Open Wide Podcast

Episode 25 - The Fluoride Debate and Bad Full-Arch Press

Scott and Jinesh chat about RFK Jr.'s war on fluoride, the recent negative mainstream press around full-arch treatment, and Dentsply closing its recently acquired BYTE orthodontic line. 
 
3:36 RFK Jr. and fluoride
16:30 Negative press for full-arch treatment
31:18 Dentsply closes down BYTE
 

Episode 24 - Conversation with J.W. Oliver Jr | Outsourcing Dental Staff

In this episode Scott and Jinesh chat with JW Oliver Junior, founder of ZimWorkX and Support DDS. They discuss JW's entrepreneurial journey up to and through the dental world, and take a deep dive into the world of remote support staff for dental practices. They cover topics including unit economics of outsourcing staff, team culture, impact of COVID on hiring remote staff, customer profiles, and opine on the future of AI on remote workers. 
 
1:52 Introductions
5:15 JW's journey through dental to SupportDDS
12:25 Breadth and depth of SupportDDS
15:54 Entrepreneurial instinct
18:28 Unit economics of support staff
23:08 Global team culture and values
30:55 Impact of COVID on remote roles
33:04 JW's journey before dental
42:50 SupportDDS customer profiles
45:34 Anticipating AI
50:59 Traveling and working globally

Episode 23 - Conversation with Sudha Vetri | Membership Plans for Dental Patients

Scott and Jinesh chat with Sudha Vetri about Subscribili and subscription plans to dental offices. They dive into the the possibilities of what a dental membership plan could look like, discuss the legal considerations of supporting membership plans, and how membership plans may interact with dental insurance. They opine on what dental-medical integration may look like through the lens of 'membership'. They wrap by discussing Sudha's entrepreneur journey with Subscribili up through October 2024. 
 
1:51 Introductions
3:18 Sudha's journey pre-Subscribili 
8:09 More than just membership
13:09 Compliance laws vary widely
17:26 Infinite membership plan possibilities
25:28 Membership plans and medical-dental integration
32:14 Membership vs dental insurance
40:31 An entrepreneur's journey and challenges
47:03 Subscribili's progress

Episode 22 - Conversation with Group Dentistry Now

In this episode Scott and Jinesh chat with Kim Larson and Bill Neumann of Group Dentistry Now. They dive into details of the birth and growth of GDN, and touch on all the various elements of the GDN business. The group discusses the ongoing trend of consolidation in dental, and some of the controversy that surrounds the DSO space. Kim and Bill share some advice for both dental practitioners and dental vendors, and reflect on the DSO conference scene, as well as the DSO media landscape. 
1:39 Introductions
5:08 Origin story of GDN
13:08 GDN behind the scenes and business components
31:56 Controversy around DSOs
48:36 DSO metrics that matter
52:28 The DSO conference craze
1:06:34 Most popular GDN content
1:08:01 Media competition in the DSO world
1:12:26 Advice from the Experts

Episode 21 - Conversation with Hendrik Lai | Dental Insurance, Medical-Dental Integration, and Consulting in Dental

In this episode, Jinesh and Scott chat with Dr. Hendrik Lai of Viturtal Consulting. They discuss Hendriks journey from dental surgeon in Australia to business constant in the US, the dental insurance landscape, friction between dental insurance companies and providers, and medical-dental integration. They also cover tech innovation in dental space, and review what went wrong at Smile Direct Club.  
0:00 Introductions
4:12 Dr Hendrik Lai's journey
9:25 Dentists vs. Insurance Companies
18:05 Practicing Dentistry vs. Business Consulting
24:30 Dental Insurance Business Fundamentals
32:14 Healthcare Clinic's KPIs
36:21 Dental Landscape in Australia
43:39 Medical-Dental Integration
55:21 Tech Innovation in Dental
58:07 SDC Post-Mortem
1:07:50 Hendrik's Advice

Episode 20 - Dental Health Awareness and Social Media

Scott and Jinesh discuss awareness (and perception of awareness) of dental health, particularly amongst Gen Zers. They chat about the quality of dental content on TikTok, as well as a new bill introduced in Michigan that aims at increasing access to dental care. They wrap up with some thoughts on dental events. 
 
0:00 Introduction
4:22 Dental health vs mental health awareness
8:45 Assessing dental content info on TikTok
19:28 Michigan introduces bill to better access to dental care
24:47 Scott opines on dental events

Episode 19 - States Pass Bills, and Dental Companies' Poor Performance

In this episode Scott and Jinesh cover a few recent news topics from the dental world, including new laws changing in Pennsylvania to increase dental coverage and restrict insurance companies from paying dentists via virtual credit card. They also discuss the state of Illinois trying to combat insurance companies not paying out doctors for pre-approved treatment, and chat briefly about dental office membership plans. They end by reflecting on the relatively poor recent performance of publicly traded dental companies.
 
0:00 Introduction
1:45 Pennsylvania course corrects, increases dental coverage
7:15 Pennsylvania insurers can't pay via virtual credit card
9:37 Illinois insurers must stick to their prior authorizations
15:35 Dental office membership plans vs insurance
21:26 Size of the dental market
26:50 Poor performance of public dental companies recently

Episode 18 - Conversation with Glenn Vo | The Nifty Thrifty Dentist

Scott and Jinesh chat with Dr Glenn Vo, founder of the Nifty Thrifty Dental group. They discuss Glenn's inspiration to become a dentist, early dental career, and success with the Nifty Thrifty group. He shares his negotiation tips and tricks, and advice for sales reps, owner docs, and associates. They wrap with Glenn responding to a few ridiculous questions posed by Scott and Jinesh.
 
0:00 Introductions
4:08 Decision to become a dentist
11:03 Early days in practice and career vision
19:09 Motivation to keep pushing further
26:16 Origins of the Nifty Thrifty Dentists
33:03 Nifty Thrifty scale, revenue, and relationship focus
41:43 Challenges of running the Facebook group
44:46 Glenn's negotiation advice and tactics
53:08 Glenn's advice for sales reps, owner docs, and associates
58:56 Positivity mindset
1:01:16 Just for kicks (Glenn responds to ridiculous questions)