With her entire career spent in the nonprofit sector, there’s no one else more qualified to be leading the amazing organization of Dental Lifeline Network. I interview DLN’s President and CEO Lynda Ricketson to discuss how her organization helps the disabled, elderly, military veterans and other disadvantaged individuals to access life-changing treatment provided by volunteer dentists. We discuss the benefits that dental practices can experience by joining DLN’s list of providers, and how the or...
Mar 12, 2024•23 min•Season 1Ep. 136
Climbing the corporate ladder might be a tale as old as time, but it’s a relatively new concept in the world of dentistry. Many of the hard-working people on dental teams in DSOs are uniquely qualified to serve in positions of leadership within their organizations, but they may need a hand in realizing their full potential. CEO of Kennedy Dental Care Shelia Taylor’s story may provide just the boost these folks need to begin their journey upward through the ranks. Decades of experience proved to ...
Mar 05, 2024•22 min•Season 1Ep. 135
Which is more important to the success of a dental practice or network: the team or the patients? In a fresh take on the classic chicken-versus-egg debate of the business side of dentistry, Founder of Active Dental Dr. Kalpesh Patel and I talk about what it really means to put the patient first and what steps dental practice owners can take to stay ahead of the competition. In this interview, Dr. Patel and I also talk about what the near future holds for the dental industry and why the trend tow...
Feb 27, 2024•16 min•Season 1Ep. 134
What does “transparency” mean for your organization? How could transparency improve efficiencies, increase profitability and deliver greater value to patients all while raising the standard of care? I explore the topic of transparency with Karla-Marie Santiago, Director of Operations at OakpointⓇ, to discover how this core value of her DSO has strengthened their value proposition and guided the decision-making process. In this episode of The Patient First Podcast , Karla-Marie shares some pricel...
Feb 20, 2024•21 min•Season 1Ep. 133
Imagine the possibilities if you started completing more full-arch dental implant cases. How much would your practice grow? Would you be able to work shorter days? Retire earlier than expected? There are more patients out there who stand to benefit from multiple implants than you may realize. This means there are more opportunities to improve lives and your production potential than you may know. But whether you’ve previously thought about offering full-arch implant treatments or not, the real t...
Feb 13, 2024•21 min•Season 1Ep. 132
What does a DSO have in common with an FQHC (Federally Qualified Health Center)? Find out in this episode of “The Patient First Podcast.” I interview Dr. Mark Doherty, the brilliant CEO and Co-Founder of D4 Practice Solutions, and he shares some intriguing insights on what DSOs can learn from government-subsidized care to improve the quality and profitability of the care provided by their networks. As always, I pick my guest’s brain to get further insight into what the near future holds for the ...
Feb 06, 2024•23 min•Season 1Ep. 131
Sleep-disordered breathing affects more of your patients than you may realize, and no one is better positioned to help them than you are. By offering dental sleep treatment, you can help your patients experience a better quality of sleep, of health, of life, and you can help your practice benefit from a whole new revenue stream. In this episode of The Patient First Podcast , I interview President of Sleep Group Solutions John Nadeau on the experience he’s gained from over two decades in this fie...
Jan 30, 2024•20 min•Season 1Ep. 130
Finally, 5 out of 5 dentists agree on SOMETHING. Unfortunately, there are influential powers that be in dentistry who do not agree on this, and that spells doom for a profession that believes in putting the patient first. When surveyed whether they would like to have access to relevant patient medical records for diagnosing and treatment planning purposes, 100% of the responding dentists said yes. The problem? As I explain in this episode of The Patient First Podcast , our industry does not have...
Jan 23, 2024•11 min•Season 1Ep. 129
David Pryor is BACK in this interview, and we have a blast sharing and comparing our predictions for dentistry in 2024. David Pryor of Planet DDS is the former host of The Patient First Podcast, a long-time friend and a trusted industry expert. In this interview, Dave returns to talk AI, cloud-based practice management systems and anticipated DSO growth trends. It was great to reconnect with Dave in the studio of The Patient First Podcast and I know that anyone who cares about better dentistry w...
Jan 16, 2024•22 min•Season 1Ep. 128
Meet the secret weapon that private equity firms run to for help understanding clinical operations and optimizing their organizations: Kerry Straine of Straine Dental Consulting, Analytics and Management. With decades of experience working with thousands of dental practices and DSOs of all sizes, Kerry is THE expert to consult when it comes to planning network operations. In this fast-paced and in-depth interview, Kerry explains the importance of building a business around a clinic-focused model...
Jan 09, 2024•26 min•Season 1Ep. 127
We’re at the start of a brand new year and it’s a time for both reflection and projection: reflection on things that happened in dentistry in 2023 and projection, or calculation, of the changes we can expect to see in the industry moving into 2024 and beyond. In this episode of The Patient First Podcast, I reflect on the predictions I had made at the start of 2023 and discuss which ones came true and which ones did not. Additionally, I share my predictions for 2024 of the trends and changes that...
Jan 01, 2024•13 min•Season 1Ep. 126
The field of oral healthcare is poised to overlap closely with pathology, according to Dr. Mohammad Kamal, the CEO and Founder of OMNIPathology Lab. The connection between the mouth and overall health is garnering increasingly more attention in recent times, necessitating the need for improved collaboration and integration between medical and dental providers, particularly when it comes to screening for infections. One example of this is revealed by Dr. Kamal in this fascinating interview, as he...
Dec 26, 2023•26 min•Season 1Ep. 125
With consumers increasingly searching for convenient solutions with simple and affordable monthly payment plans, in-house memberships are the inevitable future for dentistry. Founder and CEO of DentalHQ Dr. Brett Wells is a dentist who knows all too well the pain of juggling collections with the other responsibilities of running a dental practice. He set out to solve this problem nearly a decade ago and now has a fantastic solution that he talks about in this episode of The Patient First Podcast...
Dec 19, 2023•17 min•Season 1Ep. 124
As our profession continues to evolve, we dentists must be ready to not only learn about changes in dental technology and oral healthcare consumer habits, but also to adopt a mindset that embraces these changes. Melissa Turner is the Chief Hygiene Officer of Cellerant Consulting and an award-winning speaker and strategist who is on the front lines of change in dentistry, helping dental businesses navigate changes in the market. In this interview, we discuss exciting changes happening in dentistr...
Dec 12, 2023•23 min•Season 1Ep. 123
The way people seek dental care is changing and as well as the way dentists provide it. DSOs are both leveraging and driving these changes with their platforms, but they need scalable solutions to optimize the efficiencies of their complex and rapidly growing networks. In the meantime, many vendors in the space who are eager to share their solutions with DSOs often struggle to communicate the value of their products to these companies. This is where Eileen’s team comes in. In this episode of The...
Dec 05, 2023•22 min•Season 1Ep. 122
Dentistry is just starting to hit the biggest wave of change the industry has ever seen. Many of the innovations we are only beginning to see in the dental field have already been pioneered by the medical industry, paving the way for dentistry to experience exponential growth. In this episode of The Patient First Podcast , I interview Cissy Mangrum, the VP of Revenue Cycle for Specialty Dental Brands. With years of experience in health technology, Cissy Mangrum was an eyewitness to the innovativ...
Nov 28, 2023•22 min•Season 1Ep. 121
Once a clear-cut path to financial and professional success, dentistry as a career has become a much more murky prospect to the next generation of oral healthcare professionals. Rapid developments in digital technology and the gold rush of the DSO business model have left younger dentists feeling anxious and uncertain about the next steps to take. Should they focus on building their own independent practices? Or should dentists just get on board with the DSO trend so that they can focus on doing...
Nov 20, 2023•13 min•Season 1Ep. 120
Digital technology is transforming many industries including healthcare and finance (popularly known as “fintech” today). In this episode of The Patient First Podcast , I interview Chad Widensky, the CRO of Provide and we get to see the magic that happens when technology, finance and oral healthcare collide. Provide is a national fintech company that specializes in helping healthcare providers realize their practice management dreams through a fully digital and personalized experience. I’m Dr. B...
Nov 06, 2023•20 min•Season 1Ep. 118
All you entrepreneurs out there in the dental space know how hard it is to build an empire in this fast-changing industry. Elijah Desmond, the motivational speaker and Founder of Smiles at Sea who has been innovating dental conferences for more than a decade, knows the struggle all too well. But as Elijah generously explains in this interview, the key to success lies in remaining true to your authentic self. I’m Dr. Bryan Laskin—author, dentist, entrepreneur and innovator who shares with Elijah ...
Nov 03, 2023•27 min•Season 1Ep. 119
In the busy dental practice—or DSO—time is one of the most valuable assets. More time equals more opportunities to provide better care and generate more revenue. It’s so easy, however, for time to slip away, wasted on inefficient processes. The secret to regaining control over time? That’s cleverly discussed in the book Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell. In this episode of The Patient First Podcast , we get to enjoy my favorite segment on the show, “Books Applied to Dentistry,” and delve into th...
Oct 24, 2023•9 min•Season 1Ep. 116
Many small DSOs just starting out are struggling to keep their heads above water. What are the successful ones doing right? In this episode of The Patient First Podcast that no DSO leader should miss, I interview Trevor Lines, DDS of Revolutionary Tribes and pick his brain on how DSOs can get it right. Dr. Lines shares his journey with candor and good humor, and explains in great detail what dental teams today need to do to build practices---and entire networks---that thrive. I'm Dr. Bryan Laski...
Oct 23, 2023•21 min•Season 1Ep. 117
It’s getting easier than ever for malevolent agents to carry out ransomware attacks, and dental practices are prime targets. With ransomware attacks having increased by 75% during 2023, dental practice owners and the CEOs of DSOs need to be on high alert. Have you thought about what you would do in the event your practice or network is victimized by a ransomware attack? Would you be able to keep things running smoothly if you were targeted tomorrow? In this episode of The Patient First Podcast ,...
Oct 17, 2023•10 min•Season 1Ep. 115
What if everything you’ve heard about the group practice model in dentistry…is wrong? DSOs (dental service organizations) may seem to be taking over the industry, but that could actually be a very good thing for the standard of care. In this episode of The Patient First Podcast , I describe my experience at the Dental Forum Meeting, the first industry event at which I noticed there were fewer clinicians than business people. What I saw and heard helped convince me that DSOs are not destroying de...
Oct 10, 2023•13 min•Season 1Ep. 114
Enjoy a sneak peek of the new arrival with this reading of Chapter 2 from my new book, Dental Disorder. In this episode of The Patient First Podcast, I introduce a new series I like to call “Story Time on the Patient First Podcast.” I’ll be reading a short story from my latest book with a little added context (and some corny dad jokes thrown in for fun). You might be surprised to realize how close to home this story hits… I’m Dr. Bryan Laskin—entrepreneur, best-selling author of TWO books and a ...
Oct 02, 2023•13 min•Season 1Ep. 113
Words aren’t enough to convey how amazing it was to sit on a panel of judges that reviewed exciting potential startups in the dental industry. This was at “Dental Pitch,” a segment of the 2023 Dental Festival held in New Orleans. In this episode of “The Patient First Manifesto,” I share what I learned from this incredible experience and how the future of dental technology—and even dentistry itself—is all about connectivity. I’m Dr. Bryan Laskin, author, entrepreneur and a dentist who builds and ...
Sep 15, 2023•12 min•Season 1Ep. 112
Things that are simple in theory can often be surprisingly difficult in practice. When we hear the terms “simple” and “easy,” it’s easy to think that they mean the same thing. But while those words are often used together, there’s a massive difference in their meaning, and that difference matters, especially in dentistry. In this episode of The Patient First Podcast , I explain why we can’t use the words “simple” and “easy” interchangeably and how their unique definitions apply to everyday proce...
Aug 29, 2023•11 min•Season 1Ep. 111
In this interview, I enjoyed reconnecting with an old friend who’s been working hard in a sector that intersects with my own areas of interest. Patrick Jacobwith is the CEO of and a partner at Sunset Technologies, and he has a wealth of insights to share on some of the biggest issues dental practice owners are facing today. Our exciting conversation touches on cybersecurity, ransomware attacks, HIPAA compliance, interoperability, the integration of new dental technology and much more. With more ...
Aug 16, 2023•25 min•Season 1Ep. 110
A willingness to change is vital to survival for dental practices. But how does your dental team respond to change? What does their response say about the kind of changes you want to implement? How can you build a growth-minded team or help your current team become more open to change? When it comes to running a successful and truly people-centric business, it can be hard to know the right time and manner to introduce new changes. In this interview, Dr. Kathryn Alderman shares some valuable, ins...
Aug 15, 2023•19 min•Season 1Ep. 109
It goes without saying that visibility is extremely important in dentistry, and we dentists have so many tools to help us see clearly what’s going on in and around teeth while we work. So how could it be possible that dentists are still working in the dark today? As it turns out, working with little or no information about a patient’s past medical and dental history is akin to working blindfolded. In this episode of The Patient First Podcast, I explain why our ‘vision’ as dentists may be impaire...
Aug 08, 2023•12 min•Season 1Ep. 108
This episode of The Patient First Podcast might turn out to be one of those controversial ones, and I’m looking forward to it. We dentists like to believe that we’re good at evaluating the quality of clinical care rendered by ourselves and by fellow dentists. But can we really expect patients to critique providers based on our clinical talent, alone? Our patients don’t usually get to see what we see, learn what we’ve learned and experience what we’ve experienced. All they have to go by are other...
Jul 31, 2023•10 min•Season 1Ep. 107
