surgery. Reflecting on the difficulties surrounding nerve injuries, we talk about treatment and diagnostic limitations. Later, we focus our conversation on how John performs nerve damage surgery, with John providing added details on caring for patients with trigeminal neuralgia. We wrap up our discussion as John shares some final pearls of wisdom related to treating nerve pain, as well as dealing with damage caused by past surgeries. Tune in to benefit from his insights.Key Points From This Episode:Hear about Dr. John Zuniga’s practice and extensive experience in medicine.How John developed his interest in nerve injuries.John shares advice for upcoming oral and maxillofacial surgeons.Exploring the diagnostic improvements that John has seen over the years.  Why John is excited about the future of nerve treatment.The game-changing innovations to nerve allografts and neurotrophic factors. We unpack John’s checklist when deciding if a patient needs surgery. The factors that make neuropathic pain surgery so unique and difficult. What nerve surgery looks like for John.The type of information that can inform how well John can do his job.How John treats patients with trigeminal neuralgia.John shares his words of wisdom for treating nerve pain.Tips on being a top researcher. Dealing with medical insurers when treating nerve damage.How to handle nerve damage that has been caused by past surgeons.Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:Dr. John ZunigaUT Southwestern Medical Center Parkland Hospital Tufts University School of Dental Medicine University of Rochester University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Dr. Michael Han is Program Director at the University of Illinois. Although he never had his sights set on teaching, he found fulfillment in the act and enjoys helping residents refine their skills to become the leading oral maxillofacial surgeons of the future. We kick off the show by hearing from Michael on his academic and professional history. After learning how he entered the world of academia and ultimately teaching, Michael shares what he enjoys about sharing knowledge with young hopefuls. He touches on how it has made him reflect on himself as a surgeon and the ways in which it has been a synergistic journey. We then ask Michael to tell us more about how he has refined his teaching techniques. He explains the importance of not making assumptions and encouraging your students to ask questions, especially as there are many solutions to one problem. Later, Michael shares a number of clinical pearls with us and expands on attractions and molts, and the reasons why he doesn’t allow his residents to deviate from routine. To conclude the show, Michael talks about which gadgets he enjoys as well as his one rule for using them. For a handful of clinical pearls, be sure to join us today!Key Points From This Episode:Introducing today’s guest, Dr. Michael Han.Michael shares his academic and professional history.How Michael made his decision to pursue academia.What Michael enjoys about teaching.Michael’s experiences letting his residents work on his real-life patients.How Michael has refined his teaching method.Michael’s teaching style and how it has changed recently.Michael talks about implant systems and which ones work for him.Get your fill on 3D printers and implants.Hear how Michael’s I&D technique has evolved over the years.Michael touches on his role as Program Director.Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:Dr. Michael HanUniversity of IllinoisUniversity of CaliforniaUniversity of SeattleUICNobel BiocareStraumannAutodesk Meshmixer